B2 Chrome barrel accuracy

[enfield303t]

Took the AIA B2 out today to see if a chrome lined barrel was accurate. The loads were developed for a Savage 10FCP and a Savage 12 so not for the B2. Bullets are 155gr. Sierra Match King and are very accurate in the Savage rifles we use. The powder I use is Varget and seems to be more than good. All shots were at 100 yards off a bench.

The gun had not been out of the safe for over a year and just think what a group you could get with a Timney trigger.

Group 1 picture was me shooting and I am responsible for the vertical stringing but considering I always have difficulty getting a clean sight pattern with the scope, a Pecar 6X I was OK with the results but should have done better.

Group 2 was my son shooting, tighter and although good enough said he knew he could do better. Again the trigger is heavy and sure doesn't break like a target trigger would. Cass is a big guy and the benches never fit him properly so he is always at a handicap using them.

Group 3 was Cass again and the first two shots were one large hole, he was very happy with those and on the third he pulled the trigger and gave me the ^&%$^ look, said it wasn't the best shot. Well when you look at the results I think the results speak for themselves, he really wanted a cloverleaf on the last shot.

I did this just to show the misinformation that someone published on chrome lined barrels. This B2 is not the most accurate when they were tested, the most accurate was shooting a .50 group according to the information provided by AIA. Hope to find that gun someday.


Group 1


Group 2


Group 3

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[WarPig1976]

What is it about guys like us that we get all giggly punching the smallest groups possible in paper? We've spent thousands doing it without even batting an eye. :mad smile:

[enfield303t]

What is it about guys like us that we get all giggly punching the smallest groups possible in paper? We've spent thousands doing it without even batting an eye. :mad smile:

Good point!

For my son and I we enjoy accuracy however are not obsessed with getting a super tight group most of the time. Once we zero a rifle we rarely again try for a "tight group".

We shoot at two different ranges, the one today only goes out to 300 yards and the majority of the time shoot clay pigeons put on the berm at 300. The other range has targets out to 400 and we usually just shoot the steel gongs and 3 and 400 yards. The last time we shot that range I took 2 shots (Savage 12), hit the small and larger gong at 300 yards dead center, that was good enough. I am not a exceptional shot but do have some good days and a bad day shooting is better than a good day doing anyting else.

Today was only to prove that a chrome lined barrel will shoot accurately, the statement by one writer that they wouldn't has always been a sore point with me. That statement had a negative effect on the sales of AIA rifles and considering the writer NEVER shot one was completely off base. I am a Savage fan and have never shot a Remington CF so would never slag a 700 as inaccurate having never had trigger time on one. Fair is fair, AIA rifles were not perfect, they are very good.

The B2 is zeroed at 300 and was shooting right today so group 3 was after a adjustment for that was made. It hadn't been shot in at least a year so time to try to make a point on accuracy. The Pecar scope looks good on it and very clear just not my favourite.

Next challenge will be the No4, need to put a good scope on it and take it to the range. Oh it is also chrome lined and a good shooter, was taken out by two well known shooters, I am unable to talk to either of them, sad.

[CINDERS]

Me I consider hitting anywhere on the black circle at anything up to say 600m with my bog standard 303's a bonus for me it is all about the camaraderie and the equipment maladies that crop up at every shoot on some ones shooter adds to the spirit of the adventure if I want a tack driver I go to my effie in 6.5/284 anything more than a 1/2 MOA at 100m is just not going to go well I strive for at least a 1/3rd to 1/4 MOA as per attached pic of a 3 shot group from it at 100m but understanding it is purpose built with a top line optic on it

[Son]

The whole point of the matter is the reviewer quoted a generalisation that applied to BR shooters at the time of writing. Fact. There are quite a few methods of chroming barrels these days, one of which I have seen and know produces bores to quite fine tolerances and achieves very good accuracy over a long life span. Chroming is a coating. The problem is being able to apply the coating to an even thickness, measurements down to the hundreds of thousandths of an inch over the lands and grooves inside a long small tube. Any inconsistencies, no matter how microscopic, make all the difference.

I also know that when options were studied from available choices in a weapon system for a barrel requiring a very high accuracy standard, the softest of several was chosen despite it having a very short life span. Accuracy was the overriding factor, and that came down to the ability to finish the surfaces to extremely fine tolerances to ensure that accuracy.

I think anyone who is serious about defending the chromed bore needs to do some real testing.
Take the same rifle and the same loads that produce sub MOA groups at stones throw distances and trot them out to a thousand yards and shoot a five round group. See if a very slight blemish on the surface of a projectile caused by one tenth of a thou irregularity in the bore makes a difference to that group.... The same ammunition through the precision made "soft" barrel might just show it up in under the conditions the review alluded to.

Always ready to be proven wrong.....
Just my 2c

[CINDERS]

I saw a Vid on the M60 E5 with a composite barrel that they claimed was good for 15000 rounds and along with an vid of a 850 round single pull burst from the MG. Has anyone heard of these barrels or is it just another fancy way of saying chrome lined.
Son - if like you say there is the chance of the coating not being consistent does/can this lead to say after continued use the thin spot wearing through and allowing the chroming to lift causing rather large irregularities in the bore just curious.

[Bindi2]

A rifle that shoots sub half minute at 100yds may shoot 2 or 3 minutes at 1000yds and a rifle that shoots sub half minutes at 1000 yds may not shoot better than 2 or 3 minutes at 100yds. The pain of long distance shooting starts at 25 yds to be on paper then moves back to the range required testing and tuning all the way. Son is right it only takes something very small to upset the best plans to achieve the dream.

[browningautorifle]

I saw a Vid on the M60 E5 with a composite barrel that they claimed was good for 15000 rounds

Those are likely the Stellite barrels, a composition of four metals and extremely hard, they were bored to accept an insert of this material that was the liner only. The gasses forced in at the edges would cause rust underneath so they were discontinued. Otherwise, the next best thing was the way the Russians had used nickle lined barrels. They apparently lasted for ever...and cost a gazillion $ to produce.

[enfield303t]

I am like you Cinders, perfectly happy hitting the center of a decent target at longer distances. The only competitive shooting I do is a military fun shoot once a month around 7 times a year. The targets are man size and the disciplines make for great fun and camaraderie. My son usually shoots a SP1 with reloads that is very accurate and me a SKS that is not bad considering they really are a spray and pray type of gun, with a chrome barrel. LOL

I have two friends who are tight group shooters, one is quite serious the other takes it to a level that defies definition but that is what they enjoy. If I can hit the gong at 500 9 out of 10 shots I'm OK with that.

The B2 when previously shot will hit a standard clay at 300 yards consistently, good enough for me.

[Son]

I saw a Vid on the M60 E5 with a composite barrel that they claimed was good for 15000 rounds and along with an vid of a 850 round single pull burst from the MG. Has anyone heard of these barrels or is it just another fancy way of saying chrome lined.
Son - if like you say there is the chance of the coating not being consistent does/can this lead to say after continued use the thin spot wearing through and allowing the chroming to lift causing rather large irregularities in the bore just curious.

I have seen a few chrome bores with the coating lifting away from the parent metal.... They are condemned instantly. I don't get to do any sort of investigations, unfortunately.