Anyone still freezing your barrels?
- Thread starter DSM
- Start date
Pete Wass
Well-known member
I seem to remember
the discussion getting to freezing them made them easier to machine but did little, if anything for accuracy. Also, I recently saw a post in which someone opined that those who offer the service don't get them cold enough to do any good. Years ago some of my shooting companions in Maine use to have their barrels done but have long since quit doing it. Guess it doesn't hurt anything. I had a CF barrel Melonited and have heard some folks say they were going to have a RF barrel melonited but have never seen one that was done nor heard of anyone reporting on the results. I couldn't see any accuracy improvement but had to add a bit of powder to get back to the node.
the discussion getting to freezing them made them easier to machine but did little, if anything for accuracy. Also, I recently saw a post in which someone opined that those who offer the service don't get them cold enough to do any good. Years ago some of my shooting companions in Maine use to have their barrels done but have long since quit doing it. Guess it doesn't hurt anything. I had a CF barrel Melonited and have heard some folks say they were going to have a RF barrel melonited but have never seen one that was done nor heard of anyone reporting on the results. I couldn't see any accuracy improvement but had to add a bit of powder to get back to the node.
82boy
Patrick Kennedy
Yes Krieger freezes there blanks before machining. They use to double freeze there blanks, one before machining and the again after. Last year I had a Brux barrel froze, and I can see a difference. I own a couple of other Brux barrels, and the one that I froze you can feel a difference when cleaning it. I will also say I have only shot a few rounds out of it, it is still in break in. I shot it in a club match last year first time out of the box, and without much load development, and won the match. For the $40 to $50 bucks it is cost effective enough, and heck it can hurt anything.
Accuracy-wise, if you meant to say "it CAN'T hurt anything"........talk to shooters who had their good barrels cryo'd back when the cryo-craze first started some 15 years ago.....Well, let's just say not very many were repeat customers.
And having been in the cryogenic field (cryogenic laboratory equipment used in research) a good number of years ago, if you would cryo a barrel to liquid helium temperature,-452'F, (the cost of which would be prohibitive) it would offer no more benefit than a one cryo'd at -300'F.
82boy
Patrick Kennedy
Ok, hopefully one of these dissatisfied customers will come forward with there claims, and have proof to back it up.
No, the onus is on the Cryogenic processor to back up their claims. Blackstar couldn't do it 15 years ago when they offered a cash reward for winning a registered match with one of their barrels.
82boy
Patrick Kennedy
But if I remember right Blackstar use Walther barrels cut to their specks, (Not the same steel as most barrels.) and then they "electro-chemically polished" the barrel. So to compare that to a standard barrel that is being cryogenically frozen, is comparing apples to oranges.
Boyd Allen
Active member
I know a Hall of Fame shooter that cryo'ed a hot shooting cut barrel, back when the craze first hit, thinking that he might extend its accurate life. Its performance was significantly degraded, rendering it useless for its intended use. IMO, if you are going this route, the best approach is to cryo before drilling, and then if you want, before finish lapping. I think that for 416R there is some doubt as to whether cryo stress relieves, but I am pretty sure that it does convert residual austenite to martensite, which explains better maintainability. It is made more homogenous. Of course this is just an opinion, except for the bit about the barrel that was treated.
Butch Lambert
Active member
I have had several barrels processed. Some of the older -300Deg and with Liquid Helium -450Deg. In a blind test I could tell which was which when chambering them. They didn't clean easier, shoot better, or last longer. This is on a total of 12 barrels and of various makes.
Coming to the crayfish?
Ive never shot a competition, well just against capt. Bob, Jon and Elbert. I can usually beat myself, but if I manage to load and shoot good enough to win they come up with Arkansas points or some kind of a paper victory. Isnt the Crayfish a rimfire match? Yours is the only rimfire benchrest gun Ive ever shot
Ive never shot a competition, well just against capt. Bob, Jon and Elbert. I can usually beat myself, but if I manage to load and shoot good enough to win they come up with Arkansas points or some kind of a paper victory. Isnt the Crayfish a rimfire match? Yours is the only rimfire benchrest gun Ive ever shot