Barrel threading

At least I can keep my position consistent.

From you latest response, I take it that you are not going to answer my question in response to your statement that the swell is now for increased thread depth. It’s fine by all accounts. We will just have to agree to disagree.
Have a good evening.
My position has been the same. You implied the swell created a choke. It doesn’t.
 
I threaded every 22RF barrel I fitted & chambered for several years so I could use my suppressors on them. Initially, I really enjoyed shooting suppressed, even though none of the barrels I've done for my own use were shorter than 22", and thus were fairly quiet with std vel ammo even w/o a suppressor mounted. But as time went on, and I kept lot testing to find lots that brought out the best in the Bartlein, Benchmark, Krieger, Lilja and Shilen barrels I was using, I found that not one of them shot groups as tight with a suppressor mounted as they did w/o a can. I've stopped threading 22RF bbls because of this, and even parted-off the threads on a few of my rifles, and then re-crowned them. Guess what - each & every one of the bbls that's had the threads parted off has shot a bit better than it did when it was threaded. I don't believe than you can cut 1/2-28 threads on a heavy 22RF bbl without the risk of reducing the accuracy potential of a true match grade 22RF bbl. I still enjoy shooting some of my custom 22RF rifles with a suppressor - it's just kool to be that quiet. The only reason there are so many threaded bbls on production 22RF rifles today is because of the demand for threaded barrels - it's like any other marketing reason to do something. Believe what you want, but don't denigrate the facts of the matter because it's counter to what you want to believe.
I’ve been shooting a lot of 22 with my B14. I noticed I was getting more flyers than I’d like to admit with my suppressor. So I removed it. Here I am thinking I’d actually get some use out of my can. Nope. It does not help accuracy. I’m still glad the barrel is threaded. If I ever decide to get a comp or tuner then I have the option. But for now. I shoot with nothing on except my thread protector.
I have can’s for 9mm and 223 so I shoot those. Not as concerned about accuracy with those.
 
It's foolish to come in with such an ultimatum stance, suggesting that anyone doing something different then what you believe is foolish and a fad. Certainly not a good way to engage in an objective discussion on the topic.

Plenty of good reasons for why those may want to shoot .22's with a suppressor. Many have been stated here, so there's no need to rehash that. But to pretend that there is no good reason to suppress a .22 is idiotic.

As to the argument about precision - .22's are not my expertise. I would love to hear more about accuracy potential in .22's, and how it may be affected by muzzle threading. I'm going to tag in some people that know a lot more about this then I. @bohem @orkan @LongRifles Inc. @Frank Green

In regards to precision, I'm willing to bet the quality of ammo is a much bigger limiting factor in .22's then muzzle threading is.

My experience with regards to rimfire 22's:

First, it's important to understand that the little 22 is one of the more difficult cartridges to shoot well. It's a horribly inefficient little thing that travels roughly 1/3rd the speed of anything modern or "cool". What this ultimately means from my perspective is that the bullet loiters around in the barrel 3x longer than what is typical of the centerfire world. That equates to a shooter that must be on his/her game. Shooting fundamentals come into play a whole lot more with these things. It's what makes them so effective as training guns because if you pay attention to detail with a rimfire, the transition to high-power is a whole lot easier in most instances.

When I worked for Anschutz and built stuff for the resident athletes at the OTC in Colorado Springs, keeping things simple was always a priority for me. I never really messed with tuners on international 3P, biathlon, or Silhouette rifles. (Not all of these are Olympic sports, but it's the 3 principal disciplines we catered to there so I had a lot of exposure to them back then) Some of the bench guns we did used a tuner, but they were always looked upon as more of a novelty.

A lesson I learned early on shooting competitively: If you spend any amount of time in the high-power game, be it Service Rifle, Palma, High Power Match rifle, or whatever... If you want to witness a competitive shooter come apart at the seams, watch what happens when an "on-call" shot splashes somewhere well wide of where the shooter decided it should have hit. For anyone experienced, the most typical response is they instantly start grabbing and yanking on things to try and figure out what has come loose on the gun. Sights, brakes, cans, guard screws, bases, whatever it might be. That's where experienced competitive shooters start looking when problems develop from thin air.

