Bartlein vs Brux Vs Krieger Cleaning Some easy some not?

[gmr4]

There are differences in steel between them for sure. I could make one pass on the tenon and tell you if it was a krieger or bartlien. Bartlien steel is different than all others. I dont know how they spec it or who they get it from and I dont care. But it is not the same stuff others use.

My gunsmith sometimes mentions the difference in steel between manufacturers he notices when chambering.. not sure if he hears it or what. He’s never said one is better than another because of it… but he is a big Brux fan.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Thats suprising to me

 

[David Conder]

I understand Bartlein is using a new kind of steel time will tell

 

[jackieschmidt]

In order to be certified as AISI 416R, a steel has to meet certain chemical criteria. These are not suggestions.

If a barrel company is marketing their barrels as 416R, they cannot arbitrarily substitute 410, or any other alloy in its place. Well, maybe they could, until they get caught.

Now, that does not have anything to do with the actual quality of the steel, which is determined by the manufacturing process, which with most “clean” steels is by some type of consumable electrode or VAR. Companies such as Jorgensen Steel class the quality of their alloy steels in categories such as commercial melt, aircraft quality, and premium aircraft quality. Chemically, the three categories meet the standards to be that alloy. However, the impurities, described as things that should not be in there, can affect everything from machinability to ductility.

Some years ago, a particular barrel maker was advertising his barrels as being made from a special 416R, giving the notion that a manufacturer was doing special batches just for him.

Since I did, and still do buy a lot of steel, I decided to see if one of my suppliers could do a product trace, and find out just exactly if this was true.

Well, long story short, he was using the same 416R as everybody else. When the trucks rolled, he got the next pile that was ready.

He as none too happy with me, and I got a scathing phone call. Not for what I had done, but for what he was claiming.

I have a lot of barrel drops. It will cost me $400, but I can take two drops from two different barrel makers over to the Lab we use and get a complete run down on them. Everything from the chemical makeup to the RC hardness. If I pay a little extra, sand furnishe pieces large enough, I can get a Charpy V Notch test performed to determine the ductility, which is a good indication of the cleanliness of the specimen at the molecular level.

 

[gmr4]

I’m with a metallurgist hunting this week and asked him about stainless steel416. He says that 416 or any other has a range of properties that are acceptable. And that steel can be ordered with a specific spec within the category. I did not understand most of what he was saying but learned that he turns away 416 sometimes even though it’s 416. He said it doesn’t meet the spec for part used in nuclear reactors parts. My takeaway is there is a reason barrels differ so much

 

[gmr4]

I’m with a metallurgist hunting this week and asked him about stainless steel416. He says that 416 or any other has a range of properties that are acceptable. And that steel can be ordered with a specific spec within the category. I did not understand most of what he was saying but learned that he turns away 416 sometimes even though it’s 416. He said it doesn’t meet the spec for part used in nuclear reactors parts. My takeaway is there is a reason barrels differ so much

BTW I don’t need to know this stuff. It’s interesting but really I want to and clean. Repeat