Firecracking vs Barrel Steel

[butchlambert]

Maybe the mass/semi mass production guys but the custom guild guys have some unbelievable spec steels that many use to turn out some of the high end customs, and that is just for the SS formulations, especially some of the stuff sourced from Japan.
If you move into custom Damascus, some of it will blow your mind as to some of the custom billets being made, including custom powdered metal patterns forged throughout the billets. Some guys even managing to forge/weld dissimilar Damascus in single blades.

Blade damascus can just be incredible and expensive! I have some scope bases from damascus and they are just beautiful. Problem is you can't hardly see them. They were very hard to machine.

 

[riflewoman]

FrankG brings up a very good point. There are some steels/materials that will last far longer (maybe) than regular CM or SS barrel materials. But they are a bear to machine and seldom give match accuracy. So a short lived (relatively) inexpensive barrel allows us to shoot well then swap out with a fresh barrel at a cost we can live with. Tony Boyer used to buy an armload of barrels at a time then shoot each one looking for “hummers”. It was just the cost of being at the top of the game for him and he was willing to pay it.

 

[butchlambert]

I can't say what happens today, but Tony went through a bunch of barrels. Barrel companies,SOME, gave shooters that won certain matches or 2,3, or 4 gun championships barrels as rewards. Tony used to win several a year and when he bought some they were a little cheaper than what you and I pay. I have no problem with that as BR shooting is not very lucrative.
Tony pretty much shot one load of a certain brand of powder and one bullet. He knew in about 25-50 rounds what accuracy a barrel had.
I have never met a person that was as single minded about his craft and the complete effort that he put into it.

 

[FrankG]

To Frank or anybody for that matter, are most of the SS barrels made today largely derived from 416 or 416R with the big variable with the R being the sulphur content ?

Both types of 416 and 416R have sulphur in it. Take what you read online with a grain of salt but the regular 416 is usually higher on the sulphur. There are other things to be concerned about. The cleanliness of the material. Also how the material is made is another area of concern. There are at least two different ways of making the material. One is cheaper and causes more problems.

Also places are selling non heat treated material or should I say a generic grade that possibly has not been heat treated and or properly stress relieved. That's why we go to the mills directly and not just a general steel supplier. We need to know what we are getting.

 

[Tim s]

Frank, thank you, although let’s not assume.
I did not say anything about lack of sulphur only the degree.
I should mention, I did not get this on line but from one of the pioneers of SS match grade barrels, also live about 2 miles from Crucible, but again thanks.

P.S. FWIW just screwed on my new LV 13.75-13.875 gain, looks like a shooter.

 

[FrankG]

Frank, thank you, although let’s not assume.
I did not say anything about lack of sulphur only the degree.
I should mention, I did not get this on line but from one of the pioneers of SS match grade barrels, also live about 2 miles from Crucible, but again thanks.

P.S. FWIW just screwed on my new LV 13.75-13.875 gain, looks like a shooter.

Wooohooo! New stick on the gun!

Too much reading Tim!

You look at stuff and it's like...how deep do you want to get into it!

 

[Tim s]

Wooohooo! New stick on the gun!

Too much reading Tim!

You look at stuff and it's like...how deep do you want to get into it!

yeah, I hear ya.
By the way, still gotta try a rimfire barrel on one of my match guns, too many guns, not enough time.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Maybe the mass/semi mass production guys but the custom guild guys have some unbelievable spec steels that many use to turn out some of the high end customs, and that is just for the SS formulations, especially some of the stuff sourced from Japan.
If you move into custom Damascus, some of it will blow your mind as to some of the custom billets being made, including custom powdered metal patterns forged throughout the billets. Some guys even managing to forge/weld dissimilar Damascus in single blades.

Im not saying the big knife makers dont get the best stuff there is but even case dont buy a whole heat of steel at a time like barrelmakers do. They dont buy enough to spec the way a whole run is done

 

[Tim s]

Ok fair point but if you follow this stuff, over the last 10-15 years, there are one pantload of custom guys out there and it adds up to a pretty fair chunk.

anybody have a clue how much of the 416 series stuff gets made in the US ?
I get the impression it is not a hell of a lot. Remember when Crucible went down a few years back, barrel guys were going nuts trying stuff from Italy, Germany, every damn place looking for proper steel to cover the bases.