Bore Polishing Bullets

[Major Tom]

I have heard of bullets that will polish the bore of a firearm by firing them. Does this actually work? I have a very rough bore in my 9mm pistol. I had an idea that if I took several lead bullets and removed the lube in the grooves and substituted something like JB bore compound or even an auto engine valve grinding paste and firing them. What do you think?

[leftyo]

lots of people use the stuff. i however would not fire an abrasive down a barrel unless it is absolutely hopeless as a shooter. id sooner replace the barrel.

[Allen]

You're always going to get varied opinions but the customer reviews I read were mostly favorable. Most praised the Tubbs bullets while others said it destroyed their bores and reduced accuracy. Some state that yes it cleans and polishes the bore but also takes off the metal you want to keep (erosion). The worst being the 22LR which comes as loaded ammo instead of just the bullets. The 22 cases are coated with the same valve grinding compound as the bullet so it erodes the chamber. I tried doing it myself on a 22 rifle. I used a cotton swab and coated the bore with the grinding compound and shot it a few times. I'm sure it took some of the grime out but how much metal did I lose? I couldn't see any difference--the reason I stopped was because some how I got this crap into my action and had to strip and clean everything.

If I were going to use the Tubb bullets or use the compound it would only be on a barrel that had no hope otherwise.

On a favorite gun I would only shoot a few of the bullets with the finest grit on them and swab and inspect the bore after every shot.

I have no personal experience with the Tubb bullets. I was going to buy some to try but chickened out after reading some of the horror stories. I also wasn't impressed with my own experiences.

What you're suggesting on your 9mm doesn't sound too bad providing your bore is gone but I would definitely load with a reduced charge. You're trading lube for compound on the bullets and then there is the resistance of the abrasion. The end result after a lot of time and effort may be, like leftyo said, just replace the barrel if feasible.

https://www.shootersforum.com/rifles-rifle-cartridges/59774-david-tubbs-final-finish-fire-lapping-system.html

[bigedp51]

FIRELAPPING STAINLESS STEEL RUGER HANDGUNS IN 36 ROUNDS.
http://www.beartoothbullets.com/tech_notes/archive_tech_notes.htm/47

A Contemporary Look At Barrel Leading and Related Sixgun Issues
http://www.gunblast.com/FerminGarza-Firelapping.htm

Below is a brand new Savage button rifled barrel before and after firing less than half of Tubbs fire lapping bullets. The fire lapping helps but it removes more material from the throat and the first part of the rifling. And you can end up with a tapered bore, which many say is good and lowers pressure and improves accuracy. It is popular in revolvers that shoot cast bullets as you can see from the above links. (look up taper bore rifling)

https://i.imgur.com/JF55dKK.jpg

I would shoot at least 200 to 300 jacketed bullets first to break in the barrel and see if the barrel becomes smother before doing any fire lapping.

I just checked my Ruger .357 Vaquero with pin gauges today and I plan on firing jacketed bullets first and doing a good barrel break in.

J&B bore paste is harder than copper but softer than steal, meaning it will remove the copper and only polish the steel bore. This is because it is not anywhere close to the harder fire lapping grit compounds.

Below another closeup macro bore scope photo of a new button rifled bore. All those "speed bumps" will "eat" a lot of copper from the bullet and a good reason to use a no brush foam bore cleaner.

https://i.imgur.com/GpTCke2.jpg

And now below a bore scope photo of a custom made hand lapped barrel.

https://i.imgur.com/S82Lb6S.jpg

Bottom line, sometimes your better off just buying a new high quality barrel, and sometimes with care you can fire lap a barrel without doing any harm.

[Major Tom]

Another fella told me that he uses a bore mop impregnated with corse lapping compound to swab the bore only and not the chamber. That way only the bore gets the treatment and not the throat.

[Allen]

Another fella told me that he uses a bore mop impregnated with corse lapping compound to swab the bore only and not the chamber. That way only the bore gets the treatment and not the throat.

That's what I called myself doing on my Marlin 1892. Somehow it got into my action. When operating the lever you could feel and hear the crunching and grinding. The stuff was hard to get rid of even after taking everything out and cleaning--seemed like there was always a little residue left. Should be much easier to monitor on a pistol barrel though.

[Sunray]

Anything like JB bore compound will prematurely wear the barrel.
The customer reviews used on web sites trying to sell you stuff will only be favourable.
"...a very rough bore in my 9mm pistol..." Firing cast bullets only? Couple jacketed will do the same thing lapping does.

[Major Tom]

"fake news" crumple some 60 grit sandpaper into a ball, load it in a case and use only a primer to blast it out. *-/

[RED]

"fake news" crumple some 60 grit sandpaper into a ball, load it in a case and use only a primer to blast it out. *-/

Exactly! A rough bore is usually found in old firearms that had fired corrosive ammo or in guns that have been abused.

I bought a Atchison device sold by Johnathan Arthur Ciener that allowed me to shoot .22LR in my registered NFA M-16. Wow! You talk about leading up a barrel? The device would empty a 30 round .22LR magazine in about 2 seconds!

The normal twist on a .22LR barrel is 1 in 16... the twist in my M-16 was 1 in 9. It took a lot of effort to clear the fouling with JB, brass brushes, etc.

Then I met J. A. Ciener and he told me that 1 or 2 rounds of LC 55gr FMG's would clear that... and he was right.

In my opinion, if you can't get a clear bore, by shooting the correct ammo, or with a brass brush and some Hoppes #9, you are abusing your firearm or doing something else wrong.

You can clean a bore but you cannot cure a damaged bore by cleaning.