Barrel Damper

[ron-dog]

:lol: Hi Guys,I've been away for a while. I've got a friend that made me a barrel damper. It's 5 1/2 inches long,made out of alum stock. He set it up in his lathe,and center bored it to the barrel dementions. It is slid over the barrel after removing the ,muzzel brake,and front sights. It fits really tight,and is held in place with four set screws. I finally got around to testing it last week,and all I can say is wow! My gun has a 1-7 twist barrel,and now it will shoot,40,45,50,55,and 60 gr. bullets very well. The damper also acts as a heat sink,and draws the heat off the barrel very fast. The diffrence in accuracy is unbelieveable. I have a friend that shoots an Accuracy Systems Inc. Minni (1800.00) dollars,and he can't believe how well the gun shoots. John is planning on building a full length model,with a muzzle brake built in. I will post a pic. of it,if I can get it to work(my PC). We shoot metal plates(10X4 inches) and the minni will now hit them at 300yds every shot with 55gr PSP hand loads. I can't wait to get the new shroud,as John calls it,on the gun to check out. Ron Dog

[ron-dog]

Guys here is a pic of the Shroud (I hope) Ron Dog

[guncats]

wow, it is smaller than I thought it will be....Have been thinking about making one such thing myself and already find the aluminum bar to use....I also planned to add short accessory rails on it, for flash light, scout scopes and such. :rolleyes:

My plan was to cut the barrel to 16", add the aluminum tube, then install an AK74 type brake to make it back up to 18". But if adding the dampner will make the gun go MOA I might not want to cut the barrel short. :blink:

would you please provide the accuracy test result? very interested. Thanks! :D

[rutro]

Wow, way to go ron-dog, That's what I love about this board. Can't wait to hear more details and maybe see some before and after targets.......

[ron-dog]

:D Guncats,we plan on getting it on paper as soon as the weather permits. We shot it over the week end (Rain and cold temps,and lots of wind).We have a rock that is up a ditch here(kind of a junk shooter's standard) it's 4 inches wide and tall. We like shooting it to try out loads for fun,you can see the smoke(dust) fly off it when hit. Plus a really loud WHOP when the bullet connects. The rock is exactly 238yds. The thing that is amazing is that this gun allyway shot 62 gr. bullets well (1-7 twist),but now it will shoot about anything you feed it.We shot 40gr. v-max bullets,50gr TNT's55gr. PSP's,and 55 FMJBT's it just whacked the rock time after time,with no prefrence to the bullets being used. We shoot steel plates on weekends for fun,and the gun consistantly hits the plates at 300yds shot after shot. John is building a new one,that will be full length(muzzel brake,and front sights removed,with a muzzel brake built in. We can't wait to see how this puppy works. Will send photo's of the targets,and gun as soon as we get all our ducks in a row.Ron

[guncats]

How about making one end extend longer and act as the upper gas block half? just have to mill, and drill four holes for gas block screws. Shouldn't be too hard. But to make that happen you will need an aluminum bar that is 33mm in diameter.
it will make the gun look super cool, kind of like having a super-bull barrel.....

[tri70]

What is the OD of the aluminum stock you used? I think I have some 1 1/2 or 2'' round in my basement I just remembered about. I may take to a machine shop and do like you did.

-very cool,tri

[ron-dog]

tri70, The Alum. stock measures 1 inch. We had to buy a ten foot section of it,as that was the way it came from the machine shop. Also I will mention that it has to be T6 grade (aircraft grade or better) Our first attempts were with regular grade,and it had many cavities in it when we bored it. It might be ok,but we decided that it wouldn't make a consistant contact with the barrel. It looked really crappy when you looked thru the bore job,plus you didn't want to hit any air pockets in the metal when drilling,and taping for the set screws. Hope this info. helps. Ron :)

[guncats]

is there any way to tell the grade of aluminum by just looking? I am not sure what grade my bar stock is...

[ron-dog]

I'm not really sure,but the T6 is alot harder than regular alum. Check your,if it marks real easy or seems soft,it's proably not T6. Ron Dog :D

[kravman4]

That is one, SWEET :blink: barrel shroud. I want one! :blink: I'm gonna check around for the nearest machine shop and see if they could do a similar job for me. BTW, any of you guys in SoCal know of a good machine shop?

[Bam Bam]

Looking good there, I wonder if the barrel shroud they sell at Cabelas and elsewhere would serve same purpose as this one.
Their shroud is intended as heatguard for hand and has holes in it. Being here in Calif. might not be legal to use either, not sure.
Be looking for one from John with built-in brake on it next.

[special poop]

is he taking orders? can he make one for a mini 30? I'd be into buying one if he can, thanks.

