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Posted: 5/10/2015 9:26:08 AM EDT
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I've had this barrel for a few months. Supposed to be 4150, Melonite, 16", medium contour. Maybe 1,500 rounds down the pipe. I would say 1/3 steel, 2/3 brass.
Originally, rifling looked like on any other brand new barrel. After a few range sessions, I thought I was noticing an unusually fast wear pattern. But I wrote it off as "seeing things." After the range today, I certainly see that the grooves are very shallow. Took several pics in an attempt to capture the condition. These aren't great but I can describe the grooves as more like traces. They don't protrude but stand out because of reflection. Any comments on this? http://i.imgur.com/cREsMzk.jpg 
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Quoted:
Not to sound trite, but I would worry more about how it shoots than how it looks. If you notice a significant and/or rapid deterioration in accuracy, you have a problem; if not, carry on (regardless of how the bore looks). I was sighting my new optic that day and got 1/2 inch groups at 50 yards. Didn't bother to check at longer ranges. I'll try to get out this week shoot some groups at 200. |
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Quoted:
Not to sound trite, but I would worry more about how it shoots than how it looks. If you notice a significant and/or rapid deterioration in accuracy, you have a problem; if not, carry on (regardless of how the bore looks). This for truth. If it shoots well, I'd not worry about what you think the rifling looks like. Accuracy is not likely to degrade anytime soon. Even ordinary 4140 steel, used in sporting rifles for generations, retains acceptable accuracy for a long time. If it is 4150, and also melonite, what you probably see is nothing more than the normal laying down of a hard carbon layer on top of the lands and grooves of the rifling. That carbon layer bonds to the rifling and usually will not come out even with aggressive cleaning, nor should it. That hard carbon is different from the copper, gilding metal, or powder fouling that you remove when you clean the bore. |
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Looks like a nice bore with contaminant (copper, etc.) between the lands. Note the green hue. On another note, I had a .22 from the 1940's. A Remington Model 41. At 50 yards it would shoot 1.5" or so (open sights, about as good as I can consistently do from field positions). The bore was terrible. It was pitted. The rifling looked at one point almost like those "lazy worker" meme's you see of highway-line striping. Near the muzzle, to boot. but it still shot pretty darn well!
... ... ... That said, I have seen QPQ parts that were soft. A Rubber City Armory bolt that peened the lugs significantly in <500 rounds (gift to a friend. I replaced it with a PSA Premium BCG...which in the same/similar round-count looks brand new minus shiny wear where expected). Also, pictures of a QPQ barrel extension...LOTS of bad wear, were posted on TOS about a year ago. So while your barrel looks good. On the internet. It may indeed have an issue. I am on the fence over QPQ. |
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^ I very much like QPQ SN, but like every other precision metal process, its quality level varies widely from company to company.
Just because something is claimed to be "QPQ" does not mean it was processed in the same stages of heat temperature, bath time, polishing process, reheat and re bath. Nor does it mean what level of quality control was maintained at the various stages, including scrupulous adhering to precise temperature and duration at each stage. Only a few companies really know how to do this properly, just like only a few companies can really make barrels properly, or really make precision triggers properly. Manufacturing and processing sources matters. In the instant case, the proof is easily ascertained by determining how the rifle shoots. I have a CMMG nitride "ordinary" 16" carbine barrel that shoots right at 1 MOA with match grade ammo. CMMG deeply engraves its name in the barrel outside out in front of the gas block for all to see with the twist rate and the word "WASP" which is or way its name for QPQ SN treatment. A company that brands its product so conspicuously is likely to exercise good quality control and stand behind its product if there is a problem. I do not know the source, either vendor or manufacturer, of OPs barrel. But, if it shoots well, it will probably continue to shoot well for a long time. |
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How does it shoot? Are you happy with how it shoots?
A long time ago a good gunsmith friend told me to never look in a barrel I liked with a borescope. One day I looked in my favorite Rem 700 prairie dog gun, the bore looked like blacktop all cracked and worn. But the barrel still shot amazing, since then I have never looked in any of my barrels with a borescope. If the gun shoots don't worry about it, if it's having accuracy issues then contact the barrel Mfg and see what they say. |
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