Harmonic Barrel Tuners - Help or Hype?

[MikeAllen]

Like the title says, do you find that harmonic barrel tuners improve accuracy and consistency or are they just hype? I am speaking of course as they are used in airguns, not powder burners. And if you do suggest them do you prefer the FX and/or FX Integrated barrel tuner or the Swan? Any others?

 

[iAMzehTOASTY1]

I use this
Helped my grouping*it's a wildly bucking break barrel(Winchester 1100SS)* enough to help me get 10.5gr Benjamin HPs to hit at 100 yards

 

[MikeAllen]

I use this
Helped my grouping*it's a wildly bucking break barrel(Winchester 1100SS)* enough to help me get 10.5gr Benjamin HPs to hit at 100 yards

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Yeah, break barrel's are a whole different kind of animal!

 

[iAMzehTOASTY1]

Yeah, break barrel's are a whole different kind of animal!

Limbsaver has quite a few cool things to check out

 

[dens228]

Perfect timing. I just installed one on my well tuned M3 in 22 cal. Why? Because I had one, I'm off for the summer and had time.
It didn't change a thing. But my groups were already good. As I spun the tuner they did get worse or better depending on the rotation.
I'd say as far as a PCP goes a well tuned rifle does not need it.
I took it off but had fun messing with it.

 

[bigHUN]

I have the integrated barrel tuner for .25x700. Have not noticed anything with 34gn JSB pellets, but when jumped to heavier 41gn slugs @ higher power about 1050 I could see some difference punching paper @ 100 BR.
Also I tried the "barrel stiffener" and I call it a hype.
Also I have a whole bunch of air strippers and many calibers, I call it "it works" these gives a different personality to your groups.
I am not an active competition shooter but I tuned and trained hard to get there and I think I can perform.

 

[qball]

For an FX impact it's obviously good to use the FX tuner but there are other ways to achieve the same thing. Does it work? Yes, but there are a lot of variables. Tuner is generally looking for that last 0.5-1% improvement, most people may not notice.

 

[MikeAllen]

For an FX impact it's obviously good to use the FX tuner but there are other ways to achieve the same thing. Does it work? Yes, but there are a lot of variables. Tuner is generally looking for that last 0.5-1% improvement, most people may not notice.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

[DBlue]

I was into rimfire benchrest shooting for years and almost everyone that shoots rimfire benchrest has a Harrels tuner on their gun. The barrel tuner has been around for many years, it's not something new as some in the air gun world thinks. The ones being sold for air rifles came from the design of the Harrels tuner, which has been around for years. I have several of them in my shop and have tried them on my air rifles, in my opinion, an air rifle does not generate enough barrel harmonics for the tuner to be really effective. They do work very well on a rimfire rifle, at a rimfire benchrest match it would be odd to see a rifle without one.

 

[MikeAllen]

I was into rimfire benchrest shooting for years and almost everyone that shoots rimfire benchrest has a Harrels tuner on their gun. The barrel tuner has been around for many years, it's not something new as some in the air gun world thinks. The ones being sold for air rifles came from the design of the Harrels tuner, which has been around for years. I have several of them in my shop and have tried them on my air rifles, in my opinion, an air rifle does not generate enough barrel harmonics for the tuner to be really effective. They do work very well on a rimfire rifle, at a rimfire benchrest match it would be odd to see a rifle without one.

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Thanks for your thoughts on this.

 

[Smok3y]

COMPLETE ASSUMPTION coming… I have NOT used one on an airgun.

When the FX tuners came out, I was excited. Having owned a Harrels (like mentioned above) on a CZ, I know how it can help. A Lilja barrel improved the 6x5 card 50yd groups from about 0.5” to 0.3” and the tuner helped knock off another 0.1” on those average cards.

I decided to wait and see how this would work out for airguns, and here is where the assumption comes in…

I would think… If they were working, we would see more of them at the big events. It seems to me that as much time as some experts spend time sorting to get the best scores, they would definitely be using these. I am going to assume that we are able to accomplish most of our tuning through Reg/HST eliminating most of the need for these tuners.

They are not hard to use, and much easier than dealing with sorting, so why wouldn’t they be used if they are working…

I don’t mean to say they won’t help, but maybe they just don’t help much on the most popular rifles.

