Barrel Lapping prevent copper?

[kennygss]

I was wondering what you guys thought about barrel lapping to help minimize copper fouling. I have a rifle that after about 200 rounds, is still ( IMO ) copper fouling more than it should. I was considering a low level ( patches around an old bore brush) approach to trying to polish her up some. Opine please.

 

[dbhostler]

Prevent it, no, but it helps. I had a buddy that had a Rem 7 mag that bore was so ruff that after a few shots it looked like it was copper plated. He ran a course of fire lapping bullets through it and made quite a difference. This is one reason I moly coat all my bullets, copper fouling is kept to a minimum.
db

 

[Mikecr]

Be careful here. Lapping yes(like firelapping), polishing NO.
If you polish you'll increase copper fouling, and then only a lap MIGHT recover. But you might have ruined it with a polish(I did this once).

 

[BountyHunter]

Firelapping maybe will smooth things out and help "minimize" it but nothing prevents it.

NEVER try or let anyone hand lap it after it has been crowned and chambered. There is a reason the barrel mftrs put the cut 1" down in their blanks or cut off the end after lapping.

 

[Zep]

Jeepers am I glad I read this thread!

 

[kennygss]

Thanks for the replys. I guess I'l try the projectile method.

 

[Joe King]

I tried it on my daughters 7mm-08, the bore looked like a file when I started it's much better about fouling now, and shoots a bit better to boot

 

[Gene]

Usually, coppering is the result of rough cutting the chamber and/ or leade. I agree with MikeCR, but you can also run some JB compound thru it on a nylon brush. Just don't over do it.
Some barrels never stop retaining copper, but still shoot well.