The Handi's are GONE!

[Major]

I will not get into the barrel manufacture process comparisons but… as a retired aircraft engineer I will say this.

The forging process forces the grain of any metal to flow and to align with the other grains within that piece of metal.   The result is a far superior strength compared to shaping metal by cutting it from a bigger piece or casting it into shape.   When a bigger piece of metal is cut, the grain, which may have run in all directions, can have lots of that grain cut into short pieces.  

To put it another way, think of taking a piece of dough that is pushed out into a macaroni piece or chopping it up into pieces like rice that sticks together as it dries.   The dough that is flowed into a macaroni shape is what happens to each metal grain as it is forged and it is very strong.   The dough that was chopped up and then stuck together as it dries will look and feel hard to the touch but will distort or even break without much effort.   The metal grains that are forged will also interlock and twist together meaning that the metal will withstand much higher bending and pressure loading without damage.

I can only conclude that a forged barrel is therefore stronger and that the grain flow adds to the barrel harmonic stiffness, which in turn adds to accuracy.   How the method of adding rifling affects a barrel I do not know but I do know a forged rod is much stronger and stiffer than an extruded or a cast rod so a barrel made from that forged rod must be stronger and stiffer.

I hope this helps understand the issue at hand.

[MSP Ret]

Exactly,  :agree:  !!!....<><.... :grin:

[Fred M]

As an after note. The article about hammer forging in PS Magazine was written by written  Vern Briggs and James Higley.

Vern Briggs is the Forging process engineer at Sturm Ruger.

James Higley is a professor of mechanical engineering technology and teaches at Purdue University Hammond Indiana.

Both dispell many hearsays about stress  relieving barrels and contouring.
These two engineers speak with the latest know how and as P.Eng's would not babble B.S.

Haywire what you said about Ruger barrels was quite true before they started hammer forging. Even then in the initial stages barrels were not that good because of deficient material and experience. Since I only have one Ruger barrel which is match quality I can not say anymore.

Major
Thanks for technical your input. We don't have two many engineers on the forum. Please come to visit more often.

[Major]

Thank you Fred,

I don’t do much gunsmithing and will be the first to admit that I may not fully understand all there is to know about firearms.   But… I do know materials, material limitations and/or strengths and manufacturing methods.

I hope I was of some help in the hammer forge discussion.

[Fred M]

Major Larry

I don’t do much gunsmithing and will be the first to admit that I may not fully understand all there is to know about firearms.

That makes two of us my engineering back ground has nothing to do with guns either.  But I been interested in guns all my life and learned to work on them.

The Handi has been my perfect tinker toy of late. You can actually loose sleep trying to figure out some problems on these wee guns. They do get under your skin.

Yesterday I toke out my Ruger#1 in 25-06 for the last day of deer hunting,
after using my 257 Handy all fall I found the Ruger very awkward and heavy and slow at 9 lbs. So today I have been crunching numbers to see how I can streamline the Ruger #1 and loose a pound and a halve.

Set the barrel back 3/4" and shorten to 23" and rechamber to 257 Roberts RCBS Imp or the 257DGR. Reduce the the barrel weight with an octagon profile, Hollow out the butt and shorten the forearm.

Except for reblueing the barrel I can do all the metal work in my friends machine shop. The wood work is easy enough.