Melonite barrel treatment

[royinidaho]

If someone can get a reasonable turnaround time I'm game for this. The turn around time is important as I'm getting a bit long in the tooth and have to wonder a bit when this adventuresome long range silliness is gonna wain.

The 270 AM is even longer in the tooth than I and I shoot (will shoot, that is) that sucker enough that the effects of this process would be noticeable, I'm sure.

 

[Browninglover1]

If someone can get a reasonable turnaround time I'm game for this. The turn around time is important as I'm getting a bit long in the tooth and have to wonder a bit when this adventuresome long range silliness is gonna wain.

The 270 AM is even longer in the tooth than I and I shoot (will shoot, that is) that sucker enough that the effects of this process would be noticeable, I'm sure.

I'll get you the number for them tomorrow and let you give them a call. I don't know if turn around times are different when dealing with "small" customer orders but they've usually been about a month from when we ship it out till when we get it back which means they turn parts around in 2 or 3 weeks.

 

[elkaholic]

I talked to Joel Kendrick, the best guy to do it, and he told me he could turn a barrel around in a week. It is highly recommended that you shoot the barrel enough to break it in before the process. Any burrs or rough spots will mess up the process. Even in a well lapped barrel, break in is required.
Does anyone know what Remington used to coat there stainless 7 mag barrels back in the sixties? It must have been some sort of bluing but it didn't stick very well. The barrel would usually look like an apaloosa after a few years. I bead blasted one with 220 grit and it looked pretty good.......Rich

 

[royinidaho]

I talked to Joel Kendrick, the best guy to do it, and he told me he could turn a barrel around in a week. It is highly recommended that you shoot the barrel enough to break it in before the process. Any burrs or rough spots will mess up the process. Even in a well lapped barrel, break in is required.
Does anyone know what Remington used to coat there stainless 7 mag barrels back in the sixties? It must have been some sort of bluing but it didn't stick very well. The barrel would usually look like an apaloosa after a few years. I bead blasted one with 220 grit and it looked pretty good.......Rich

I seemed to gather from somewhere that all REM 721 barrels were chrome lined. Never knew for certain but that was the word on my street.

 

[shortgrass]

I seemed to gather from somewhere that all REM 721 barrels were chrome lined. Never knew for certain but that was the word on my street.

Got several 721/722 barrels in the pile. Not chrome lined. If they were (and my bore scope says they weren't) they sure pitted alot!

 

[royinidaho]

Got several 721/722 barrels in the pile. Not chrome lined. If they were (and my bore scope says they weren't) they sure pitted alot!

So much for street cred.

Not only do I now know, I now know I know! thanks for the straight skinny.

 

[Edd]

Could someone explain why you need to shoot a few bullets thru the barrel before you have this done.

 

[Broz]

Could someone explain why you need to shoot a few bullets thru the barrel before you have this done.

To remove the small burrs or any imperfections that might have been induced in the chambering process first.

Jeff

 

[Edd]

It seems there would be a better way to do this than using a bullet. Have you ever tried to remove burrs from a piece of steel with a piece of copper? What imperfections are you referring to?

 

[Broz]

It seems there would be a better way to do this than using a bullet. Have you ever tried to remove burrs from a piece of steel with a piece of copper? What imperfections are you referring to?

There is always a small burr rlled up where the chamber reamer stopps cutting. Then there will also be some slight maring from the live pilot on the front of the reamer. This is why we brake in barrels cleaning between shots. Copper is induced into these imperfections and needs to be cleaned before it startes to build so the next bullet can have a smoothing affect on the needed areas. The break in proceedure is what I choose. I would not alow me or anyone else to put anything into this very criticle area of my barrel.

Jeff

 

[Pdvdh]

To remove the small burrs or any imperfections that might have been induced in the chambering process first.

Jeff

10-4. Gun barrel steel is really relatively soft steel. Which allows for relatively easy machining. The manufacturers and gunsmiths apply tender loving care, but firing copper jacketed bullets down the barrel is like a final finishing process. Anyone who's carefully broken in barrels has seen the amount of copper stripped following each shot in their new barrels diminish for the first few bullets fired down their bores. The reduced copper fouling is due to the removal of the roughness of the bore in the direction of bullet travel, with each shot fired - followed by a thorough copper removal cleaning before firing the next bullet down the bore, so that each subsequent bullet fired makes full contact with the steel bore, rather than the copper left from the prior bullet.

I think it's vital to do this bore conditioning prior to melonite treatment - while the gun barrel steel is still relatively soft and able to be conditioned by firing bullets down the bore. Because after the melonite process, the surface of the bore is the equivalent of case hardened, and these imperfections within the bore that remain after manufacturing and chambering will never again so easily be reduced, conditioned, improved.

 

[elkaholic]

I would add an amen to that and I also plan on giving my bore a good scrubbing with IOSSO before sending it in as well. This will smooth it even further.......Rich

 

[Edd]

I don't know about smoothing the bore with a couple dozen copper bullets, that seems like wishful thinking to me.

Now the sharp edges and some burrs from the chamber reamer makes sense. I suspect those are mostly removed by the heat, like a thermal deburring process, not the bullet.

Looks to me like freshly cut throats would be a perfect application for abrasive flow machining. Anyone ever tried that? Then you could send them straight to nitriding.

 

[Pdvdh]

We use bullets because it's cheap, gentle, and it works on a properly manufactured and chambered bore. Some rough bores won't be final finished with bullet fire lapping. Those are the ones I use for tomato plant stakes.

If there was a gentler and cost effective method that didn't risk damage to the bore, I suspect that method would already be in common use.