Harrells Tuner Brake - Where to start?

[RAG]

I see this is a OLD post.. However I think I will wake it up from it's sleep. I was told that when adjusting a Harrell's tuner / brake I should adjust in 1 full turn increments to start. That's not what I have been reading here. Thoughts? 6BRA 8T

ty Don

Yes, thank you for resurrecting this post. I too have been struggling to find useful information on the Harrells tuner brake. Had I not wanted a brake, I certainly would have bought an Ezell. That said, I can find very little useful information on the Harrells. I plan to shoot 3 shoots per setting/increment, but unsure about the best increment. I was planning to shoot 3 shots at each setting for a complete revolution...so 10 3 shot groups. However, with the lighter moving weight, I wonder if maybe I should a 3-shot group at every 2 settings, for 2 revolutions...still 10 groups, but now covering 2 revolutions.

 

[williepete]

I have a Harrells tuner break
It works great
How I set it up is 3 shot groups at every setting
1 through 10
You will find the node within one revolution
The only thing that I did not like about the Harrells is
the 2 weight locking system it comes loose so I drilled and taped
the 2 weights and put a set screw in them now they stay tight
I just ordered a EC tuner break and I am going to give it a try also
It makes getting a good load much easier if you change something
just dial in the tuner

 

[RAG]

Oh wow. That's frankly shocking that you can find a node within 1 revolution...given how light the weight is. I've not yet made it to this stage of load development, despite the fact I put these on 3 barrels, but I had planned to use much larger increments. Guess I had better heed your advice and try 1 notch increments.

*I will note, however, even though I haven't adjusted the tuner, I've had them on 3 barrels, over dozens of range sessions and even a high volume prairie dog trip...and I've not had one of these tuner brakes come lose on me...to my surprise.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Oh wow. That's frankly shocking that you can find a node within 1 revolution...given how light the weight is. I've not yet made it to this stage of load development, despite the fact I put these on 3 barrels, but I had planned to use much larger increments. Guess I had better heed your advice and try 1 notch increments.

*I will note, however, even though I haven't adjusted the tuner, I've had them on 3 barrels, over dozens of range sessions and even a high volume prairie dog trip...and I've not had one of these tuner brakes come lose on me...to my surprise.

Small increments are the way to go. I agree with him 100%. By far, the most common mistake using tuners is moving them too far at a time. I sound like a broken record but this is the key to tuner success. Ask yourself WHY you choose whatever increment you do and think on that for just a second. You'll be glad you did the 1 mark intervals IME.

 

[Bill Norris]

Small increments are the way to go. I agree with him 100%. By far, the most common mistake using tuners is moving them too far at a time. I sound like a broken record but this is the key to tuner success. Ask yourself WHY you choose whatever increment you do and think on that for just a second. You'll be glad you did the 1 mark intervals IME.

It definitely pays to check all those 1/2 hash marks. Moving 1/2 increment either way depending on the atmospheric changes will show you WHY.

 

[RussellJ]

You need to make a PDF and share it, lol.

Here is your pdf that you requested.

 

[williepete]

Thank you for the pdf
great read

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Thank you for the pdf
great read

Tuners all have different weights, designs, thread pitches and mark values. To me, that pdf is good info but it appears that on that bbl, there are only a couple of full marks between completely in and out of tune. That's derived indirectly by seeing how far it was between sweet spots, about 4 marks. If you look, you'll see what I'm talking about. Tune just repeats in a sine wave pattern, in, out and back in tune. If there's 4 marks between sweet spots, then half of that(2 marks) is how far it is from a sweet spot to completely out of tune. This just repeats, almost linearly.

Once you get your head wrapped around that, it's much easier to see how they do what they do. The next step should be to quantify mark values in regard to group shape. With a given tuner design, you may find it best to move in half mark values, full marks or maybe even two marks at a time..but that's actually pretty rare.
I know my tuner better than others because I have a boat load of experience using it but I also have had the rare luxury of doing vibration analysis testing, and seeing it all play out on a computer monitor, confirming what I'm talking about.

Don't let Tuners intimidate you but just be very methodical about establishing mark values on the target. Everything is based on that. Otherwise, we'd all just be guessing.