I stand by my original statement regarding precision barrels as used for jacketed bullets. Blackstar was using a technique to impart a gradual taper (very, very slight; not .002") to barrels they got from Lothar Walther. In the brochure, these were the best barrels ever. On the range, they did nearly as well as the conventional barrels against which they competed.
The process of lapping a barrel does not impart this feature unless it intended by the worker to do so. Even then, it's not likely anybody can produce a consistent taper with a lap. A choke can be produced relatively easily (I say "relatively"; bring a lunch)
Precision barrels are used with precision bullets. Such bullets have no problems with quality control which might be corrected by a choked bore. Bullets within a couple tenths either way of groove diameter perform equally well.
Hammer forging machines are expensive and, on top of that, don't necessarily produce the best barrels although they certainly can. Barrels by Swiss Arms are superb. Barrels by Remington vary from superb to pitiful. Note that Remington elected to button rifle their 40xbr barrels and, at the time, they did have both the budget and the machinery.
Harry Pope built his barrels with a gradual taper from breech to muzzle but these barrels were built for use with lead bullets, preferably loaded from the muzzle. When he got involved with the production of barrels for jacketed bullets, the tapered bore was abandoned.
Modern benchrest barrels and bullets are capable of producing accuracy at the 1/10 moa level or better and have been for 30 years. These are parallel bores; no taper. This, then, is the mark to be equalled or bettered. When a manufacturer, be they from America, Europe, Australia,or Asia, beats this with different methodology, I'm all ears. By the way, this means beating it in the real world, not in the manufacturer's brochure or some "pie-in-the-sky" article espousing theory in Precision shooting. Regards, Bill.
