Gunsmithing L-W bbls, Good, bad, ugly, who's used?
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Re: L-W bbls, Good, bad, ugly, who's used?
I like mine.
<edited to add>:
My 10/22 wears a stainless barrel with a Kimber inscription, but I suspect an L-W origin. It's won .22LR 50yd BR matches.
My only aftermarket C/F barrels are a pair of identical L-W 28" 1:8" .260 rem SAAMI chambered, Savage theaded barrels which arrived ready to install direct from L-W. I abandoned efforts to break one in after total failure to detect any copper fouling after the first 7 shots. My shooting partner has the other. They both shoot very nicely out to 1Kyd, and borescoping and consultation w/L-W suggest a projected lifetime of around 2400rd. He uses moly, I don't.
I recently had a few negative responses to a post of mine advocating L-W, and invited the posters to provide some subtantiation to their branding of L-W barrels as tomato stakes. So far, no substantiation...
Greg
I like mine.
<edited to add>:
My 10/22 wears a stainless barrel with a Kimber inscription, but I suspect an L-W origin. It's won .22LR 50yd BR matches.
My only aftermarket C/F barrels are a pair of identical L-W 28" 1:8" .260 rem SAAMI chambered, Savage theaded barrels which arrived ready to install direct from L-W. I abandoned efforts to break one in after total failure to detect any copper fouling after the first 7 shots. My shooting partner has the other. They both shoot very nicely out to 1Kyd, and borescoping and consultation w/L-W suggest a projected lifetime of around 2400rd. He uses moly, I don't.
I recently had a few negative responses to a post of mine advocating L-W, and invited the posters to provide some subtantiation to their branding of L-W barrels as tomato stakes. So far, no substantiation...
Greg
Re: L-W bbls, Good, bad, ugly, who's used?
Back in the day there was a company called Blackstar that used the LW blank for their custom tubes. I have one on an old school spacegun and it makes fat round holes at 200 with 69 SMK's. I think Roedale in Germany uses LW and they have a great rep. The owner is a member and frequent poster. You may ask his opinion directly, Pete Lincoln.
AG
Back in the day there was a company called Blackstar that used the LW blank for their custom tubes. I have one on an old school spacegun and it makes fat round holes at 200 with 69 SMK's. I think Roedale in Germany uses LW and they have a great rep. The owner is a member and frequent poster. You may ask his opinion directly, Pete Lincoln.
AG
Re: L-W bbls, Good, bad, ugly, who's used?
L W is all that KIDD uses on some of the most accurate 10-22's out there. Ive been sent to the house by a L W barreled .243 win, I was shooting a very accurate .243 '56 win varminter with pet factory ammo and I could not out shoot the SOB! He was shooting handloads . I would not hesitate buying nor betting on L W barrels.http://www.coolguyguns.com/
L W is all that KIDD uses on some of the most accurate 10-22's out there. Ive been sent to the house by a L W barreled .243 win, I was shooting a very accurate .243 '56 win varminter with pet factory ammo and I could not out shoot the SOB! He was shooting handloads . I would not hesitate buying nor betting on L W barrels.http://www.coolguyguns.com/
Re: L-W bbls, Good, bad, ugly, who's used?
My AI AE has a LW on it. It has proven to be a great barrel. Very accurate and cleans up faster than anything else I have ever had.
My .02
My AI AE has a LW on it. It has proven to be a great barrel. Very accurate and cleans up faster than anything else I have ever had.
My .02
Re: L-W bbls, Good, bad, ugly, who's used?
I purchased a pre fit LW barrel for a Savage short action about 3 years ago. No special order, just a off the shelf barrel, SS, .243, 1 in 8 twist. Excellent barrel. Bore scoped it as soon as I got it. Beautiful inside, looks to me like it was lapped. With handloads, it would shoot .5 MOA fairly regularly. I would recommend it.
Walt K
I purchased a pre fit LW barrel for a Savage short action about 3 years ago. No special order, just a off the shelf barrel, SS, .243, 1 in 8 twist. Excellent barrel. Bore scoped it as soon as I got it. Beautiful inside, looks to me like it was lapped. With handloads, it would shoot .5 MOA fairly regularly. I would recommend it.
Walt K
Re: L-W bbls, Good, bad, ugly, who's used?
LW makes an accurate barrel no doubt. The problem lies with the steel they use, its super hard and hard on reamers say the 'smiths. One 'smith I know charges a substantial difference to cover the increased wear on his reamers. Some 'smiths won't even touch a LW.
Since your barrels are already chambered, they should be good.
MtnHtr
LW makes an accurate barrel no doubt. The problem lies with the steel they use, its super hard and hard on reamers say the 'smiths. One 'smith I know charges a substantial difference to cover the increased wear on his reamers. Some 'smiths won't even touch a LW.
Since your barrels are already chambered, they should be good.
MtnHtr
Re: L-W bbls, Good, bad, ugly, who's used?
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: MtnHtr</div><div class="ubbcode-body">LW makes an accurate barrel no doubt. The problem lies with the steel they use, its super hard and hard on reamers say the 'smiths. One 'smith I know charges a substantial difference to cover the increased wear on his reamers. Some 'smiths won't even touch a LW.
