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Has anyone else tried firelapping one of the Subject rifles? If so what was your level of success?
I'm in the middle of the barrel breakin period (ran out of patches) and so far am severely disappointed. I've run 28 lappers through this barrel per instructions in the Beartooth Technical Guide, and I can tell little, if any, difference in barrel leading. It's possible that it cleans a little easier now but I don't know because I never cleaned it this much previously. As for accuracy, I have nothing to report yet but hope to get some range time in this weekend. Maybe this part will put a smile on my face but I'm not expecting it.
What I see in this barrel is a relative corn cob. The tool marks just inside the muzzle, as far down as I can see them, are absolutely terrible. These are lateral, not longitudinal, so I don't think they could be from rusting or scratching. They look just like, well, tool chatter marks. For years the scribes have been telling us that the microgroove barrels aren't suitable for cast lead bullets. This must be the reason. Maybe the manufacturing process is such that cutting this type of rifling is difficult, leaving tool marks, with the undesirable side effect of making them almost useless with cast. Or maybe the manufacturing quality was just so poor that this is the end result. Whatever, the barrel on mine is a POS. At this point I'm about ready to relegate this rifle back to jacketed bullet use only and go buy that unfired Win 94 in 38-55 I've been eyeballing, for use with cast bullets. It also makes me want to avoid Marlins like the plague in the future, even though I know there are better ones around.
Sorry for ranting but I've got many hours into this project and don't see how I can achieve the desired end result without putting in at least that many more hours, probably twice as many. Maybe the solution is just pay the bucks and have it handlapped by a smith. Before I invest more time in this project I'd also like to get an idea of why I'm not seeing any results. The barrel constriction at the rear sight dovetail isn't completely gone, although much reduced, and I suspect that's why I haven't been able to detect improvements further out. Maybe a little 220 grit would speed that up. Since you can't put it back after it's gone I've elected to be conservative and stop before I risk ending up with a lever action smoothbore.
What I'd really like to know though, is whether any one else has had the same experience or do I just have an unusually rough barrel?
I'm in the middle of the barrel breakin period (ran out of patches) and so far am severely disappointed. I've run 28 lappers through this barrel per instructions in the Beartooth Technical Guide, and I can tell little, if any, difference in barrel leading. It's possible that it cleans a little easier now but I don't know because I never cleaned it this much previously. As for accuracy, I have nothing to report yet but hope to get some range time in this weekend. Maybe this part will put a smile on my face but I'm not expecting it.
What I see in this barrel is a relative corn cob. The tool marks just inside the muzzle, as far down as I can see them, are absolutely terrible. These are lateral, not longitudinal, so I don't think they could be from rusting or scratching. They look just like, well, tool chatter marks. For years the scribes have been telling us that the microgroove barrels aren't suitable for cast lead bullets. This must be the reason. Maybe the manufacturing process is such that cutting this type of rifling is difficult, leaving tool marks, with the undesirable side effect of making them almost useless with cast. Or maybe the manufacturing quality was just so poor that this is the end result. Whatever, the barrel on mine is a POS. At this point I'm about ready to relegate this rifle back to jacketed bullet use only and go buy that unfired Win 94 in 38-55 I've been eyeballing, for use with cast bullets. It also makes me want to avoid Marlins like the plague in the future, even though I know there are better ones around.
Sorry for ranting but I've got many hours into this project and don't see how I can achieve the desired end result without putting in at least that many more hours, probably twice as many. Maybe the solution is just pay the bucks and have it handlapped by a smith. Before I invest more time in this project I'd also like to get an idea of why I'm not seeing any results. The barrel constriction at the rear sight dovetail isn't completely gone, although much reduced, and I suspect that's why I haven't been able to detect improvements further out. Maybe a little 220 grit would speed that up. Since you can't put it back after it's gone I've elected to be conservative and stop before I risk ending up with a lever action smoothbore.
What I'd really like to know though, is whether any one else has had the same experience or do I just have an unusually rough barrel?