Tubb bore polishing system

G

Gina1

Guest
Hi Guys

I was wondering if any of you have used theTubb bore polishing system? It consists of 50 bullets, impregnated wirh 5 different progressively finer polishing compounds. The system is designed for factory barrels. If your factory rifle shoots well only use the last 30 bullets for a finer polish. They say it will polish the barrel, increase accuracy, reduce copper fouling and make it easier to clean.

Going to the MidwayUSA site and reading the reviews, all give it a glowing 5 star reviews.

The reason I'm asking is I have a model 12FCV Savage. It shoot very well with 1/2" groups at 100 yards, but looking down the muzzle with a bright small flashlight and a 7X eye lope, the groves have machine tool marks that look like train tracks. They do copper foul after 50+ rounds and it takes awhile with KG12 to get rid of it.

SO... the question is.... Do I do nothing and keep a good shooting gun (for the first 50 rounds) or do I try the Tubb systems, and get possible improvements with accuracy, cleaning or maybe mess it up ??

Anyone with experience, especially with Savage barrels.

Much thanks

Gina
 
One thing I've read in several places is using the Tubbs system will erode the throat and cause you to have to seat bullets further out. If you reload you may not want that. I don't have any experience with this system though so take it for what it's worth.
 
Stay with what you have now. Half inch groups are pretty good. If you find yourself seriously considering anything of this type just put the cost in an envelope toward a new barrel. I'm not saying that a new barrel will improve your groups but that's where my bet would go.
 
I have had good results hand lapping the factory barrels. This works much better than the fire lapping.

Needs to be done right.
 
Like Yote, I have no personal experience, but the concensus of what I have seen written is that it can be a last resort for factory barrels that shoot bad from the start.
 
Wouldn't...

Wouldn't touch this barrel. From what you've written, it looks like an excellent factory barrel.

Shoot it until it wears out, then replace it with a custom Shilen barrel made for Savages.

virg
 
I ordered the 50 round kit - it came with only 40 bullets. I called Tbbs and he said they reduced the number rather than doing a price increase- take it or leave it.

I used the kit on a Savage BVSS factory barrel in 30-06. It moved the throat 30 thousandths of an inch forward and totally ruined the barrel as in it would not shoot well at all. The good news is that it forced a barrel and cartridge change and I went with a Kreiger barrel with work done by Larry Racine and it shoots wonderfully even after 3780 rounds.

So, I do not recommend this product from my personal experience. Just my thougts - your mileage may vary.

George
 
Gina I used it on a 10 FP .308 Win. Had the same thing. Tooling marks. I was getting 3/4-1" at 200y. Which is pretty good.
I moved up to a Savage 12 LRPV .223 Rem. Getting 1/2 at 200y.
Saw the Tubb system at Cabela's. Tried on the 10 FP .308 Win. Worked great. The key Was to get the barrel REALLY clean. Groups at 1/2-3/4" 200y.
Both these Savages will prolly get new barrels someday.
But, after shooting a Custom rifle in Benchrest. 6PPC. I don't shoot the Savages' anymore.....

Like Francis says. Clean more often.
 
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Hi Guys

Thank you all for your responses. That's the really great thing about this "forum" I got an answer to a question I needed to know about, before I made mistake. The concensus is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"

When the time comes I'll replace the barrel. Always looking to shoot better.

So once again to all who replyed THANK YOU

Gina

PS... Some times during a match, there is no time to run a cleaning rod down the barrel Between shooting, scoring, time limits, and workig the pits. Hence the 50 rounds.
 
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if you give a review on miday thats bad enough to prevent someone from buying a product, it never see's the light of day.. personally, i beleiev that tubb is selling these bullets for the sole purpose of making a profit, with no intent of them actually helping you. like posted above if it originally took 50 bullets for them to do the job, it would be a poor idea to downsize them to 40 bullets.
 
I've tried it ....

As mentioned earlier, cleaning your barrel more often (whenever possible) will reduce your copper fowling quite a bit. It also helps your barrel maintain accuracy for a lot longer. The Tubb Bore Polishing System works great. I've used it on my 300 Win. Mag. that copper fowled very badly.

Also mentioned earlier, the throat was moved forward quite a bit. I found that the Tubb Polishing Kit does an excellent job - especially if you don't over-do it. I used a borescope in between shots to shoot only the number of bullets required to polish the bore. The Tubb kit (with 50 bullets) is enough to do 3 or 4 rifles.

