David Tubb Final Finish Firelapping Bullets?

[jmerchant.1]

I bought a kit of the Final Finish fire lapping bullets to try on my factory .270 Win that won’t shoot better than 1.5” at 100 yards with factory ammo or handloads after a couple hundred different rounds and proper break in/cleaning. This is kind of a last ditch effort as I have exhausted pretty much all other options for improving accuracy. For those of you that can advocate for these firelapping bullets, would you recommend using all 50 bullets (10 of each of the 5 grits), or skip the first 20? I’ve heard those first 2 grits are pretty coarse.

 

[robtattoo]

Honestly, if it/you won't/can't shoot better than 1.5" after a couple hundred rounds; it/you won't/can't shoot better than 1.5"..

That's pretty normal & I wouldn't worry about it.

How many rounds are you shooting for groups? If it puts more than 10 into 1.5" it's actually pretty freaking stellar for a factory hunting rifle!

 

[jmerchant.1]

Honestly, if it/you won't/can't shoot better than 1.5" after a couple hundred rounds; it/you won't/can't shoot better than 1.5"..

That's pretty normal & I wouldn't worry about it.

How many rounds are you shooting for groups? If it puts more than 10 into 1.5" it's actually pretty freaking stellar for a factory hunting rifle!

I find this a little hard to accept since there’s literally a couple hundred reviews on Midway of guys claiming it improved accuracy significantly in rifles they never could get to shoot. But time will tell with my rifle, but trying to stay optimistic.

And to answer your question, I always shoot 5 shot groups. A quality rifle, even a factory one, should do at least MOA. If not I’m not impressed or content.

 

[robtattoo]

What's your maximum, honest, hunting distance? (Not a pie-in-the-sky, imaginary figure: your real world distance)

 

[jmerchant.1]

That’s irrelevant. I’m fully aware I can hit a deer somewhere in the vitals all day at reasonable distances. That’s not my concern. I’m simply looking for better accuracy and consistency out of my rifle. Precision is what interests me. 1.5” groups may be acceptable to some shooters/hunters. But to me, it isn’t.

 

[prm]

I’ve used them on a few rifles. In every case the rifle shot better afterwards. I have never used all the bullets. Half or more of the coarse bullets and most of the finer grit. It’s not like I’ve done any statistically valid measurements, but I know they always shoot noticeably better.

 

[OdinIII]

I’m assuming you’ve inspected the crown with a magnifying glass?

I bet those bullets will help it but I’d be surprised to see a group improvement of 33.33%

 

[Harvey_NW]

Just tagging in with high interest to see the end result.

 

[Yellowknife]

I once had a rifle with chatter marks in the barrel that would ONLY shoot the lubalox coated bullets. Tried the Tubbs system to try and clean it up and found it took up a substantial amount of time at the bench and the range, with lots of cleaning involved. When I was done, the gun would no longer shoot coated bullets either...

There may be a case for these things in some capacity, but the amount of effort involved for dubious payback will keep me away in the future.

 

[hereinaz]

It’s mostly for the throat as far as I understand. If the throat is ugly or has chatter marks it will help.

 

[WeiserBucks]

There's to many good barrels out there for anyone to waste time and money on a bad one.

 

[MidGAHunter]

There's to many good barrels out there for anyone to waste time and money on a bad one.

This^^^. If not happy with a 1.5 inch hunting rifle, rebarrel it.

 

[jmerchant.1]

There's to many good barrels out there for anyone to waste time and money on a bad one.

Rebarreling is what I’ll do if the firelapping is ineffective. But for only $35, I figure the kit can’t hurt to try.

 

[WeiserBucks]

Rebarreling is what I’ll do if the firelapping is ineffective. But for only $35, I figure the kit can’t hurt to try.

That's what they're banking on by offering the product.

 

[VernAK]

I used a few to clean up alligator throat in a 243 and it helped enough to extend barrel life another 500 rounds.

Upon suggestion of a highly qualified gunsmith, I now use 1 or 2 for initial firing break in of a new barrel. Saves a lot of pharting around.

 

[jmerchant.1]

I used a few to clean up alligator throat in a 243 and it helped enough to extend barrel life another 500 rounds.

Upon suggestion of a highly qualified gunsmith, I now use 1 or 2 for initial firing break in of a new barrel. Saves a lot of pharting around.

1 or 2 of which grit?

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I’d re barrel before ******* around with that snake oil.

 

[Pickettpuncher]

I’d like to hear your results. My understanding is they’re supposed to help smooth out the machine marks much quicker than barrel break in does. If you have a few hundred down the tube, not sure there’s anything to smooth out other than the lands.

 

[DJL2]

I'd suggest you could have hand lapped for less; reportedly, sometimes lapping can save a bore that is otherwise destined for the scrap heap. Just don't get your hopes up.

 

[jmerchant.1]

Well guys I didn’t end up using the firelapping kit so I can’t attest to their effectiveness. Just before I was about to go that route, my buddy made one last batch of different handloads that ended up shooting a .5 inch group at 100 yards. Couldn’t believe my eyes after all the different the combinations he and I tried before that one. Guess my rifle just wanted something very specific. Thanks for everyone’s input nonetheless!