Pacnor Barrels

R

Rustystud

New member
Had a customer bring in a Remington 700 wearing a 204 Ruger in a Pacnor barrel. He said it had been shot about 400 rounds. The barrel was 26" nad he said it would not group. He asked me to cut it down to 24" and recrown in. After cutting it off and recrowning it I thoroughly cleaned it and insinspected it with a bore scope and 1.5 power scope. The barrel was virtually a smooth bore. I have always been told Pacnors are soft. My question in a 204 how long should the barrel last? This barrel is almost completely slick.
I was shocked "400" rounds. Is it the soft Pacnor or the 204 is a real barrel burner or a combination of the two. I realize small bore means fast preasure build up.

Nat Lambeth
 
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Rustystud said:
Had a customer bring in a Remington 700 wearing a 204 Ruger in a Pacnor barrel. He said it had been shot about 400 rounds. The barrel was 26" nad he said it would not group. He asked me to cut it down to 24" and recrown in. After cutting it off and recrowning it I thoroughly cleaned it and inspected it with a bore scope and 1.5 power scope. The barrel was virtually a smooth bore. I have always been told Pacnors are soft. My question in a 204 how long should the barrel last? This barrel is almost completely slick.
I was shocked "400" rounds.

Nat Lambeth
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Nat, was the rifling shallow all the way through or mostly at the throat? Sounds like it may have had a manufacturing flaw, raw-unrifled bore too large.

I know you have looked in enough barrels but this is just an early morning while the coffee is perking thought.
 
German Salazar said:
At one point I had three PacNor .223 barrels (am now down to one) and they all look that way inside. Within a very small number of rounds fired, I was at a complete loss to tell lands from grooves or really get a good idea of erosion. They are their own creature.
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German, what do the lands and grooves look like when new compared to other barrels?
 
Pac-Nor Description

Dennis:

This is a 3 grove button barrel. Due to its small diameter it is very diffcult to thoroghly examine without a bore scope. I started to scope it just out of curousity. I was asked to cut the barrel back to 24" from 26" and recrown. The 2" segment is easily viewed. Visual inspection shows entire sections of the barrel without grove markings being still present. My expectations of a new barrel is to have ..0035" to .008" difference between the crest and well of the rifling. This barrel could not have more than .001 at the deepest point in any of the visable grooves. I am not going to take the time to scope or gauge it. I can understand why the customer can't get it to group. I have not inquired who did the work. The barrel is not engraved with anything except the cartridge. I suspect ist was done by Pac-Nor . The action appears to be faced, the lugs still had Dykum on them. The workmanship appears to be of good quality just a slick barrel.

I do not chamber any pre-fit or lower end barrels. This is the first Pac-Nor that I knowingly have had in my shop. After cutting it off and crowning it I will agree it was very soft in comparison to other button barrels such as Broughton, Hart, and Lilja.

I have sent an e-mail to Pac-Nor and asked what their life expectancy is on one of their 204 Ruger barrels. It is not my inrtent to bash someones product. I have read of others having great performance from these barrels.

Nat
 
You might try slugging it if you can find a 20 cal lead bullet. If not, a 22 rimfire bullet ought to swage down easily enough to see what is going on inside.
 
Nat, a friend of mine who builds a fair number of rifles each year told me the other day that he prefers the Pac-nor super match 3-groove over all others he has used. He mostly uses 6.5s and 7mms. He said they clean up better than any other barrels. Now I know why. He does not have a borescope so I doubt he has looked that closely. He has not made a comment about them wearing prematurely so I don't know beyond that.

I have one Pac-nor, an unchambered 475 barrel. The lands and grooves are VERY distinct in it but this is 5 times the area of the little 204. They are the only ones who make a 475 in the twist needed for the heavy Linebaugh bullets.
 
One of the best barrels

I have owned to date was a PacNor. It was chambered to be a 30 BR and it qualifies as one of them elusive HUMMERS. My Smith said that it was one of the better finished barrels he had seen and it chambered well. It is still shooting well for it's owner I am told. because of that one, I bought another and have it in waiting
 
I've used dozens of PacNors in 20, 22 and 6mm.............They all shoot great and not one of them has "washed out" with over 1500 rounds through them on average.

I think you might be looking at a three groove, where the lands are very wide and in a 204 barrel it might be difficult to distinguish?
 
I have used most of the big name barrels and now use all pac-nor barrels. They have been as good as my past kriegers and harts. I would say barrel life is about the same as the others.
 
RoyB said:
I've used dozens of PacNors in 20, 22 and 6mm.............They all shoot great and not one of them has "washed out" with over 1500 rounds through them on average.