[ron-dog]

special poop,He isn't just yet,but you can bet he will once everything is perfected,and tested. I'll post a pic. as soon as the prototype is finnished,with details. I shot mine today,using 50,and 55grPSP's. I was cutting sticks off in the ditch we shoot at alot. They stick above the water about 1 1/2 to 2 inches,and are about the size of penciles. I hit nine for ten at 250yds. This shroud really works. Ron Dog :lol:

[kravman4]

Originally posted by ron-dog@Aug 5 2004, 07:17 PM
I was cutting sticks off in the ditch we shoot at alot. They stick above the water about 1 1/2 to 2 inches,and are about the size of penciles. I hit nine for ten at 250yds. This shroud really works. Ron Dog :lol:
You were getting hitting 1" targets at 250 yards? That is insane!!! (Kalistan slang for awesome) I'm almost thinking I didn't quite understand you. Would you mind repeating that? :blink: :eek:

[ron-dog]

kravman4,we were shooting at sticks protruding above the water in the ditch. Shooting off sand bags,and portable bench rest. What made it easier is,the gun is sighted in at 250yds,so it was dead on shooting. We use pretty high power scopes5X15-6.5X24 for our target shooting,this really makes a diffrence. Ron Dog :)

[kravman4]

That is some mighty fine shooting! :D I'm gonna visit my local machine shop to see if they can do something similar. (I'm lucky to have a machinist who enjoys the shooting sports and actually owns a mini himself) Again, congrats on a fine rifle!

[special poop]

not to brag or nuthin' - more of a system capabilities comment - but I've been able to score score wine bottles at 300 yards from a slightly elevated position with a mini 30, with no major mods 'cept a MB. And thats with only one shot to guage hold-off, and the next shot usually get's her done. If that damper fits good and tight and can stiffen the barrel that's good enough for me. If I need to dust an evil-doin' Haji at 200+ I'm not gonna use my Mini. Range is not an issue, CQB accuracy is the thang for me.

As far as testing goes...who cares... I'd buy one from your bud on concept alone.

PM me w/ a price.

[ron-dog]

Well it's been around 5 months(Whew) John finally got the proto type full length stabilizer built! We done some informal shooting with it this last weekend,we think it's gonna be a winner. It would hit a limb around three inches in dia. @ 150yds every shot,using the cheap Russian stuff,and hand loads w/55gr psp bullets. Infact we cut it completly in two, two times like using a hatchet! We couldn't get the one with the comp. to shoot worth a darn(maybe the porting was wrong?). This last one that is full length,was installed a little diffrently. It had to be honed,a little at a time fitting it to the barrel. It fit so tight that we used a wood mallet to finish seating it on the barrel the last 1/8 inch. The thing we noticed was it was 1. it is exteremly accurate. 2. it dissapates heat much more than the loose fitting ones we made first. 3. it didn't shift POI as the barrel heated up. I'll do my best to report back as things progress. I'm pretty sure that John is going to sell them over the internet. Compared to buying a bull barrel the savings will be alot! Ron-dog B) :ar15:

[special poop]

we're still waiting...... tell him to make a few for the mini 30 whiles he's a-lathing.

[ron-dog]

Will Do ,SP I think he would need the barrel dementions. If we can find someone with a 30 we will be set! RD B)

[280man]

Here is a suggestion;

Cut the bore real tight for exact fit to the barrel, then heat it up to about 220 degrees in the oven and slip it on the barrel real quick with a hi temp mitt.

Did you try steel before you settled on the aluminum?

What size bit did you use to bore the hole?

Did you bore it on the lathe I would assume?

Did you annodize it?

[guncats]

my mini-30's OD measures .622"--.623", pretty consistant, from the gas block to right behind the front sight.

So I guess to bore it you can use a 5/8" (.625") rimmer, then secure it onto the barrel using set-screws. That is during the experimenting phase of course.

[ron-dog]

guncats,sounds good. Thanks for the info. RD B)

[Stache]

ron-dog,

Any update on this barrel dampener? What were the final specs you decided on?

Also, when you mic'd your barrel (Mini 14), did you find it to be "non-uniform"?

I just mic'd mine and the dimensions start at .556" at the end of the gas block, taper up to .572" at the step (2" behind the front sight), down to .560" right after the step and it stays that way @ .560" to the front sight.

Unless I machine the barrel to a uniform diameter, it would seem that the .016" of looseness at the gas block end would be too much slop, or do the set screws take care of that?

Thanks.

Stache

[ron-dog]

Yes,they are for sale we have 5 ready to ship. The new ones are real easy to install. They are 75.00 plus shipping to your address. We have two short ones also 35.00 plus shipping. Yes,they are machined to fit over the steps on the barrel,and the set screws hold it in position.As of now we make one style finnish. You can buff,or paint it to match your gun (Black High Heat Header paint). Look under the post Up and Running. RD B)

[Stache]

Thanks for the info.