From the home page of barrel maker Lothar Walter

F

From Iceland

New member
Gentlemen.

I saw this on the Lothar Walter web side. Button rifling in 1925!?
Longer lasting ss steal than R 416R !?

Anyone familiar with Lothar Water barrels (BR shooting)
In your opinion do they last longer than other button rifled barrels?

"Rifle Barrel Blanks
The production of barrel blanks at Lothar Walther is accomplished in state of the art facilities. Our rifle barrels are produced using button rifling. We were the first to use this method and it has been in use since 1925. Our materials are specifically engineered to be used in our process. Our Normal Steel, what every one calls "Chrome-Moly" is a special alloy which is very fine grained. It will perform in all situations and will generate phenomenal accuracy. Our Stainless Steel is of a very special type which will give longer barrel life and can be used in all contours. It far exceeds the capabilities of 416R."

Sincerely yours,
Magnus Sigurdsson
Reykjavik, ICELAND
 
I seem to remember "Black Star" and all their hooplah about great barrel steel... Gunsmiths didn't want to put a good reamer in one.

How great is that?

Paul
 
Magnus, here is the problem. They do not know the Benchrest market. Go to their web site and look at what they "suggest" as procedures in chambering their barrels. You eyes darned near glaze over. Many Benchrest Gunsmiths simply say, "you have to be kidding".

That, coupled with outrageous claims, pretty well turns most of this community off. In had a conversation with one of their Reps quite a few years ago, and he was talking about how they tested teir barrels to ".100 agging capability". I told him to heck with the barrel, I want some of the bullets you are using.

All that hype about steel. That L-50 is simply some form of precipitating hardenning stainless, hell, there are multitudes of them, the difference being the nickel to chrome ratio and varying amounts of trace elements. You could in all likeyhood use 15-5 or 17-4 PH at about H1050 and get the same results.

There is a market for LW Barrels, I would certainly choose one for a Live Varmint rig, or perhaps a magnum with a pencil thin barrel, where the superior sttrength of the parent material would be a safety factor.

But for a real Benchrest Rifle, choose a barrel maker that knows this game, and it's basic requirements........jackie
 
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