So, take that lesson and apply it here. A suppressor likes to come loose. When I used to shoot PRS stuff, I dealt with it all the time. Part of the ritual became snugging up a can right before a stage. I see no benefit from not developing this practice as a standard routine for anyone running a can on a rimfire as well. It certainly won't hurt anything. As far as ultimate accuracy goes, I don't see them harming anything. Off the cuff, it's been my experience that shooters do a better job on suppressed guns just because they are easier to shoot. Less noise ='s less annoyance so people can devote more attention to shooting instead of being bothered by stuff.

If we're going to try and science this, then I offer this for consideration: On every piece of high-speed footage I've ever watched of a rifle being fired, the projectile always outpaces the gas plume. If that is indeed fact, then I would say it's unlikely for a can to somehow disrupt what the bullet is doing once it leaves the muzzle. As for the "H" word (harmonics) I have no idea. I have heard that fluting is supposed to ruin that. According to a lot of the general population that is a ten commandment violation.

(Thall shall not flute barrels)

We flute a metric pile of barrels here at LRI and they seem to shoot just fine. This includes rimfires. Cut, buttoned, broached, and hammer forgings. It doesn't seem to matter. Last, take this with a grain of salt as its an attempt at humor more than anything:

There are 5 things an American man does better than anyone else. Just ask us.
  • Drive cars
  • Catch Fish
  • Drink beer
  • Shoot guns
  • Fuck women
If we fail at any one of these things it is far easier to blame it on something out of our control vs facing the fact that we might just suck at it. The last one is the exclusion of course. :love:

Assuming this is true I offer the following:

Talk on forums less and focus on well-executed practice more.



Good luck.

C.
LRI
 
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I’ve been shooting a lot of 22 with my B14. I noticed I was getting more flyers than I’d like to admit with my suppressor. So I removed it. Here I am thinking I’d actually get some use out of my can. Nope. It does not help accuracy. I’m still glad the barrel is threaded. If I ever decide to get a comp or tuner then I have the option. But for now. I shoot with nothing on except my thread protector.
I have can’s for 9mm and 223 so I shoot those. Not as concerned about accuracy with those.

But if it's the threading that's causing the precision issues, then why remove the can? The problem (barrel threading) still exists.
 
I heard that thump-thump sound.
Yep, looking at the undercarriage of a Greyhound again. ;)

With this topic I can't offer anything useful.
Not a machinist, don't own a suppressor.
Can't offer an opinion on threading or can's.

As for ammunition, without decent ammo you ain't gonna produce decent results.
Doesn't matter how great y'er rifle is. Nothing can fix crappy ammo. :(
 
But if it's the threading that's causing the precision issues, then why remove the can? The problem (barrel threading) still exists.
It’s not the threading causing the issue. It’s the can. Gun shoots lights out with the can removed. Lots of PRS shooter at the club have moved away from using the can for this reason. I just had to learn the hard way and learn for myself. Don’t get me wrong, there’s way nicer suppressors then my Huntertown Arms that probably don’t affect accuracy. I’ve had it for years, way before precision shooting. I only was using it for the cool factor until I realized I was better off without it, for accuracy sake.
 
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Actually I have nothing against threading if you need to shoot suppressed and yes I do believe it is the current fad which is why I wanted new shooters to understand that threading is not the way to go if your after accuracy. I challenge you to find a barrel maker or gunsmith that disagrees with that statement.
Huh weird this is snipershide…not Benchrest central. Even military rifles in use are threaded and then have an accessory such as flashhider or suppressor mount and they’re accurate enough.
 
I'm not taking a side here as I really don't care what anyone else does but when you relieve metal from the OD of the bore it will always open up the ID to some degree. How much depends on a lot of factors (what metal, how thick it is, how much was removed, how it was initially rifled, and to what degree it was stress relieved), but it absolutely is a real thing and this can absolutely negatively effect accuracy. This is a fact and anyone who says it isn't true has never actual measured a bore before and after.

We all have our own opinions and beliefs. I understand that I'm life there is a never and always, and I just used some always in my statement but machining is pretty repeatable. If you have a press fit pin in a cylinder you can turn the OF of the cylinder down and the pin will no longer be a press fit (given the correct amount of material is removed and the cylinder isn't to thick).

