Tuners for threaded barrels

[Sagittarius]

Guys, which barrel tuners are the best quality and work best with threaded barrels in your opinion?
Which tuners can be used with a muzzle brake?
Appreciate any and all suggestions.
Thanks

 

[Ruff 364]

ATS. Get you one. https://www.kineticsecuritysolutions.com/products/adaptive-tuning-system-ats?variant=31660908314739

 

[Quickoz]

Guys, which barrel tuners are the best quality and work best with threaded barrels in your opinion?
Which tuners can be used with a muzzle brake?
Appreciate any and all suggestions.
Thanks

Tuners are a very subjective thing. Theres no 'one' tuner thats best really. Theres the ATS that will thread onto a barrel but my choice for one to use muzzle threads would be the EC tuner with the muzzle thread adaptor. It gets the tuner overhanging the barrel a bit which is where you want the weight in my opinion.

 

[DavidBoren]

The ATS "hunting" model seems pretty well suited for a lot of rimfire applications. It is what I am looking at for my 22lr... 0.750" for 2" behind the muzzle seems about right.

But the EC tuner brake is what I have in mind for the 300WSM... 1.1" in diameter, and 3.3" long... this beast has no place on a rimfire, in my opinion...

 

[b6graham]

The ATS "hunting" model seems pretty well suited for a lot of rimfire applications. It is what I am looking at for my 22lr... 0.750" for 2" behind the muzzle seems about right.

But the EC tuner brake is what I have in mind for the 300WSM... 1.1" in diameter, and 3.3" long... this beast has no place on a rimfire, in my opinion...

CZ or T1X yeah the ats hunter might work. But for anyone with a vudoo/rimx its highly unlikely it'll fit let alone be enough weight

My vote normal ATS. Work great and look good. Actually have substantial weight to them compared to others and you don't need to modify the barrel

 

[DownhillFromHere]

I use an ATS tuner on my centerfire .223/6.5CM match rifle.

But for .22 rimfire I'd go with the Harrell tuner which is $50 cheaper than the ATS and is significantly heavier. It sticks out past the muzzle, not the reverse as with the ATS (so no brake with the Harrell... why anybody would put a brake on a .22 is beyond me, but to each his own). Downside to Harrell is that it's designed to clamp on to a barrel - it's not threaded. The one I have now - it's been kind of a long-term test-borrowed thing - is clamped to a threaded adapter which screws onto the standard 1/2x28 threads.

This thing changed my CZ-455 "Tacticool" barreled action in MDT LSS-22 chassis / Magpul PRS buttstock from CZ-typical 1/2-5/8" @50 yards with the occasional flyer into a laser with very little fuss (Lapua Center-X ammo).

So what does the Harrell tuner do on my Vudoo? Nothing really. I burned most of a box of Center-X looking for a setting that gave improvement over the "untuned-barrel" groups and just didn't find one. That's not to say there isn't improvement to be found - I just didn't look very hard.

 

[DavidBoren]

I don't really want a muzzle brake or flash hider on my 22lr, and was wondering WTF was going to go on the muzzle with the ATS "hunting" model... the Harrell may just be what I wanted all along. And the Harrell is twice the mass of the ATS hunter.

 

[b6graham]

A suppressor. Doesnt always have to be a brake

 

[Sagittarius]

Thanks for your suggestions, guys.
I decided to order the ATS.
Thanks for the suggestion and the link, Ruff 364.

 

[XikoPlavi]

I’ve tried to read up on older threads and on internet about what a tuner like the ATS actually does to help your shooting or groups and I just don’t understand what it’s actually doing?

I’ve never used one and am just trying to understand how it works…like, what’s it doing to “tune”

Does it absorb energy at the muzzle
Does it constrict some pressure on the muzzle

I’m assuming it’s got something to do with kinetic energy. Sorry I’m a tard I guess.

 

[Im2bent]

I’ve tried to read up on older threads and on internet about what a tuner like the ATS actually does to help your shooting or groups and I just don’t understand what it’s actually doing?

