Some have been wondering about the usefulness of barrel nitriding (meloniting, QPQ, salt bath nitriding). I can report some results based upon my barrel.
I shoot Across the Course competitively. The barrel on my spacegun is a cut rifle barrel, in 223, 26" long, with a 7.7 twist. The barrel has been shooting well since it was put on the rifle, and is still shooting well today after 11,000 documented rounds.
I wanted to see the condition of the bore, since most competitive barrels are long gone after this many rounds. A bench rest shooter friend has a bore scope, so we decided to take a look. I brought along a new barrel from the same manufacturer, chambered the same way as a comparison. What we found was astonishing (to us).
The 11,000 round barrel showed some wear and very minor pitting in the first half of the lead in area. In the new barrel, there was a small step where the rifling started for the lead in. That step was worn smooth in the 11,000 round barrel. After that, there was no visible signs of wear, pitting, firing cracking, or any other signs of defects. After the lead in, the rifling was sharp all the way to the muzzle which appeared in perfect condition compared to the new barrel. Unfortunately, I didn't measure how the seating depth has changed since new.
Most of the loads used were mild, with 55gr bullets. The rifle has also had many rounds of max loads 90gr bullets at 2800fps.
We looked at another non-nitrided 17Rem barrel after 7,000 full power rounds. This barrel had stopped shooting, meaning the bullets were hitting sideways. This barrel had no rifling for the first 1"-2", was severely firecracked for the first half of its length and had chunks of torn metal away. It was clear why this barrel wouldn't shoot.
This is merely one data point. My results are not scientific. I didn't have a control barrel, and didn't measure the throat as time progressed. I used mild loads with relatively light bullets which may have contributed significantly to the good barrel life.
Barrel nitriding has been available to shooters for the past several years, but I haven't seen much data on long term results. Perhaps others can share their experiences so we can determine if this process has merits for the shooting community. My results thus far are positive.
I shoot Across the Course competitively. The barrel on my spacegun is a cut rifle barrel, in 223, 26" long, with a 7.7 twist. The barrel has been shooting well since it was put on the rifle, and is still shooting well today after 11,000 documented rounds.
I wanted to see the condition of the bore, since most competitive barrels are long gone after this many rounds. A bench rest shooter friend has a bore scope, so we decided to take a look. I brought along a new barrel from the same manufacturer, chambered the same way as a comparison. What we found was astonishing (to us).
The 11,000 round barrel showed some wear and very minor pitting in the first half of the lead in area. In the new barrel, there was a small step where the rifling started for the lead in. That step was worn smooth in the 11,000 round barrel. After that, there was no visible signs of wear, pitting, firing cracking, or any other signs of defects. After the lead in, the rifling was sharp all the way to the muzzle which appeared in perfect condition compared to the new barrel. Unfortunately, I didn't measure how the seating depth has changed since new.
Most of the loads used were mild, with 55gr bullets. The rifle has also had many rounds of max loads 90gr bullets at 2800fps.
We looked at another non-nitrided 17Rem barrel after 7,000 full power rounds. This barrel had stopped shooting, meaning the bullets were hitting sideways. This barrel had no rifling for the first 1"-2", was severely firecracked for the first half of its length and had chunks of torn metal away. It was clear why this barrel wouldn't shoot.
This is merely one data point. My results are not scientific. I didn't have a control barrel, and didn't measure the throat as time progressed. I used mild loads with relatively light bullets which may have contributed significantly to the good barrel life.
Barrel nitriding has been available to shooters for the past several years, but I haven't seen much data on long term results. Perhaps others can share their experiences so we can determine if this process has merits for the shooting community. My results thus far are positive.
