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Finishing A New Barrel Blank ?

You would think that manufacturers could see the demand as well as the rest of us and make better products. Rather than relying on a blast of high pressure air to seal a pellet in the bore why not make the barrels to actually fit industry standard dimensions so the widest range of ammunition will shoot well?

The whole industry was shaped my ppl that think slugs have to be shot from choked barrels. 
now u have a billion sizes and a billion weights to try taking into consideration every choke variant possible.

its a good way to go broke fast. 






 
The whole industry was shaped my ppl that think slugs have to be shot from choked barrels.

Was it? Seems like the overwhelming majority of the slug experimentation I’ve seen over the last decade acknowledged a choked barrel might on occasion work acceptably but mostly be prepared for disappointment. And it wasn’t until the last 2 or 3 years that we began seeing mass-produced slugs from the big boys like H&N and JSB. Before that, it was limited to a cottage industry of specialty shops like Nielsen and individuals casting and sizing their own slugs.
 
The whole industry was shaped my ppl that think slugs have to be shot from choked barrels.

Was it? Seems like the overwhelming majority of the slug experimentation I’ve seen over the last decade acknowledged a choked barrel might on occasion work acceptably but mostly be prepared for disappointment. And it wasn’t until the last 2 or 3 years that we began seeing mass-produced slugs from the big boys like H&N and JSB. Before that, it was limited to a cottage industry of specialty shops like Nielsen and individuals casting and sizing their own slugs.

I think most of the initial testing nsa did was with LW choked Air Force guns.

after that came jsb, h&n who obviously followed suit with .215-.218” dia slugs. Tested with fx slug liners 

patiot, zan the startups just followed.

Yes…ppl where shooting slugs before, however, I think most were making their own. 
 
I got the LW poly barrel today, push the largest slug I had into it .2175 and held it up to the light. Lots of light around the slug so it will probably be a pellet shooter.

Right. I would not waste my time with slugs if they fit the barrel like you described it. Firstly, you loose energy that way. Secondly, you introduce turbulent air around the slug. I am yet to see a traditional slug working in the oversized barrel. Pellets recover from the turbulent air flow. Slugs can't do it.

FX Superior liners and FX Hybrid slugs - the slug is guided by the lands until the choke. The magic happens in the choke itself - the grooves touch the slug. Same with ZAN slugs as Zan tried to make them working in FX Superior liners and their dimensions are perfect for the choke.
 

Right. I would not waste my time with slugs if they fit the barrel like you described it. Firstly, you loose energy that way. Secondly, you introduce turbulent air around the slug. I am yet to see a traditional slug working in the oversized barrel. Pellets recover from the turbulent air flow. Slugs can't do it.

FX Superior liners and FX Hybrid slugs - the slug is guided by the lands until the choke. The magic happens in the choke itself - the grooves touch the slug. Same with ZAN slugs as Zan tried to make them working in FX Superior liners and their dimensions are perfect for the choke.

My .30 Vulcan3 700mm is just as loose with lots of light around the slug but here's the result at 100 yard 54.5gn NSA at 950fps.

T1 - Copy.1645405815.jpg

 
Here are my tapered reamers. They are helical flute to use in the lathe. Size 4 and 7. 4 can be used for both 22 and 25 and 7 for 357.

Here's the chart as well.

View attachment 200098View attachment 200102

I have my methods, but it would be interesting to know how you are holding these reamers in your lathe, and insuring that the reamers are centered with the bore and square to the bore.
 
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Gents,

Have any of you air rifle gunsmith types messed with slugging a bore, meaning pushing a lubed, dead-soft piece of bore diameter lead through the barrel to feel for the tight spots, and cut and crowned at a tight spot nearest your desired barrel length?

This is done in the PB accuracy world, and I do it on the barrels that I chamber and have had good results.

In effect, you’re choking your barrel using the dimensional variances within the bore, ensuring that as the projectile leaves the bore, it did so at a point where it was getting a right proper snugging up, rather than rattling its way out the bore at a loose spot.

I imagine doing this could cause havoc with your shroud, but I would venture to guess that if you have the skills and equipment to fit a barrel, you can probably deal with any shroud fit issues.

And why do air rifle barrels have so many lands and grooves? I read here that LW have 12!

Justin
 
Have any of you air rifle gunsmith types messed with slugging a bore, meaning pushing a lubed, dead-soft piece of bore diameter lead through the barrel to feel for the tight spots, and cut and crowned at a tight spot nearest your desired barrel length?
Yes that is also an effective practice with airguns. I've also had some success rescuing the occasional underperforming barrel when it's found to be loose right at the muzzle by cutting off the offending portion back to the point where it's snug.