Thank, Dave, Joe and SDave.................
That is what I was looking for. Now I might have more intelligent questions when I phone Ron. 
I appreciate all the responses.......................JimK

I too would be curious to know the details of whether Ron's bbls are tapered in their bores or grooves or both, and the details of his methodology in achieving his results. I don't doubt his dimensional achievements, I'm just curious about the details of how he does it.

As I understand it, most custom barrelmakers first drill, then ream, then lap the bore; apparently this is where some makers achieve their taper. The actual rifling operation usually removes so little metal with each pass that it's possible to maintain a very smooth surface finish if the tool is ground & polished  properly, but it's unclear to me how the rifling operation itself can produce a tapered bore.

However I recall another thread on this forum in which the tapered bore of the 577/450 Martini service rifle was described. I can only assume that these supposedly mass-produced barrels did not have their bores hand-lapped to the required taper since that would appear to be entirely too labor-intensive, but rather it seems more probable to me that the taper was achieved mechanically in some fashion.

FYI many if not all factory Pedersoli barrels have tapered bores, I've heard that they are broached. Also an outfit called Blackstar (I believe) has advertised barrels with tapered bores; these were advertised as being micro-honed (or some such buzzword) to their final super-smooth tapered finish. I can personally testify to the Pedersolis' usually superb accuracy but have never examined a Blackstar barrel.
Regards, Joe

As we all know the barrel maker can do his best but if the barrel is not installed or chambered by someone who understands the game a lot can be lost. 

Two things about a Ron Smith barrel that impressed me.  One, when the barrel was mounted between the headstock and the cat head and both ends were indicated (plug gauge in bore) to zero runout, the lathe then run at high-speed the bore appeared to be motionless, a straighter bore I have never seen.  The second thing is with a button tip on a cleaning  rod and patch in the bore I would be hard pressed to tell you if I was cleaning a Pope or a Smith barrel.  If you have ever cleaned a Pope barrel you know what I’m talking about. 

Quote:


I have heard of Boots being slow. A friend called Boots within the last year about getting a .30 barrel and was told by Mr. Obermeyer that he had been tied up for some time making M14 barrel for dear old uncle. Those guys just about all have to rely on their "bread and butter" work for cash flow. Guess we should be happy Marines can be confident their M14s will shoot straight.

Obermeyer barrels have always had a sterling reputation in Service Rifle (M1 and M14 era) and Palma shooting.

And they've always been tough to get. As JD Steele mentioned, he's been doing Government contracts for decades, and only gets time now and then for non-contract production of barrels.

Best shooting M-1A I've ever seen had an Obermeyer barrel on it... Sadly, it wasn't mine!

Paul F.

Jimofatl wrote on Jul 12^th, 2008 at 5:26pm:



+1.... Ron Smith tried to talk me into a SS barrel, told him if he could rust blue it go ahead.

The consensus appears to be that the Benchrest crowd uses stainless almost exclusively for both CF & RF while many military and Highpower shooters seem to prefer CM for their CF shooting. The long range (1000 yds & over) shooters that I know seem to prefer stainless. Schuetzen and BPCR shooters almost always choose CM.

The use of a particular material or a particular rifling method doesn't guarantee anything, except that the barrel is made that particulat way. 
Any honest smith or barrelmaker will readily admit that there are no guarantees as to accuracy. However IMO there are some things that can be done to help the odds along a bit, and the two most important IMO are to use the best quality materials that are affordable along with the best quality workmanship that's affordable.

For suggestions as to 'the best', check the equipment lists of the record-holders in your preferred disclipline. Don't worry about the majority of the shooters, check only the record-holders. And check plenty of 'em, too, because you'll find that there is more than one 'best' in many areas.

For instance I've had a wide range of accuracy results from many of the more prominent barrelmakers like Douglas & Shilen & Badger, which maybe is to be expected from any mass-produced item. But I've also had somewhat spotty results from some of the smaller custom makers as well, such as Hart, K&P, Kreiger & others. It's frequently somewhat of a crap-shoot, and most any dedicated Benchrest shooter will tell you quite quickly that he'll discard more barrels than he'll actually campaign in any given time period.

I won't offer any opinions about smiths except to say that anyone can find someone to say something bad about anyone else, so I don't pay much attention to one unfortunate instance or one negative opinion necessarily. However, kinda like seeking a new doctor, it's A Good Thing to get more than one opinion about smiths. I know one prominent single shot smith whom I would never trust with anything of mine, yet he seems to enjoy quite a following in some circles. Again, I suggest that you look at the smiths of the record-holders' rifles.
Good luck, Joe