IMO the real problem with threading a rimfire is that we use 1/2" threads, a larger thread would really help. And like I said the problem I have with a suppressor on a rimfire is the constant variable weight of a suppressor as you shoot it. But this is a nit picky thing and probably doesn't hold water, it's just a variable I don't want in my rimfire world.

I am not here to shit on anyone or start anything, I'm just giving my experience with this subject. And everything I am talking about is marginal gains after everything else is optimized. Not to mention I'm an idiot, so...
I recall seeing a video on YouTube about this very subject. The subject was 5/8x24 and he demonstrated it by pin gages before and after, the difference was remarkable. He was advocating 3/4" if I recall correctly
 
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I do not understand this current trend of threaded barrels! It seems that most of the bolt action 22s I'm seeing or hear of being ordered have or will have threaded barrels. In over 50 yrs of shooting I have never owned a threaded barrel 22lr. Never had a need to suppress a 22. I suspect it's mainly due to to the current tactical fad. Tactical this tactical that. I'm currently looking for tactical underwear. I'm sure someone makes it. This is for you new shooters thinking about buying a new gun or having one built. Forget the barrel threads. I does nothing for accuracy. Just the opposite. If you remove metal from the muzzle end of a barrel it opens up the bore. That's the last thing you want if you're trying to squeeze every bit of accuracy from a barrel! Case in point. Anschutz actually leaves extra metal on the muzzle end of their match grade barrels. Custom remfire smiths taper lap barrels for improved accuracy. How many pure benchrest 22s have you seen with threaded barrels? If you need a suppressor in order to shoot a 22 in the area you live by all means thread. If not forget that tactical BS.
Well you could not be more wrong on just about everything you posted .
threaded barrels have NOTHING to do with a tactical fad . They make shooting more enjoyable and hunting more successful. As far as tactical underwear I switched from my old cotton underwear to modern breathable fabric ones and I sweat less , stink less , and they last 3 times longer and they just feel better . As far threaded barrels ruing accuracy once again you simply are wrong . I've threaded several barrels on several calibers including a couple of 22s that will shoot 1/4" groups at 50 yards and a 22 Hornet that shoots 1/2" groups at 100 yards .
 
I do not understand this current trend of threaded barrels! It seems that most of the bolt action 22s I'm seeing or hear of being ordered have or will have threaded barrels. In over 50 yrs of shooting I have never owned a threaded barrel 22lr. Never had a need to suppress a 22. I suspect it's mainly due to to the current tactical fad. Tactical this tactical that. I'm currently looking for tactical underwear. I'm sure someone makes it. This is for you new shooters thinking about buying a new gun or having one built. Forget the barrel threads. I does nothing for accuracy. Just the opposite. If you remove metal from the muzzle end of a barrel it opens up the bore. That's the last thing you want if you're trying to squeeze every bit of accuracy from a barrel! Case in point. Anschutz actually leaves extra metal on the muzzle end of their match grade barrels. Custom remfire smiths taper lap barrels for improved accuracy. How many pure benchrest 22s have you seen with threaded barrels? If you need a suppressor in order to shoot a 22 in the area you live by all means thread. If not forget that tactical BS.
Contact Tommy John......think they casn make you some Camou undies, don't know if they're tactical.

Goog post!
 
I recall seeing a video on YouTube about this very subject. The subject was 5/8x24 and he demonstrated it by pin gages before and after, the difference was remarkable. He was advocating 3/4" if I recall correctly
See post 44, that is probably the video you mention.

My target 22lr rifles will be unthreaded because, for my purposes, I will not risk the loss of accuracy however slight. Too each his/her own.
 
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I've just taken a look at some rimfire BR records. Threading the barrel on one of those guns might reduce it's accuracy. But that doesn't apply to 99% of rimfire shooters. Both sides may be a bit correct in this thread. Would a Ruger American, with it's noncompetitive (in top level BR) barrel be hurt by barrel threading. I doubt it. Probably more of us like the convenience of shooting suppressed than participating in upper echelon BR.
 
