Tune your load or tune your barrel?

[jeepnsammys]

Whats better? Develop a load for your barrel? Or develop a load you wish to shoot and then tune the barrel to work with that load? Sometimes we cant get the load we really want to shoot to work in the gun we would like to shoot it from so then is it better to develop the load as in the bullet, powder, speed etc.. then start tuning on the barrel to try and get it to shoot this load by using barrel tuner or muzzle brakes and make slight changes in them like slowly trimming off tiny bits of the muzzle brake to change harmonics till it performs to your liking or is there a better way?gun)

 

[Reloader222]

I believe it is better to turn the load to the barrel than to try to turn the barrel to the load. You might spend all the money on improving the barrel and then it still does not work. Therefor do you load testing and if it does not work, try another combination of primer/powder/bullet.

 

[Trickymissfit]

Whats better? Develop a load for your barrel? Or develop a load you wish to shoot and then tune the barrel to work with that load? Sometimes we cant get the load we really want to shoot to work in the gun we would like to shoot it from so then is it better to develop the load as in the bullet, powder, speed etc.. then start tuning on the barrel to try and get it to shoot this load by using barrel tuner or muzzle brakes and make slight changes in them like slowly trimming off tiny bits of the muzzle brake to change harmonics till it performs to your liking or is there a better way?gun)

A basic hunting barrel (not a heavy varmit barrel) can be made to work well with a tuner. Problem is that with some of the big calibers a lot of guys are going for the chore my end up be moote.

I've never done a centerfire tuner, but they are similar to the others. Someday I'd like to try one on a 22 centerfire or a 6mm cailber as they should work well. Muzzel brakes are not tuners, and often create other problems. Tuner designs and a couple other items that go along with them are closely guarded pieces of black art. Knowing what I know about them thru past experience, I would recommend having the barrel threaded and then lapped in afterwards. Never take a finished blank and expect fantastic results. Maybe yes, but also maybe not. I would first buy the tuner, and then send it to the barrel manufacturer to have it fitted when he cuts the contour. Trust me this is the sane way to do it!
gary

 

[Canadian Bushman]

IMO its easier and cheaper to tune a load. Plus there are probably more options for tuning a load over a barrel.

 

[Trickymissfit]

IMO its easier and cheaper to tune a load. Plus there are probably more options for tuning a load over a barrel.

actually in the long run cheaper with a tuner when you look at the cost involved. You can take a good tuner setup ,and literally tune anyload to shoot far better than it would have without the tuner. How much will vary with the loads. Ammo componets are not getting any cheaper, and every shot that dosn't pan out is thrown away money.
gary

 

[Canadian Bushman]

What is the chance of a barrel tuner not increasing accuracy?

 

[Trickymissfit]

What is the chance of a barrel tuner not increasing accuracy?

actually pretty easy to mess things up if not installed properly. First of all it must be very concentric with the bore just like a brake should be. Secondly the method that it works off of (there is two or three types) has to be able to handle the harmonics the the ignition and bullet energise. I'd prefer the counter weighted ones as you can easilly make different weights for it.

The ones I did were for 50 yard rimfire benchrest, and I actually built two similar ones but out of radically different materials. But they are the same principal as a centerfire. The third one I built was a weighted one, but how it shot I don't know for sure to be honest with you. The tuner I designed and built shrank the five shot group size by almost 50% with no other changes. But what was really nice about it was that we could change to Green Tag for practice and actually cut those groups by close to 60%! Another little thing I liked about the tuner was that you started out shooting good with a cold barrel and it changed very little if not much at all. The old Browning Boss system worked the same way, but was not quite as sophisticated as the ones on the market today.

There's also a cheap rubber sleeve affair that seems to help reduce harmonics a good bit. (don't remember who made it, but it simple and cheap. Another way is to actually instal a metal insert in the stock that's about an inch back from the end of the forend. Then you use a nylon tipped set screw to exert a little pressure on the barrel (will change point of impact a little bit). Some guys have gone so far as to use three screws 90 degrees apart. Have never tried this one, but a few have used it in the past.

never hurts to experiment a little bit!
gary

 

[Canadian Bushman]

Thats really interesting. Once a barrel is tuned to a particular round, does it work more consistantly with others or is it more hit or miss?

 

[Trickymissfit]

Thats really interesting. Once a barrel is tuned to a particular round, does it work more consistantly with others or is it more hit or miss?

Once your setting is in place it should not have to be moved unless maybe the ambiant temp has radically changed. Even then it would only be slightly. But if you change bullets or powder you probably will have to do another setting. It's really pretty simple once you have it all setup.

The 22 rimfire are far more tricky because you can't do much of anything with the ammo. Seem to be very suspectical to bore size variations, and the mount for one of them can be a real pain. But the results can be rewarding. We took a Cooper that shot .30" groups with Federal Olympic down to .170" groups with a tuner. Had that been centerfire ammo it would have been easier due to better componets alone.
gary

 

[Canadian Bushman]

Well i retract my previous statements. I now believe both ammo and barrel should be tuned. Thank you for the enlightenment Tricky, ill be doing some research.

 

[Trickymissfit]

Well i retract my previous statements. I now believe both ammo and barrel should be tuned. Thank you for the enlightenment Tricky, ill be doing some research.

don't feel bad, as I was a doubter as well. I'm going to try the pressure points in the forarm this year. It'd pretty simple and easy to try.
gary