I have one in my safe at the moment - 7mm, 8.5 left hand twist, 4 groove finished at 32". It's chambered in 284 Shehane and has done over 2500 rounds and it still shooting lights out. It takes a good 7-8 shots to settle down after being cleaned back to bare metal, but it's probably the most accurate barrel I've had. My gunsmith took a look down the tube recently and aside from the usual wear around the lands, the rest of the barrel looks Mickey Mouse, it's like nothing he has seen previously so I put that down to the steel. I do have another on order.
Bartlien MOD 400, experiences?
- Thread starter Sgt. Brumbaugh
- Start date
I have a friend that's thinking about having a new barrel chambered up in 7mmSTW and the mod 400 steel sounds like that's his best way to go since he shoots it a bunch.
jackieschmidt
Gold $$ Contributor
I answered the “accuracy” potential of the Mod 400 steel when Bartlien sent me one in 30 caliber, 1-18 twist, HV profile.
I put it on my favorite VFS Rifle, and it shot exactly like my Bartlien Barrels in 416R. Of course, the barrel life thing might be a moot point with a 30BR, as they are VERY easy on barrels.
As for the machining, I machine various steels on a regular basis, and the 400 Mod cuts closer to typical Chrome Moly than 416R as far as torque on the reamer. Threading is no problem whatsoever ever as I thread with carbide top lock inserts at 250 rpm.
As for the added cost of a blank, Tooling cost might account for much of this, as the loss of machinability in deep hole drilling, reaming, and single point rifling is probably harder on tooling than with 416R. If the steel is a true proprietary item, I can see a higher cost in the initial steel as manufacturers do tend to charge more per pound for special melts.
I was going to take the drop off of my blank to my local lab who does our metallurgy testing to get it analyzed to ascertain the exact chemical and alloy content, but never got around to it.
I put it on my favorite VFS Rifle, and it shot exactly like my Bartlien Barrels in 416R. Of course, the barrel life thing might be a moot point with a 30BR, as they are VERY easy on barrels.
As for the machining, I machine various steels on a regular basis, and the 400 Mod cuts closer to typical Chrome Moly than 416R as far as torque on the reamer. Threading is no problem whatsoever ever as I thread with carbide top lock inserts at 250 rpm.
As for the added cost of a blank, Tooling cost might account for much of this, as the loss of machinability in deep hole drilling, reaming, and single point rifling is probably harder on tooling than with 416R. If the steel is a true proprietary item, I can see a higher cost in the initial steel as manufacturers do tend to charge more per pound for special melts.
I was going to take the drop off of my blank to my local lab who does our metallurgy testing to get it analyzed to ascertain the exact chemical and alloy content, but never got around to it.
SteveOak
Gold $$ Contributor
Where do you get a barrel nitrided please?
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