Chatter Marks on Barrels...

OCHO505

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Oct 15, 2016
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172
Location
Albuquerque, NM
Hello all, new to the forum but looking for some help with guns in general. I have a 6.5 Grendel project and ordered a barrel. Put it on and gun isn't shooting very good so thing eh, new barrel lets see. Luckily I have a buddy who has a barrel scope and we look in and see the listed pics.

The barrel has under 100 shots in it but I was told this is not very good in particular for this barrel. Which is Brownell Premium, I understand its not the top of the line but I understand these are made by Satern?

In any event I am curious if this is A) normal B) is this acceptable from this level of barrel or opt for higher quality?

I was told lapping barrel would fix this however I don't think a barrel this new should need that? Looking for advice. The place I got the barrel from said if they send it in an the new one comes that way that's what you get. I am pretty heated looking for some insight from more experienced gun builders.

Thanks in advance!
 

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Hello all, new to the forum but looking for some help with guns in general. I have a 6.5 Grendel project and ordered a barrel. Put it on and gun isn't shooting very good so thing eh, new barrel lets see. Luckily I have a buddy who has a barrel scope and we look in and see the listed pics.

The barrel has under 100 shots in it but I was told this is not very good in particular for this barrel. Which is Brownell Premium, I understand its not the top of the line but I understand these are made by Satern?

In any event I am curious if this is A) normal B) is this acceptable from this level of barrel or opt for higher quality?

I was told lapping barrel would fix this however I don't think a barrel this new should need that? Looking for advice. The place I got the barrel from said if they send it in an the new one comes that way that's what you get. I am pretty heated looking for some insight from more experienced gun builders.

Thanks in advance!

Welcome to LRH and enjoy!

WOW, IIWY, I'd try to return it for a refund. A is no and B, opt for a better quality barrels and there's plenty of them to choose from.

Check out this video ...

[ame]https://youtu.be/hf9zZqn00CA?t=1[/ame]

I hope it works out for you.

Cheers!

Ed
 
WOW. That looks pretty bad. I would also get it replaced because if you lapped it enough to clean it up, it would be oversized to the point of poor accuracy.

I am not pushing premium barrels, But this is not unusual for discounted barrels and the inconsistency in there quality. When you spend the money on the Gunsmithing and have to redo the
rifle, the savings are not worth the potential problems and cost. Plus the time and money trying to find a load that works.

The barrel Is the heart of any good/accurate rifle. The best smith in the world can't make a poor barrel shoot. MY suggestion for a barrel purchase is buy the best that you can find and the best that the barrel maker makes (They have the tightest specifications).

The cost difference between a discount barrel and a premium barrel on average is $100.00 to $150.00 dollars. The cost of a re barrel and chamber is 4 to 5 times that so you save nothing.

I hope they will replace the barrel, but I wouldn't count on it because it has been fired.

Good luck

J E CUSTOM
 
The machining marks are in the grooves and not on the rifling lands which is not as detrimental to accuracy but since the rifle doesn't "shoot" I would advise you to get a refund if you can. If the barrel was a shooter I don't think it would matter, because I don't believe it would case excessive fouling. Hope you can get a better barrel. I don't think the machining marks are causing poor accuracy, but these marks may be a tell sign that other dimensions are inferior.
 
The marks are not uncommon in a button rifled barrels, by the looks of how they've almost disappeared on the lands they'll likely lap out but since they've offered to replace it and the accuracy is poor I'd replace it.
 
The machining marks are in the grooves and not on the rifling lands which is not as detrimental to accuracy. I don't think the machining marks are causing poor accuracy, but these marks may be a tell sign that other dimensions are inferior.

Sorry I disagree. Any machine marks can/does cause accuracy problems unless they are filled up with copper. Machine marks are caused by poor tooling or cutting speed causing the cutter to chatter leaving these marks. When these marks are on the lands "only" it is from the drilling process before the final reaming to get the proper bore size. buttoned rifling actually forge the grooves and they are smooth because the button if lubricated and leaves little or no marks and when they do they run with the rifle bore. If the final reaming is not done to the correct sizing for the displacement of the material from the grooves there will be rough lands but not chatter marks.

With cut rifling, the cutting broach has to fit the bore perfectly and be used at the right speed or it will chatter leaving chatter marks in both the lands and groves at the same time.

Any marks running perpendicular to the bore will cause accuracy loss and will increase the fouling rate plus it can lower the velocity by as much as 50+ft/sec (This is one of the reasons some premium are hand lapped from the maker, to improve overall performance).

Poor quality and machine marks are very common on low cost barrels because they don't make the effort and spend the extra cost to make them as good as they can. Hence the reason they can sell them for less and make the same or greater profit margin. There were many brands That I wouldn't use because of quality and consistency. And this is an example of that. I tried to find out who the barrel maker for Brownells premium barrels was, and all I could find out was Made in USA. with no mention of who. they list other barrels by there maker.

J E CUSTOM
 
Saturn makes the barels from Brownel. I also got in touch with Saturn and they are more than going to take care of the issue! They were upset this left the factory and it happens..: I am just glad they are going to make this right! Learning all the time - appreciate all the input!
 
Saturn makes the barels from Brownel. I also got in touch with Saturn and they are more than going to take care of the issue! They were upset this left the factory and it happens..: I am just glad they are going to make this right! Learning all the time - appreciate all the input!

I'm glad too ... good luck on your project.

Ed
 
Saturn makes the barels from Brownel. I also got in touch with Saturn and they are more than going to take care of the issue! They were upset this left the factory and it happens..: I am just glad they are going to make this right! Learning all the time - appreciate all the input!


That's good news.

I have never used there barrels and I don't know what there tolerance Specifications are. But if they make it good that's all that counts.

J E CUSTOM
 
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