Cut rifling vs button rifling

[MudRunner2005]

Not trying to dig up bones here, but this was a great read! Does anybody have any insight to add to this topic 8 years later?

Cut-rifled is still the only way to fly, IMO. If you have button barrels that will shoot good, keep them on until they wear out. Then, when they wear out, swap to an aftermarket cut-rifled barrel.

Some may not agree, but if I'm paying my hard-earned money for an aftermarket barrel blank, it's gonna be cut-rifled. IMO, it's more precise, and I've seen too many messed up button barrels from bad rifling buttons, or dull buttons, or other issues.

I'm sure others will have a difference of opinion, but we all have our own opinions based on our own experiences. Everyone has different experiences.

 

[dkhunt14]

Well Krieger just spent a ton of money to put equipment in to freeze and stress relieve their barrels. So apparently they must think that cut rifling induces stress. I was also told that the long rods that barrels come in that they get stress from handling and bouncing around. Apparently the bending up and down of the steel while handling makes stress. I was also told by a metal guy that machining stainless induces stress. I have had many good Broughton barrels and love the way they break in and clean. They clean a lot easier then the Kriegers I had. I have had good barrels of both. I Just feel my Broughtons clean easier. I have set records with both and have seen both win a lot. I have not been to a bunch of short-range BR shoots but the ones I went to were big ones. I never saw a fluted barrel at any of them. I also don't see many on longrange BR guns either. Ask bountyhunter because he was around as long as me. Right now the hot barrel in short range is Bartlien. They have been doing pretty good. Matt

 

[soundwaves]

What about the quality german style COLD HAMMER FORGED ?

its said that this method was invented when the mg 42 came out because it fired somany rounds per minute that it use to eat up barrels. so the german gun makers came up with the idea of COLD HAMMER FORGED.

its a really expencive method aparently. the best machinery you can buy today is manufactured by stayer and it costs çölse to a million dollars and can spit out a barrel every 3 minutes.

but some say it has less accuracy than than cut and button but it has way moe barrel life.

any coments on this.?

 

[MudRunner2005]

What about the quality german style COLD HAMMER FORGED ?

its said that this method was invented when the mg 42 came out because it fired somany rounds per minute that it use to eat up barrels. so the german gun makers came up with the idea of COLD HAMMER FORGED.

its a really expencive method aparently. the best machinery you can buy today is manufactured by stayer and it costs çölse to a million dollars and can spit out a barrel every 3 minutes.

but some say it has less accuracy than than cut and button but it has way moe barrel life.

any coments on this.?

Cold Hammer Forging has to do with the barrel steel manufacturing process, not the rifling style. Steyr barrels are insanely accurate. They are CHF. Some of the best barrels on the planet are CHF.

 

[brentc]

Cold Hammer Forging has to do with the barrel steel manufacturing process, not the rifling style.

Wrong. It is a process for rifling a barrel. Hammer forging forms the rifling, the barrel contour, and the the chamber if desired.

 

[Garycrow]

What about the quality german style COLD HAMMER FORGED ?

its said that this method was invented when the mg 42 came out because it fired somany rounds per minute that it use to eat up barrels. so the german gun makers came up with the idea of COLD HAMMER FORGED.

its a really expencive method aparently. the best machinery you can buy today is manufactured by stayer and it costs çölse to a million dollars and can spit out a barrel every 3 minutes.

but some say it has less accuracy than than cut and button but it has way moe barrel life.

any coments on this.?

Hammer forging is the cheapest way to mass produce barrels & is what most manufacturers have used for many years. Calling it "German style CHF" is just marketing, it's the way cheap tomato stake barrels have been made for many years. The machinery is expensive but it quickly makes up for that in volume efficiencies, that's why the manufacturers use it.

It has never been the way to make a top quality barrel. Like everything else there are better made hammer forged barrels & lesser quality ones, but the process isn't going to give you a barrel equal to the top button & cut rifled manufacturers. The proof of that is that absolutely no top target shooters shoot hammer forged barrels. That tells you where they rate despite all the slick marketing.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Wrong. It is a process for rifling a barrel. Hammer forging forms the rifling, the barrel contour, and the the chamber if desired.

Guess I was wrong... Bound to happen eventually.

 

[Rimfire]

This was an informative great read that thoroughly touched on one aspect of barrels. Unfortunately there are other factors that are as important or more so at times and not as easy to control. We have seen the loss of Crucible Steel that put a bump in the road, we have seen growing pains in some companies with demand that makes it difficult to keep up supply, so at times quality suffers often times where time and manual labor is concerned, in the form of lapping. There have also been companies that have been very consistent throughout. Major wins in BR or new world record cause some to immediately look at what barrel was used also. If your smith is accuracy driven, open minded (not stuck on one barrel) they often know what is consistent and working and if there have been some current issues with a given barrel maker. It all depends on what level of accuracy you are looking for, do you order one blank or ten and pick the best.
Currently my two best barrels are on a 6br and 6.5x47L and one is cut and the other is buttoned.

 

[Canadian Bushman]

I have a few opinions on this one.

First both barrel types need extensive stress relieving because regardless of the rifling type they are drilled and contoured which induces what i believe to be where the majority of stress comes from. Also why i believe a straight contour barrel offers many advantages along with rigidity but thats for another day.

Any type of metal removal shaping or forming adds stress. Period.
The more extensive the machining the more extensive the stress. I have scraped hundreds if not thousands of parts due to stress relieving of parts from machining operations. Any physical change to metal will add stress.

I believe cut rifled barrels offer 1 or 2 distinct advantages.

1. Precise twist rates.
Although the difference in precision between the two types is small, it does exist.
Rifling tools work on the end of a small rod. The cut rifling tool endures less force and deflects less than a button. Hundreds of tiny cuts takes a long time but are also more consistent.

2. Variability of tooling.
Without mimicking kirby's post too much, cut rifling tooling is easier to make/modify and can result in a larger variety of options in a larger variety of twist to match more shooters preferences.
A barrel maker can also stock hundreds of buttons but this adds cost and time, and in such a competitive market most are not willing to do so.

That being said the most accurate rifle i have wears a button rifled lilja.