I’ve never used one and am just trying to understand how it works…like, what’s it doing to “tune”

Does it absorb energy at the muzzle
Does it constrict some pressure on the muzzle

I’m assuming it’s got something to do with kinetic energy. Sorry I’m a tard I guess.

It is an eccentric weight that changes the harmonic frequencies of the barrel. As you turn the tuner it shifts the weight thus changing the harmonics.

 

[XikoPlavi]

It is an eccentric weight that changes the harmonic frequencies of the barrel. As you turn the tuner it shifts the weight thus changing the harmonics.

Interesting. Ok thank you!

 

[AirGunShawn]

I personally would not describe it as being eccentric in nature. It may have some effect on modulating the frequency but
I have never seen any data to prove it. I would suggest that you go to your local big box store or some other
tool supplier and find yourself a dead blow hammer. A normal hammer will tend to bounce but the dead blow that is filled with
some sort of shot will not. Then if you consider getting a tuner, I would suggest trying the Ezell tuner. It is nearly the same as the
Harrel tuner but Mike has tried to incorporate PID technology. If you go to his web site you will find a thesis done at Texas A&M
regarding PDT & PDT. It wasn't done for Mike but is a general thesis of PDT in the horizontal plane! You wont understand the thesis
but after a fair amount of digging on my part, I believe that Mike has the minimum required to incorporate PDT into his tuner.
Does it work ?? I don't know !
But he has the concept nailed down and it is so similar to the Harrel tuner that you lose nothing if it has been over sold.
All he has done is add nine holes going down the long axis of his tuner
and filled them with some sort of particles. You can see the 9 holes in the unfinished parts shown on his web site. It's
purely a guess but I would think he used Wolfram ( Tungsten ) for his media. It's easy to get, relatively inexpensive and has good
density. It's the first thing I would have tried. So to my way of thinking, he has used the dead blow hammer technology in
his tuner. Hit the dead blow hammer on the concrete floor and you will see how the particles inside suck up almost all of the energy.
My description isn't nearly as COOL as the thesis, but the average guy can wrap his mind around it. The Ezell tuner also ffers addition weight do to it's dense particulates.

As for the threaded question, I had my Harrel bored out to .860" for one particular gun. Then I had the local shop make me a
false muzzle brake. It's false in terms that the vent holes don't go through. I had them make it's outer diameter .860" and had
them thread it for 1/2-28. That way I could clamp the Harrel onto the unthreaded barrel and use my fake-brake for all of
my 1/2-28 barrels. If I do it again with a Ezell tuner, I will do the same thing except I will forgo the fake vent holes, make it about
1.25 long and have them add wrench flats. It cost me $35.00 but allowed me to move the tuner all over. All I needed to do is
keep my tuner DOPE for each rifle. You can see the tuner has a micrometer type design so It's easy to get back to any preestablished
setting.

I only use my tuner on .22LR and it goes on everything from my Vudoo with a 22" bbl, my CZ457s, Anschutz 64s, 54 and
Sako Quad Range.

btw.... if the vent holes went through, the back side of your tuner would be covered in smuutz in just a few shots. It
doesn't like to come off.

Interesting. Ok thank you!

 

[XikoPlavi]

Hmm. Again, interesting and yeah I get good idea now of how they work. So, my question back to you: do you think you have gotten results from it? Learn something new everyday.

 

[AirGunShawn]

