[Poor_Dog]

Looking for recommendations for having the mini done, not sure who though. I'm not sure but was thinking about 300 Below... Anybody got suggestions or advice?

I intend to pillar bed when I get it back and have already done the 'Poor Dog' trigger job. Also, is it advisable to send the entire action/trigger group/gas block/etc... or should I just strip it to the receiver & barrel and pull the brake?

 

[tri70]

I had mine done at Cryo Pro.

 

[Poor_Dog]

I had mine done at Cryo Pro.

Could you tell a difference?

 

[tri70]

With my skinny barrel 196 model it made a big difference, it would get warm and string shots. I have not done my 6.8 or target model, I don't notice stringing as much but maybe because I don't shoot as much either.

 

[Poor_Dog]

Dang, I just looked at their prices, very reasonable

 

[tri70]

It was well worth it for the 196.

 

[pdog]

I had both my 196 mini 14 & 30 done also, helped a bunch. Also did my triggers and glassbed myself, huge improvements for the pencil barrels.

 

[MXSENIOR]

All of my weapons, including pistols, have been done by CyroPro. David is a great guy and seems to take great care of the parts sent to him. Fortunately for me, he lives about 20 miles away, so I just take everything over to his place. Still takes four days for the weapon to go through the process though. I read that the cyro process would do little for stainless barrels, but it definitely improved the stringing as the barrel gets hot on my Target Model. Best $35 you can spend. Send your trigger group, barrel and bolt. You can send the gas port on the barrel, just make sure everything is clean.

 

[P15-D24]

Used 300 below twice, will use them again. Good service. Never have seen a problem with stringing on my 581 series.

 

[Calif Mini]

Cryo Pro

+3 on Cryo Pro.

As mentioned David is great and has done a ton of Mini 14s. Helped mine a bunch.

Easy to talk to and I had one of the best experiences with a company I needed to ship to. He makes it easy.

Will do business again when I pull apart some more firearms.

Ed

 

[Poor_Dog]

I figure that I'll send it to Cyro-Pro maybe next week or so.I want to shorten the barrel and thread it prior to shipping.

I started doing some checking on the process for rifle barrels and have been a little surprised by what little I've found. Before and after tests I've found are slim and most show little to no change in accuracy. Then again, I run in to allot of results on forums that make the %50-60 improvement claim, but they aren't backed up by a real comparison test, just the poster's claim. Some of the statements I've read are indicative that it's more of a placebo effect than a real change in the rifle's accuracy, I.E. 'The rifle is more accurate therefore I will shoot more accurate'.

In addition I spoke yesterday with a regional manager of a big player in the tooling industry and he spoke in very descriptive detail about it. They had tried and promoted the process in the 90's with poor results. Their in-house tests showed 0% improvement in tool life and customers that had bought into it were disappointed. They have long since dropped the idea.

I intend to have the process done and hope it will help with the stringing associated with the Mini, but also mainly for another reason aside from accuracy. A gun barrel's life is measured in seconds, a few seconds of use and it's pretty much done, makes a Mayfly's life span look like an eternity. I'm hoping that it will also extend that life to some extent.

Once done I'll definitely post an opinion on this thread, however I can barely see the target as is, so any bitching on my part will likely have to do with that, but there again, if the results are good then it's probably the process's fault not any extra effort on my part.

 

[Luv-My-Mini]

If you could do a 5x5 before and after that would be really great. I know people cryo barrels and brake rotors but I don't understand why it would do anything, but I am not a metallurgist, not even on the internet.

 

[Darts2116]

have 188 Series Ranch rifle I bought for a friend for a steal 6 years ago (basically traded him an Ithaca 12 gauge and 100 bucks in cash). I live in the Nanny state of NY and AR/AK have been ban I've been quite happy I made the trade. I saw a post on another message board and the guy did extensive testing on different modifications that you do to make the platform more accurate. Here is a link to the post http://ingunowners.com/forums/long-guns/222563-breathing-new-life-into-old-mini-14-a.html. It seemed like the two biggest things that decreased the grouping size was Cryoing the barrel and putting a Barrel strut on it. I'm a realist and know that this platform will likely never be a Sub MOA rifle. I'm looking to set this up as my SHTF rifle. Honestly If I can get the rifle to shoot 3 inch groups at 100 yards it will more than meet my purposes( For this gun I'm more concerned with Minute of Bad Guy. I have a Remington 700 set up for accuracy at greater distances). As it is not an expensive process and it seems to help at least in the test I saw. It made me curious. Having Majored in Chemistry until Organic killed me I've seen more than my fair share of objects dipped in Liquid Nitrogen I'm still a little fuzzy on how this would improve the accuracy. Basic physics if you cool the metal it will cause the metal to constrict thus making the barrel in theory more rigid and thus more accurate and less susceptible to bending. The main questions I have is how is this a permanent process? According to one of the sites I researched out of Ohio this "De stresses the barrel" which to me would mean it makes the barrel less rigid. How does the process help accuracy as the barrel heats up? My major concern is that this will make the barrel brittle and more susceptible to cracks and bends? Any answeres or thoughts on the above would be greatly appreciated.

 

[COBrien]

Basic physics if you cool the metal it will cause the metal to constrict thus making the barrel in theory more rigid and thus more accurate and less susceptible to bending. The main questions I have is how is this a permanent process? According to one of the sites I researched out of Ohio this "De stresses the barrel" which to me would mean it makes the barrel less rigid. How does the process help accuracy as the barrel heats up? My major concern is that this will make the barrel brittle and more susceptible to cracks and bends? Any answeres or thoughts on the above would be greatly appreciated.

My understanding is this:

Cryogenically (that's C R Y O) treating metals is a heat-treating process. We all know that how hot you get steel and how quickly (and how much) you cool it will impart different properties to the finished product. Heating steel to 300ºF then slowly cooling it to -300ºF changes the bonds between the different molecules in the steel, making the part (especially the surface) stronger and thereby less susceptible to warping when heated. This increased strength does not equate to brittleness, at least not so significantly that you'll shatter your barrel and/or action.

 

[Darts2116]

Thanks COBrien I guess when I read Cryo I assumed it meant that it was cryogenically freezing. Thanks for the info!