Is firelapping really necessary for shooting cast? *Range update*

mikeystew

mikeystew

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
51   0   0
Location
Beautiful BC
im curious to know if firelapping is essential for shooting cast bullets, in particular a GC .444.

My barrel is a microgroove and does not really foul badly (copper) at all with jacketed ammo, and im hesitant to do it if it's not totally necessary. it slugs out to .429 and i think it would be a shame to enlarge the throat of this gun.

i haven't yet tried cast in it so i don't know how good/bad it is yet for fouling and accuracy. i guess i'll have to find out. but im still curious to get peoples take on the issue.
 
Last edited:
Best is to try it, some micro groove barrels shoot cast just fine as is.
As to fire lapping, no, it isn't essential, (where did you here that one?) and I wouldn't even recommend it for cast. With the 444 I doubt you'd see any difference after fire lapping anyway.
 
I have been shooting cast in my revolver for a bit and have not had it firelapped, although you are running higher velocities. I canot think of anyone saying to fire lap a barrel due to shooting cast.
 
my stw had a couple rought spots in the barrel that would foul with barnes copper bullets . once i firelapped it , it stopped fouling .

would not the same thing apply to lead bullets that foul ? ( assuming the bullets are hard enough )
 
The important thing usually is that you must get rid of all copper fouling before shooting cast or it can lead to a leading problem, usually it's worse if using Barnes bullets. From here on in don't contaminate your barrel with copper, let the cast bullet caress your barrel and life will be good.
 
My Marlin 44 mag with micro groove shoots cast bullets, even flat base, at about 1700 fps, and doesn't lead the barrel.
 
so i shot the first 20 air cooled bullets in 5, 4 shot groups of increasing powder charges today. all groups at 50m with a peepsight fell under 1.5" with the best group being the stoutest charge that was a 4 leaf clover under 1". It's also worth mentioning that these shoot to the exact POA as the hornady 265 FP's and on par accuracy wise as well. if i wasn't looking at it going in the chamber i'd think it was the same bullet performance wise.

what i'd like to know though is how much fouling is normal? when i cleaned it right after i got no visable pieces of lead but it did take a few scrubs with a brush and about 10 patches to come clean. more fouling than i get with jacketed bullets, but all in all it dosen't seem that bad? i did notice a little more unburned powder fouling than usual, i suspect caused by reduced pressure generated by these bullets. im using RE-7 at 47 grains max.

what are the signs that it's leading badly? I mean how much does it take you cast shooters to get your barrels clean after shooting, and at what point do you consider the leading excessive.
Also what is the best recommended cleaner for lead removal? at the moment im using homebrew Ed's Red. im not worried, just curious. after all my best group was made by shots 17 through 20 so it can't be that bad right?
 
Last edited:
With a good load I've fired 100's of cast bullets without cleaning. I sometimes think I (we) clean most of our guns to often. You'll have to try it in your own rifle, even some jacketed loads can be fired a lot without a significant change in accuracy. If I'm hunting I'll clean to aviod rust but other than that a lot of guns do not require as much cleaning as some think. With your cast load try shooting till you notice accuracy falling off, you MAY be surprized at how much shooting can be done without cleaning.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom