Barrett Field Craft. New LW hunting rifle.

chuck nelson said:
They cycle smoother, they are less susceptible to galling, and 4140 is stronger.
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Meaning no disrespect, Chuck, you're a good and knowledgable guy:

Smoothness of cycling will be purely a function of tolerances and surface finish. Any other contention is an old wives tale.

Galling was dealt with earlier in the thread.

As for strength, even if 4140 is "stronger", the stainless is clearly more than strong enough (Sakos in 375, Rugers in 416 etc) and has similar endurance limits to non-stainless steel. When you're talking strength, enough is enough, and more is a waste. If the water is 100 feet deep or 1000, you're still gonna drown.

They're either using cromoly from tribal legends/appeals to ancient knowledge touting the superiority of cromoly for bolts or because it's easier to machine.

I'm betting easier to machine.
 
Machinability index of 416 is 50%, 4140 66%, so not all that different. I really can't make any more comments without actually seeing the design of the bolt head.
I would agree that it was likely a manufacturing decision as various other manufactures have been making full stainless rifles and some even have titanium actions. With a good coating, alloy steel is quite corrosion resistant. That and the bolt should always have at least a very light coating of oil on it.
 
Omenator said:
Machinability index of 416 is 50%, 4140 66%, so not all that different. I really can't make any more comments without actually seeing the design of the bolt head.
I would agree that it was likely a manufacturing decision as various other manufactures have been making full stainless rifles and some even have titanium actions. With a good coating, alloy steel is quite corrosion resistant. That and the bolt should always have at least a very light coating of oil on it.
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I only care about the bore being stainless, as I've got a couple rifles that badly need a fouling shot or 5 to shoot properly. A fouling shot or 5 leaves a bore a bit bare to the elements :)
 
You know, I try not to get excited about the latest & greatest LH announcements anymore. But it was hard not to with this one. It will be disappointing if the LH Barrett turns into vaporware.
 
crazy_davey said:
Oh boy, there are some gem posts in this thread too ;)
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Hah! Ain't the Innanet great??! Do my best to ignore the condescending 'expert' and hope to keep the thread on the rails...

You should trade at least one of your Montanas for one of these, then demo and review it for us... ;) :)
 
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LittleBoyLefty said:
Hah! Ain't the Innanet great??! Do my best to ignore the condescending 'expert' and hope to keep the thread on the rails...

You should trade at least one of your Montanas for one of these, then demo and review it for us... ;) :)
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Fair enough. Reading back, I definitely need to apologize for my tone. I'm sorry.

I've been building machines for a long time, and made a great living doing it. I design them, and I build them. I'm right there on the shop floor. I know enough about manufacturing processes, quality assurance, process optimization, etc. that people pay me a lot for my opinion. Guns are just machines. Simple machines at that, and I know machines. Stainless isn't "sticky". Galling requires pressure and relative motion and similar grades and hardnesses of stainless (or Ti. Ti is brutal) A very small amount of lubricant in dry or wet form will competely prevent galling. IPSC open guns are often stainless and go tens of thousands of rounds.

My all-stainless kimber 84L has had every part reduced in size such that stresses are higher everwhere, and it still works, therefore stainless works. QED. Small shops have to use simplified processes due to a lack of scale economies, that's all, and crmo is easy to heat treat.

If you guys want to ignore me, fine. Please, God, do so. But you can't refute arguments with name calling or ridicule.
 
double gun said:
Does anyone actually know if/when we can expect to see these up here?
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Spoke with a member of Wolverine's fine staff the other day. They are definitely very aware of the Fieldcraft and getting them in, but no set ETA yet.

Chuck, Wolverine's price list from Barrett still shows LH models. Same MSRP as RHers for a change... Time will tell.
 
Bartledan said:
Fair enough. Reading back, I definitely need to apologize for my tone. I'm sorry.
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All good. I definitely don't think I know it all, and love to learn. As for SS actions, I only know what I've seen on my own rifles and those of my buddies and acquaintances. Perhaps the SS vs Chrmo discussion/argument would be best served in its own thread.
 
LittleBoyLefty said:
Spoke with a member of Wolverine's fine staff the other day. They are definitely very aware of the Fieldcraft and getting them in, but no set ETA yet.

Chuck, Wolverine's price list from Barrett still shows LH models. Same MSRP as RHers for a change... Time will tell.
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Great to hear. Did they give any idea on price.
 
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