Would like some input on barrel polishing. Have seen some videos extolling the virtues of barrel polishing. They are claiming greater accuracy, and yet, I talk to some air gunners and they rarely even clean their barrels. Throw in sizing, sorting, cleaning, lubing, testing a plethora of pellets and lubing. Then, add installing dual transfer port, power plenum, carbon fiber barrel sleeve, the list is only limited by bank account. Are we expecting perfection out of mass produced items? Should every shot be hole in hole? Add all those things together and it leaves my ability to shoot an air rifle. I think I need to start with making myself a better shooter and not a compulsive consumer of gadgets.
Barrel polishing?
- Thread starter arizonapcp
- Start date
Some people are happy to hit a tin can at 30 yards. Other people strive for 5 pellets in the same hole at 30 yards. Lots of people fit in between those two extremes. Figure out what your exceptable standard is and try to achieve it by taking out as many variables as possible. At that point, it should be practice and trying to have some fun shooting.
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t. Are we expecting perfection out of mass produced items This is why some people polish their barrels and some don’t feel the need. The guy that polished the barrel got 1 that wasn’t great and the guy that didn’t got a good 1. And as others have said everybody has different expectations
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I polish/lap most of my barrels and liners. It takes away any break in period I may have had and usually makes the gun shoot it's best even from day one. Most of the things you mention actually make a difference in your everyday shooting some more than others.
Some barrels need cleaned often others do not that is just the way it is. Shooting at high velocities or shooting slugs will lead up some barrels faster and cause inaccuracy or fliers.
Some poorly made pellets may need sized or your gun may only shoot pellets well that are a certain size. Sizing is one way of making them shoot well.
Sorting is Important if you want tight groups or shoot competition. Poorly sized or damaged pellets will not group well.
Some pellets are filthy and need to be cleaned others not so much.
Some gun and pellet combinations shoot better with lube others do not.
You need to test pellets until you find one your gun likes and will group well for you. Testing is not done until you reach pellet nirvana.
The dual transfer port is good for those who crave power but not needed if you don't You can also modify your own port to save some cash.
Some kind of larger plenum will help those who need extra power for slugs or heavy pellets for long range shooting or hunting.
The carbon fiber sleeve may or may not help one decrease group sizes slightly by helping to reduce the harmonics and stiffening up your barrel. If your gun already shoots lights out a CF sleeve will not do much for you.
It is a fact that many/most of our additions are limited by how much money we can throw into the money pit. That does not mean our abilities as a shooter are limited though. Many have won matches with modified inexpensive guns.
The fact that many of today's mass produced barrels can shoot one hole groups at 40 or 50 yards amazes me.
Being a better shot is what really counts not how much you spend on your toys.
Some barrels need cleaned often others do not that is just the way it is. Shooting at high velocities or shooting slugs will lead up some barrels faster and cause inaccuracy or fliers.
Some poorly made pellets may need sized or your gun may only shoot pellets well that are a certain size. Sizing is one way of making them shoot well.
Sorting is Important if you want tight groups or shoot competition. Poorly sized or damaged pellets will not group well.
Some pellets are filthy and need to be cleaned others not so much.
Some gun and pellet combinations shoot better with lube others do not.
You need to test pellets until you find one your gun likes and will group well for you. Testing is not done until you reach pellet nirvana.
The dual transfer port is good for those who crave power but not needed if you don't You can also modify your own port to save some cash.
Some kind of larger plenum will help those who need extra power for slugs or heavy pellets for long range shooting or hunting.
The carbon fiber sleeve may or may not help one decrease group sizes slightly by helping to reduce the harmonics and stiffening up your barrel. If your gun already shoots lights out a CF sleeve will not do much for you.
It is a fact that many/most of our additions are limited by how much money we can throw into the money pit. That does not mean our abilities as a shooter are limited though. Many have won matches with modified inexpensive guns.
The fact that many of today's mass produced barrels can shoot one hole groups at 40 or 50 yards amazes me.
Being a better shot is what really counts not how much you spend on your toys.
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Polishing the barrel can keep it from leading up as bad. But I would not polish until I had run at least a 1000 rounds through it to see how well it does before I changed the barrel.
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Sorry ladies...no such thing as..."perfect". How many decimal places do you think is...perfect ?
With a LOT of care and money, one MAY be able to get sorta close...but...
Seems that many folks think that close is perfect...yeah, not so much.
And yeah, I also agree with the last sentence of the first post. All the fancy goodies available will NOT...make an "ok", or even a good shooter "perfect". Just like anything else, it's normally MUCH better to practice with good equipment and get better and as good as your current equipment can handle, than buy thousands of dollars of shiny goodies, and can brag about it...BUT, never really be any better of a shooter, or racer, or a...
Mike
With a LOT of care and money, one MAY be able to get sorta close...but...
Seems that many folks think that close is perfect...yeah, not so much.
And yeah, I also agree with the last sentence of the first post. All the fancy goodies available will NOT...make an "ok", or even a good shooter "perfect". Just like anything else, it's normally MUCH better to practice with good equipment and get better and as good as your current equipment can handle, than buy thousands of dollars of shiny goodies, and can brag about it...BUT, never really be any better of a shooter, or racer, or a...
Mike
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SqrlHntr
Member
In ww2 sniper Edger Rabbets hit a first round shot at 400 yds with a standard .303 Lee-Enfield rifle. Its the Indian not the arrow most of the time, IMO, but thats not discounting a polish or other things either. While I do polish and coat my barrels, indexing, pellet sorting, etc., but also IMO nothing takes away accuracy faster than yourself can wether it be physical like a bad rifle hold or trigger yank, eye focus or worse yet, mental like overconfidence or not following your own repetition of shot prep. To put all that together, barrel polishing, etc has helped point out my faults more than improved groups directly ( not talking about the fliers) , which in turn and with practice, makes groups tighter. Just one mans experience and opinion.
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hob·by1 /ˈhäbē/ noun
1.an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure.
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ob·ses·sion /əbˈseSHən/ nounLe
the state of being obsessed with someone or something.
an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person's mind.
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ac·cu·ra·cy /ˈakyərəsē/ noun
the quality or state of being correct or precise.
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diminishing returns
proportionally smaller profits or benefits derived from something as more money or energy is invested in it.
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"Accurarcy" of a gun like "condition" of a gun means different things to different people, I've polished (my way) a few barrels and have written about it, does it help with accurarcy for me...hard to say...I was more into barrels staying clean longe, for my part clean barrels work best FOR ME with very few exceptions...my accurarcy standard is all pellets should touch or better at any range, of course that is what I "shoot" for dosn't always happen. I never had a PCP that wasn't capable of 1\2" or better at 50y, FX, Daystate, Taipan. Theoben Rapid, BEFORE barrel polishing, infinitely more important to "accurarcy" is proper trigger adjustment (good consistent trigger), holding the gun the same way from shot to shot (this is big and takes years of practice) wind, good capiable gun (getting to know the gun), practice, practice, practice...I would check the other things and polish as last "fix"...polishing has it's place but with our great choice of good barrels today in most cases I don't think it's necessary...my .02 cents.
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