I keep hearing about how one likes 'cut rifles', others disdain 'button rifling', etc. I understand a little about basic machining and can deduce the basic methos from the name, BUT......

What is the real differnece in the end product?

What are the advantages and liabilities of hammer forging, cut rifling, button rifling, etc.?

I'm not looking for a book, just enough to make a better educated decision on a future project (Brazillian Mauser, already partially sporterized).

Thanks!

Hammer forged barrels are just that, the steel is hammered onto a mandrel that is shaped like the inside of the barrel. The interior finish on these usually isn't nearly as nice as the other two barrel manufacturing techniques. They have been known to last longer due to deeper rifling though and they are cheaper to make thus most rifles manufacturers use them.

Button rifled barrels are made by pulling a carbide butting (shaped like the inside of the barrel, with the rifling twist rate included on the button). This effectively compresses the steel where the groves are. The best of these are hand lapped before and after the button is pulled through.

Cut rifled barrels are made by pulling a single point cutter through the bore to cut a single groove at a time. Each grove takes numberous passes to cut.

Both the cut rifled and button rifled barrels can be make extremely precise and have won many accuracy records. Button rifling tends to be more popular with probably more than double the number of manufacturers as cut rifling.

Check this site out. I had the same question and found this to be helpful.

Barrel Making Processes