To be clear.... only the Ezeel tuner may have the PID / PDT technology built into it. The others simply move mass down the
long axis of your barrel in an attempt to change the frequency and or amplitude of the barrel. When you put one on your
barrel, they do change the point of impact. When I install my silencer on my guns it also has an effect on my POI as well.
The difference with the tuner is that you have the ability to move the mass in increments on the order of .001" and it's repeatable.
If your at a point were your groups are very small and consistent you may benefit from a tuner. No tuner will correct for
inconsistent or poor shooting habits as they only refine your existing groups by some small percentage. I have sent guns in for
lot testing and found that groups may go from 1.00 ctc down to .50 ctc groups even with the same ammunition type. I have also
found that if I change my hold by as little as .50" my groups change. That means just moving my thumb by .50" makes a
pronounced difference. The shooter needs to keep everything he does absolutely consistent If they wish to have one hole
groups. When I shot the string below, photo #4 with my 1971 Annie 54, I was not as focused as I should have been and my ammo
wasn't lot tested. I also tend to shoot a lot of different guns so I don't learn each one the way I should. Now I'm keeping a log
of where and how each gun likes to be held. That means how it likes to be held, how much pressure to pull into my shoulder,
what kind of cheek weld weight and how the trigger likes to be pulled. By far, the biggest problems with my accuracy is
ME !! and not the gun.

As a side note, the Bergara trigger has 7 rivets holding it together and is filled with torsion springs and not easy to replace
compression springs. Someone on this forum opened up his trigger unit to show it's construction. (5th photo) I was able to
simultaneously able to retrofit an adjustable sear limiter and a spring counterbalance that brought the pull weight down
to 11 ounces without the need of opening the housing up. The targets shown were shot with the very long factory trigger
of 2 pounds and four ounces. The ctc value in the third target was about .270". I shot her last night, 11/06/21 and she is a
much more pleasant gun to shoot and more accurate and predictable as well. Other than the Vudoo bolt knob and the minor
trigger work, she is a stock gun. The stock knob was too short and it's knurling was too aggressive for my taste.

 

[jackd]

could you explain your trigger mod please
( I have a rifle Basix 8 oz on my B14)

 

[AirGunShawn]

Hey Jackd,

I'm happy to try.... I'm going to use some spring rates that are inaccurate to help convey the concept so please keep that in mind.
These are the three photos that were posted on the SH forum that allowed me to come up with my " Adjustable sear limiter / spring counter balance concept. The first photo being the key photo because it shows the location of where the spring plunger will go. The B14R trigger has a couple of existing holes in the unit. I'm going to focus on it's rear hole in photo bt-2.jpg It's right in front of the end of the .06"
pin punch In photo one.

That factory hole is suitable for a #4-40 set screw, all you would need do is tap it. If you tapped and added a 4-40 set screw you would be
able to reduce the sear engagement to suit your needs. If you go that route, use one that is 1/4" or 3/8" long with a nylon locking patch. A shorter screw may drop into the unit if screwed in too far. Remember that the parts inside the trigger move away from each other so the
clearances shown are not static in nature.

The problem with the set screw approach is that after you have added it, all you would have done was limit the sear engagement but you would have retained all of the factory 36 oz. torsion spring rate. Simply for the information, I tapped it as a #4-40 prior to trying my plunger method
and there was significant improvement but I felt the trigger was not as safe as it should / could be. As you may Imagine, having the sear on the hairy edge isn't the best or safest way to go. Still, doing it did provide useful information.
If you have the tap, you could do either change at home for $5.00 and 20 minutes of your time start to finish. btw.... the long nose plunger has a nylon locking element to prevent it from coming out of adjustment. I also bought oval head set screws for my test because it's contact surface
isn't perfectly square to the trigger surface.

My plan involved tapping a hole for a #6-32 and installing a McMaster Carr long nose spring plunger (#8495A11.) $4.56 each. I thought
it may be able to counter balance the 36 once factory trigger spring with a 25 once spring plunger. So in my approach, I used the spring
plunger body as the adjustable sear limiter just like a set screw would work but at the same time my 25 oz. spring plunger nose would
push against the 36 oz. trigger torsion spring yielding an 11 once trigger pull. I had bought all three spring plungers and decided that
the strongest plunger provided the optimum trigger pull. The next test will involve the #8-32 size plunger with the higher spring rates.
#8495A13 $4.60 each. There are items inside of the trigger that need to be considered before the larger plunger gets installed.


