Barrel Nitriding: 11,000 round update

[butchlambert]

I meant from the guys doing the processing, both the Schneider and the Kreiger will always have thread protectors and crown protectors on when shipping. It's what happens when they take them off at the treatment facility .

Question still remains unanswered as to who is CURRENTLY doing the nitriding process and is savvy to firearm barrels. Who is doing a good job out there to go to?

So far MMI has not responded.

Who has sent their barrels off recently and to whom did they send it ?

I will try and search for"Kelbys" .

Mimi has done all of mine and the military's. Joel Kendrick started this several years ago."Barrel Meloniting" He is now an engineer with Mimi. Joel, used to shoot long range extensively and was the long range shooter of the year about 3 years back. I don't think they are in the business of banging around barrels.

 

[butchlambert]

MT, go back to the first page of this thread. You will see the email I got from the Army Reserve Shooting Team armorer. I would find it hard to dispute his findings. The trials were done with the AR15 comp rifles only.

 

[dra1911]

Just picked up my M700 action and 6mm Dasher barrel today. Turn around was about two months. First impression is Rodney put a lot of time and effort on my rifle. He took the time to put a plastic thread protector on the barrel shank when he shipped it back. Everything else was assembled enough to protect all external threads. The primary purpose was to protect the bore but the exterior finish is outstanding. Plan on sending all my future projects to Rodney at MMI Trutec. The wait is worth it.

 

[hoverp]

MT, go back to the first page of this thread. You will see the email I got from the Army Reserve Shooting Team armorer. I would find it hard to dispute his findings. The trials were done with the AR15 comp rifles only.

I never tried to dispute the process. Rather, I would like to send my barrels to Rodney at mmi in Arkansas but I can't get ahold of him.

 

[Matt Pitchon]

I've had barrels done at H&M Metal processing. They know about firearms. The guy to talk to is Shade. They have a $200 lot charge. Each barrel is about $60 but is varies.

http://blacknitride.com/

 

[hoverp]

Thanks Matt, I just emailed Shade.

 

[spclark]

I e-mailed Rodney last week using an address from a year ago that he'd replied from. Received a reply yesterday that he's still at MMI, does barrels on his own time with their process for $60 each. Says he's pretty busy so expect ~ 2 weeks plus shipping at both ends....

 

[hoverp]

Nothing from Shade at H&M.

 

[dennisinaz]

I don't like to talk bad about folks so I will only say this. I had three barrels done at the same time; two were new with only ONE fouling shot fired through them. The other was my personal 6.5-284 barrel with about 75 rounds down it.

The 6.5-284 barrel (#4 contour Chanlynn) was shooting 130 Normas into .25 MOA. In fact, I sent the whole barreled action (stripped) on the 6.5. The bolt was a mess and took some doing to get all the salt out of it. The little holes in the bolt were plugged shut and had to be drilled out. I don't know if this is the normal procedure or not. The finish looked really good.

One of the barrels, a 7mm fluted Schneider, had a muzzle brake and I broke it loose and left it on there just enough to protect the threads. That's the way they left it too. Half the threads didn't even get exposed to the salt.

Here is what I found on the barrels: I don't think ONE round is enough unless you do some lapping clean up first. I would suggest maybe 10 rounds. Apparently 75 is TOO many. When I put the 6.5 back together, it would throw fliers out of the group and would tear the jackets off Bergers if they were going over 3100. Since I was mostly shooting 130s, this was a problem.

The new barrels took some breaking in! They shoot fine now.

I rebarreled the 6.5 with a Shilen and it is shooting good now. I had the melonite barrel bore scoped twice and they could not find anything wrong with it. Not sure why it started tearing up jackets and causing fliers. I probably should have tried some 140s or some thicker jackets but I have thousands of the 130 Norma Diamonds and didn't want to switch. I had it lightly lapped by a barrel manufacturer just to see if this would fix the problem. The Shilen is shooting too good to take it off and see! I will wait til I shoot this barrel up and go back to the Chanlynn barrel.

I suspect they have their process streamlined a little better now that it has become a popular option. Would I do it again? Probably- especially since I have learned from the first experience.

 

[GNERGY]

I had my barrel done at Controlled Thermal Technology in Phoenix Az. I dropped off one day and it was done by the end of the next day. Call and talk to Danny 602-272-3714. They do parts for FOP and McMillan and used to do parts for Ruger. They know how to take care of your barrel. Tell him Tarey sent you.
Tarey

 

[dennisinaz]

I had my barrel done at Controlled Thermal Technology in Phoenix Az. I dropped off one day and it was done by the end of the next day. Call and talk to Danny 602-272-3714. They do parts for FOP and McMillan and used to do parts for Ruger. They know how to take care of your barrel. Tell him Tarey sent you.
Tarey

Good to know there is someone local that can do it!