Man, this really turned into a dumpster fire fast... Then somewhat settled down into a "Tastes Great,... Less Filling" accuracy bitch fest. I have a shitload of rimfires, (both handgun and rifle). However none of them are threaded. Mostly because they were all purchased before threads became all the rage. Would I own one? Sure, why not? It's yet another gun related toy to fuck around with, while having fun doing it.

What I would love to know, is out of ALL of these threaded rifle and pistol barrels being sold today, (both rimfire and centerfire), how many will EVER see a suppressor on the end? I'll bet it's less than 50%. Perhaps much less. I base that on economics over anything else. Suppressors are expensive. And depending where you live, there is a somewhat complex buying procedure that goes along with them. Threaded barrels are not. Many guns now come with them as standard equipment. So then it becomes a question of why not buy one?

Manufacturers see threaded barrels as a selling point. A big one. Far more people want them, than don't. Especially the tacticool guys who wear full camo to the gas station. (Their money is just as green as anyone's). But seriously, I'll bet most of these threaded barrels will see some type of $15 Amazon purchased flash suppressor, or some do dad with cool looking sharp spikes screwed on the end, before they'll ever see a high dollar suppressor.

I put these things in the same category as screw in chokes on shotguns. Today you have to look to find a new shotgun that doesn't have them.... 40 years ago none of them did. Today, they all come with a nice plastic case with that soft, spray on fuzz on the inside to hold them. Along with a nice wrench to change them with.

But how many guys really use them? (I've got a tool box drawer full of them). Perhaps there are a few guys who like to shoot walking Sporting Clays courses. But even the bulk of them shoot mostly OU's with different choked barrels that they rarely, if ever change. In fact if you look at winning scores in Trap, Skeet, and Sporting Clays, they really didn't bump up much, if at all after the screw in choke rage took over.

It all was an option, that has now pretty much become standard..... A bit like air conditioning on a new car or truck. Something people once pondered over, but now have come to accept. Regardless of how much they'll ever need it, or use it.
 
There is another perspective on this you guys might be missing the Europeans ! your now starting to see a lot more rifles manufactured in Europe being sold in the US. A lot of Europeans use .22lr's for rabbit shooting, farms over here are a lot smaller than over there and tend to be near population. Shooting isn't as widely practiced as it is in the US so gunshots attract attention, people in Europe are paranoid about people carrying firearm's but not paranoid about sniper's shooting politician's. Throw into this mix the power of health and safety and hearing protection, the end result almost every sporting .22lr is threaded for a suppressor and has one fitted. Suppressors in most European country's are easy to acquire, yes you require a licence to own one for a firearm but in most case's it cost's nothing to have one added to your licence. Here in the UK you can by as many .22 suppressor's as you like without a licence providing they are for air rifles however fit them to a firearm and your in big trouble
 
Well, you probably wouldn't hear about threaded .22 for the first 40 years because suppressors weren't really a thing. In the past ten years they've gone ballistics and not just for tacticool. Legitimate hunting uses suppressors now as additional protection for hunters and the dogs. In fact, in the EU, suppressors are often required for hunting to be a good neighbor. Suppressed .22 is awesome because I can shoot on my property and not get complaints from neighbors. When varmiting the property, suppressed .22 doesn't scare the herd.

All my hunting rifles from .223 - 375 H&H are threaded for suppressors and they are awesome. Recoil reduction, hearing protection, etc. POI has no shift when done right and with modern suppressors.
 
imagine being such a fudd that you get pissed off enough to write a long rant on threaded barrels?

1) 99% of people are not looking for, or even able to achieve benchrest accuracy.

2) a threaded barrel should have absolutely 0 impact on accuracy.....that "extra metal", counter to your fudd lore, is not to aid in accuracy.....its to mount a fucking bloop tube.

3) anchutz makes several rifles with the evil "threaded muzzle"

38720729-sick-old-man-suffering-from-heart-attack-or-breathing-difficulties.jpg




4) there is nothing "tactical" about wanting to shoot with a suppressor.....its people wanting to protect their hearing.


go be a fucking retard somewhere else.
Your last sentence is perfect !
 
