heat shrink barrel wrapping

[Cliff]

don't know for sure if the rods added anything but I felt better about not being able to bend the barrel so easy LOL.

I was chatting up the repair guy at Pyramyd before making the decision to get my HW90 about break barrels and bending them from regular use.  He mentioned to me that Gamo barrels are soft and bend easily.

You do know they make a barrel device for controling the harmonic's, with it you could move it along the length of the barrel to find the 'sweet' spot.

About the only product sold that I have found for this is the Browning Boss.
Know of any engineered for air rifles?

[SeanMP]

Yup sure do.
They are generically known as tuners and every match air rifle has one. Simply stated tuning a barrel works. Any barrel from a pea shooter to a howitzer has a harmonic wave that can be tuned.
There is a decent article on the subject in March issue of Target Shooters Magazine http://www.targetshooteronline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=47&Itemid=255

Your on the cutting edge of barrel science with your shrink tube. Essentially developing a matrix of materials that have differing resonances can control chaotic vibrations making the "whip" more predictable and therefore more easily tuned.

Most of the work is being done with carbon fiber but there is no reason to believe that your shrink tube wouldn't have a similar effect albeit to a lesser degree.

Just remember great innovations were never accomplished by people who said "it's not worth it" 

[Tom SC]

  This is funny in that I thought about doing this to a barrel a few days ago. The thought being to minimize vibration. Did some research on it and I see some target shooters do it their rifle barrels as well.  May give this a try hmm...

[pappa]

Barrel or muzzle BREAKS, not brakes, are meant to give us a better grip/handle for opening a break-barrel rifle and cocking it. It also serves to keep our sweaty/dirty hands from setting up corrosion and wear of the barrel's surface and bluing and protecting the tip of the barrel from damaging accidental impact. It also can provide a good stabilizing effect on the barrel when the rifle is fired.

For a good example of stabilization, when I first started using my Venoms, I grew to hate the cheap rubbery plastic breaks that came with them. I had a Remington Summit that was deadly accurate with its metal break. I liked the looks of it and tried it out on one of the Venoms. To my surprise, the accuracy and repeatability of the Venom immediately improved. I immediately ordered 2 of the Summit breaks from Crosman and after putting them on both Venoms, they were both shooting with better accuracy and repeatability.
As a test, I fired a few groups with the Summit with no break installed and then with the break reinstalled and, sure enough, the break increased accuracy and repeatability.

I don't know if this is a product of improved harmonics or just simple stabilization but IT WORKS and I couldn't be happier.

My next project is to install custom metal breaks on my Ruger Blackhawks and perform the same comparison tests. I firmly believe that there will be an improvement.

[Slavia]

I have done this with all my break barrels, except I use black vinyl tubing.  I smear the barrel with K-Y lubricant and heat the tubing with a hair dryer so it will stretch as I force it on.  It does take some work.  (Be sure to put the K-Y back, or your partner is going to wonder why it's in the garage.)

I do it to add visual "weight," to keep my fingerprints from eroding the blueing, and to provide a larger, more resilient grip surface.  I can't say that I've noticed a real increase or decrease in accuracy.  On those occasions when I needed to remove the tubing I did not notice any rust, probably because the tubing fits tightly enough to exclude oxygen.

[Plekto]

Some guns do simply put, have too thin and flimsy of a barrel.  Crosman CO2 and PCP barrels are famous for needing extra support and stiffness.  Barrel bands and the like help, of course, but it's no substitute for a real firearm grade barrel, IMO.    Adding some heat shrink tubing would increase the mass and rigidity of the barrel a bit.  I'd wager that it would take at least 50% more weight to bend a thin barrel that had this applied to it.

I do know that heavy barrels in most firearms do help a lot with long-range accuracy.

[Jay]

Cliff I can't remember the name of the device, but it's a rubber tube/antivibe type thing that goes on the barrel, that can be slid forwards an backwards(finding the sweet spot) to control the harmonics. I will try an look it up for you, just been having some "pooter" problems since last storm here so I'm kinda hacking along LOL. I know they work on PB guns so can't think of why they would not help a AG?

[JMJ in NC]

Cliff I can't remember the name of the device, but it's a rubber tube/antivibe type thing that goes on the barrel, that can be slid forwards an backwards(finding the sweet spot) to control the harmonics.

Limbsaver?

http://www.limbsaver.com/firearms/sharpshooter.php

As for slipping a rubber tube over a barrel as a damper, sounds like the same problem as installing rubber grips on bicycle handlebars. I've done it using alcohol as a "lubricant". Wet the bar/barrel and the inside of the tubing, then just push it on. The alcohol will evaporate overnight.

