I'm into a new project....

Bill Calfee

Gun Fool
I'm into a new project....


CYA friends:


My only reason for staying with rimfire accuracy advancement, is the hope of a MD-PAS triple pistol, for the masses.



Frankly, after thirty years of doing RFBR, I'm bored.......I apologize...


I've won every big national event, multiple times, over these past 30 years......


I have absolutely nothing new to win........on the big national stage.


So I'm bored with the same ole, same ole.......I apologize...



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Now......these new MD-PAS triple pistols.......................oh man, that's an entirely different story.....


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So here's my new project......( while we're waiting for these new pistols, for the masses)



I've got a ton of old, used barrels in the shop.......most are either worn out or damaged from improper cleaning.



Take-offs..........



So I went through a bunch of them today......looking for a candidate for my new project...


I found an old, early, 4 groove Broughton, way before the 5-C and 4-C era.....


Fit for a Turbo......


This old Broughton 4 groove, measures .2225" in the grooves.....and extremely round in the grooves..



And I'll be perfectly honest, I don't remember exactly why I have this old barrel.....


It has a pronounced divot at 6 in the bore, so it's been shot a couple cases, at least....



CYA friend, I'll continue tomorrow......


My phone just rang and I need to return this call...


Your friend, Bill Calfee


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PS:

OK....

I returned that call, so I don't have to deal with it till tomorrow...


But, I just had another call......which I feel I must return...


But real quick:


This old, 4- groove Broughton is so old that I don't remember the story on it....


So quickly, here's what I'm going to do:


I'm going to see if I can make this old Broughton competitive in today's modern RFBR world.


more later.....bc
 
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How do I know for sure?

How do I know for sure?


CYA friends:


How do I know, for sure, that this is an old Broughton?


That's a good question.


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To start with, it's a .875" diameter blank.


And it's been at least 10 years, or more, since I worked with a .875" barrel.


Back in that era, there were only two conventional rifled, four groove barrels being made, to my knowledge, one by Broughton and the other by Lilja.



And the early Lilja had a groove to land ratio similar to the Broughton........the later 4 groove Lilja's were much more MI.


The groove diameter of this barrel I'm fooling with, is .2225" at the muzzle.


The Broughton's from that era were all slightly over .2220" in the grooves......and those early Lilja's were .2220" groove diameter.


So depending on how much lapping I did, either the Broughton or Lilja could wind up at .2225" groove diameter, at the muzzle.



Keep in mind, my old slave Lilja 6 groove, that I've fit to so many different builds for the testing of my action blueprinting, is also .2225" groove diameter at the muzzle.



So How do I know whether this is a Broughton or Lilja?



Twist rate, that's how.



Lilja made their four groove in 16 twist, and I believe maybe 17 also.


Broughton's advertised 16 twist barrels are actually about 16.5 twist rate......why, I don't know.


So I checked the twist rate of this barrel, and it's 16.5, as close as I can measure.


Therefore, I'm 99% sure this is an old Broughton 4 groove.


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Of all the old barrels I've got lying around the shop, this one is in the best condition......I wish the groove diameter wasn't so big...


There is no damage to the bore of this barrel......that I can determine.


It does show a fairly visual divot at 6 in the bore, right in front of the leade........I'm going to say no more than 2 cases.



So it's been shot quite a lot.........but not near worn out.



I've racked my brain trying to remember why I have this barrel.....


It being an .875" means it could be 15 years old, possibly.



Yesterday I got it fit to an older 10-X action, one that I've had for years and never did anything with........


I had to move the barrel shoulder .126" to head space it to this longer tenoned, early 10-X action.......



So today I'm going to shoot it, as is..........before I do anything else.



There's a good possibility I'll find out exactly why this barrel was removed, with it not nearly worn out.


It may shoot all over the place.........and if it does, I'll put it back on the shelf....



Your friend, BC
 
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