Too much leading in my 40

[shepheard]

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I have a EAA Wittnes 40 cal that I was having a hell of a time with leading. I have been using Penn 165 match grade bullets. The load I found with the least leading was with AA#5. I decided to have the barrel slugged to make sure my bullets were sized right. The smith told me the inside of the barrel had scratches all the way down it going across the rifling. It looks like someone screwed a bolt down the barrel just a hair bigger in diamiter. This is most likely causing my leading issues. The gun shoots great (with jacketed bullets) and I know it doesn't have a match grade barrel, what would you expect for under 500. Does anyone know if there is a product like Tubbs Final Finish for handguns. Thanks much for any advise

[98sr20ve]

Valve Lapping Compound and a tight brush. But too smooth a bore might cause the bullets to skid and lead as a result.

[noylj]

I think that EAA guns are great, but I haven't much about their Customer Service.

If your gun came that way, they should be notified and asked to inspect and fix.

Did your gunsmith tell you what the groove diameter was and what diameter bullets were you using?

[shepheard]

The scratches are real fine looking tool marks. The gun shoots Zero and PD jackets quite well. I only shoot at about 12 yards so it's hard to tell how much it would be effecting accuracy with those bullets. I didn't bother having him slugging the bore after he said your leading probs are from this rough bore. My guess is that's how these are. I'm sure their more expensive models have a better barrel.

[Warhammer4k]

I guess you could try lapping compound, but I'm a little skeptical of trying to re-work a safety-critical component, like the barrel.

Aftermarket barrels for the Witness do exist: replacement Witness barrels

but no way should you have to shell out another $200 to get a correctly-made barrel.

Maybe you could send just the barrel back to EAA for replacement? Let us know what you find out. I swore off Witnesses after one of their 10mm models not only failed to work, but actually self-destructed in my hands.

Edited January 2, 2011 by Warhammer4k

[GOF]

If you can get the gunsmith who inspected and slugged your bore, to sign a letter as to what he found, and send that to EAA, you might be able to get a new barrel from them. It may not be any better than the first, but at least it shouldn't cost you much more than postage and a few phone calls. If that doesn't work, then a quality aftermarket barrel might be indicated, but I'd try the least expensive route first. A company should stand behind their product. If EAA won't, please let us know.

GOF

Edited January 2, 2011 by GOF

[Chills1994]

if your smith has the correct equipment (a borescope) he might be able to take a picture of those grooves or machining marks. he could email you the pic and then you could forward it onto EAA customer service.

if they aren't helpful at all, then post that back in here in this thread along with the pic. then email them the link to this thread with the number of views it has had.

[98sr20ve]

It's not uncommon to lap a barrel to shoot lead. The other option is to shoot some jacketed for a while and see if that polishes out the high spots.

[NuJudge]

Can I suggest, before you try the abrasives, try a very light coat of Lee Liquid Alox on your bullets? Very light coat may help a lot. Be aware that the stuff does build up in seating dies, especially if you put on more than a light coat. Nothing much worth having comes for free.

There are several fine abrasive systems designed to help with rough barrels, eg:

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=646612

I've used JB bore paste on a particularly cussed AR, and it improved it's shooting a lot. I only did it after I'd tried everything else.

[NuJudge]

I have one Beretta 96 barrel that's a bit larger in groove diameter than normal. Coating commercially cast bullets with Lee Liquid Alox did help. If you use Lee Liquid Alox, I'd suggest you also get a Dillon seating die: it allows you to disassemble for removing lube removal without changing adjustment.

My experience with the lubes used in commercial cast bullets is that they frequently are not that good. My standard for bullet lubes is 50% Beeswax/50% Alox 2138F. There's no free lunch: my favorite tends to produce a good bit of smoke.

There are abrasive kits for lapping bores by firing abrasive impregnated bullets:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/646612/wheeler-engineering-bore-lapping-kit

You could also smooth up a barrel by shooting a lot of jacketed bullets to smooth the barrel.

I think it would be a useful effort to try bullets slightly larger (if they will chamber), and perhaps try some bullets re-lubed with some Beeswax/Alox 2138F.

Edited March 2, 2014 by NuJudge

[jmbaccolyte]

I've only got two EAA/Tanfoglio pistols, but both have very nice barrels, especially for the cost.

Their quality control is usually very good. Did you buy this new? Maybe it was damaged by improper cleaning.

Too hard a cast lead-tin alloy bullet for the pressure you are running will cause bad leading also. Many manufactures make bullets that are very hard because they ship better with less customer rejection/returns due to damaged bullets from some warehouse/dock worker tossing them around when he unloads the truck. I don't mean to imply that the guys working in warehouses and unloading trucks are careless, just that it only takes a few returns and the manufacturer will decide to make a harder bullet.