I do not understand this current trend of threaded barrels! It seems that most of the bolt action 22s I'm seeing or hear of being ordered have or will have threaded barrels. In over 50 yrs of shooting I have never owned a threaded barrel 22lr. Never had a need to suppress a 22. I suspect it's mainly due to to the current tactical fad. Tactical this tactical that. I'm currently looking for tactical underwear. I'm sure someone makes it. This is for you new shooters thinking about buying a new gun or having one built. Forget the barrel threads. I does nothing for accuracy. Just the opposite. If you remove metal from the muzzle end of a barrel it opens up the bore. That's the last thing you want if you're trying to squeeze every bit of accuracy from a barrel! Case in point. Anschutz actually leaves extra metal on the muzzle end of their match grade barrels. Custom remfire smiths taper lap barrels for improved accuracy. How many pure benchrest 22s have you seen with threaded barrels? If you need a suppressor in order to shoot a 22 in the area you live by all means thread. If not forget that tactical BS.
Hold on Thar ...Threading the OUTSIDE of a barrels end removes no material from the bore ,period. A threaded barrel simply gives the shooter options. A threaded barrel if done properly with the threading aligned perfectly with the last 6" of the bore allows a shooter to emply a harmonic tuning device such as Browning's BOSS system and the newer designs increasing accuracy very well.On many barrels simply adding a heavier or lighter weight [ thread protector as well] will change harmonic frequency. The more consistent that frequency the more accurate. Muzzle brakes work, but require a threaded barrel for installation. Suppressors also lessen recoil and as in Europe should be as easy to buy as any firearm. Reducing the noise our shooting makes opens up new ranges and keeps old one's open. Again, threading a barrel's end has zero affect on bore. 22's still make high enough decibel levels to damage the hearing of people nearby. Adding a suppressor is damn considerate thing to do.I hunt suppressed so that I don't further damage my hearing and I can hear much better without plugs in too.
 
I have a Lothar-Walther Barrel on a CZ-457. They ( Lothar-Walther) counter bored the thread area to have a 5/8 deep hole. the crown is now behind where the threads are cut. this is a very accurate barrel that I regularly shoot past 200 yds. When the suppressor is not on the rifle. I keep a thread protector on it. it would very easy to hit the muzzle and bend the threads. With a Gem-Tec suppressor this rifle shoots just as good with the can as it does without. Yes, and the groups change slightly on positions.
 
Again, threading a barrel's end has zero affect on bore.
I disagree.

It is a physical reality that removing material from the outside of the barrel will cause the bore to grow in diameter. The more material removed, the thinner the material wall, the more the growth.

I would consider this a widely known and verifiable fact.


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I disagree.

It is a physical reality that removing material from the outside of the barrel will cause the bore to grow in diameter. The more material removed, the thinner the material wall, the more the growth.

I would consider this a widely known and verifiable fact.


-----------

Truth, it's not speculation at all.
 
IMO there is way more to getting a 22lr to consistently shoot well than a centerfire. These details matter to some people.

Sure seems like it.

The world of rimfire is one that I'm not savvy in, so it's interesting to learn about it.

I have to imagine that the ammo itself is a big limiting factor in precision for .22's.
 
IMO there is way more to getting a 22lr to consistently shoot well than a centerfire. These details matter to some people.
Wow, never thought about it. I don't know, I just grab the ammo (for any weapon), load it, control my body and shoot it lol. If I miss it's me that missed because I screwed up not the weapon. But reading the other posts I guess there is something about it to your point.
 
Wow, never thought about it. I don't know, I just grab the ammo (for any weapon), load it, control my body and shoot it lol. If I miss it's me that missed because I screwed up not the weapon. But reading the other posts I guess there is something about it to your point.
I’m not trying to be a dick, sorry if I came across that way. My point is tuning a well built centerfire to shoot consistently well is really a no brainer especially if you are loading for it, but rimfire is a completely different game where some of the principals cross over but some don’t.
 
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If the barrel is threaded BEFORE it is drilled and rifled, I'm not seeing an issue. Does anyone know for sure and for certain this is NOT the case?
I have thought about this a lot but the problem would be keeping the bore perfectly centered in the threads. When you thread after rifling the center of the bore is used as the reference for the threading process so it is easy to be concentric. But when deep hole drilling and rifling the bore does not always end up centered in the barrel‘s OD. I am sure there is a method to achieve the desired results, but I am not sure the juice is worth the squeeze.
 
