Cryogenic freezing of barrels

ratton

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This process has been out for around 30yrs now. Wondering what you all think about this. Does it help accuracy and/or it snake oil? Like to hear your experiences with this process with rifle and shotgun barrels.
 
I did a bit of research on that a while ago. Theoretically there could be a benefit obtained in transforming some of the remaining austenite to martensite. Realistically, most of the papers found little to no measurable gain.
 
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I did a bit of research on that a while ago. Theoretically there could be a benefit obtained in transforming some of the remaining austenite to martensite. Realistically, most of the papers found little to no measurable gain.
This is what makes me skeptical about it too. You get a theoretical advantage which probably isn't borne out because barrel steel is not hardened to a point where the additional martensite formation gives any advantage.
 
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Benchmark cryo dips all of their barrels. Not sure why they would take the time and expense to do this if it does nothing.
Cryogenic hardening has several metallurgical effects, most of them positive from a machining aspect.

Cryogenic hardening, in and of itself, does nothing to improve accuracy. Improved accuracy is usually the "benefit" sold to shooters.

It's not as simple as it appears
 
Cryogenic hardening has several metallurgical effects, most of them positive from a machining aspect.

Cryogenic hardening, in and of itself, does nothing to improve accuracy. Improved accuracy is usually the "benefit" sold to shooters.

It's not as simple as it appears

Interesting insight.

So if I understand correctly does the improved machining benefit of a cryogenic treated barrel ultimately result in better accuracy?
 
Interesting insight.

So if I understand correctly does the improved machining benefit of a cryogenic treated barrel ultimately result in better accuracy?

Indirectly if at all. Cutting tooling may last longer and provide better/more consistent cuts for more barrels, but most likely you're only talking about surface finish which will get lapped/sanded anyway. Bores get lapped, chambers get finished with sandpaper/emery, threads get thread-filed, etc... Plus, regardless of if there's a tooling life benefit, who ever is making/chambering the barrels should have an idea of when the tooling is dying and replace it before it's a problem that manifests as accuracy issues. These are all theoretical arguments for the "Average", not a specific barrel. You may potentially see a marginally decreased rate of duds, which are uncommon to begin with.
 
haha...some shotgun manf touted "cryo treated"....like my Benelli SBE II.

Its a joke...on a shotgun barrel? Its basically an empty pipe and I can't see how cryo would do a damn thing for a proximity weapon. But I have been proved wrong many, many times in the past! haha

But it made for good marketing to those who didn't know better.
 
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haha...some shotgun manf touted "cryo treated"....like my Benelli SBE II.

Its a joke...on a shotgun barrel? Its basically an empty pipe and I can't see how cryo would do a damn thing for a proximity weapon. But I have been proved wrong many, many times in the past! haha

But it made for good marketing to those who didn't know better.

It probably made it easier to machine it with much less distortion than without. Which meant less time for the barrel in the straightening jig.
 
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I could not tell you if the Bartlein barrels I have used were or were not frozen , but of the two they really have been great barrels so far one lasted 7250 round with 6.5 creedmoor and I have not heard of any one getting that for barrel life . The most i saw was 4k in a video online , It could be I never pushed hot rounds , maybe maybe not but until I meet another person with that many rounds shot through a barrel I don't know many ways to explain it . Heck only the last 250 rounds showed any signs that it was time to replace it will the new one last as long I hope it does cause they are not cheap . But so far it's shooting as good as the first . And while I like to say it's the equipment working really good I know without the person pulling the trigger doing his job properly and in my case a hell of a lot of luck the equipment is well worthless , but there quality sure made a believer out of me , and I am a fan .
 
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I could not tell you if the Bartlein barrels I have used were or were not frozen , but of the two they really have been great barrels so far one lasted 7250 round with 6.5 creedmoor and I have not heard of any one getting that for barrel life the most i saw was 4k in a video online , It could be I never pushed hot rounds maybe maybe not but until I meet another person with that many rounds shot heck only the last 250 rounds did it show any signs that it was time to replace it the new one may or may not last that long I hope it does cause at 1k per barrel that price really hits me at least but so far it's shooting as good as the first . And while I like to say it's the equipment working really good I know without the person pulling the trigger doing his job properly and in my case a hell of a lot of luck the equipment is well worthless , but there quality sure made a believer out of me , and I am a fan .

Holy! That is by far the highest round count I have heard of with 6.5CM!

I just replaced the factory barrel on my RPR (first outing tomorrow) and there was around half that many on the original CHF barrel when it died. It was shooting great and it was like someone flicked a switch then it turned into a shotgun!

I found a 26" Krieger for it, I have high hopes for it.
 
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The benefit comes (came?) From post machining from a better quality crystalline structure (someone pointed out the correct word previously).

This was done in the 70s to mid 80s. We have 35 years of better cutting oils, raw material quality, and cutting tool technology (angled, CNC grinders, etc).

It is absolutely redundant now.
 
Yeah heaven fucking forbid someone speak from a position of real knowledge, instead of spouting whatever bullshit one found on arfcom

I sense some sunk cost bias from someone who wasted money on this

Arfcom? No idea what that is.

I have zero idea if any of my barrels have been cryogenically treated (factory barrels & Krieger's) and so long as they get results that meet my expectations I don't really care either.
 
The benefit comes (came?) From post machining from a better quality crystalline structure (someone pointed out the correct word previously).

This was done in the 70s to mid 80s. We have 35 years of better cutting oils, raw material quality, and cutting tool technology (angled, CNC grinders, etc).

It is absolutely redundant now.

Great info, that makes sense.