Simply put, I'm balancing the system out or putting it in near equilibrium. With the heaviest #6-32 plunger available, (#8495A11) from
McMaster Carr it's forces are bias by 11 ounces. Just for fun, I may install an 8-32 long nose plunger to decrease the trigger weight
even more. The plungers are about $5.00 each so it's not much of a risk. If you don't like what you have done, you can back peddle
and reverse your trigger to nearly the factory configuration. With this change, you have not lapped the sears or ground the rivets or
anything else that is permanent. It's one tapped hole and a removable spring plunger !!

The tap that I used was of the spiral flute type shown in photo #6. It pulls the chips out of the hole or in this case the trigger housing.
You can get away with the spiral point shown in photo #7 or any other tap that pushes the chips forward if you clear the chips often.
When I do that, I also tap the object in the inverted position.

I adjusted my trigger by turning in the plunger until the firing pin falls and then backing it out by about 110* or .011" based on screw
thread pitch. My point being that you can have a light trigger with adequate sear engagement. My guns are used for bench work
so my engagement is pretty short !

The concept is truly simple. Just think of a Childs teeter tauter that needs to be balanced. When two kids that aren't balanced, one
moves closer to the pivot to put them in equilibrium. In this case, we want the trigger to be slightly bias in the trigger blades favor.

Look at the photo's and find the sears and imagine where the torsion spring force is being applied and it's direction of motion.
The plunger is pushing 25 oz. in the opposite direction to counter balance that force. Therefore your finger only has to deal with
the 11 oz. remainder. As doctor Leonard McCoy might say, "it's so simple, a child could do it" ;-)

With the current change, there has been a 69% reduction in the triggers low limit weight of 2 pounds 4 oz. ( 36 oz. )
Also remember that there is a set screw in the lower right hand corner that needs to be backed out to reduce the trigger pull
weight. The provider of these photo's has already removed it but it's in the corner of bt-3.jpg. It pushes against the short leg
of the trigger torsion spring.

If you have any questions, you welcome to call me
Shawn Carroll
517-604-1545

 

[AirGunShawn]

I’ve tried to read up on older threads and on internet about what a tuner like the ATS actually does to help your shooting or groups and I just don’t understand what it’s actually doing?

I’ve never used one and am just trying to understand how it works…like, what’s it doing to “tune”

Does it absorb energy at the muzzle
Does it constrict some pressure on the muzzle

I’m assuming it’s got something to do with kinetic energy. Sorry I’m a tard I guess.

Hey Plavi,
I applauded your skepticism !! I think too many people jump on board of issues because of popular opinion. The story of the Emperors new clothes comes to mind. I have never seen any data on how a tuner works but only anecdotal evidence. Like the top shooters use this brand etc.
Personally, that means nothing to me. I do believe that they have some effect but I would never claim that I could tell you exactly what it was.
IU would however suggest the Ezell tuner over the Harrel because of the PID / PDT technology Mike claims to have incorporated.
My initial contact with Mike was absolutely negative in that I felt all of his answers were either BS or evasive. I had asked for a couple of simple details and he said something like " I'm nuts to think he would give away any of his designs " The simple truth is this.... I have designed automation and tooling for 30 years and I thought my questions were simple and straight forward. I could not give a crap about about his tinker toy tuner design other than asking for clarification. People even came to his aid and said crap like " If you had ever created anything, you would understand his reluctance to share his intellectual property" People that are actually in the design field don't say things like intellectual property. I saw it like this.... Mike is a machinist in Kentucky with a commensurate education. The people taking his side were simply idiots. All that aside, after researching various PID / PDT thesis from other sources, I believe that the Ezell tuner has the most to offer. As I mentioned earlier and to Mike some months ago.... In effect, Mike has created a tuner with dead blow hammer characteristics.

This is just my Grey Goose opinion.