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Tactical Underwear for the OP:

 
Accuracy can also be affected if the threading is not concentric to the bore. I happen to like threaded barrels because I use suppressors. If one want to shoot for accuracy only, then have a set up for that, why compromise an issue when it isn't necessary?
 
Honestly after shooting suppressed, I have no desire to ever shoot unsuppressed again! Even with a 22 is makes the shooting experience much more pleasant.

So yes, thread all the barrels!
If you have 1 22cal can, you will have to buy another for your buddy to use next to you! I would never have near as much fun in a field of gophers without a suppressor.
 
I’m not trying to be a dick, sorry if I came across that way. My point is tuning a well built centerfire to shoot consistently well is really a no brainer especially if you are loading for it, but rimfire is a completely different game where some of the principals cross over but some don’t.
Lol, not at all. I totally get what you're saying. It's just amazing how technical it all gets.
 
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We must think alike because I actually picked up another just for that reason! If someone wants to shoot with me they'll need a suppressor haha
+3. Buddy is trying to sell a 10/22 to get a bolt gun. Told him to make sure he gets one with a threaded barrel so he can use one of my suppressors when he comes over. Going to nudge him to join the fold. He loved shooting my suppressed Tikka.
 
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Adding a suppressor to my CZ 455 did, in fact, increase it's accuracy vs shooting unsuppressed. Shooting the same rifle, using a different 22lr suppressor, decreased it's accuracy. No baffle strikes, same ammo lot, same shooting session...just changed the harmonics of the barrel.
Center-X averaged 0.50" with no suppressor, 0.40" with an old Gemtech Outback II, and 0.60" with a new SilencerCo Sparrow. So yes...it can make a difference. My Bergara B14R doesn't care what is mounted on the muzzle...it just shoots well regardless.

If the OP is looking back over 50 years, I think you would have to agree that the last 10 years has been the golden age of suppressors. Availability, quality, and quantity of choice has dramatically increased. 20 years ago, I remember being surprised to see anyone with a suppressor at the gun range. Now, I get confused when people don't have at least one. I have a suppressor for every gun I own.
 
Adding a suppressor to my CZ 455 did, in fact, increase it's accuracy vs shooting unsuppressed. Shooting the same rifle, using a different 22lr suppressor, decreased it's accuracy. No baffle strikes, same ammo lot, same shooting session...just changed the harmonics of the barrel.
I have seen the same. My current old rimfire can (on my B14R Carbon) tosses my rounds 8 mils low and 7 mils right at 50 versus unsuppressed.

I put my buddy's can on and it shot with a small POI shift but its groups held tight...at least with with 20 or so rounds I ran threw it.

Not gonna lie....it chaps my ass that I can't use my can. I'm debating seeing if a gunsmith/machinist friend of mine can make a moderately heavy Intermediate adapter and see if it will act as a tuner only in regards to calming my barrel down.
 
I have seen the same. My current old rimfire can (on my B14R Carbon) tosses my rounds 8 mils low and 7 mils right at 50 versus unsuppressed.

I put my buddy's can on and it shot with a small POI shift but its groups held tight...at least with with 20 or so rounds I ran threw it.

Not gonna lie....it chaps my ass that I can't use my can. I'm debating seeing if a gunsmith/machinist friend of mine can make a moderately heavy Intermediate adapter and see if it will act as a tuner only in regards to calming my barrel down.
The shoulder on my b14 carbon needed significant work. You’re probably getting mild baffle strike, as I was. I posted that in the bergara thread I think.
 
I have seen the same. My current old rimfire can (on my B14R Carbon) tosses my rounds 8 mils low and 7 mils right at 50 versus unsuppressed.

I put my buddy's can on and it shot with a small POI shift but its groups held tight...at least with with 20 or so rounds I ran threw it.

