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RJThere stainless barrels are hard as granite to chamber .I think its a t-630 stainless, work hardens real quick and will dull a reamer if you don't keep the coolant on it.They don't shoot any better than the a Benchmark or a Kreiger.
You're being polite. The only other barrels that are almost as hard are the old Black Star offerings.
dg, have you ever used any of the old Black Star barrels?? They were offered for sale appx 20 years back.
They were Lothar Walther produced blanks and Black Star, chemically etched them to proper diameters. They were a bit of a rage on the match circuits for a few years.
I don't believe they are still in business.
I bought several of those barrels to make up match rifles with. The idea was to get longer accurate life spans out of them than could be achieved with other barrels.
With match barrels it isn't uncommon to replace barrels chambered for cartridges such as the 30BR, 6PPC, 30PPC etc, up to 308Win anywhere from 1000 to 1500 rounds. These barrels would be suitable accuracy wise for hunting but have lost their edge for match requirements.
A few of us went in on a group buy from Black Star, which were expensive, to see if they actually did give extended accuracy life and try them for potential accuracy.
They were very accurate. Accuracy longevity wasn't appreciably longer. They weren't any more accurate than other match barrels available at the time with better pricing. Still, they were good barrels.
When you're chambering and threading Lothar Walther bbls, you should have auto feed lubrication, for a continuous supply of cutting oil to keep the metal cool. You need to be very careful to make as few cuts as needed to cut the threads and chamber.
As mentioned, these barrels are made of T630 stainless and they work harden VERY FAST. They can get hard so quickly that they can easily ruin a properly sharpened reamer well before milder steels. Not only that, there isn't much indication of what's happening until you suddenly have a reamer that will stop cutting.
The trick is to make your measurements and keep lots of cutting lube flowing to keep the steel and reamer cool while making relatively aggressive cuts.
dg, I wasn't implying you didn't know your stuff by any means.
One fellow I know loves those barrels, because he's had good success with doing builds on them. So there is a demand for them. They are also some of the most consistently straight barrels I've seen and the bores just don't seem to have chatter marks or drag lines. I believe they're lapped before shipping.
