Button Rifled, Cut Rifled, Stressed Relieved - Oh MY!

So, you think you are ready to build your dream rifle?  You have read all the articles, picked out the perfect caliber.  You stressed over your decision on the best action for your intended uses, (hopefully you choose a Bat Machine action), and now it's time for a barrel.  Easy enough, right?  You think..."I know I want a 7 twist for my 22 Creed.  I know I want it to be a heavy barrel for match shooting, so a Medium Palma contour seems like a good choice."   Now, a couple more days and sleepless nights to decide on the barrel's finish length.....

Voila, we are ready to purchase our barrel and get things started.  You think to yourself..."I just have to do a search to see who has what in stock and my rifle will be ready in a jiffy."  And, now you move on to choosing your stock (and a couple more sleepless nights to decide that) and you are ready.

Does this sound familiar?  There is a lot of thought that goes into building your dream rifle. But when it comes to the barrel, we only ask the simple questions and assume all will be well from there.  On the surface, they all look the same.  It's rifling and the good one "looks" beautiful to the eye with a borescope.  So, what are you missing, you may ask.  Everything!

The barrel is the delivery system of your bullet and the rotational motivator for your bullet to get spinning on course.  But, what about stress and stress relief?  What about the caliber selection and the stainless steel?   What about the dangers of stainless barrels in extreme cold temperatures in small contours?   Hopefully, I have your attention now.

All are not equal

Over the course of many years, we have spent hundreds of hours, if not thousands, talking, researching and evaluating barrels.  If you are going to build world class rifles, this is a critical decision.   What we have learned over the years is there are riflers who rifle stainless steel blanks and sell them.  Then, there are rifle barrel manufacturers.  One rifles barrel blanks to sell.  The other manufactures rifled barrels with intent,  with purpose driven processes and procedures while understanding the science and metallurgy to lay the ground work for safety, stability and, of course, accuracy.

The history of rifled barrels goes way back and a good read if you are someone who likes history like me.  But, to those who are currently in the market for a rifle barrel, there is so much more than meets the eye.  You can pursue your barrel purchase like the quad marching down the yellow brick road with joyful glee without a care in the world, until you learn there is dangers in these woods.  Once you know, it's amazing on how much more caution you will use as you proceed.  

Let's take stress relieving a barrel for instance.  As trivial as it sounds, there are a lot of barrel makers that do not apply this craft.  Some through willful neglect, some because of cost and some because they simply don't care or don't feel it's a necessary issue.  "It's not a problem with every barrel," they say.   "We don't put stress in our barrels," they say.  Or, "we buy stress free steal," they say.   All come up with one reason or another to willfully turn a blind eye to stress relieving a barrel.   And, its not a problem until it is and it's on your rifle.

The other major issue with stress relief is how do you know you are doing it right?  You can copy best practices, but those experts in the industry that we know say "most have it wrong."   Who do you believe?  The oldest barrel maker in the world or a local shop in your home town?  Not to say your local guy doesn't know his stuff. But, barrel makers who have been doing this for decades and even centuries have tested and trued their practices. The bottom line is this, if you don't ask, you don't know.   And if you don't know, than you may be rolling the dice on where that metal came from, how it was made and how it was rifle and turned.   In my mind, this aspect of a dream rifle is just as important of a choice as any of the other choices you will have when building your dream rifle.  Why? Because, if you barrel has stress, as it warms up it will change your point of impact and this change can be a lot or be subtle.  And, subtle or not, it's not something you are going to  want to have to deal with.  A .5" shift at 100 yards equals a 5" shift at a thousand.  Accuracy is the result of the sum of your quality components.  So, ask the questions and do the research.  Your future self will thank you.

Baby it's cold outside. 
The hidden dangers of SS barrels and the cold!

This is not talked about enough and it is something that we talk about quite often with those in the industry that we know.  Stainless steel barrels of small contours are dangerous in extreme cold weather.   And in big calibers, can be really dangerous.    If you haven't heard this before, hang on to your socks and get ready for a ride.  Stainless steel gets brittle in cold temperatures. 

You heard that right.  So I will say it again.  In cold temperatures, stainless steel rifle barrels become brittle.   Don't believe me?  Ask Mike at Krieger Barrels and he will tell you they will not make any barrel under a #5.5 contour in stainless.   That is a heavy barrel for hunting.  Heavier that most.   Yet, you will find barrel makers and gunsmiths alike building on contours like a #2 or #3 all the time and with big magnums.  Is it a constant problem?  No. Have thousands of rounds been shot through barrels like it?  Yes.  But keep in mind, we are scoring the barrel with rifling, making week spots. So, when they do come apart, and they can, it will be split with potential pieces flying that at best may severely harm you and in a worst case scenario kill you or a loved one next to you.

So, this blog is part education, part thought-provoking and part public service announcement.  Having just had this conversation with a world class tool and die maker, our hearts are always safety first.  So, next time you are in the market, ask the questions about stress relieving.   Ask where the steel came from.  Ask what their processes are for dealing with and eliminating it from the finished product.  And lastly, ask about stainless steel and what size you can safely go down to and with what calibers in cold weather.   This is about starting out being able to simply finish the race.  A component like the barrel deserves as much, if not more, attention than any other working part of the rifle.