Barrel Interchangeability vrs. NEF Custom Factory Fit Policy

[McLernon]

The following are some thoughts on the above subject. The ability to interchange barrels came up some time ago and was quite a popular item on the Handi 'wish list' of improvements. For me, as a Canadian, I don't have access to the NEF Barrel Program so for me interchangeability would be great, but then I got thinking about it.

At one point I was seriously considering the purchase of a G2 Contender ($800.00 CDN) but  no one had them in stock in my area. I did however inspect three or four Encores and was favorably impressed.

I was just about to order a G2 sight-unseen but decided to wait. Good thing I did as I subsequently went to Bass Pro in Toronto to see what they had in stock. They too had no G2's but they showed me an Encore that looked pretty good until I checked to see if the barrel lock up was snug. It was loose, really loose. I later went on the GBO G2/Encore forum and found a complaint to T/C about a similar situation. Apparently someone received a loose Encore from T/C. They shipped the rifle back to T/C for repair. T/C inspected the affected parts and found them to be within specified tolerances. They returned the rifle 'as-is' to their customer with the aforementioned explanation( ie. within spec). Boy, what a happy customer!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Needless to say I didn't buy a G2. I bought a Handi at Bass Pro because I was so impressed with the fit & finish and price. Also, I could personally confirm tight fit up as they had plenty of them in stock.

The thing is, if you design for interchangeability, sooner or later someone is going to get a rifle at "minimum-material-condition' . This means maximum clearances and I think that is what happened in the case mentioned. What this also means is that buying interchangeable barrels is taking the risk of getting a loose assembly that is within specified tolerances. This may leave you without recourse to a remedy from the manufacturer under their terms of the warrantee.

Maybe NEF policy to custom fit extra barrels is not so bad after all. What is your opinion?

Quick, I was sure hoping to get a response from you on this one.

[quickdtoo]

Sorry, I missed this post. :oops:  I've got lots of Handis/Ultras, the barrel fit on all of them is tight, that is to say, they pass my test, which is tight on a .002" automotive feeler gauge blade placed above the firing pin when the barrel is closed and locked up on it. A .001" blade can be removed with some resistance. That is what I think H&R sets as within spec since that's what I find in all of their factory fitted barrels. If H&R were to get a handle on their tolerances for frame and barrel construction, there would be no need to "fit" each barrel to the frame, if TC can do it, H&R should be able to do it also. But since TCs don't always have that good a fit, maybe it's a good thing that H&R doesn't accept a loose fit as within spec. But it would be nice to have a one-fits-all barrel program. It's also too bad that H&R can't have an outlet north of the border so Canadians can benefit from the barrel program.

Tim

[McLernon]

One thing I liked about the T/C G2 is that the design details seem to lend themselves better to 'interchangeability'. In some ways the lock-up is straight forward and simpler. This I think might make control of tolerance stack-up and the resulting total clearance easier to control. Easier that is than the design details of the NEF. Anyway, its hard for me to imagine that NEF could achieve such 'bank vault' tightness without custom fitting. Just my opinion.

As for having a barrel program in Canada, I think it would drive the Federal Government "GUN REGISTRY' nuts. Of course most of the gun culture up here thinks they are already nuts. Note our gun registry requires that all long guns be registered, which includes recording of caliber and barrel length. It's really quite a mess---- a $2billion  mess to date.

Thanks for the input.

[Norseman112]

Well

It would be nice to just order barrels as long a they fit to the feeler gauge test like Quick said. I also think they would sell more barrels.  I wonder if H&R test fires the barrel they fit when you send your frame in? Have any of you guys ever just switch barrels for the heck of it and see if they fit?

Norse

[McLernon]

Norseman

That is an interesting idea. There must be a few people out there with more than one frame. All they would have to do is check barrel(s) A on action B and barrel(s) B on action A and report in. Anybody able/interested!!!!

[quickdtoo]

a...er...ah..yes!!! Lots of us have switched barrels and bought used barrels for our current frames....I've done a little barrel switching! :roll:  :wink:

[McLernon]

Hello Quick

Wow, what a line-up!!!!  Do all the barrels from other frames fit equally well? If so NEF must be not only fitting the extra barrel to your frame but must also check the extra barrel against a super accurate 'standard' frame, if such exists. At any rate if you can universally switch these barrels and frames -------- well who can argue with success(not me)!!!!. Maybe NEF can and should be able and willing to go interchangeable.

[mjbgalt]

yeah and if they go interchangeable then all your handis you have now would be worth squat because they would have a new standard to fit to and your frames are all different.

thats the bad part. the market would be flooded with old handis people didnt want because the frames dont jive with the new frames used for the interchangeable barrels.

-Matt

[McLernon]

It may be that they have been manufacturing for some time now to an 'interchangeable standard' but prefer not to offer it as such.

Just speculation on my part, but if true you wouldn't have to worry about loss of value provided your barrels and frames were of appropriate/recent vintage.

Anyway, who can stand in the way of progress?

[quickdtoo]

Do all the barrels from other frames fit equally well?

Nope! But most often a used barrel will fit at least one of my frames and that is the experience most here have. There are a lot of barrels sold or swapped here so they generally will fit or can be made to fit with little work, they're close enough to make a fit. There are barrel fitting instructions in the FAQ if ya want to check em out. A person also needs to be aware that rifle caliber barrels should not be used on shotgun(SB1) frames. Shotgun barrels on rifle (SB2) frames, with the exception of the 10ga, are ok.
 
Tim

[McLernon]

If all barrels don't fit all frames then I guess they are not manufactured to be interchangeable. When a barrel A fits frame B what you have I think is a statistically likely occurence not a certainty. Manufacturing to interchangable standards of course guarantees that all frames fit all barrels. Interesting stuff?

For all my banter I only have -------------------one Handi!!

[quickdtoo]

For all my banter I only have -------------------one Handi!!

So far!!!! That can change real quick.....just ask me!!! :wink:

[stimpylu32]

QUICK

tell me about it , a month ago i had one handi and now i have two and an extra brl.

.223 / 270 / 22 hornet  :eek:  :eek:  :eek: next will be a 30/30

[quickdtoo]

yup!!!! :-D  :-D  :-D

[870 expressmag]

i just sent my h and r ultra varmint .223 hvy bbl in and will be getting a .308 hvy bbl back with it..can;t wait to get it back!