Is there such a thing as Too Shiny

[Supercracker]

The same principal is behind the attempts to improve PATTERN DENSITY( ie. the number of shot pellets in a 30" circle at 40 yards)using STRAIGHT GROOVES in the barrel to keep the wads from ROTATING.

a couple of weekends ago I got to look over an Austrian breechloader made in about 1880 that had "Straight Rifling".

 

[paulvallandigham]

I believe gunmakers in various European countries were experimenting with straight grooves a lot earlier than that. It certainly is NOT a new idea.

 

[Greg Henderson]

I agree, sounds like head games/hokus pokus. I used to shoot service rifle matches many years aguo and I would always ring a little bell over my box of rounds as I was getting my position ready, to "scare the inaccuracy away", what it was really doing was causing the other shooters to the about me when they should have been thinking about sight picture :grin:

 

[DanChamberlain]

Be interesting if someone could put a "spiral" pattern of roughness in the bore to see if it spun a ball, while not effecting a shot pattern. Dan

 

[Dphar]

Just curious. I was moving around some old stuff in the shop and had to go through some old painting gear and buffing compounds and I was thinking.

Is it possible for a bore to be too shiny? With a good buffing compound you can make metal look just like a mirror.

Smooth bores clean easier. But as stated in other posts excessively slick can cause "issues".
Really slick bores may require a lot more power to get a consistent velocity spread.
Also a slick bore will produce LESS velocity for a given charge than a rougher one.
This could be the reason old timers used the roughen the bore when the barrels "shot slick" I have heard of plugging the vent/nipple and filling the bore with urine.
Back to the rough bore.
The British, and perhaps others, used to roughen shotgun bores for a few inches at the breech to improve penetration (velocity) then they would roughen at the muzzle to "retard the wads" to keep them away from the shot as everything cleared the muzzle.
Retarding the shot/wad column at the breech increased pressure and made the powder burn more efficiently so better velocity.
Rifles need a certain amount of "load inertia" to give efficient powder burn. This will give somewhat better velocity and more consistent velocity. So the old timer who lapped the bore with dirt was actually restoring consistency to the loads by increasing friction in the bore OR restoring some harmonic that had been changed by the reduction in bore friction.
But one must be knowledgeable enough to know what "grit" to use.
The same thing could be done with one of the finer Scotch Bright pads found in automotive stores.
It is likely that a slick bore could also be restored by increasing the powder charge by 10 grains or maybe more. This will also increase load inertia and would bring the velocity up if velocity loss from the slick bore was the problem.

Dan

 

[George]

That's an impressive list of ballistic theories. Have any of them ever been tested in the real world?

Spence

 

[hanshi]

Something to think about; just because something was done way back in the day doesn't necessarily mean it was a propitious or logical thing to do. Think, "bleeding", a common medical practice back then. :idunno:

And I would NEVER do anything to my rifle that I wouldn't do to my best friend. :v

 

[Many Klatch]

Banshi, bleeding does actually lower a fever as well as blood pressure. I don't recommend it either besides aspirin doesn't leave a scar.

Many Klatch

 

[hanshi]

Unless you have thick blood and circulation problems (which drugs can control) bleeding makes you weaker. Give a couple of pints then run a marathon. :grin:

 

[Many Klatch]

Banshi, I'd rather drink a couple of pints at a bar and watch the marathon on TV :rotf: . My running days are long past.

Many Klatch

 

[hanshi]

:thumbsup: :hatsoff:

 

[brubincam]

someone should'a jabed you in the ass everytime you were trying to get a sight picture--bet they were glad when you didn't show up at the shoots :thumbsup: