Re: 3,4,5,6,8 groove barrels
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Greg Langelius *</div><div class="ubbcode-body">And now, for something completely different (well sorta, anyway); I'm interested in polygonal rifling.
Looking at the Internet, not a lot to read.
I understand the bit about male and female polygonal rifling configurations, and seem to understand that they can be made with all the conventional methods, including hammer forging.
I just can't seem to find much info beyond the theoretical. I'd like to see something about them from folks who have them, have shot them, and have formed informed opinions about their effectiveness.
When it comes to accurate and uniform twist, etc., I think I should have some preference for hammer forging, since the mandrel dimensions should be better controlled, but I've also heard/read anecdotal commentary about the effects of hammer forging on barrel stresses and maintaining a stable POI.
So, I'm interested in viewpoints based on actual experience with such barrels, and in the interest of brevity, am asking about rifle barrels only. I deliberately chose to post this on the forum, because I think others might be interested in such questions, and PM responses would deny them any resulting info.
Greg </div></div>
the mandrel dimensions can be controlled to the gnats, but there is a lot more going on with that process..You're now depending on the mandrel being perfectly centered parallel to the axis of that bore throughout the length of the tube when the hammers are smacking the outside. You're depending on the initial preparation being absolutely perfect before the blank goes into the machine so you can center the mandrel. You're depending a lot of the homogenity of the steel, the chemistry, the uniformity of hardness throughout the diameter along the length..It's a lot to ask that they would be any sort of precision light bulb, but I'm sure there are some great HF barrels out there that might keep up.
