OK. So I tried the search (doesn't seem to work well for me) and looked through several of my books but I don't find a real answer to the similarities, differences between these two. For better or worse, which do you prefer. Thank you Frank
Posts: 6935 | Location: hydesville, ca. , USA | Registered: 17 March 2001
I have owned some of each.They were made by kreiger,H-S precision,schneider,hart,mclennon and pac-nor.The cut rifled barrels seem to foul a bit more at first but otherwise there seemed to be no difference in performance.Accuracy seemed equal with both.
Posts: 3104 | Location: alberta,canada | Registered: 28 January 2002
I prefer cut-rifled barrels. In my experience they last longer. And very nice is also that they have a tendency to shoot many different bullets to the same point of impact, they are not so sensitive to an oiled barrel and they are also VERY accurate ( have used Border and Schiltz& Larsen barrels)
Quote: I prefer cut-rifled barrels. In my experience they last longer. And very nice is also that they have a tendency to shoot many different bullets to the same point of impact, they are not so sensitive to an oiled barrel and they are also VERY accurate
Exactly my experince with them too. I prefer cut-rifled barrels over a button rifled any time
P.S Ulrik, have you heard that Svein Solli passed away this weekend? I think it was 1st of May. To bad and very sad. Svein was a really good writer with lots of experince
Quote: they are not so sensitive to an oiled barrel
All barrels should be dry swabbed before being fired to remove oil reguardless of the manufacturing method.I find that both my button rifled and cut rifled barrels shoot equally accurate out of a dry swabbed barrel without firing any fouling shots.
Posts: 3104 | Location: alberta,canada | Registered: 28 January 2002
I did a vast amount of research into the two methods before rebarreling a rife last year. I can honestly say I knew nothing about rifling. I mean how it was applied during manufacture. I found that makers that use button rifling say that the method is as good as cutting the groves. Cost is the determining factor. Buttons push the rifling into the barrel and may cause stress that can affect accuracy; cut rifling can never do that. Always looking for perfection, I went with a cut barrel maker, although I would not argue the point that it will make a vast difference. Maybe in benchrest where nano-inches count, but not in the hunting field. Still, having a cut barrel makes me feel good, so good, I went out and got another. Took delivery Friday.
Posts: 631 | Location: North Dakota | Registered: 14 March 2002
There was a discussion about leaving a light coat of oil in a barrel prior to firing a first shot. Supposedly to reduce fouling. No consensus was reached. I posed the question to Krieger who is delivering my newest barrel. Their response was that the oil should definitely be swabbed out of the barrel prior to the first shot. Their answer is the last word on this topic as far as I'm concerned.
Posts: 306 | Location: Originally from Texas | Registered: 17 March 2001
The verdict is still out as to what method (if any) is the better. Most of the top-dog US barrels are buttoned (Hart, Shilen, Lilja). There are a few makers of cut barrels left(Krieger springs to mind). If one manufacturing method was better than the other, you'd have all the BR guys shooting that brand. That is not the case. If somebody has a preference, fine use whatever is your preference. If not, shoot a good barrel and be happy. - mike
Posts: 6653 | Location: Switzerland | Registered: 11 March 2002
Good barrels are made by each method. Benchresters for years had tended toward buttoned barrels, but recently cut rifled barrels have been turning up in Winners hands, particularly in 1000 yd Benchrest. Give a Highpower Rifle Competitor a choice and more often it will be a Cut barrel.
Differences: Buttoned barrels tend to have better interior finishes especially if they're lapped. But Buttoned barrels have residual stresses induced by the rifling process that are usually removed by heat treatment. Cut rifled barrels tend to be longer lived probably because their lands are taller. They also tend to be more accurate in their twist rates (important if you are shooting long bullets at long range). A single point cut rifle barrel takes more time and effort to produce, thus you're probably going to have to pay more. Makers still producing Cut barrels include Obermeyer, Krieger, K&P and Border.
Just recently there's been a case of Cut Rifled barrels bursting in Australia. What's unique is that MAB produced both cut and buttoned barrels from the same "heat" or batch of 416R Stainless. Two cut barrels and none of the buttoned barrels burst. The Aussies point out that several years prior, a Tobler Cut Rifled barrel also burst. Theories about and an investigation is underway by the NRAA.
Posts: 192 | Location: USA | Registered: 29 January 2003
Johan, No I did not know about Svein Solli. That was very bad news indeed. He was an excellent writer and the feature that made him better than most other gun/reloading/hunting-writers is that he was honest. Never influenced by some brand trying to buy him.. I did not know Svein but I have a friend who did and Svein was seemingly a great guy. I really feel sad about this, but after all he has fighted cancer and pain for several years. I am sure he is on new hunting fields now..
