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Reverse Tapered Barrel

APGE

Hi Folks,

Can anyone tell me if reverse taper barrels have ever been known to work on a centerfire rifle? I've seen them on some very tight shooting rimfire rifles before, but not on a centerfire. Is the idea that the weight and the end of the muzzle slows down vibrations and widens nodes? Here's a pic I stole from another site

FB_IMG_1534657596644.jpg
 
APGE said:
Hi Folks,

Can anyone tell me if reverse taper barrels have ever been known to work on a centerfire rifle? I've seen them on some very tight shooting rimfire rifles before, but not on a centerfire. Is the idea that the weight and the end of the muzzle slows down vibrations and widens nodes? Here's a pic I stole from another site

FB_IMG_1534657596644.jpg
Click to expand...
See “dog knot”
 
You guys need to read the rulebook. Not illegal in NBRSA. I have used one and it worked OK with a tuner in 6PPC. I gave the other to Pat Byrne. I don't think that he ever chambered it.
As I said, read the rulebook.
 
From the NBRSA rule book for HV class...

The barrel shall not be less than 18” long forward of the bolt face and a diameter of not more than 1.250 inches from the bolt face forward 5 inches. From said 5-inch point, the diameter shall not be greater than would be defined by a straight taper between such point and a muzzle diameter of .900 at 29 inches

Light Varmint Rifle: Any rifle of not more than 10 1⁄2 lbs in weight, inclusive of sights, and otherwise meeting the requirement of the Heavy Varmint Rifle

Sporter Rifle: A Sporter Rifle is defined as any rifle having a safe manually and mechanically operated firing Mechanism and must not weigh more than 10 1⁄2 lbs, inclusive of sights. The stock can be flat, or convex, but not concave. The Forearm can be any width and have any angle. The butt stock can have any angle including a reverse angle, the barrel shall not be less than 18” long forward of the bolt face and can be any diameter or configuration including a straight taper or a reverse taper. The Sporter Rifle can be any caliber. Sporter Rifles do not have to conform to the Varmint Rifle diagram. All sand bag rules apply to the Sporter Rifle.

(weight and/or gun handling would seem to be the only limitations on a sporter barrel profile. 10-1/2 lbs is the weight limit, same as LV. It seems to me that anything resembling the op's pic of the reverse taper contour would be difficult at best and ill handling at worst, IF you could somehow make weight with one like it)

From the IBS rule book...

Page 41 of the link below. Suffice it to say that HV and LV are the same as NBRSA. Hunter class is even more restrictive.
http://internationalbenchrest.com/downloads/Rulebook revised 031518.pdf

This is not to say that you can't experiment with other contours in both IBS and NBRSA. Just that it must fit with the aforementioned "box". NBRSA's Sporter class adopted new rules just a few years ago to allow more experimentation. IIRC, this was one of them. It maintains the 10-1/2lb rule though.

UBR has no such restrictions on barrel contours and encourages experimentation such as this...The gun must weigh 13-1/2 lbs or less in all but Unlimited class.
 
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Reverse tapered barrels are very common in centerfire metallic silhouette shooting......... HV class only......
bill
 
gunsandgunsmithing said:
From the NBRSA rule book for HV class...

The barrel shall not be less than 18” long forward of the bolt face and a diameter of not more than 1.250 inches from the bolt face forward 5 inches. From said 5-inch point, the diameter shall not be greater than would be defined by a straight taper between such point and a muzzle diameter of .900 at 29 inches

Light Varmint Rifle: Any rifle of not more than 10 1⁄2 lbs in weight, inclusive of sights, and otherwise meeting the requirement of the Heavy Varmint Rifle

Sporter Rifle: A Sporter Rifle is defined as any rifle having a safe manually and mechanically operated firing Mechanism and must not weigh more than 10 1⁄2 lbs, inclusive of sights. The stock can be flat, or convex, but not concave. The Forearm can be any width and have any angle. The butt stock can have any angle including a reverse angle, the barrel shall not be less than 18” long forward of the bolt face and can be any diameter or configuration including a straight taper or a reverse taper. The Sporter Rifle can be any caliber. Sporter Rifles do not have to conform to the Varmint Rifle diagram. All sand bag rules apply to the Sporter Rifle.

