I have noticed that many airgun barrels are so thin. Is it because there are less pressure than powder guns. I disassembled my pp700sa and my god under that shroud is a pencil thin barrel. I can’t even see the crown. Also with the muzzle end being threaded there is not much room from threads to crown that the edges of the muzzle is ragged. I have to take the sharp edges off and re crown barrel with brass cone and lapping with valve grinding paste. I’ll take pic of that. Second I used my barrel camera to look inside OMG I don’t know why this barrel shoots lights out with the way it looks.
What’s up with the very thin airgun barrels.
- Thread starter Barzor
- Start date
sounds like a "well-seasoned" barrel
Yeah a rifle cartridge generates 50-60,000psi normally. A regulated airgun generates around 2,500psi. That's just one reason.
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If it’s shooting lights out with what appears to be a bad crown, I would leave it alone.
Yeah, qc in the air gun world lacks compared to powder burners. Until you get into some of the top tier stuff.
Gotta love the pp700, fantastic little shooter!
Dave
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I think there are a few reasons for the thinner barrels on air rifles as compared to center fire rifles, especially BR rifles. In longer shot strings, the heavy barrel helps dissipate the heat generated from a center fire rife cartridge, which helps in avoiding any effect of the heat on POI. The added weight also helps in a steady hold. Air rifles don't generate much heat, and the nature of the air rifle construction, with the air cylinder or bottle, offers enough weight without the need of a heavy barrel. Also, most air rifles are constructed in a comparatively flimsy manner, and a couple of small grub screws and O rings would be challenged to secure a heavy barrel. A few air rifles use a threaded barrel shank and receiver, so I expect we might more use of heavier barrels as the designs accommodate them better. But with the exception of unlimited BR rifles, it seems that the additional weight would become a disadvantage in general field and target applications.
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Thinner the barrel the more whip, so the more a harmonic tuner makes sense, so the more reason you would buy one 
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Of all the budget brands I've dealt with, Snowpeak's barrel workmanship is the worst I've encountered. Crowns that look like they were done with a dull drill bit running backwards. One of mine as delivered:
On long barrels they like to shove a dirty piloted crowning bit down into the muzzle and mangle the rifling. Ran into it twice on guns purchased years apart.
SPA still doesn't get it - Diana Chaser rifling damage - Airguns & Guns Forum
SPA still doesn't get it - Diana Chaser rifling damage, Air guns, Airgun Forum
www.gatewaytoairguns.org
Neither of my short-barreled guns had the rifling damage (one of them a PP700S-A) so a crown job took care of that end of the barrel.
It's great you can clean up yours because they usually improve substantially with a little effort.
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D
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That's a very cool looking hand gun. How much $$ and what calibers do they come in??
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I love mine. Got it at krale for $250 a couple of years ago. Comes in .22 or .177 and you can easily buy a barrel for the other caliber and change it. I also have a long .177 barrel for mine when I want to set it up as a carbine. There is also a folding stock accessory that works ok.
Here’s a pic with the long barrel, shoulder stock, and moderator. It can be annoyingly loud without the moderator
Here’s a pic with the long barrel, shoulder stock, and moderator. It can be annoyingly loud without the moderator
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IMHO partly its a "follow the money thing", just like most everything else on this earth.
Thin barrels are made in bulk and might be easier to produce which saves money, less steel is used which is cheaper, and most people don't require the standards of precision of that of the firearms world.
Another is 98% of shooters want lightweight airguns for their needs.
I think its crazy how well some of those super thin barrels shoot and at the same time also how crappy some of them shoot.
But like in the BR world if you look at how precise those heavy barreled Thomas slug guns shoot with .9" thick match barrels there is no other pcp which comes close to it. These barrels are as good as a barrel gets, are expensive, and it shows in the match results.
On the other hand the Thomas pellet guns also shoot very good but I wouldn't exactly call these barrels thin compared to some other barrels in the airgun world.
Thin barrels are made in bulk and might be easier to produce which saves money, less steel is used which is cheaper, and most people don't require the standards of precision of that of the firearms world.
Another is 98% of shooters want lightweight airguns for their needs.
I think its crazy how well some of those super thin barrels shoot and at the same time also how crappy some of them shoot.
But like in the BR world if you look at how precise those heavy barreled Thomas slug guns shoot with .9" thick match barrels there is no other pcp which comes close to it. These barrels are as good as a barrel gets, are expensive, and it shows in the match results.
On the other hand the Thomas pellet guns also shoot very good but I wouldn't exactly call these barrels thin compared to some other barrels in the airgun world.
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Yes most air rifles have some version of a plastic straw for a barrel, and most are sloppily fit into the breech. Cost is the only thing I can think of. A proper PB style barrel and receiver assembly would cost much more to build. There are a few thicker barrels that are threaded into the breech and are less prone to poi shifting. I have learned this is a very sensitive topic on this forum so tread lightly
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I had a Shenlin (SP?) .22 barrel from a pb i was thinking of putting on a daystate , but a friend offered more than i paid for it and shoots ELR .22 so it left my possession . Still, i do think about it .
wonder what the actual bore size is in a .17 PB barrel ?
wonder what the actual bore size is in a .17 PB barrel ?
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Its just the cheaper, better product.
( Cheaper for them to make and better profits for the shareholders).
( Cheaper for them to make and better profits for the shareholders).
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Maybe we simply don’t need that thick of barrel for airguns? PB chamber pressure is 50-60k while airguns are about 2000psi or lower. PB projectiles easily get over 100 grains while 40 grain at sub sonic speed is considered heavy, even for big bore 100-200 FPE vs over 1000 FPE? For crying out loud we have rubber orings to seal in the pressure. LOL!
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From a pressure standpoint no, but from a mechanical consistency standpoint I think yes. Does it need to be a 1.25" diameter barrel blank like on some of my PB? Obviously not. But would an Avenger benefit from a 0.650" barrel threaded into the breech? Obviously yes. Holding a long flimsy straw in place in a sloppy hole with a set screw or two isnt exactly precision. There is a reason many air rifles benefit from some kind of barrel band, and PB work best when free floated.
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Great points but the question really boils down to what’s enough? Just like PB world we can go heavy metal barrel or lighten the weight of the barrel to reduce the flop/flip. In PB world carbon barrels are really good, we need less than 1/10 of the strength as long as the barrel system is light enough. FX’s superlite barrel is nothing but a metal straw with a shroud and that thing is free floating and shoots lights out.
What I’m trying to say is size isn’t everything, how it is used is just as important!
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I think enough is when you dont have to worry so much about poi shifting after spending a couple two or three grand. I like FX's swappable design, but can achieve the same thing in my AEA Challengers with a threaded barrel and barrel nut. Imagine FX quality but a thicker threaded barrel that would be pretty rad.
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