I think you might be looking at a three groove, where the lands are very wide and in a 204 barrel it might be difficult to distinguish?
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Roy,
I think you are correct. Slugging the barrel likely will give a different picture of the lands and grooves profile.

I don't consider PacNor as a low end barrel manufacturer. I personally don't use them because I am partial to cut rifling but I know others that have and with excellent results.
 
polygonal bore

The only pacnor that I have seen had no lands and groves at all was just like a glock or a h and k.
 
Pac-nor did make and eliptical land/groove profile at one time. I don't know if they still do or not.
 
Pac-Nor Barrels

Nat,

I too have used dozens of Pac-Nor Barrels, mostly 22, 6mm, and 7mm on hunting and varmint rifles. Pac-Nor is relatively unknown among group shooters but they have a definite following in some areas with score shooters in .30 BR and the like. They are anything but "Low End". Very high quality, great customer service.

I have no experience with their .20 cal. barrels, but I think highly of them as a barrel maker.

I just checked the Pac-Nor website. They do offer a .204 barrel with polygonal rifling. Any chance that is what you looked at with your bore scope?

Scott Roeder
 
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Pac Nor barrels

I can't address the .204 barrel issue but I can speak for the Pac Nor barrels I do own and have had chambered by Pac Nor. They are as follows:

1) .308 1:12" Super Match 3 groove
2) .22-250 A.I. 1:12" Super Match 3 groove
3) .250 Sav. A.I. 1:9" Super Match 4 groove

Upon arrival, they were thoroughly cleaned and inspected with a Hawkeye borescope. The barrel interiors match the same interior as Kreigers and Harts that I own; very nice hand lapped barrels. The .308 & .22-250 A.I. are broken in, shoot great and I see no evidence of the situation described. I check my barrels religiously after cleaning and through break in as well as monitor throat erosion. I have not observed any problems with Pac Nor steel in the above calibers.

Lou Baccino
 
Nat- what did you ever decide on this? Did you try to set it back?
 
I just checked the Pac-Nor website. They do offer a .204 barrel with polygonal rifling. Any chance that is what you looked at with your bore scope?

Scott Roeder


Yes,

Scott is right...

Nat, I'm confident your looking through a Polygonal rifled barrel... Next to no transition from land to groove .....

I don't recommend them my self but some like them and get good accuracy...
I have not.

I am under the impression that the primary reason for Poly rifling is HIGH rate of fire firearms............. Machine guns...

Have had several Pacnor barrels... Damn fine..! Maby a tad soft but round count/accuracy is up with Shilen/Krieger/Hart .......

I think people ought to stick with the traditional rifling IMOP.

cale
 
I have a PacNor 3 groove in 6BR on a Savage action. It has approximately 1000-1200 rounds thu it. It looks as good as new just looking thru it. I don't have a bore scope. But visually it looks fine. I did notice that with the 3 groove the edges and corners of the lands and grooves looked a bit rounded even when new. And very nice people to work with.........Donald
 
Lets clear up a few things...

It is a Pacnor 3 groove barrel not a Polygonal barrel.

It was sent to me to shorten and re crown not ot set it back. It has had about 400 rounds through it.

I did what the custoomer asked I reduced it from 26" to 24' and recrowned it with a PT&G piloted 79 degree 1" counter bore.

After putting it back together and cleaning in it, I decided to shoot it.

I loaded 15 Winchester cases wit 27.5gr of H-4895 ahead of Wolf SR Magnum primers.

I shot 5 rounds both fouling the barrel and getting my zero to 0.0 at 100 yards.

My first 5 shot group was .243" my second 5 shot group was .221".

The customer said his previous groups had been over 2.0" with .700" groups with flyers.

I told the customer to shoot it out and we would rebarrel when he felt the need.

There is still barely any rifling in this barrel.

Thanks for your thoughts.
Nat
 
I' have several 20 caliber rifles most with Pac- Nor barrels. Something tells me that .204 R was run real hot and without rest between shoots if it only got 400 rounds through it. I've never had any ideas with any of my Pac-Nor barrels.

Maybe he's missing a zero on the end of that 400 round count?


ML
 
Pac Nor Service

I will correct an earlier post. I received a call from Pac Nor today. They could not have been more professional and/or nicer. They offered for the barrel in question to be returned and replaced. The 204 has shallower rifling then many other calibers, with a lands of .200 and and grooves of 204. The gentleman that I spoke with at Pac Nor said they had an issue with some of the 204 barrels. I told them I had cut and recrowned the barrel and it was shooting better. They said if it did not hold up to return it for a replacement.

You can't ask for better service than this.

Nat Lambeth
 
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