PDA

View Full Version : Rifleing



Kevin-R
11th Feb 2013, 08:28 PM
Hi know nothing about guns. How do they machine the rifeling in the barrel?:C

Kev

Vernonv
12th Feb 2013, 02:02 PM
There are basically 2 main types of rifling :

1. Button - a button (small cylindrical tool with grooves in in) is pushed/pulled through the barrel and this "imprints" the rifling into the barrel.

2. Cut - normally a single toothed cutter is again pushed/pulled through the barrel and removes a little metal with each pass. Multiple passes are normally done per rifle groove. A single groove is done at any one time.

Also note that both systems require the tool to be rotated as it moves down the barrel at the required "twist" rate.

Barrels are also normally lapped after they have been rifled.

Kevin-R
12th Feb 2013, 09:48 PM
Thanks.

Oldneweng
12th Feb 2013, 10:49 PM
A third method is hammer forged which is often considered the best of the three. This involves having a barrel rifling shaped mandrel(?) inside a barrel of the full unrifled size and belting the carp out of it with mechanical hammers until the inside of the barrel resembles a rifled one. This of course is a very rough description of the process. The hammering relieves the stress in the barrel metal. Also note that some barrels have a variable twist rate just to complicate things.

Dean

eskimo
17th Feb 2013, 11:31 AM
Also note that some barrels have a variable twist rate just to complicate things.



gun smith in NSW also is doing micro rifling with and testing variable twist rates ...

19brendan81
14th Mar 2013, 03:05 PM
With rifling....is the deep part of the groove the diameter of the caliber, or is it the high part (the lands?) which is lapped to the correct calibre?

eskimo
14th Mar 2013, 05:11 PM
With rifling....is the deep part of the groove the diameter of the caliber, or is it the high part (the lands?) which is lapped to the correct calibre?

the greater diameter...ie the deep part

Karl Robbers
14th Mar 2013, 10:52 PM
To further muddy the waters, let's throw into the mix Polyagonal Rifling.
This was/is used by several manufacturers most notably Heckler and Koch. The concept was that the bore had no rifling in the conventional sense but was pentagonal or hexagonal in section and this section was twisted along the barrel's length thus inducing the desired rotation to the projectile. The purported benefits were no deformation of the bullet and no sharp grooves to impede smooth air flow over the projectile in flight.
I believe the barrels were produced by hammer forging.
Used by several artillery pieces were barrels that were initially rifled but culminated in a smooth bored section that removed the rifling grooves to achieve the same aerodynamic effect.
Yet another system was the Gerlich. This used a rifled barrel that decreased in diameter, (along with a skirted projectile that could reduce in diameter). This system was pioneered in hunting rifles which produced exceptional velocities for their time, still very respectable today I might add, but was perhaps best know for its use in several German anti tank rifles of the Second World War.
A bit of trivia for you. How many realise that the good old SMLE, (.303), used a rifling twist which rotated left rather than the standard right? This was due to the fact that when it was designed, the majority of England's wars/actions were in the Southern Hemisphere and the left hand twist was meant to be more accurate due to the coriolis effect, (think how water spins the opposite direction when draining down the plug hole in the North versus the South). The effect was negligible, but the theory was good.

19brendan81
15th Mar 2013, 01:00 PM
Thats interesting info Karl.

Another thing I have often wondered re rifle barrels is how the hell they drill them out so accurately prior to doing the rifling? Having noticed how far a small drillbit can wander when drilling short distances through plate, ive often thought it must be tough to accurately drill a sub 10mm hole for about 600mm down a rifle barrel. How is this done these days and how was it done in the early days of rifle making?

Vernonv
15th Mar 2013, 04:05 PM
They use a special drill called a "gun drill (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_drill)", interestingly enough. :)

Although some of the materials have changed, the principles of drilling barrels hasn't changed a great deal over time.

19brendan81
15th Mar 2013, 04:57 PM
Cheers Vernon - interesting process.

eskimo
15th Mar 2013, 06:12 PM
real early barrels were forged around a mandrel I think...so are some recent if I am correct.
they then push/pull a button or whatever to cut the rifling

mate gave me disk showing real persons making an old flint lock from scratch...barrel stock etc etc...no electricity used in the making of the gun except for say lighting or filming

starts at the forge hammering the crap out of a hunk a steel, then shaping the barrel with a file......if it was me I'd use a mill..seems to me it would have been a whole lot easier if they'd used one:D

I'll burn it for those who are interested...i still have it somewhere

Garry 3
21st Mar 2013, 10:50 PM
With rifling....is the deep part of the groove the diameter of the caliber, or is it the high part (the lands?) which is lapped to the correct calibre?

It depends. Europeans use bore diameter e.g 7.62 NATO is 7.62 bore 7.82mm groove, .303 is .303 bore but nom.311 groove. Bullet diameter is of course the larger number.

Americans use groove diameter for calibre e.g .308 win is .308 groove .300 bore . There are exceptions of course; 44magnum has a .429 groove not .44 as the name suggests.