I found that after using the polishing kit, my barrel stopped liking my favorite handloads. However, I was easily able to find other loads that now shoot better than they ever did before. I wouldn't consider using the Tubb Polishing Kit on a rifle that shoots 1/2 MOA. However, if it loses that accuracy go for it. The Tubb Kit extended the accuracy file of 3 of my well used barrels.

If you have the option to clean every 20 rounds, and your barrel still copper fowls . . . . I'd try a few of those polishing bullets with the finer grit. It worked very well for me. I wrote an article about the Tubb Bore Polishing Kit on my website.
You can see it at www.larrywillis.com
 
Larry. That was a good write up.

Gina. Sorry about that. I didn't know you were one of those.....
Too busy running the show to clean. Maybe you need to get a partner.
I hope your fellow shooters appreciate the hard work. At the least, they could pick up the doughnuts or make the coffee.....
I was helping the target crew a few yrs ago. Someone said I might get DQ'ed. I bought the doughnuts that day, also. Some people.......:)
Vern just joking.....
 
I have shot factory rifles in hbr competition for 4 years. I fired lapped two winchesters and one savage. Everyone shot better after it was firelapped. I shot in competition and kept my targets. The results were carefully documented under match conditions. No do overs. No excuses to confirm my prejudice. I doubt that 90 percent of the responders to this thread ever firelapped a barrel.
 
I have done Tubb's system and also done it using impregnated soft lead bullets at 800 fps. Throat won't move as much with lead bullets. Check out Beartooth bullets for details.
 
Again

Back to the OP. I had a post about my unlapped Cromo barrel that shot very well for a hunting contour in a Mauser but fouled and fouled heavily. Copper and powder. Even as few as 10 shots requires a lot of work and time to restore to clean. I have changed my habits and hit the barrel as soon as I get home from shooting. That helps say maybe 50% less time to get it done. I read many using .308 in SS that simply throw a few patches down the tube and it's done. Amazing. My thread went on until a fellow from the barrel factory chimed in and we went PM. He even said they would replace the barrel with a new one if they found it defective. I have never been able to secure a view through a borescope. They cost more than my weapon or scope, and I don't have 10 shooting friends at the range yet who carry one around with them. I suspect my barrel, which is unlapped, has chatter or tool marks. One of the comments above pertained to hand lapped. I would like to try this possibly. Can someone elaborate on the details of this procedure and their experience with it. Again, I am considering finishing an existing chrome moly steel barrel with maybe 600-800 rounds through it.

BTW, the factory man said "don't ruin the barrel by putting any abrasive cleaner like JB down it" :confused: Are they playing it safe as they have no control of unskilled clueless J.Q. Public reaming out their carefully machined product ?

Edit: Thank you !!
 
2 Very different products ...

Flouncer ......

JB Bore Paste is another great product. It is a non-embedding polish that doesn't hurt a thing. It does an excellent job of cleaning, and removes virtually no metal - none at all. (Very different than the Tubb Polishing Kit.)

More barrels are damaged by cleaning the wrong way. Like using a nicked rod, or not using a bore guide, or using "homemade" junk miracle products, or having no concern for the crown of the barrel.

Tubb's Polishing kit DOES remove metal, but it does so in a very uniform way and it should be used carefully. Don't try to use the whole kit on one rifle.
 
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Glass and steel ain't the same (profound) but Jay Johnson did a test on glass with 3 common "abrasive" bore cleaners. Jay worked for a large paint/coating company and had access to some kind of machine that rubs stuff against stuff. Don't remember the specifics but basically he put the bore cleaner on a patch and rubbed a piece of lab glass a million strokes. I actually saw the results (glass) and the JB sample glass was unbelievably unaffected. The most affected sample was RemClean or whatever they call it. The glass was burnished such that it was opaque but Jay said that the "damage" was not measurable using a fancy measuring device.
 
i use JB on rare occasion, but something about these tests always bothers me. how is it that JB will not abrade steel, glass or anything else, but yet it is somehow abrasive enough to remove copper fouling by mechanical action? i may be ignorant, but if its not abrasive, and doesnt contain ammonia- how the heck does it remove copper?
 
lefty o ......

JB Bore Pase is an abrasive. Some toothpaste is also an abrasive. JB Bore Paste is just not hard (or sharp) enough to embed into (or cut into) steel. Copper and powder fowling is much softer than steel.
 
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