Cryo Barrel?

[pewpewfever]

I recall that, about 15 years ago, a lot of folks posting online were advocating a service where you send your barrel off to be soaked overnight in a container of liquid nitrogen. It was supposed to make the barrel less sensitive to heat. But I don’t see anyone talking about that anymore. Was it just a fad?

 

[MJB13SRT8]

It was just a fad, Krieger still cryo's barrels but thats to for the machining aspect not for accuracy.

Montrose

 

[brianf]

Same here, I remember everybody “cryod” everything.
Baseball players were even doing bats

 

[Spartan67]

Didn"t Elvis get cryod?

 

[CShooter92]

I think the new barrel I had spun up is Cryo treated... not sure for what reason though. Barrel is an Xcaliber and it shoots absolutely phenomenal, but I have no clue if the Cryo changes anything.

 

[Rust]

Cryo worked best with factory barrels which are not stress relived during manufacture. Nowdays most top barrel makers stress relieve as part of the process which pretty much negates the need for cryo.

 

[Shutrmgavin]

I'm relatively new to precision rifle shooting/plinking. I've seen good results with x caliber and criterion prefits I got for my savage and origin. The first was like $350 and the criterion $450. Are you all getting more precision out of barrels that are $600-$1000 or longer life? I'm not a competitor and these "cheap" barrels are capable of extreme accuracy , I see what a new AI barrel or "the Fix" barrel costs and I'm thinking they're smoking something lol.

 

[pewpewfever]

I'm relatively new to precision rifle shooting/plinking. I've seen good results with x caliber and criterion prefits I got for my savage and origin. The first was like $350 and the criterion $450. Are you all getting more precision out of barrels that are $600-$1000 or longer life? I'm not a competitor and these "cheap" barrels are capable of extreme accuracy , I see what a new AI barrel or "the Fix" barrel costs and I'm thinking they're smoking something lol.

Also new. Some of what I’ve read and heard and maybe pieced together is that the $1000 barrels are handlapoed with great care to avoid the kind of imperfections that can collect copper and lead to larger groups with use. There is a lot of disagreement about breaking in barrels, but it seems like, among those who think break in is need to remove those types of imperfections, at least some think the hand lapped barrels avoid the need for break in. And depending on whether you think you need a $2000 borescope to achieve proper break in, and the value you place on your time, the extra cost for the hand lapped barrel might be worth it. And some seem to think the break in process, especially the type of process that uses lapping compound, shortens the life of the barrel, so that might be another factor. From the variety of experiences, I think it is quite possible for many less expensive barrels to be quite smooth, but it’s a bit of a crapshoot unless you use a borescope to examine the barrel, and know what you’re doing.

 

[Shutrmgavin]

Also new. Some of what I’ve read and heard and maybe pieced together is that the $1000 barrels are handlapoed with great care to avoid the kind of imperfections that can collect copper and lead to larger groups with use. There is a lot of disagreement about breaking in barrels, but it seems like, among those who think break in is need to remove those types of imperfections, at least some think the hand lapped barrels avoid the need for break in. And depending on whether you think you need a $2000 borescope to achieve proper break in, and the value you place on your time, the extra cost for the hand lapped barrel might be worth it. And some seem to think the break in process, especially the type of process that uses lapping compound, shortens the life of the barrel, so that might be another factor. From the variety of experiences, I think it is quite possible for many less expensive barrels to be quite smooth, but it’s a bit of a crapshoot unless you use a borescope to examine the barrel, and know what you’re doing.

Interesting, I didn't know about that. I've cleaned all my barrels before I shot them the first time and that's it. The x caliber and criterion prefits have had extreme low groups of about 0.1 MOA for 5 shots @ 100 yards. I've noticed that these extreme groups are generally, but not always when the barrel is clean, which lends support to what you said. I've also had the thought that it happens when I'm least tired and most fresh, eye fatigue not there at all, etc. The average is probably around 3/8 MOA. My ruger precision barrel is less consistent for sure. I've had some .1 3 shot groups, never 5 shot. I'd say the average for 5 shot is in between .5 and 2/3 MOA. Interestingly, I haven't noticed a big difference at longer ranges (600 yards and out), which could be an indictment on my ability or reloading practices or ability to read the wind. The other day I had a 3 inch 5 shot group at 600 yards with my RPR in 6cm.