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That'll NEVER Work!!!

You know - I learned early on ... that if you were gonna build a rifle ... you needed a barrel. ;?)

I'm just silly enough to invest the time, study, research, and capital to build my own. A decision I often revisit when it's approaching 10pm Saturday evening and I'm still in the shop .. again. ;?)

Barnes Barrels. Calibers 19, 25, 32, 8.8mm, 44, 45, 56, 58.

There are many pages here on the site discussing caliber and projectiles. Of course, it's vital to the entire subject of rifles and shooting.

Look through a shooting supply catalog and you'll quickly verify that there's not a specific caliber that everybody uses. There are dozens of them. Often just a few thousands of an inch different.

Well ... that's just silly ... why do they do that? Different factories, different times, different material suppliers, different technologies. What seems simple to one reader may not be so simple to the manufacturer. To the abject disgust of many, I've never been smart enough to wring my hands over the fact that the bullets for my gun won't fit into Joe's gun. Call me crazy (and they do ;?) ... but I figure if I have blazingly accurate slugs for my gun ... then I'll shoot those. And, more than likely ... Joe isn't gonna come knocking for a box of slugs anyway.

Now ... if Joe and I were in a ditch shooting back at the bad guys ... we might very much like to ask for slugs when one of us ran out. But, that doesn't much apply to custom handmade PCP rifles, so I think we can remain calm. ;?) The "custom handmade" part demands a custom handmade barrel to my thinking. My custom handmade projectiles serve the task well for each I make. And ... I think often the problem of projectiles is over rated as a discussion issue. Let's explore ...

There at the bottom of the stack, is a Barnes 8.8mm barrel. It's a great 12 groove left hand twist. Looks real nice.

Hey - you remember that unfinished Ball reservoir gun I've had in the R and D program for years? The OD of this 8.8mm is the same as that 32 barrel. Hummm. I feel a late night experiment coming on.

Right ... that's the one. I might just pop this 8.8 on there and see if it will get off the ground.

But ... I don't seem to have a box of 8.8mm slugs here. I can't imagine why.

;?)

I'll run up a few "Buckslugs". Buckslugs? That's right. OOO buckshot is .350" I'll run some through that Barnes 8.8mm sizing die I lathe spun when I pulled the barrel. (Good thing I did that!!!) ;?)

OH HECK ... THAT'LL NEVER WORK!!!!

Why is that? When you shoot a ball - if it engages the rifling well, the "splat" will show that the ball flew as a bullet. The nose which went into the breech first stays as the nose in flight. It spirals around the nose/tail axis.

But ... the back of the thing is .... round!!! Ever heard of a boat-tail slug? Common' ... shoot a few. Try it.

NO!!!!

Yep. That's three shots @ 12 yards.

Sure ... I used a single front bag rest. And ...

Another set of hi-tech tape sights. No - that's a different sight from the one I showed you a few weeks ago. (Compare the pics). I have TWO of them. ;?)

You recall I've been telling you about "Ghost Ring" sights for years - right?

BUT, BUT!!!!

Was it just "popping" them down there?

 

There's "IN" the Spruce 2 by 4.

 

There's "Out" the Spruce 2 by 4 ...

There's the "half ball" dent in the rebound 2 by 4 I set to catch the exiting buckslug AFTER exiting the 2 by 4. And ...

 

My trusty "shop rag net" caught the rebound ... just like I planned it. (Yeah ... I was surprised too! haha).

Here's the nose of the hard buckball AFTER going thru the 2 by 4 - and bouncing into the net. You see that the rifling cuts remained on the waist of the slug.

Yes ... my poor dry cracked hands are painful. I super-glue the cracks closed. And this is AFTER the orange goop hand cleaner. They ARE clean. ;?)

 

Here's the back of the buckslug. Looks new.

 

And there's where the buckslug squeezed thru the wood fiber.

Well ... I'll be!!! Custom slugs from a bag of cheap buckshot and a sizing die.

`;?)

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