 

[jackd]

Hey Jackd,

I'm happy to try.... I'm going to use some spring rates that are inaccurate to help convey the concept so please keep that in mind.
These are the three photos that were posted on the SH forum that allowed me to come up with my " Adjustable sear limiter / spring counter balance design. The first photo being the key photo because it shows the location of where the spring plunger will go. The B14R trigger has a couple of existing holes in the unit. I'm going to focus on it's rear hole in this post in photo bt-2.jpg It's right in front of the .06" pin punch.
That hole is almost perfect for a #4-40 set screw. If you tapped and added a 4-40 set screw you would be able to adjust the sear engagement. If you go that route, use one that is 1/4" or 3/8" long with a nylon locking patch.

The problem with that approach is that after you added the set screw, all you would have done was limit the sear engagement but you would have retained all of the factory 36 oz. torsion spring rate. Furthermore you will put the sear on the hairy edge of being safe.
I saw the potential for another great opportunity. You could do it at home for $20.00 and 20 minutes of your time start to finish.

I thought that if I were to tap that hole for a 6-32 and installed a " McMaster Carr long nose spring plunger " I may be able to counter balance
the 36 once factory trigger spring with a 25 once spring plunger. So in my approach, I used the spring plunger body as the adjustable sear
limiter but at the same time my 25 oz. spring plunger nose would push against the 36 oz. trigger torsion spring yielding an 11 once trigger pull.

In simple terms, I'm nearly balancing the system out or putting it in equilibrium. With the heaviest 6-32 available from McMaster Carr it's
forces are bias by 11 ounces. Just for fun, I may install an 8-32 long nose plunger to decrease the trigger weight even more. The plungers are about $5.00 each so it's not much of a risk. If you don't like what you have done, you can back peddle and reverse your trigger to nearly
the factory configuration. You have not lapped the sears or ground the rivets or anything else that is permanent. It's one tapped hole !!

The tap that I used was of the spiral flute type. It pulls the chips out of the hole or in this case the trigger housing. You can get away with the
spiral point tap that pushes the chips into the hole if you clear the chips often. When I do that, I also tap the object in the inverted position.

I have adjusted my trigger by turning in the plunger until the firing pin falls and then backing it out by about 110* or .011" based on screw thread pitch. My point being that you can have a lite trigger with a lot of safe sear engagement if you prefer that. My guns are bench guns!

The entire concept is truly very simple. Just think of a Childs teeter tauter. When two kids that aren't balanced, one moves closer to the pivot
to put them in equilibrium. In this case, I want the trigger to be slightly bias in the trigger blades favor.

Look at the photo's, find the sears and imagine where the torsion spring force is going. The plunger is pushing 25 oz. in the opposite
direction. Therefore your finger only has to deal with the 11 oz. remainder.

If you have any questions, you welcome to call me
Shawn Carroll
517-604-1545

thank you Shawn for your in-depth reply I definitely see how this works!
Will call if I need further information
Jack

 

[XikoPlavi]

Hey Shawn. I definitely appreciate you replies here. I’ve read it all and I guess I slightly skeptical but at least I have a real understanding of what these do now. You never know I may find myself needing one some day.

I like grey goose Bloody Marys. Haha

I have book marked this post and it may help others as well. Thanks for taking the time everyone.

I feel like I stole Ops post but not intentional

 

[AirGunShawn]

Hey Xiko,

I'm a little unclear.... I don't understand why you are skeptical?? As I mentioned, the spring forces are all bogus to help facilitate
the readers understanding of what I was trying to accomplish. But at this point, the trigger mod is complete and the trigger weight
is actually 11 ounces with an adjustable sear engagement. I hope the way I wrote the post #17 didn't make it more confusing
as it was meant to help the reader follow along.

 

[XikoPlavi]

Hey Xiko,

I'm a little unclear.... I don't understand why you are skeptical?? As I mentioned, the spring forces are all bogus to help facilitate
the readers understanding of what I was trying to accomplish. But at this point, the trigger mod is complete and the trigger weight
is actually 11 ounces with an adjustable pull. I hope the way I wrote the post didn't make it more confusing as it was meant
to help the reader.

I meant to say I “was” slightly skeptical. Now I get what it can do.

