Barrell tuners...

J

Jim Wilkes

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I've been reading threads here for sometime now but haven't posted in this forum because I haven't shot benchrest in the last 2 years, but I am curious just how many people are using barrell tuners now?

Is one pretty much required to be competitive or is there something else that helps other then just constant tuning the load?

I'm alos curious how you use a barrell tuner. Do you have to keep changingg and adjusting it during temp and humidity changes and if so how is it easier to make a tuner work then tuning the load?

Sorry for what may seem like dumb questions but I've only ever seen them used by 1 or 2 guys.
 
Barrel tuners are being used successfully by a few centerfire shooters. Whether or not the concept will become common as in rimfire is anyones guess at this point. At this point it is commonly seen as a tuning method and the best shooters in the game are very good at tuning by altering their load to effect grouping ability. If you enjoy experimenting go for it.
 
Jim Wilkes

Tuners are the only device that I know of that allow the competitor to effect grouping ability during a match without leaving your bench.
 
I'm alos curious how you use a barrell tuner. Do you have to keep changingg and adjusting it during temp and humidity changes and if so how is it easier to make a tuner work then tuning the load?
Click to expand...

I have seen no evidence of a 6PPC centerfire device or tuner that allows one to set it and forget it. As I understand it, Jackie Schmidt has had some pretty good success in competition using his tuners to help stay on top of conditions.



Tony Carpenter
 
Jim

It seems you and your son have been gone from the game for a while, the tuner has become kinda popular in some discipline's, you might want to do a search to catch up on the latest developments. This is about precision shooting, not thumping the good book (conservative christian). I did 10 years in a Lutheran school.:rolleyes:

Dan Honert
the agnostic (ie: religion and politics) don't mix, nor in my opinion shooting, but those are my thoughts.:confused:
 
Tuners do work. They will allow you to stay on top of the tune at all time. I went to the last match at Denton pre-loaded. 29.0 of '07 133 pushing a 66 grain Fowler FB seated into the lands. Temp/Humidity started out in the morning at 75/75, and ended about 3 pm at 95/48. I found it very easy to put a couple of rounds into the sighter to check for verticle. If I had any verticle, I removed the bolt, stayed on my stool, brought the rifle back and changed the tuner very slightly, about 1/8 or less turn. Then 2 more rounds on the sighter to check for verticle. During one match I had to change the tuner twice and still had plenty of time to finish my record target. I quickly found out which way to turn the tuner to take out the verticle. I would have been at a loss as to how much to change the load. This tuner is one I had my 'smith make. It is a piece of 1" diam alum that is threaded 28 tpi on the outside and is turned to fit the muzzle ID on the inside and then epoxied to the end of the barrel. No threading of the barrel, and I can remove it and put it on another barrel if I want to. The weight is about 2" dia. and about 3/8" thick, threaded to screw onto the alum piece. It weighs about 5-5.5 oz. A single set screw mashing on a lead plug keeps it tight on the barrel. A quick turn with an allen wrench and a slight twist is all it takes. I can adjust the tuner in about 15-20 seconds, maybe 30. Works like a charm. I was shooting BN coated bullets and did not clean between every match. I had plenty of time to BS and enjoy my time at the match. Someone on this forum suggested the way to make a glue on tuner. Much better than threading a barrel in my opinion.

Donald
 
Glued tuner

Someone on this forum suggested the way to make a glue on tuner...

Cool..... Don, ya should have showed me this...... I think an epoxy - on tuner is an excellent attachment ... No falling off with recoil (tension mounted), or threaded on (possibly causing bore changes)... Neat. Fire up the iron to remove for the next barrel...

Alas, I'll still probably shoot an un tuned barrel :eek::p fer now...

cale
 
I saw a - -

rifle @ the Score Nationals that had a Time Precision tuner on it. That tuner clamps on and the movable weight was held only by the tension of O ring(s) I think from feeling the resistence in it. It is attractive with a nice graduated scale with BIG numbers marked on it. It appears to go against the grain with regard to CF tuners but the owner said it worked.
 