Not gonna lie....it chaps my ass that I can't use my can. I'm debating seeing if a gunsmith/machinist friend of mine can make a moderately heavy Intermediate adapter and see if it will act as a tuner only in regards to calming my barrel down.
This is another post that points out what a totally unnecessary PITA it is to have suppressors included on the NFA list. Imagine how many suppressors we'd all own if they were easier to buy and test for accuracy on our rifles...no waiting on a form 4, no need to hang onto a can that doesn't suit our needs...
 
If the barrel is threaded BEFORE it is drilled and rifled, I'm not seeing an issue. Does anyone know for sure and for certain this is NOT the case?

Any barrel manufacturer that I know of is typically capable of maintaining a concentricity tolerance of .0005"-.001" per inch of drill travel. If we're talking a typical blank were having a hole location that hovers in the .013" to .026" range for concentricity.

It is why barrels are contoured after they are drilled/reamed/rifled. The error becomes a nonissue as it is corrected/straightened out in a later operation. What you are describing demands that they hit the mark right out of the gate. From a pure business perspective, I would have to ask what the advantage of this is, and is it fiscally worth the risk?

I would expect barrels to increase in price by a good 500% if they were actually made this way.
 
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Any barrel manufacturer that I know of is typically capable of maintaining a concentricity tolerance of .0005"-.001" per inch of drill travel. If we're talking a typical blank were having a hole location that hovers in the .013" to .026" range for concentricity.

It is why barrels are contoured after they are drilled/reamed/rifled. The error becomes a nonissue as it is corrected/straightened out in a later operation. What you are describing demands that they hit the mark right out of the gate. From a pure business perspective, I would have to ask what the advantage of this is, and is it fiscally worth the risk?

I would expect barrels to increase in price by a good 500% if they were actually made this way.

Are you saying the drill would walk off too much by the time it got to the muzzle?
 
Are you saying the drill would walk off too much by the time it got to the muzzle?

My little dissertation. . . I've got some time this morning. Fresh coffee and I'm waiting on a spindle to warm up on a machine I'm using today. So, lucky you. I'm taking my idle time out on you all instead of doing something more constructive, lol.

Answering your question: Yes.

My babble:

Let me start by saying that if I sound like I'm talking down to anyone, I'm not doing it intentionally. Experience has taught me that not everyone gets to spend 30+ years in a machine shop. Vernacular/terms can be a little tough to keep up with for some so I try to whittle this down as best as I can while still making it interesting to read.

I probably suck at it so sorry for that.

Let's begin by first understanding how this game gets played. A deep hole gun drill gets set up with a stick of material supported in two places. -basically at each end. If it's a super long piece there might be something along the lines of a pillow block support somewhere in the middle. That would be done in an effort to mitigate "whip" or vibration which can/likely would lead to tools wandering down the hole.

Depending on the age/design of the machine, the tool itself may or may not rotate. There are a couple of ways this gets done. Some just spin the part where're others spin the part AND the tool (drill) in opposite directions of each other. I don't make barrels for a living so there's probably some details here being left out. Forgive me, please.

-A little sidebar discussion. A direction that a tool travels is known as an "axis" in the machining community. X/Y/Z/A/B/C, etc. . . These all mean something and they are common regardless of the machine being used. Everything is based on the spindle. In this application, we are talking about the "Z" axis direction of travel. Z moves are "with" the spindle. "X" would be "to and from" the spindle at a 90* angle from its face. "Y" would be "up and down" from the same face.

Yada, yada. . .


The process is known as deep hole gun drilling. Poking long skinny holes in steel is not the easiest thing to do. The single biggest machining challenge is the swarf evacuation. -getting the cut-up junk out of the hole efficiently so that you don't compact the hole, load up the drill, create chip weld where the junk literally melts and welds itself to the tool/tool shank and the part.

-as a result of it failing to evacuate efficiently by the flood coolant. This is literally one of the toughest things to deal with in machining. Life on a Bridgeport or manual lathe is pretty simple by comparison. When you start trying to actually make money at this stuff the second hand on the clock becomes a lot more relevant. The quantity drives this boat exponentially. Speeds and feeds are astronomical in today's manufacturing. They have to be. Getting the cut-up junk out of the way can quite literally be the difference between you spending $300-$400 for a barrel blank and not $500.00+.

