ERIK CORTINA EC BARREL TUNER - Impressions

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Teac

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So a while ago a site sponsor had some of those barrel tuners in stock and since I always wanted one, I grabbed one. It is mounted on a Ruger 10/22 that has no single Ruger part in it and has a KIDD barrel.

I was very impressed with the results and are posting a few pics below. This was all done at 38m. What this does NOT show are my shooting abilities or lack of or anything else. What you want to look for are difference in grouping for the same ammo. On the targets are always the same ammo and the tuner adjusted by 3 steps from group to group. On one target does the POI change which is because I forgot to turn the scope to zero but since we are looking at relative grouping, this doesnt matter.

I used the ammo I shoot mostly which is (pics are in this order)

SK rifle match
there is a big difference between best and worst group, I matched this ammo to the rifle and so it always shot very well but the best group with tuner is smaller than it was without tuner



CCH MiniMag HP
this ammo did not shoot very well before and with the tuner is pretty much as good as the SK match ammo. without the tuner is was about like the first and last on the top row. this drastically improved



Federal HV
This ammo is kind of trash but its cheap bulk ammo so thats to be expected. from worst to best is still an improvement.


In my opinion this tuner makes a big difference if the inaccuracy is not caused by barrel harmonics and NOT by inconsistent ammo. Which is why its possible to tune the minimags and SK match so well. The Federal ammo has probably such variation in the ammo itself that it cant be tuned for a big difference.

For the results I am VERY happy with this tuner.


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5 shots especially when testing a barrel tuner is not a large enough sample size of ammo to have an accurate measurement of group size.

When I tested my tuner I shot about 1200 rounds total in order to get a clear picture of what the lot of ammo was doing in relation to the tuner.


People don’t fully comprehend the inconsistent nature of rimfire ammo, then argue the fact that 3/5 shot groups are “good enough”.


If you shoot 10 or more rounds into a group, I bet your average group size would more then double.
 
Thank you for taking the time.
Have you tried this again in different weather conditions? If so were the results consistent or would you have to tune to different weather conditions?
 
Teac said:
In my opinion this tuner makes a big difference if the inaccuracy is not caused by barrel harmonics and NOT by inconsistent ammo. Which is why its possible to tune the minimags and SK match so well. The Federal ammo has probably such variation in the ammo itself that it cant be tuned for a big difference.

For the results I am VERY happy with this tuner.
Click to expand...

To complete the thought in bold, shooter aside, if inaccuracy is not the product of barrel harmonics or ammo inconsistency, the remaining cause of inaccuracy would be the tuner itself. To put it another way, any accuracy that appears on the targets is the result of the tuner doing its job. Is that correct?
 
Insufficient test results.
The closest to Match Grade is your SK.
A tuner should make the best ammo in your rifle better but it will never make run of the mill american made ammo into match grade.
Once you find the most accurate ammo in your right then put the tuner on and test 10 rounds at 50 or 100 yards/metres and each setting.
All tuners will have different testing procedures and looking for different variations.
 
Also consider the weight of the tuner. We have seen improvement to groups with some types of ammo by adding a 5.56 size suppressor to barrels as well. The added weight can have a positive impact on accuracy.
 
Grey Birch said:
Also consider the weight of the tuner. We have seen improvement to groups with some types of ammo by adding a 5.56 size suppressor to barrels as well. The added weight can have a positive impact on accuracy.
Click to expand...

Weight is what it's all about. While different tuners may themselves be of different weights, the way tuners work is by moving a weight incrementally at the end of the muzzle. Finding the appropriate position for the weight is the goal. If it's not found and confirmed by repeated testing, the tuner is nothing more than a muzzle weight that doesn't enhance performance and may even degrade it.

Turning the tuner means moving the weight further ahead from the muzzle. The well-known and widely-used Harrel tuner, for example, has a weight movement range of 0.5". There are 500 clicks of adjustment for moving the weight and each "click" moves the weight 0.001" at a time. Other tuners may move their weights less precisely.

Anything added to the muzzle, a suppressor or other muzzle device (including a front sight), can affect barrel harmonics and performance. The thing with muzzle devices other than tuners is that they are generally of a fixed weight and lack the ability to move ahead of the muzzle. A fixed weight added to the muzzle may easily do nothing to enhance performance.
 
Harrell tuners time three but only one left.
The others were either sold to an aspiring shooter or went with a rifle . . . there is nothing wrong with them.
 
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