Another interesting thing about tuners on CF rifles is that it seems to make no difference where you start out with the movable weight. You may hit it right on but it never seems to take more than about 1/2 turn either direction to remove the verticle. I think some have said that you should be able to remove the horizontal also. In my limited use (2 tuners on 2 barrels) that I have not found the setting to remove the horizontal. Maybe if I could read the wind better........

Cale,
I showed you the glue on tuner at Denton. Even you could make one at Burtons.:rolleyes:

Donald
 
threaded on (possibly causing bore changes).
Click to expand...

The main concern with threading for the Beggs tuner in my opinion is if the crown gets slightly damaged in the process - merely requiring a new crown.

If threading the muzzle caused a barrel to go bad, I'm confident it would show up in a tunnel.

Tony Carpenter
 
Tony C said:
The main concern with threading for the Beggs tuner in my opinion is if the crown gets slightly damaged in the process - merely requiring a new crown.

If threading the muzzle caused a barrel to go bad, I'm confident it would show up in a tunnel.

Tony Carpenter
Click to expand...


Tony, recrowning is standard procedure after threading the muzzle for the tuner. I assure you, threading the muzzle has NO adverse effect on the barrel. Myths die hard; don't they?

Later,

Gene Beggs
 
Threaded on Tuner

... threaded on (possibly causing bore changes)...
Click to expand...
Even though it's a 30BR, I wouldn't be too shy to shoot it at any match.

Please, no comments on the dirty barrel. :eek:

Tuner01.jpg
 
Jim

I have had a fair amount of success with a tuner of my own design. It is one piece, employs a rubber "snubber" to dampen vibration, weighs 5.5 ounces, and is attached with 2 inches of 36 tpi. It is VERY user friendly.

I have made a few for close friends, they sort of like it as well.

You will just have to take our word for it that threading the end of a barrel has no affect on the potential of the barrel.

Tuners are here to stay, simply because of the liberal rules that the NBRSA and IBS have adopted. Heck, I would not build a Rifle without one.

But, as has been said, the vast majority of top shooters do not use a tuner, and probably will not. The way I see it, as long as shooters make statements like, "but T--y doesn't use one", that will be one less competitor who does not take advantage of the one option that a tuner gives. That being, it allows you to change the tune at the line.........jackie
 
Thanks for all your replies. I will have to look into a tuner when I get back into the sport................

It does make sence to be abke to change the tune at the line, like Jackie said. It would also cut down on the number of shells you have to unload because your load changed again :)
 
Just remember that a tuner works both ways. You can take a good shooting gun and make it uncompetitive by putting on a tuner and not adjusting it properly. Then you keep cranking on the tuner and find the sweet spot and the gun will then be capable of winning without messing with the load. You still have to burn the ammo in practice to get competent and confident twisting on the tuner.

As a newbie I think I need to concentrate on learning how to read the flags and conditions so I can shoot more 2's, fewer 3's and no 4's.
 
I began experimenting with tuners about four years ago beginning with beyond-the-muzzle, cylindrical types secured with slots and pinch bolts. They were heavy, inconvenient and time consuming to adjust and interferred with natural disipation of muzzle blast. They interferred with cleaning and collected goop from the brush, but they worked; I could bring the rifle into tune and take it out at will and could keep it in tune as temperature increased throughout the day but I abandoned that type tuner because I felt it was easier to just change the load; easier that is until I developed the tuner seen in post number 16 above. That changed the entire picture.

I haven't been on the computer much lately because I haven't had time. I have been as busy as a one-armed paper hanger installing tuners. You can waste your time fooling around with something else but take my word for it; once you discover all the advantages of this one, you will not be without it.

Alright, I'll crawl back in the shop now; fire away.

Later,

Gene Beggs
 
Gene

A good analogy may be the elimination of the need to double clutch a manual transmission when the new fangled automatics came into wide use.---- Who knows how to double clutch now?? Your tuners sound grand!!! :):):)Can you post pix and costs, please. Best wishes, Overbore
 
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