Why oh why didn't I do this before now? It's like a completely new rifle. Trust me on this - HBARs are freaking insane!

once again, this thread is worthless without pics

How is BBL short for barrel?  Oh, and I just picked my nose.



Oh sorry I thought we were posting useless information.

Quoted: But what happened to its accuracy? Be sure to tell us. CJ

Do you know something we don't?

I had 2 midlengths, one i had turned down, the other i left an hbar.  both shot as expected for a carbine barrel.  no difference in accuracy at all.

I am, however changing all of my uppers to ones i will build myself, and all will have Sabre Defence govt profile barrels.

My first barrel will be here tomorrow...

I hope to give a good range report tomorrow. Sorry, no pics. Just "imagine" an ordinary Colt's A2 w/ 20" WOA stainless bbl. I hope to answer the accuracy difference question for a lot of people. It DID shoot definitely sub MOA before w/ the heavy barrel floated. The float tube is now gone, too.

I ordered  Bushmaster 1 in9 and 1 in7 gov profile barrels to try out this week. Hopefully they shoot well.

Peasant,

Who did the work?

Local gunsmith near Clarksville TN. I stripped it down and they turned it to .750 I think. I traded some Chinese M14 stuff in lieu of $50.

Quoted: I've heard that if a barrel is turned down, SOMETIMES it spoils the accuracy of the barrel, particularly if the machining was done too aggresssivelky (too large a cut) or the barrel got too hot.   CJ

I see it's the re-turning of the barrel not the profile. If not done right this would be a problem.

Quoted: Quoted: I've heard that if a barrel is turned down, SOMETIMES it spoils the accuracy of the barrel, particularly if the machining was done too aggresssivelky (too large a cut) or the barrel got too hot.   CJ I see it's the re-turning of the barrel not the profile. If not done right this would be a problem.

Actually, cmjohnson has a good point.  What sometimes happens is that turning the outside of a finished (rifled) barrel will often release internal stresses left over from the rifling process.

The method of rifling the barrel has a lot to do with this.  Cut rifled barrels (both single point cut and broached) are virtually inmune to this problem because of the near zero stress placed on the barrel walls by the rifling method.

Button rifling is a little worse, which is why they are rifled after being turned to the final profile.  In most cases, stress relieving the barrel before altering its original profile will prevent the distortion.

Hammer forging, which so many here adore, is BY FAR the worst method of making a barrel because of the large amount of radial stresses placed on the steel by the forge hammers.  Even after being stress relieved after forging, HF barrels will usually walk when being turned after finishing.  A competent barrelmaker can straighten one out, but it should be no surprise that no riflemaker interested in accuracy will use a hammer forged barrel.

Quoted: Local gunsmith near Clarksville TN. I stripped it down and they turned it to .750 I think. I traded some Chinese M14 stuff in lieu of $50.

That is NOT Govt profile.  That is medium profile.

Quoted: I've heard that if a barrel is turned down, SOMETIMES it spoils the accuracy of the barrel, particularly if the machining was done too aggresssivelky (too large a cut) or the barrel got too hot.

If ANYTHING is done improperly you'll have problems.  From turning down a barrel to installing a stock improperly.

I"ve had HBARs turned down to proper A2 profile 0.62" under the handguards and never had a problem.  The key is to send it to people who do it all the time so they do it right.  Guys like Randall of AR15barrels.com, Steve's crew at adcofirearms.com, or Kurt of Kurt's Kustom. Go with these guys and you won't have issues.

RANGE REPORT - This rifle went from a stainless heavy WOA 20" w/ CMP legal float tube to being turned to .750 w/ standard A2 handguards. Definite sub MOA shooter before. Today w/ iron sights at 100 yds. shooting XM193 and Q3131A it was easily shooting 1.5 MOA. After it was rezeroed, I then tried a 20 round mag dump as fast as I could pull the trigger. Immediately fired for group size again and group size doubled and POI seemed to shift to the right 3". To be fair, I don't know what this means though, because I never tried it before the barrel and float tube change.Plus, I rarely blast away like that so it matters little to me. Interesting to know just the same.I will definitely take less weight for slight loss in accuracy. For serious accuracy I still have a scoped flattop HBAR w/ 18" barrel.
ETA - I now call it " Excellent Rifle".

Who cares abou thte range report.  You are not allowed to post without pics!