The other method is compressed air. Put a plastic tip on your compressed air blower, start the tubing onto the bar/barrel, and force the blower nozzle a bit under the rubber tubing edge. Hit the trigger and start pulling/pushing to get the tubing on. The tubing will literally ride on a cushion of air all the way on. Capping the end of the tubing & the barrel helps a lot, but is sometimes not needed.

JMJ

[JMJ in NC]

Barrel or muzzle BREAKS, not brakes, are meant to give us a better grip/handle for opening a break-barrel rifle and cocking it.

Not according to Beeman.

http://www.beeman.com/brakes.htm

JMJ

[pappa]

Barrel or muzzle BREAKS, not brakes, are meant to give us a better grip/handle for opening a break-barrel rifle and cocking it.

Not according to Beeman.

http://www.beeman.com/brakes.htm

JMJ

Beeman can call them anything they like. But, can you give us a true definition of both a 'muzzle break' and a 'muzzle brake'? Keep in mind that we are not talking about using a high powered firearm that we need to tame recoil for by using the exhaust gasses from the muzzle discharge to BRAKE the recoil.

[JMJ in NC]

Well, "muzzle break" only comes up on search engines as a misspelling of "muzzle brake". Sorry, I'll take Beeman's definition & spelling. They probably call it a brake because that's what it looks like. Doesn't function like one though. Muzzle break means as much to me as having disk breaks on your car (which I've read too many times to count).

How about just calling it what it is, a cocking handle. If anything, "muzzle fake" is more appropriate.

And don't get me started on "dampening" vibration. LOL


JMJ

[pappa]

Well, "muzzle break" only comes up on search engines as a misspelling of "muzzle brake". Sorry, I'll take Beeman's definition & spelling. They probably call it a brake because that's what it looks like. Doesn't function like one though. Muzzle break means as much to me as having disk breaks on your car (which I've read too many times to count).

How about just calling it what it is, a cocking handle. If anything, "muzzle fake" is more appropriate.

And don't get me started on "dampening" vibration. LOL


JMJ

Gammo calls them BREAKS:
http://www.gamousa.com/product.aspx?productID=193
They are BREAKS on the Crosman Nitro Venom:
http://www.crosman.com/pdf/manuals/CD1K77NP%20EVP%20&%20PL.pdf
They are BREAKS on the Remington Summit:
http://www.crosman.com/pdf/manuals/RW8M22X%20EVP.PDF

Do we really need to go on with this p...... contest???

[JMJ in NC]

Congrats. And on your 500th post to boot!

JMJ

[pappa]

Congrats. And on your 500th post to boot!

JMJ

Thank you! That one snuck up on me. Funny, I don't feel any different.
Have a good day!

[Jay]

JMJ in NC, Thanks that is it, I believe when they first came around it was made by another company(been awhile), I have not used one myself but have heard good reports on use.

[Novagun]

Adding weight to the end of the barrel is the whole point of a brake. It adds inertia to the muzzle. The added mass slows down the muzzle movement. Any benefit by way of altering the barrel harmonics is a side benefit because the harmonics require a much more sophisticated approach.

[Novagun]

Break or Brake.

I think the Queen in her version of English and the Americans in their version of English could sort it out.

Break; to damage or destroy. Maybe render in two.
Brake; To slow down or retard.

Take your pick regarding what you want to do to your barrel.

[RedFeather]

The original Air Rifle Headquarters (out of West Virginia in the 60's/70's, not Jim Maccari's shop) used to offer shrink-wrapping.  I've seen a 124 done that way and later on figured it was one of their guns.  It's supposed to keep down bluing wear and corrosion.  Not sure if you can get appreciable moisture under it once it's set.  If you have a pitted barrel, it might be worth it.  Beats sanding and doesn't look bad, neither.

[pappa]

Adding weight to the end of the barrel is the whole point of a brake. It adds inertia to the muzzle. The added mass slows down the muzzle movement. Any benefit by way of altering the barrel harmonics is a side benefit because the harmonics require a much more sophisticated approach.

Not the 'whole point'! It also provides a safer, larger, more comfortable grip for cocking and protects the barrel from sweat and body oil corrosion from sweaty or dirty hands. It also protects the tip of the barrel (crown) from damage in case of sharp impact in that area.

I wouldn't dream of owning or operating a break-barrel rifle without one for those reasons alone, although I heartily agree that the break can have a great stabilizing effect on accuracy and repeatability.

[JMJ in NC]

I think most brakes/breaks are intended to be crown protectors & cocking handles. If they were meant to add significant mass to the muzzle, they would not be made out of plastic or aluminum, as most of them are today. That said, it will add some weight, which is generally a good thing for the reasons stated. Same can be said for thick shrink tubing on the barrel, which could help to damp vibration along the entire barrel length.

JMJ