 

[TheBlackSmith]

I personally would not describe it as being eccentric in nature. It may have some effect on modulating the frequency but
I have never seen any data to prove it. I would suggest that you go to your local big box store or some other
tool supplier and find yourself a dead blow hammer. A normal hammer will tend to bounce but the dead blow that is filled with
some sort of shot will not. Then if you consider getting a tuner, I would suggest trying the Ezell tuner. It is nearly the same as the
Harrel tuner but Mike has tried to incorporate PID technology. If you go to his web site you will find a thesis done at Texas A&M
regarding PDT & PDT. It wasn't done for Mike but is a general thesis of PDT in the horizontal plane! You wont understand the thesis
but after a fair amount of digging on my part, I believe that Mike has the minimum required to incorporate PDT into his tuner.
Does it work ?? I don't know !
But he has the concept nailed down and it is so similar to the Harrel tuner that you lose nothing if it has been over sold.
All he has done is add nine holes going down the long axis of his tuner
and filled them with some sort of particles. You can see the 9 holes in the unfinished parts shown on his web site. It's
purely a guess but I would think he used Wolfram ( Tungsten ) for his media. It's easy to get, relatively inexpensive and has good
density. It's the first thing I would have tried. So to my way of thinking, he has used the dead blow hammer technology in
his tuner. Hit the dead blow hammer on the concrete floor and you will see how the particles inside suck up almost all of the energy.
My description isn't nearly as COOL as the thesis, but the average guy can wrap his mind around it. The Ezell tuner also ffers addition weight do to it's dense particulates.

As for the threaded question, I had my Harrel bored out to .860" for one particular gun. Then I had the local shop make me a
false muzzle brake. It's false in terms that the vent holes don't go through. I had them make it's outer diameter .860" and had
them thread it for 1/2-28. That way I could clamp the Harrel onto the unthreaded barrel and use my fake-brake for all of
my 1/2-28 barrels. If I do it again with a Ezell tuner, I will do the same thing except I will forgo the fake vent holes, make it about
1.25 long and have them add wrench flats. It cost me $35.00 but allowed me to move the tuner all over. All I needed to do is
keep my tuner DOPE for each rifle. You can see the tuner has a micrometer type design so It's easy to get back to any preestablished
setting.

I only use my tuner on .22LR and it goes on everything from my Vudoo with a 22" bbl, my CZ457s, Anschutz 64s, 54 and
Sako Quad Range.

btw.... if the vent holes went through, the back side of your tuner would be covered in smuutz in just a few shots. It
doesn't like to come off

PDT Tuners

Our new barrel tuners… PDT stands for particle dampening technology. We applied published scientific research on particle dampening technology to our barrel tuner. The advantages are a wider …

www.ezellcustomrifles.com

 

[TheBlackSmith]

PDT Tuners

Our new barrel tuners… PDT stands for particle dampening technology. We applied published scientific research on particle dampening technology to our barrel tuner. The advantages are a wider …

www.ezellcustomrifles.com

link to the paper at the bottom of the page, ~81 pages.

 

[bwall57]

I personally would not describe it as being eccentric in nature. It may have some effect on modulating the frequency but
I have never seen any data to prove it. I would suggest that you go to your local big box store or some other
tool supplier and find yourself a dead blow hammer. A normal hammer will tend to bounce but the dead blow that is filled with
some sort of shot will not. Then if you consider getting a tuner, I would suggest trying the Ezell tuner. It is nearly the same as the
Harrel tuner but Mike has tried to incorporate PID technology. If you go to his web site you will find a thesis done at Texas A&M
regarding PDT & PDT. It wasn't done for Mike but is a general thesis of PDT in the horizontal plane! You wont understand the thesis
but after a fair amount of digging on my part, I believe that Mike has the minimum required to incorporate PDT into his tuner.
Does it work ?? I don't know !
But he has the concept nailed down and it is so similar to the Harrel tuner that you lose nothing if it has been over sold.
All he has done is add nine holes going down the long axis of his tuner
and filled them with some sort of particles. You can see the 9 holes in the unfinished parts shown on his web site. It's
purely a guess but I would think he used Wolfram ( Tungsten ) for his media. It's easy to get, relatively inexpensive and has good
density. It's the first thing I would have tried. So to my way of thinking, he has used the dead blow hammer technology in
his tuner. Hit the dead blow hammer on the concrete floor and you will see how the particles inside suck up almost all of the energy.
My description isn't nearly as COOL as the thesis, but the average guy can wrap his mind around it. The Ezell tuner also ffers addition weight do to it's dense particulates.

