using barrel tuners

[bsumoba]

Anyone using one? does it really help? Seems like it would make it a whole lot easier to tune a load when you have a good node.

Im surprised more people arent using them...but then again, from my research, it seems like a lot of people dont want to do the work to really tune it.

[toby]

I had one on a Browning, it worked very well for one load but I rather tune my ammo of different weight and charges for my barrel then tune a barrel for every load, plus mine was also a break which I have no use for and in the end I cut it off and tossed it.

[russ69]

Yes they work. Don't see them very often except for bench guns.

[buffybuster]

They're quite popular with the BR 22lr crowd but still quite new in CF rifles. I'm sure they will gain popularity.

[Switchbarrel]

Lynn has/was using one for a few years now, you might try PM'ing him.

Also, Henry P. over on Acc. Shooter uses one as well (he also uses the same gunsmith that chambered my Nationals winning rifles).

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2013/10/how-to-win-at-1000-yards-ibs-national-champ-tells-all/

-Rick

[bsumoba]

im on the fence with a tuner, but if it equates to less time to do load development with the ability to "tune" the barrel to the load, then that seems like a no-brainer right? lol

instead of playing with charge weights and seating depth, just use a tuner. They have non-brake tuners out there. thinking about giving one a shot...

hopefully lynn chimes in

[toby]

It takes a lot of bullets down the tube to get it right. I can grap any box or load I have and be dead nuts every time. Sure once you get it settled in you can fine tune and that works if your shooting one load with slight modifications.

[TMB 1]

Is this tuner you're talking about a load tuner or barrel tuner? First thing I thought was pressure point screw to tune barrel. My old 1920 Savage has one built in the stock.

[bsumoba]

It takes a lot of bullets down the tube to get it right. I can grap any box or load I have and be dead nuts every time. Sure once you get it settled in you can fine tune and that works if your shooting one load with slight modifications.

so wait, you like/use barrel tuners or not? it sounds like you're in favor of them though. and if so, which one do you like? I am considering the RAS one thats a non-brake so if I ever get to that level of competition, i will still be NRA rules compliant.

Is this tuner you're talking about a load tuner or barrel tuner? First thing I thought was pressure point screw to tune barrel. My old 1920 Savage has one built in the stock.

its a barrel tuner. the idea is to find a load that produces minimal vertical and velocity dispersion at distance (say 300+ yards), then take that load and rather than playing with seating depth or neck tension or any of those weird things, use the tuner on the barrel to optimize your rifle/barrel to that load.

sounds excellent in theory.

i read Shiraz's and Henry P's atricle that Switchbarrel referenced and it seems like a lot of the top guys are going to it. Much like developing a load, you still have to find the right index that works for the load you chose, but it seems like this is a lot easier of a process than creating multiple rounds with different seating depths, different neck tensions, etc.

[LynnJr]

Brian
Gene Buckeys won the the biggest benchrest match in the world The Super Shoot 3 out of the his last 4 tries while using a tuner that was never moved once set.
According to Harold Vaughn who is the godfather of aeroballistic nuclear ordnance while at Sandia National laboratory any time you add weight to the muzzle of a barrel you improve accuracy.

Bill Calfee who is the greatest living 22 rimfire benchrest gunsmith on the planet today swears by them.

In the next 15 years the centerfire shooters will catch up and use tuners or they will lose to the shooters who are using them.

I don't know your background but if you can picture two sine waves both with the same frequency but one with a very large amplitude and one with a very small amplitude the one with the smaller amplitude will outshoot the one with the larger amplitude. In a nutshell the tuner will dampen the height of the barrels sine wave and give us a smaller departure angle window.

When your tuning your loads for best accuracy you want the barrel moving in a positive direction when the bullet departs the barrel. When your gun is fully tuned there is very little change in the muzzles departure angle from the first shot to the last shot. Slower bullets take longer to exit the barrel so they exit while the muzzle has risen further than a faster bullet and they converge at the target.

This is a very fascinating topic that has erupted over the past 20 years splitting up web sites while at the same time creating new ones. Wilbur Harris the owner of Benchrest Central banned Bill Calfee and Myself from posting about tuners and his website is now all but dead. The shooters who used to frequent Benchrest Central created Rimfire Accuracy and World Wide Accuracy so Mr Calfee had a place to post. You need to be a member to post but World Wide Accuracy is at the forefront of accuracy as we know it today.

I just got home from kidney stone surgery and my father is in ICU with some major heart problems so give me a couple days to recover and I can share with everyone what I have learned about using tuners.

[bsumoba]

hey lynn, sorry about what you're going through. take care man and we'll all be here when you recover from your surgery.

that said, i did a lot of research and am pretty much sold on a tuner of some sort. going to go with the RAS tuner in a non-brake version for F-class.

hell, i might consider putting one on my tactical rifle LOL. well....maybe not just yet. HAHA.

i am an engineering by education so i understand what you're saying and am pretty much sold on tuners so I will end up picking one up for my f-class rig.