Since your barrels are already chambered, they should be good.
MtnHtr
</div></div>
If it's their LW50 steel, it's harder on tooling and it does not cut as smoothly as 416SS.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: MtnHtr</div><div class="ubbcode-body">LW makes an accurate barrel no doubt. The problem lies with the steel they use, its super hard and hard on reamers say the 'smiths. One 'smith I know charges a substantial difference to cover the increased wear on his reamers. Some 'smiths won't even touch a LW.
Since your barrels are already chambered, they should be good.
MtnHtr
</div></div>
If it's their LW50 steel, it's harder on tooling and it does not cut as smoothly as 416SS.
Re: L-W bbls, Good, bad, ugly, who's used?
The steel isnt really harder than 416R, it just has a lower sulphur content, as sulphur adds the machineability to the steel, you just cant treat it the same as 416R.
i have had great results with LW barrels using through barrel flushing and carbide reamers at 200rpm, also switching your cutting oil makes a big difference, i switched to a fully synthetic mineral oil called Castrol Carecut ES2 and it has made a big difference in chambering feed rates and finishes.
The steel isnt really harder than 416R, it just has a lower sulphur content, as sulphur adds the machineability to the steel, you just cant treat it the same as 416R.
i have had great results with LW barrels using through barrel flushing and carbide reamers at 200rpm, also switching your cutting oil makes a big difference, i switched to a fully synthetic mineral oil called Castrol Carecut ES2 and it has made a big difference in chambering feed rates and finishes.
Re: L-W bbls, Good, bad, ugly, who's used?
Yes, LW-50 machines differently, as I'm told. LW says (or said) so on their website, and they welcome inquiries from gunsmiths regarding how to optimize the process.
I went with the LW-50 specifically because of these differences, because to my uneducated mind, they would appear to influence bore/throat life in a positive manner.
I also chose to have LW do all the fitting and finishing on my barrels, because, again to my uneducated mind, if anyone knew how to work with the material's quirks in a successful manner, it would be LW.
As I followed the process of my barrels' maturation, it was clear that they did not come off any shelf. BTW, the lapping you referred to is called 'honing' by LW, and is a cautious process.
What I received was a pair of barrels as identical as one might hope to see for an industrial process being performed by what is simply the world's largest barrel producer. Borescoping provided no disappointments. Break-in proved unnecessary and ineffectual. Performance proved to be excellent beyond my own meager abilites.
My partner STP shoots far better than I do, uses the other barrel, and has yet to comment about any flyers that he could not explain as originating within his own performance.
Very simply, if I were to ask for better than that; I'd be flatly out of line.
But the most essential part of my choice was the result of long dialogue with Mr. Woodall, who heads the firm.
LW's abilty to command an industry both allows and results from the ability to identify and quantify the key facets of production control. They know in numeric terms the precise attributes of every barrel they make, be it for big runs of less precisely spec'ed barrels for the commercial gun industry's leaders, or for military orders of significant magnitude, or for individual barrels made to exacting specs for individual customers.
Moreover, in knowing the numbers; they can be re-accessed and precisely duplicated on the basis of order/production records. They know what they're making today, they know what they made some time back, and they will know to the decimal what they make tomorrow.
Others may do the same, but somehow, I think this is the key area where LW stands out.
Greg
Yes, LW-50 machines differently, as I'm told. LW says (or said) so on their website, and they welcome inquiries from gunsmiths regarding how to optimize the process.
I went with the LW-50 specifically because of these differences, because to my uneducated mind, they would appear to influence bore/throat life in a positive manner.
I also chose to have LW do all the fitting and finishing on my barrels, because, again to my uneducated mind, if anyone knew how to work with the material's quirks in a successful manner, it would be LW.
As I followed the process of my barrels' maturation, it was clear that they did not come off any shelf. BTW, the lapping you referred to is called 'honing' by LW, and is a cautious process.
What I received was a pair of barrels as identical as one might hope to see for an industrial process being performed by what is simply the world's largest barrel producer. Borescoping provided no disappointments. Break-in proved unnecessary and ineffectual. Performance proved to be excellent beyond my own meager abilites.
My partner STP shoots far better than I do, uses the other barrel, and has yet to comment about any flyers that he could not explain as originating within his own performance.
Very simply, if I were to ask for better than that; I'd be flatly out of line.
But the most essential part of my choice was the result of long dialogue with Mr. Woodall, who heads the firm.
LW's abilty to command an industry both allows and results from the ability to identify and quantify the key facets of production control. They know in numeric terms the precise attributes of every barrel they make, be it for big runs of less precisely spec'ed barrels for the commercial gun industry's leaders, or for military orders of significant magnitude, or for individual barrels made to exacting specs for individual customers.
Moreover, in knowing the numbers; they can be re-accessed and precisely duplicated on the basis of order/production records. They know what they're making today, they know what they made some time back, and they will know to the decimal what they make tomorrow.
Others may do the same, but somehow, I think this is the key area where LW stands out.
Greg
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