 

[hoverp]

Now that is information I can use!

NONE of the other contacts would return calls or emails. Find it hard to send a 600$ barrel to them.

 

[Ring31]

any updates on this.... ?

all still going good?

 

[PALarson]

This thread is very interesting, Mark Humpryville was telling me about this process a couple of years ago. I haven't tried it yet, I was interested that it may work for SS barrels also. As for polishing the chamber I am not real sure but I feel that the chamber grabs the case when fired and if polished it may be difficult for the chamber to grab the hull causing extra load on the bolt lugs and receiver. A good chamber doesn't need any additional polishing, it will release the case with no problem. I have been installing barrels on target rifles for some 30 years and for what is't worth that is my opinion.
Paul Larson

 

[Rtheurer]

Hello Paul

Think of it this way. If you do one of your fine chambering jobs and have a good or normal amount of cross hatching in the chamber... then send it onto have it QPQ'd those chambers will still have those same marks in the chamber except now they are at a RC of 70ish.. Not smoothed out or polished just harder. The polishing comment is more about getting the residual Saltbath residue out of the bore and chamber area after the process is complete. Hope this makes sense?

Just cleaning up after the dance is over.

RussT

 

[gaboon]

Anybody read Krieger's opinion on this process.

 

[Jeff A]

Anybody read Krieger's opinion on this process.

Care to share a link?

 

[butchlambert]

Joel Kendrick emailed me this week recommended that we send the barrels to Rock Creek. They are the agent for Mmi Tru Tec.

 

[dennisinaz]

I have had a somewhat mixed results experience with the whole thing and may have posted it before as this is actually an old thread however ressurected.

I had several barrels and a chrome-moly action done. The black didn't stay on one of the barrels (a Gary Schneider SS barrel) and the clean up was not very thorough. The action is hard and black and has no additional treatment other than a light wipe down of oil and has endured some rigorous hunts with zero corrosion. The barrel on it (6.5-284 chambered Chanlynn) had about 60 or 70 rounds through it when I got it treated (IIRC) I tried my same load and had to add 1/2 grain to get my velocity back. Problem was that it would through a bullet out of the group every once in a while (actually quite often). I had a .3 MOA rifle go to shooting 4 shots into .3-.4 and then one would be out 6" or so. I had some bullet fail to reach the target.

I bought a Shilen barrel, rechambered it and went back to shooting about .4 MOA at 200 yards and .5 out to about 800 or so. Since this is a hunting rifle, I don't work up new loads or search for better accuracy. Once I find a good load I quit chasing my tail. I recently switched bullets and tried ONE load which shot about .6 MOA at 600 yards and I called it good (140 Accubond).

Butch got Shilen to lightly lap the offending barrel but I have seen no reason to pull the Shilen off and try the old barrel again. I will try it if and when I ruin the Shilen that is on it. I really like the Shilen ratchet rifling for this application.

I think the nitriding is a great idea and the benefit is that this process leaves a very corrosion resistant finish (think Glock slides -they are salt bath nitrided)

I think it is important to have the proper barrel prep BEFORE it is nitrided. I think it needs to have a very low round count. I sent two in with ONE round down the barrel. You want no alligator skin at all because it is now so hard that it can shred your jackets. These two barrels seem to shoot fine but will never seen a 500 round count in their lifetimes knowing these two owners.

I am going to chamber up another new barrel and have it done again as I like the hardness but it will be a CM barrel

 

[gaboon]

A: There have been many praises of this surface hardening treatment applied to rifle barrels in relation to extended barrel life, easier cleaning, non existent copper fouling. However there are some concerns that must be understood if you move forward with this. The temperature that the steel is brought up to during this process is within the range that can remove the temper from the steel if not properly finished potentially causing the steel to become dangerous and not contain the pressures your cartridge will produce. Any heat treating process done after the rifling process can lead to bore and groove dimensions and uniformity being changed. Also, the salt bath nitriding process produces a very hard surface finish. If the barrel IS NOT broken in prior to this process being done, it will never properly break in. If the barrel IS broken in there could be traces of copper left in the bore (even in the pores of the steel) and will react with the nitriding process in the form of pits or corrosion in the barrel where it reacted to the copper. The person or company you choose to do this operation must be aware of these items and would assume responsibility for what happens to your barrel as all of these operations and procedures are out of the control of Krieger Barrels, Inc.

For the reasons stated above, the answer to this question is no.

http://www.kriegerbarrels.com/FAQ-c1246-wp3352.htm