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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.
`;?)