I bought a used .338win in an old model Ruger77. It shoots well but fouls horribly. During cleaning I noticed annular grooves on the lands of the rifling. Are these just tool marks? Is it normal? I was wondering if it is just more noticable because I'm able to look into the bigger bore. After 10 rounds and removing the powder fouling, the lands look like they have been copper plated. The worst I've ever seen, and I own about thirty rifles. Again, maybe it's just because I can see in there better. What do you guys think?

Ruger barrels are pretty rough but sounds like you have an exceptionally bad one.

I'd run a few firelapping bullets through it myself. I have a .338 Ruger but it isn't nearly that bad. Let me know if you want more info on the process. I imagine that Marshall can get you a handful of lapping bullets pretty quickly.

Appearances can be deceiving, as my .35 Remington Marlin has reamer marks like you describe, but isn't a bad fouler, compared to some bores that look better. However, the copper tells the tale.

A Question. Has the barrel been broken it properly? If it's under the 100 round mark, I'd try a shoot and clean routine for 20 rounds and see if that helps. But first, slug the barrel and see if there are any tight or loose spots. If these two tests indicate lapping is in order, do it or replace the barrel.

(I'm having a mangled syntax day, hope you understand this.)

Bye
Jack

My 338 Ruger No.1 has terrible chatter marks on the lands and fouls pretty bad. It is a great shooter though. I've considered firelapping, but with the kind of accuracy I'm getting, its hard mess with something that works so well. Cleanup is time consuming, but like MikeG, I usually take a few rifles to the range and my cleaning sessions are scrubbing one while the others soak. My No.1 has one of those "infamous" Wilson barrels but shoots really well.

My old Ruger 77 in .338 fouled horribly. After only a few shots it would start to spray them all over.

To Ruger's credit, they rebarrelled the rifle at no charge, and it shot very well with the new barrel with much less fouling.

Thanks guys, It sounds like what I'm looking at is tool marks. It does shoot well though. If lapping will reduce fouling without any downside, I would be interested in how to do it. I haven't been reloading for this gun yet as I just bought it. Am I right in thinking, to lap, I would have to reload the lapping rounds?

Yup, it's a handloading proposition. You may be able to hand seat the bullets in the case without using the dies and that keeps the grit out of them. Check out this FAQ and get back to us if you've anymore questions. The lapping section is down at the bottom of the page.
http://www.beartoothbullets.com/faq/index.htm

Bye
Jack

Should be pretty easy.

De-prime some fired cases (don't resize them).

Re-prime.

Should take, oh, about 5 grains of Bullseye for that size case. Maybe a bit less.

Roll the bullets in the lapping compound. Roll them hard between two pieces of steel so the lapping compound is well-imbedded into the bullet.

Wipe off the excess, seat the bullets nose-first into the case until the base of the case is flush with the case mouth. You can do this by hand or press them in with a vise, drill press, etc.

Fire, clean rifle well, and throw brass away when done.

About 20 rounds should do it. Make sure the barrel is clean (NO copper) before you start and make sure that each bullet exits the bore.

And lapping will sure help the fouling problem. I have a Ruger No.1 in .300 WBY from the time when Ruger was using really crappy barrels. It fouled terribly. Lapping did not improve accuracy any, which was OK, but not great, to begin with, but it sure made my life easier when it comes to cleaning. I shoot Barnes X bullets almost exclusively in my rifles and after just a few shots, I knew what I was doing for the rest of the afternoon. After lapping it was no more difficult to clean up than any other rifle I shoot X bullets in.