ECM rifling method discussed

[DocBII]

Good day,

Reminds me of the BlackStar barrel lapping company and its claims. I had a couple, no complaints about cleaning or fouling. The 243 Win chambered barrel lasted at least 1500 rounds and was very accurate. I believe Lothar Walther made the barrels used by BlackStar, and were of the LW proprietary material. This was in the early 00s.

HTH,
DocBII

 

[Jud96]

Who all is doing this process besides McGowan?

 

[taylorw]

New video to add to the thread.

 

[JFrank]

Here’s the link to carbon six.

Carbon Six Barrel

Buy your carbon fiber rifle barrel here. Check out our news section for happy customer images and the latest news. Carbonsix Replacement Rifle Barrels are designed with two things in mind: weight reduction and accuracy improvement. We start with world-class McGowen Precision Barrel blanks...

carbonsixllc.com

I can’t seem to find Precision cut ECM website.

 

[CharlieNC]

I worked in the production of silicon wafers for a while, and a long career in synthetic fibers which use spinnerettes ( dies with extremely small holes ). Both these involve specs and tolerances measured in microns. Interestingly the space age technology from the '60s has evolved into the "conventional" manufacturing; edm, etching, liquid honing, precision laser, etc at little additional cost but much higher quality.

 

[clowdis]

Good day,

Reminds me of the BlackStar barrel lapping company and its claims. I had a couple, no complaints about cleaning or fouling. The 243 Win chambered barrel lasted at least 1500 rounds and was very accurate. I believe Lothar Walther made the barrels used by BlackStar, and were of the LW proprietary material. This was in the early 00s.

HTH,
DocBII

Blackstar advertised ECM polishing of barrels but whatever they did to them really didn't improve much and they never caught on. I wonder if this is the same thing or if they have something better?

 

[jackieschmidt]

Blackstar advertised ECM polishing of barrels but whatever they did to them really didn't improve much and they never caught on. I wonder if this is the same thing or if they have something better?

I was at the very first Benchrest Match at American Shooting Center in West Houston when the Blackstar crowd showed up. They had a big loading tent set up and young hot shot shooter, and more or less announced that everyone else was competing for second place.

I think they packed up and left after the 3d relay. We never saw them again.

Butch Lambert was there as well.

 

[gdbleb]

I was at the very first Benchrest Match at American Shooting Center in West Houston when the Blackstar crowd showed up. They had a big loading tent set up and young hot shot shooter, and more or less announced that everyone else was competing for second place.

I think they packed up and left after the 3d relay. We never saw them again.

Butch Lambert was there as well.

As literally all "new tech" and old techniques discussions end up here, it's what's on target that determines the final conclusion. It's brutal, the sales pitch vs. competition results but it helps us identify what is significant to results and what is not.

Now back to my 2 concentricity gauges. ;-)

 

[jackieschmidt]

I applaud McGowen for this effort. As has been noted, it is not new technology.

I’m sure Bartlien and Krieger would have a few choice words about the claims of accuracy and stress in relation to their cut rifled barrels. The cut rifled process adds zero stress to a blank. The vast majority of machining stress is added to any barrel during the gun drilling phase or in the pulling of a button.
Regardless of how you form the lands and grooves, everybody still has to start with a solid piece of steel and get a precision hole drilled through it.
If the ECM barrels prove to be as accurate in Short Range Group and Score or even more so than the offerings we have now, I will get in line.

I’m a fairly good score shooter with a 30BR, I would even be willing to buy one right now chamber it, and give it the test that really counts, in the competitive arena.

 

[DDriller]

Jackie they should just give you one to prove a point.

 

[charlie b]

I agree. If the pricing comes out reasonable they might be my next barrel as well.

 

[rickiesrevenge]

Id try one if it wasnt mcgowen. The blanks Ive got from them haven't been as good the last few years. To the point I stopped buying them all together. Maybe they were putting all their eggs in this basket.

 

[dat]

Thank you Frank for starting the info and also to everyone who added to the info. I had no knowledge of this process.