As for the threaded question, I had my Harrel bored out to .860" for one particular gun. Then I had the local shop make me a
false muzzle brake. It's false in terms that the vent holes don't go through. I had them make it's outer diameter .860" and had
them thread it for 1/2-28. That way I could clamp the Harrel onto the unthreaded barrel and use my fake-brake for all of
my 1/2-28 barrels. If I do it again with a Ezell tuner, I will do the same thing except I will forgo the fake vent holes, make it about
1.25 long and have them add wrench flats. It cost me $35.00 but allowed me to move the tuner all over. All I needed to do is
keep my tuner DOPE for each rifle. You can see the tuner has a micrometer type design so It's easy to get back to any preestablished
setting.

I only use my tuner on .22LR and it goes on everything from my Vudoo with a 22" bbl, my CZ457s, Anschutz 64s, 54 and
Sako Quad Range.

btw.... if the vent holes went through, the back side of your tuner would be covered in smuutz in just a few shots. It
doesn't like to come off.

At least tuners keeps you interested in shooting and spending money on the hobby. Most of the comments are entertaining and fun to read. I really appreciate the effort that everyone takes in writing about their journey in putting holes in paper. Thousands of dollars being spent in the pursuit of accuracy and most of all the bragging rights to be the smartest self taught engineer in the room. The lack of knowledge supported by the internet malarkey makes us improve our skills as marksman. Keep up the good work and continue to have fun in search of that perfect .22 inch group.

 

[Colt45guy]

I recently picked up the Harrell's AR15 tuner for my B14R.

Its a direct thread 1/2x28 (or whatever the standard thread for small bore is). I don't know if it does anything or not--haven't had a chance to try dialing it in yet but it's on my list of things to do. I got this one because it's a direct thread and it was considerably cheaper than others.

AR15 TUNER BRAKE

AR15 TUNER BRAKE

harrellsprec.com

 

[Colt45guy]

Because of this thread, I finally went out and tried out my tuner yesterday evening. What's that the Mythbusters used to say? "Plausible"

I absolutely saw a difference, but it's going to take a lot more testing before I say it's worth the money or effort. (different temps, ammo, distance, etc) My B14R has been about a 3/4 MOA rifle since I bought it, and I've been working to improve that. Bedding, new trigger, better glass, practicing....at this point, I think I'm the weakest link.

Anyway,

With SK Standard Plus, I have a node at exactly 2 complete revolutions and my average group size edge to edge is about .4". I appear to have another sweet spot at 1.4 revolutions and the average group size was also roughly .4", edge-to-edge. (four 5-shot groups at each setting to confirm)

Subtracting .22 from .4 gives me center-to-center groups that are at or slightly under .2". Target was set up at 50 yards so roughly 1/2 MOA.



At this time, I don't know if these tight groups were just luck, or if the tuner really is some magical device--but I will say that I shot tighter groups at 50 yards than some of my 25 yard groups that were shot without the tuner.

The target I was using isn't exactly the best for this kind of test because I was guesstimating where the center of the black dots were. I made a 'precision target' in Word--no math involved, just a series of little bitty aiming points and a .250" diamond for confirming zero--I'm going to try it again today and see what happens.


No matter what happens, I'll be outdoors and shooting :-D

 

[Sagittarius]

It's been almost a year since I ordered my ATS and still have yet to use it.
My rifle arrived 8 months after I ordered the tuner and have now waited 4 months on a scope.
Damn, I must be nuts!
I might put it on another rifle and order something else, lol.
Some of the other options look interesting.