If you are running a scope of at least 10 X, and preferably 20X, and if the rifle has been bedded by someone who knows what he is doing, and if you have done proper load development using match bullets, and if the barrel is cleaner with good technique, then you will be in a position to wonder about the accuracy of the barrel.
Until then, you don't know if lapping helped or hurt. It probably had no effect on accuracy, just made it easier to clean.
BTW, 30-06 is not one of the easy calibers to get to shoot tight groups.
Back in August a fellow brought me a rifle that just would not shoot. He had it professionally lapped by a gunsmith in Ontario with a good reputation. From what I saw of his lapping job, it was a well earned reputation. I slugged the chamber and the muzzle ends to check diameters and they were as close to perfect as could be expected.
The bore was lovely. One of the nicest I've seen. Everything looked fine. It should have shot well. By the way, the rifle was a Savage, 30-06, composite stock with a Leupold VxIII 3-9 on Weaver bases and rings. A very nice hunting rig that should have performed very well.
I don't have a barrel nut wrench or torque wrench so I suggested to the fellow that he have the tension on the nut checked out by someone that did. It turns out the smith who did the lapping had already done that and included the information on the bill. That's when I asked if there was any other information on the bill.
It turned out, the smith had recommended that lapping wasn't necessary and really didn't like to lap especially in the case of this barrel which looked fine to him.
As we know, the customer is always right and this fellow insisted he wanted the bore lapped because his "BUD" had his done and the rifle was a tack driver. The smith, not being one to turn away money did the job and he did it extremely well.
I did a chamber/throat/leade cast to make sure it was all true to the axis of the bore. It was as close to perfect as any I have seen. CNC machining is a wonderful thing.
That only left other culprit. The bolt. When checked, I found something highly unusual in all of the late build Savage rifles I have seen. The locking lugs were not square to the receiver recesses they fit into. Not unusual on a Remington/Winchester or even some of the European offerings but on a late build Savage???
I lapped his lugs by the old tried and true method of stoning the side with the most contact until the opposing side started to show some contact. Then applied some lapping compound to the offending side and lapped the recess/lug until the other side showed at least 50% contact. Yes, this changed headspace by a few thou but that was ok because the owner was hand loading and there was no need to loosen the barrel and nut to make sure headspace was perfect. Fireforming would take care of that.
Luckily the bolt face was square to the axis of the bore as well.
The rifle's performance improved significantly. No, not a tack driver but close to moa and as reported later, the odd sub moa group with the 180 grain bullets the rifle preferred, seated to within .005 off the lands and a hot load of H4831/IMR4895.
The smith that did the lapping didn't check the bolt. Not sure I can fault him for that because I don't know the circumstances he was mandated to work under. The fellow that brought me the rifle was very adamant what he wanted done to it and no more. If he did the same thing to the other smith, I can see why he only got a lapping job. It turns out his "Bud" considers himself to be an expert in fine tuning rifles for accuracy. Maybe he is?
Anyway, all worked out well in this case but by the time he paid for the lapping of the barrel and by the time he traded me some components for lapping his bolt and checking his chamber/bore alignment he could have bought a new rifle.
I agree with many here. The only thing lapping, either by hand or fire lapping does is cause a bit of barrel wear and often, not always, make it easier to clean. To my experience, for what that is worth, it make little or no difference to how quickly a barrel will foul. Some barrels just don't seem to foul much at all, even with many rounds through them and others foul when a bullet passes by.
IMHO, fouling is one of the most misunderstood conditions in a bore and every barrel is and entity unto itself as to how it will be effected.
David Tubb once told me that he is in a position to select his barrels from hundreds. Depending on who is sponsoring him, he pretty much has the opportunity to either go to the factory or have several barrels sent to him for initial inspection before installing. You and I on the other hand take what we get and unless we notice something obvious before we start working on the barrel, that is what we have to work with. DT told me he rejects about 90% of the barrels he gets. Not because there is anything noticeably wrong with them but minor blemishes or color changes. He likes to receive his barrels as rough blanks that have been rifled and no more. Contouring can and does change harmonics.
Factory barrels have to appeal to everyone that wants a factory rifle. Novice or well experienced. IMHO, most people just want to buy a rifle and expect it to perform well. They don't understand or care to look into why bullets won't all go through the same hole. The rest is up to you. Barrels are what they are and each of them are individuals. We can do things to help them out but as DT says an accurate barrel is an accurate barrel or it isn't.
d