It's why deep hole gun drills typically use a very impressive amount of hydraulic pressure (####'s of psi) on the cutting fluid so that the crap gets pushed out of the way. It's also why they almost always use a petroleum-based cutting oil instead of water-based coolant like a typical modern lathe/mill uses. The lubrication is much more critical than trying to keep everything at a cool temperature.

So, wrap your head around that a little and keep it fresh in your mind. Now think about this little tool and what it is being asked to do. The task at hand is to poke a hole for a good 2-3 FEET in length in a piece of steel that isn't known for being the most friendly to machining. (Chromoly or stainless steel. Take your pick) It travels one inch in the axial (Z-axis) direction and the tool for whatever reason wanders .0005" of an inch off of the theoretical centerline position. Once that happens, it is what it is, there's no magical steering wheel to bring it back.

.0005". It's a number that gets tossed around on gun forums a lot. To put this dimension into perspective a little. . . Go pluck a hair from your skull and measure it with a qualified, well-made, carbide anvil micrometer. Unless your DNA links to Sasquatch, it's typically going to hover between .003" and .0035" of an inch. You're gonna have to "Julienne slice" that hair 6 or 7 times to do this.

Grab a razor and have at it. We'll watch. 🤞

The point being, a "half thou" walk on a drill over an inch of travel is a very, very easy thing to do. Once it starts, the cascading effect is basically unstoppable. As I said, there isn't some magical steering wheel that will fix this. What you are stuck with now is the reality that when you hit the 2" of linear travel, the error has likely doubled. The hole's center is a full .001" out of position now.

The shitshow before you just keeps getting worse as the tool wanders down the hole.

The good thing though is that it's of little consequence at this point. Sure, the hole isn't straight in comparison to what the outside of the material is doing, but we can fix that because the blank hasn't been qualified to its final shape yet. I believe I touched on this in my original post here. All a guy has to do is set it up between centers and rip the desired contour into shape. The real beauty here is that even if the chuck and the tailstock/center on the lathe are not aligned with one another on the common axis, it still brings the concentricity back. -at least it should anyway. There's no assurance you'll get the contour you are after, but the OD of the part would still run parallel the axial centerline for the bulk of its length. So long as the tool is reasonably close to being on centerline and the error between chuck/tailstock isn't absurd, it would still do the job). There are a dozen or so other ways you can still ferk this up, but that is a different discussion.

Make sense?

Your earlier comment that compelled my interest in this discussion would likely go something like this:

I do everything I just described only now the outside of the barrel is finished. The muzzle threads are done. Your barrel is finished at 24" in length overall. I add the "wrinkles" (muzzle threads) and begin to drill my hole that is later reamed and finally rifled for the land/groove features. BUT, my drill wanters the .0005" I've been talking about. (understand I use .0005" because the math is just easier. It might be less or more) At two feet in length, we can anticipate a deviation from the center that adds up to .012" of an inch. Let's pretend this is a 30 cal barrel and you want 1/2-28 threads for your brake, can, whatever.

The math ultimately pencils out to where the distance from the crest of the thread to the inner wall of the bore's GROOVE diameter measures right around .09375" ( I figured all of this off a .495" OD for the threaded cylinder and a .3075" ID bore groove which is pretty typical stuff for what I've described as my example.)

I promise you that Ray Charles would be able to see a .012" shit in concentricity on a part like this. It's precisely why gun plumbers worth their salt make the effort to dial a barrel in off the bore from two places when fitting up a blank or turning muzzle threads. The two location points ensure you have the axial alignment in addition to concentricity. This is how you keep bullets from doing weird stuff on paper and how you avoid whacking can baffles/brake ports.

Make sense? Hope it helps.


The machine's warmed up so I gotta bounce.

C.
LRI
 
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Hmmm, plinking in the back yard, picking off grouse and rabbits during big game season so you don't scare the moose, whatever, it isn't a "tactical" thing (tactical .22....lol). Since I went to a can, instead of getting one or two birds in a flock, I get my limit and still don't scare off my primary target animal. Two of my .22 rifles will do 10 rounds into under an inch at 100yds (Savage MKII and TACSOL X-Ring), which translates to a bag limit of small game.
 
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