Oldcappj7
Active Member
I used H&M on all four of mine. I cleaned the daylights out of them before nitriding and upon receiving them back. As Rich said there was a fair amount of brown that took some cleaning to eliminate.
Jace
Jace
I don't believe salt bath intruding, done properly, damages a rifle barrel. There are companies selling pre-nitrided AR15 barrels, that continue with the practice.
I think the problems are bad process technique. Or the barrels are already heat cracked when sent in. Again, bad treatment technique. The nitriding company has to perform their treatment process correctly, on a qualifying barrel.
Which leaves us with... Who's good at it and who's less than good?
I don't believe salt bath intruding, done properly, damages a rifle barrel. There are companies selling pre-nitrided AR15 barrels, that continue with the practice.
I think the problems are bad process technique. Or the barrels are already heat cracked when sent in. Again, bad treatment technique. The nitriding company has to perform their treatment process correctly, on a qualifying barrel.
Which leaves us with... Who's good at it and who's less than good?[/QUOTE
Which is why I said you have to know the record of who is doing it! I assumed, from what I was told, that meant temperature, but likely otter things too. I don't know the answers to those questions, but for whatever reason, there are very mixed results!
Another thing that I think is missed is complete cleaning of the bore after nitriding. There is some very persistent rust like crud remaning that took me considerable effort to remove!
Thanks to : Elkaholic & Prieto9000 for your replies ; I assume that this is done mostly by competitive shooters, and is there always a gain when this is done?; ( smaller groups )? Thanks again for your answers they are appreciated.
Or an action for that matter. I'm pretty sure that 1,100 degrees is affecting the heat treating of the steel in a barrel or action to some degree.
Yes, I understand that. But the heat is followed by quenching resulting in heat treated steel. Looks like the tempering temp for 4150 steel is 400-1200 degrees. So the hardness of the steel could be affected depending on a lot of things. Your right though. The company doing the nitriding better know what they are doing....Barrels are heated to 1000 - 1100F intentionally, in order to stress relieve the steel after button rifling. Barrel blank steel is also carefully heated prior to shipment to the barrel manufacturers, for a positive purpose.
Heating to high temps is beneficial. Even mandatory to produce a safe, useful barrel.
Again, an example of high heat being necessary in order to produce a quality result. Heat applied improperly (cutting torch), could no doubt damage a barrel.
We're back to finding and using companies that know how to do it right, employ sufficient QA/QC to ensure they do it right, and work at doing it correctly. And then there's the matter of who's responsible to ensure the barrel is suitable for nitride treatment (isn't fire cracked in the throat), is properly cleaned prior to treatment, and is properly cleaned after treatment. If this is too complicated, then maybe avoid the process on your personal barrels. Is it really worth it? That's where this thread is leaning. It all depends... primarily on the opinion of the guy that owns the barrel and has to pay for the treatment process.
Thanks to : Elkaholic & Prieto9000 for your replies ; I assume that this is done mostly by competitive shooters, and is there always a gain when this is done?; ( smaller groups )? Thanks again for your answers they are appreciated.