 

[MikeAllen]

After posting my original question - here, also, are my assumptions: High velocity, heavy slugs - .30, .35 caliber and bigger, may benefit somewhat, especially at higher velocities, but diabolo pellets, 34 grain and lighter, especially .25, .22 caliber, etc., probably will not see a noticeable benefit. Proper tuning and indexing are probably more helpful in achieving tighter groups. Again, this is my assumption.

 

[DBlue]

This is just my opinion....I think the reason that an air rifle will not get much benefit from a barrel tuner is because the way most air rifles are constructed, most are a frame work of different components meshed together with the barrel being one in the mesh. When fired, the vibrations are distributed throughout the framework with a lower percentage of vibrations going through the barrel compared to a powder burner. A powder burner benchrest rifle has the barrel attached directly to the receiver and the receiver is pillar bedded into the stock with the barrel being completely free floated with no contact to the stock so when fired that free floated barrel is getting the majority of the vibrations which makes it more possible for the tuner to be able to balance out those vibrations.

 

[Preston tist]

I use this
Helped my grouping*it's a wildly bucking break barrel(Winchester 1100SS)* enough to help me get 10.5gr Benjamin HPs to hit at 100 yards

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10.5 grain bruh? I respect it to each their own. Have you thought of stepping something up. Like a I don't know maybe something u can reach out with. Just saying

 

[Preston tist]

This is just my opinion....I think the reason that an air rifle will not get much benefit from a barrel tuner is because the way most air rifles are constructed, most are a frame work of different components meshed together with the barrel being one in the mesh. When fired, the vibrations are distributed throughout the framework with a lower percentage of vibrations going through the barrel compared to a powder burner. A powder burner benchrest rifle has the barrel attached directly to the receiver and the receiver is pillar bedded into the stock with the barrel being completely free floated with no contact to the stock so when fired that free floated barrel is getting the majority of the vibrations which makes it more possible for the tuner to be able to balance out those vibrations.

Airgun barrels (especially fx) still have massive barrel vibration with man sized caliber and or weight. Thus your extended post is a little wrong in my opinion. Just do your research. The market of Airgun enthusiasts is very shrewd and always sounds alarm on bs. Summarily coming to the conclusion that it has a effect or they won't sell. I like to wait a year after it comes out. 5 minutes of research online. It works. Maybe haha go panther and get rid of impact while you still can. Once after market catches up m3 is dead.

 

[Grey-Kiwi]

Can't speak for one on an air rifle, but I do have a Lowey on my CZ457 .22 rimfire (my indoor benchrest rifle).
It does work. Testing it when first fitted and I could make the group go wider, tighter, oval shaped, round shaped, etc as I played with the settings.
But...if you the shooter are not up to the mark with your shooting, or your gear is lacking then sure...you will not notice the difference.
If you are a freehand shooter, or a tad 'wobbly' then a tuner can't show what it is capable of.

 

[JEFFPPC]

I have been using tuners on my centerfire benchrest rifles for about 15 years. They work. How well depends on the user. Now that I am interested in accurate springers I have found that work just like on PB. I bought a D54 .22 and was pretty disappointed in it. Had John Thomas tune it, cut groups in half or maybe even more , still not really happy. Bought Hectors tuner for the 54, love it. Now shoots just like my TX 200 in .177 but way superior from 50 to 100 yards. They are not for collectors or maybe putting holes in a soup can at 50 yards but if you like small groups or hitting the little air gun silhouettes out at 100 yards you will find tuning a pellet to your barrel very rewarding.

 

[jps2486]

I installed an FX tuner on the end of my 600 mm Crown barrel. Every time I pulled the trigger, the image in the scope would dance around quite a bit. That, to me, is counter productive, so I took it off. The rubber limbsavers, I believe, do a better, although more subtle job.

 

[iAMzehTOASTY1]

10.5 grain bruh? I respect it to each their own. Have you thought of stepping something up. Like a I don't know maybe something u can reach out with. Just saying

What do you mean?

 

[steve-l]

I believe in physics, not old wives tales. So, to the question of whether harmonic compensators work, the answer is yes, but it is relative. If the vibration impulse is strong or if the assembly is low in mass and stiffness, a compensator corrective effect is also greater. However, if the shooter is not of the highest caliber, the corrective effect may not be seen. That said, an air gun has a much lower vibration impulse than a PB, by a factor of at least 10. The biggest issue air guns have in susceptibility to harmonic vibrations is the lack of stiffness, especially on FX guns. Stiffness is a tradeoff. Air guns are more efficient and performant with long barrels. Long barrels are more awkward to handle, heavy and whippy than short barrels. Your call.