Garry

steamboatbrucey
17th Apr 2013, 12:51 PM
I served my time at the Ordnance Factory Maribyrnong and spent some years in the barrel production area from turning trepanning rifleing auto fretaging honing etc can still remember the trepanning settings for a 87 mm bore 350 rpm 2" a minute feed some 26 feet long. maximum drift over that 26 feet was 10 thou We made 40cal 76mm 105mm lepard tank and naval 4.5 inch, from the ingots supplied to us from commsteel J100 was the material spec the waste core bar was highly prized by people doing foreigners at work ie drive shafts for motorcycles etc and the discs that where cut from the ends were used as flywheels all that's gone now though its a housing estate. so sad no more apprentices leave from there was 24 a year Bruce

Oldneweng
25th Apr 2013, 06:16 PM
It depends. Europeans use bore diameter e.g 7.62 NATO is 7.62 bore 7.82mm groove, .303 is .303 bore but nom.311 groove. Bullet diameter is of course the larger number.

Americans use groove diameter for calibre e.g .308 win is .308 groove .300 bore . There are exceptions of course; 44magnum has a .429 groove not .44 as the name suggests.

Garry

Years of reading books, magazines etc written by the experts and I have never heard that. Interesting what you can still learn. Thanks for that info. Makes more sense now although the european method is easier to understand but harder to remember.

Dean

bundy253
30th Jul 2013, 06:40 PM
have a look on youtube there are a lot of people on the showing you how cut rifleing

hybridfiat
3rd Nov 2013, 01:16 AM
There is endless disscussion about which method results in a more accurate and or longer lasting bore.
I noticed a while back that the benchrest community have been paying a premium for stress relieved cut rifled barrels. This was the technique supposedly put out to pasture by button and hammer forged barrels. Hammer forging is often touted by makers as the new 'bee's knees' of barrel making but it was one of the first techniques developed wayyyyy back when:rolleyes:.

Oldneweng
3rd Nov 2013, 09:31 PM
There is endless disscussion about which method results in a more accurate and or longer lasting bore.
I noticed a while back that the benchrest community have been paying a premium for stress relieved cut rifled barrels. This was the technique supposedly put out to pasture by button and hammer forged barrels. Hammer forging is often touted by makers as the new 'bee's knees' of barrel making but it was one of the first techniques developed wayyyyy back when:rolleyes:.

Interesting comments. I have looked into rifling methods but only for interest sake. One thing I do wonder about tho is how modern metalurgy and methods could have changed the results over the years. Could be hard to compare the old and new. The only way to tell is to compare the different methods with modern rifles.

Dean

hybridfiat
3rd Nov 2013, 10:36 PM
Interesting comments. I have looked into rifling methods but only for interest sake. One thing I do wonder about tho is how modern metalurgy and methods could have changed the results over the years. Could be hard to compare the old and new. The only way to tell is to compare the different methods with modern rifles.

Dean

Yes I was intrigued by it. The barrels are newly made cut rifled not old. New metallurgy has changed but the method was justified by the theory that if you make a rod, drill it, stress relieve it and then cut only very fine grooves inside the stresses set up are minimal and unlikely to affect accuracy. 'Stability' being everything here. There are I concede many 'hummer' cut rifle barrels out there.
The theory goes on, button and hammerforged barrels by the very nature of their manufacture are stressed metal waiting to "spring back". So if they are not completely stress relieved the barrel has 'inherent' instability.
Now that's not me that's saying this, I dont get that pedantic with my rifles as they are for hunting. Shooting over the top of a ute late at night with the engine running is light years from a benchrest table. But I thought Id throw it in for good measure.
The target 'community' is full of people with theories and strong opinions on what works best.
Ive read that many gunsmith shops in the US had "No Target Shooters" signs on the door to discourage them. Having made ergonomic pistol grips and some stocks for target shooters in the past I understand why.

Oldneweng
6th Nov 2013, 07:19 PM
Yes I was intrigued by it. The barrels are newly made cut rifled not old. New metallurgy has changed but the method was justified by the theory that if you make a rod, drill it, stress relieve it and then cut only very fine grooves inside the stresses set up are minimal and unlikely to affect accuracy. 'Stability' being everything here. There are I concede many 'hummer' cut rifle barrels out there.
The theory goes on, button and hammerforged barrels by the very nature of their manufacture are stressed metal waiting to "spring back". So if they are not completely stress relieved the barrel has 'inherent' instability.
Now that's not me that's saying this, I dont get that pedantic with my rifles as they are for hunting. Shooting over the top of a ute late at night with the engine running is light years from a benchrest table. But I thought Id throw it in for good measure.
The target 'community' is full of people with theories and strong opinions on what works best.
Ive read that many gunsmith shops in the US had "No Target Shooters" signs on the door to discourage them. Having made ergonomic pistol grips and some stocks for target shooters in the past I understand why.

I am in the same position as you. Tried to get a half grown fox in front paddock Saturday but was gone by the time I got the gun out there. He was playing around for a couple of hours every morning last week except Friday according to SWMBO. I have a medical condition that reduces lung capacity so if I rush I am unlikely to be able to hit the ground from being out of breath. Because of this I am unlikely to take up target shooting.

Dean

19brendan81
7th Nov 2013, 09:53 AM
Plus why make an already difficult sport infinitely more difficult by only declaring your day a success if you put 5 rounds through the same hole on a piece of paper.

Full credit to the bench rest guys though...takes lots of skill and patience to do it well.