polish the bore with flitz?
- Thread starter cajun47
- Start date
Inspector3711
New member
I polished a stock 10/22 bore with flitz (100 pulls through the barrel) about 15 years ago. My 5 shot groups after that exercise were sub 3/4" at 30 yards. Before that I was shooting an easy 2" group. I always wondered if there were some burrs in there... What i did see was a very dull finish go to a mirror finish.
Here is what Gale McMillan had to say about such procedures. He pretty much ensured that I will never put an abrasive paste down the bore of one of my guns.
"I answered this and lost it on transfer so will shorten this one and try to get my point across in fewer words. When some one uses JB on one of my rifles I void the warrantee! For two reasons. ! it dimensionally alters the barrel dimensions and not evenly and the second reason is the barrel maker laps the barrel with a grit of lapping compound that is most effective in preventing metal fouling. Then a customer polishes that finish away with JB. I wouldn't be as apposed to it if it were applied on a lead lap and very sparingly. It is very obvious when you look at a barrel with a bore scopes all the sharp edges are worn off the rifling. if it has JB used on it on a regular basis. As you know ,it is an abrasive of about 1000 grit. As for using it on factory barrels I will say that while it is difficult to hurt a production barrel but the thing that hurts a match barrel will do the same to a factory barrel."
"I answered this and lost it on transfer so will shorten this one and try to get my point across in fewer words. When some one uses JB on one of my rifles I void the warrantee! For two reasons. ! it dimensionally alters the barrel dimensions and not evenly and the second reason is the barrel maker laps the barrel with a grit of lapping compound that is most effective in preventing metal fouling. Then a customer polishes that finish away with JB. I wouldn't be as apposed to it if it were applied on a lead lap and very sparingly. It is very obvious when you look at a barrel with a bore scopes all the sharp edges are worn off the rifling. if it has JB used on it on a regular basis. As you know ,it is an abrasive of about 1000 grit. As for using it on factory barrels I will say that while it is difficult to hurt a production barrel but the thing that hurts a match barrel will do the same to a factory barrel."
Inspector3711
New member
I seriously doubt if stock 10/22 barrels are lapped by the barrel manufacturer. 
Boris Bush
Moderator
Inspector3711
They probably aren't. Most people wont have a problem as long as they dont do it every time they clean. A 22rf is not going to smooth out as fast as a bbl shot with jacket ammo will, they need some help sometimes. Sometimes a centerfire will do good to have it done right away too if you buy a rack grade rifle. I did it with a Savage Scout rifle I had at one time and it shot too good for what it was and a 2.5x scope (cough cough sub moa cough).
They probably aren't. Most people wont have a problem as long as they dont do it every time they clean. A 22rf is not going to smooth out as fast as a bbl shot with jacket ammo will, they need some help sometimes. Sometimes a centerfire will do good to have it done right away too if you buy a rack grade rifle. I did it with a Savage Scout rifle I had at one time and it shot too good for what it was and a 2.5x scope (cough cough sub moa cough).
hksigwalther
New member
I've used Flitz on a bores when I let a couple of my M48As sit after running Argentinian through them. Good coating of surface rust in the bores after a couple days. Flitz them and cleared out the rust. Haven't shot one of them for a few years and no rust has reappered. Shoot the other one regularly and use Flitz in the bore after every time I shoot it (as well as my M44 and have done it a couple times in my Danish M1 with suspect Korean surplus).
Never used it to examine changes in accuracy, though.
Never used it to examine changes in accuracy, though.
Dfariswheel
New member
Instead of Flitz, I'd use JB Bore Paste or JB Bore Shine.
Flitz is an embedding abrasive, and is coarser then the non-embedding super-fine abrasives used in JB.
The problem with Flitz is that the abrasives embed in the barrel steel, and when the bullet passes down the bore, it acts like a lapping slug. This can oversize a bore and rounds off the necessarily sharp edges of the rifling.
Flitz is an embedding abrasive, and is coarser then the non-embedding super-fine abrasives used in JB.
The problem with Flitz is that the abrasives embed in the barrel steel, and when the bullet passes down the bore, it acts like a lapping slug. This can oversize a bore and rounds off the necessarily sharp edges of the rifling.
Dfariswheel
New member
I heard about JB Bore Paste from some bench rest shooters years ago.
They're clean freaks and were then using JB on their expensive bench rifles.
I used it for badly fouled customer guns and on my M1 rifle and other center fire rifles.
I also occasionally used it on pistols that got bad copper fouling build up.
I stopped shooting high power rifle some years ago, so I no longer have much need to use it.
I haven't tried the Bore Shine.
Today, they recommend using JB Bore Paste AND Kroil to clean really fouled bores.
Point is, JB is going to be a lot safer to use in a barrel than Flitz, because it won't embed like most other abrasive polishes.
They're clean freaks and were then using JB on their expensive bench rifles.
I used it for badly fouled customer guns and on my M1 rifle and other center fire rifles.
I also occasionally used it on pistols that got bad copper fouling build up.
I stopped shooting high power rifle some years ago, so I no longer have much need to use it.
I haven't tried the Bore Shine.
Today, they recommend using JB Bore Paste AND Kroil to clean really fouled bores.
Point is, JB is going to be a lot safer to use in a barrel than Flitz, because it won't embed like most other abrasive polishes.
DonR101395
New member
That is what I use for copper fouled barrels. Run a wet patch of Kroil through, let it set 10-15 minutes and follow it with some JB on a small piece of scotchbrite on a jag. It works wonders on polyoganal rifled barrels.
+1 on JB and Kroil. This is what I use on my NM AR.
re: Gale McMillan comments
I think that people often over do it w/ JB. What I've noticed is that a patch with JB will always darken, even if the bore is very clean. I've read various explanations of why this happens. But if you don't recognize this and just keep applying it hoping to get a clean patch, you could be damaging your bore.
If you use it sparingly, I suspect that you'll shoot-out your bore before the JB cleanings can damage it.
That said, I wouldn't recommend JB for a smallbore barrel. It's my understanding that these are softer than centerfire barrels and need a little more TLC
re: Gale McMillan comments
I think that people often over do it w/ JB. What I've noticed is that a patch with JB will always darken, even if the bore is very clean. I've read various explanations of why this happens. But if you don't recognize this and just keep applying it hoping to get a clean patch, you could be damaging your bore.
If you use it sparingly, I suspect that you'll shoot-out your bore before the JB cleanings can damage it.
That said, I wouldn't recommend JB for a smallbore barrel. It's my understanding that these are softer than centerfire barrels and need a little more TLC