Hey fellow shooters. I've finished lapping my 444P and thought I would add a few pictures of the process for those that are considering the procedure.

After preparing the lapping bullets with lapping compound (plates in background) and prior to seating the bullets in the cases, I filled the grooves of the bullet with compound by using an acid brush.

http://www.baitshopboyz.com/forum/uploads/adding_compound.jpg

Here's a picture of using the BTB seating screw in a Lee "C" press. This is pretty touchy as they need to seat deep enough in the case to cover the bearing surface of the bullet that is impregnated with the compound. You're carefully seating the bullet.. poof... too far. After the bullets were seated to a like OAL (2.47") I cleaned the completed cartridge with Beachwood Casey's Gun Scrubber and then put a very light Lee Factory Crimp on the cases as any pressure on the bullet would cause them to drop into the case.

http://www.baitshopboyz.com/forum/uploads/Seating_Bullet.jpg

Here they are all cleaned up and ready to party!

http://www.baitshopboyz.com/forum/uploads/Lapping_Bullets.jpg

Like the instructions read, I cleaned the chamber after each round to avoid scratching it with the excess lapping compound. A Pro-Shot Flexible Cleaning Rod and their Bore Bops worked very well. I saturated the mop with Gun Scrubber and it left the chamber very clean. After every 5-rounds, I cleaned the barrel, slugged it, and got it ready for the next volley. I fired 5 bullets in a row instead of the 6 recommended. No particular reason for that deviation.

http://www.baitshopboyz.com/forum/uploads/Cleaning_Chamber.jpg

I started this with a full length measurement of .431" and a muzzle measurement of .4314" for .0004" of a restriction in the barrel at the obvious points. As I shot the procedure, both measurements grew but the restriction lost at a greater rate... makes sense now but I didn't think about that before. The final bore diameter ended up being .4318" uniformly down the length of the barrel with no more restrictions. After the hand lapping to finish the procedure the barrel's finish looks like a mirror!

I went on to make the chamber casting and from here will move on to the barrel break-in. I guess I will make that Part III.

http://www.baitshopboyz.com/forum/uploads/chamber_casting.jpg

Very nice, can we talk you into rolling that up into a Tech Note?

Well done RD, I'll second Mikes suggestion. With your photos, and documentation of your project, would you consider putting it all into one package for a tech note in the permanant part of the website? Many could benefit from your work.

Let us know. Thanks for the posts, and the updates.... looking forward to part III!

God Bless,

Sure, I will work on that. I'm going to go through it pretty quick again with my .35 Remington (336D) and will get a few more pictures of certain steps that might be helpful.

I also shot each volley of five rounds at a fresh BTB orange/black bullseye target. It is real interesting how the groups drew in with each round. I saved the targets but I don't think they will reproduce well as a number of bullet holes really tore. I don't know if it was just cheap computer paper stock or low having the target adequately supported for such a low velocity. I've used downloaded targets before but didn't have the tearing problem I did this time.

Thanks for that info. I will be starting the same project with my Marlin real soon. Just a quick question- What powder/load did you use to get the air gun velocity from the lapping bullets? Did you use a filler of some kind to take up the extra room in the case? I thought of using Tite Group since its not suppose to be position sensitive, and I have a bunch of it already. I will re-read the procedure in the tech guide before I start since I must have missed that part. Thanks.... Flinch

Just a quick question- What powder/load did you use to get the air gun velocity from the lapping bullets? Did you use a filler of some kind to take up the extra room in the case?

Flinch444.

I think I put the load in Part I, 3.9-grains of Unique gave me exactly 550 FPS. I took the time to chronograph the lapping bullets before the work started. I had planned on using 5.0-grains but that was too fast. In response to your second question, I used a 1" X 1.5" fiber-fill quilt batting. Stuck length wise into the case, it helped support the bullets. My wife had a bunch of this on hand that she had used on a sewing project. See image attachment.