(weight and/or gun handling would seem to be the only limitations on a sporter barrel profile. 10-1/2 lbs is the weight limit, same as LV. It seems to me that anything resembling the op's pic of the reverse taper contour would be difficult at best and ill handling at worst, IF you could somehow make weight with one like it)

From the IBS rule book...

Page 41 of the link below. Suffice it to say that HV and LV are the same as NBRSA. Hunter class is even more restrictive.
http://internationalbenchrest.com/downloads/Rulebook revised 031518.pdf

This is not to say that you can't experiment with other contours in both IBS and NBRSA. Just that it must fit with the aforementioned "box". NBRSA's Sporter class adopted new rules just a few years ago to allow more experimentation. IIRC, this was one of them. It maintains the 10-1/2lb rule though.

UBR has no such restrictions on barrel contours and encourages experimentation such as this...The gun must weigh 13-1/2 lbs or less in all but Unlimited class.
Click to expand...


Mike, read the rules as you copied. You are not reading it as written. Read it as written. It describes a taper, but says it must be within the specs. If the taper is within the taper, it doesn't matter what the taper of the barrel.
 
IdahoSharpshooter said:
hmmmmmmmmm... I thought the rules prescribed a continuous taper from the cylindrical section to the muzzle.
Who said the organizations stifled creativity?
Click to expand...
The sporter class is the only creative class. Youre right on the lv/hv pretty much. Cant be a straight section on there from 5” forward to the muzzle
 
So back to my original question - do they work? If they were allowed in the rules, do you guys think we would be seeing them? I shoot f class, so barrel taper rules aren't a problem for me
 
APGE said:
So back to my original question - do they work? If they were allowed in the rules, do you guys think we would be seeing them? I shoot f class, so barrel taper rules aren't a problem for me
Click to expand...

I think with the barrel motion a centerfire has any type of hinge point would make it swing so wildly you may even miss the target. Stiffer is better. Thats why a 22” barrel most times shoots better than a 26” not counting the weight limitations. Rimfire barrel motion is way different and not even really comparable
 
The barrel shall not be less than 18” long forward of the bolt face and a diameter of not more than 1.250 inches from the bolt face forward 5 inches. From said 5-inch point, the diameter shall not be greater than would be defined by a straight taper between such point and a muzzle diameter of .900 at 29 inches




Read this as written. It has been addressed before. The only thing that it says is it must be within a straight line from the 5" point to the muzzle. It can be butchered in any manner as long as the barrel is within the Imaginary line.
 
butchlambert said:
The barrel shall not be less than 18” long forward of the bolt face and a diameter of not more than 1.250 inches from the bolt face forward 5 inches. From said 5-inch point, the diameter shall not be greater than would be defined by a straight taper between such point and a muzzle diameter of .900 at 29 inches




Read this as written. It has been addressed before. The only thing that it says is it must be within a straight line from the 5" point to the muzzle. It can be butchered in any manner as long as the barrel is within the Imaginary line.
Click to expand...
Yes Butch, it could be done. I never said you couldn't, BTW.

Yes, by my estimation, the barrel shown above can be used at about 18.5" long if you don't cut anything from the tenon end...AS DRAWN.

FWIW, yes, I have cut hinge points in barrels and it does work similarly to how a reverse taper works. I'm working with a couple of barrel manufacturers now, to offer a contour that is designed to be optimal for use with a tuner as well. Same principle but it's not a reverse taper nor does it use hinge points. I'll share more on this at a later date.
 
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It was my understanding that the reverse taper on a rimfire barrel was solely for button rifled barrels and it was done in order to have a choked muzzle where the bore would be slightly tighter near the muzzle end.
 
The first “dog knot” barrel is saw was about 1977 on Colonel Charles Atkins’ 280 silhouette rifle. The rifle was barreled by Wayne Leeks at Remington. I would say he knew what he was doing.
 
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