Does RFBR barrel diameter matter for killer accuracy?

Bill Calfee

Gun Fool
Does RFBR barrel diameter matter for killer accuracy?


CYA friends:


Will a .800" diameter x 24" long RFBR barrel shoot as good as a .900" diameter x 24" long RFBR barrel?


Assuming both barrels are manufactured exactly the same, lapping, etc.....


The answer is, yes and no.


Yes, they will both shoot as killer.


Or maybe, no....................


The .800" might shade the .900" slightly.




If you're thinking, "Calfee, that's crazy talk."


No CYA friends, I'm as serious as I can possibly be....


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We've got a bunch to discuss while we're waiting to, hopefully, have these pistols become available to the masses.

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By the way, this pistol uses a .800" x 24" long barrel.......


Do I feel handicapped?


Not hardly......


A pistol with a .800" diameter barrel don't back up from no rifle with a .900" diameter barrel.


Cause a .800 x 24 will shoot every bit as good as a .900 x 24..........


If not actually better.....


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I'll leave, for now, with this question for any of you CYA folks:


Could any of you guys post test results, where "serious experimenters" have run tests comparing the accuracy of RFBR barrels from .800" diameter, or so, and up?


And then later I'll explain the actual reason why we use so many 9 x 24's today in RFBR......


Your friend, Bill Calfee
 
Why do we use so many 9 x 24's today in RFBR?

Why do we use so many 9 x 24's today in RFBR?


CYA friends:


Have there been exhaustive tests run comparing the various diameter RFBR barrels, that determined a .900 diameter produces better accuracy than smaller diameters?


The answer is, no.


Here's the actual reason we're using a lot of 9 x 24's today:


Simply so the old MD could be properly bored for a new barrel, when the old barrel wore out.


That's it.................to save the price of a new MD.



Years ago, especially after the Turbo came out with its .750" diameter barrel thread, we used a lot of .825's and .850's.....


Mike Mullins, the "official" ARA 2500 Record Holder, set the record with a little .825" Lilja.


Actually, after I machined the targets on that Lilja, the actual muzzle diameter was around .815".


Harry Deneen, and his famous Suhl, set all of his records, of which I believe some still stand today in IR-50, with a .850" diameter Lilja....


And after I machined the targets on that .850" Lilja, the muzzle diameter was probably a few thousandths smaller than .850"


By the way, here's me holding Harry's "Green Gun", the Turbo I built for him after his old Suhl laid down.

Harry won the St Louis ARA NATIONAL with this rifle.....which has either an .825 or 850 on it.

(Bill Hinegardner wound up owning the "Green Gun" so I autographed this picture for him.)

By the way, only in Borden can one stand in front of the Town Hall/Police Department holding a gun.......


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You see the two shadows in the picture......one is the Town Manager and the other is the Chief of Police.

You can see why a gun fool like me loves living in Borden.

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So when the .825's started wearing out, we'd ordered an .850", just to be able to re-bore the MD for the proper gauge fit.


And then, when the .850's started wearing out, we'd order an .875" for the same reason, to be able to reuse the MD, properly.


When I fit the new Muller on Gingersnap, Wally's rifle, Wally was present while I did this, I said to him, " Wally, this has been a killer .875 ratchet".

Wally then said, ".875?........Bill, I thought it was a .900."


No, during the time I fit the original ratchet to the "Snap", we were using a lot of .875's.


As a matter of fact, I'm not so sure that either Black Death or Big Dog might be an .875....??



And then when the .875's started going south, we went to .900's.


As silly as it may sound, this is the actual reason we use so many .900's today.......not because someone ran exhaustive tests that determined .900's were more accurate than .800's.....



And this is why I have such confidence in pistols with .800" diameter barrels...


Because an .800 is just as killer as a 900........and may actually be easier to stop the muzzle on.


There's more to this story.....


Your friend, BC


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The most unique experience in RFBR is sitting behind one of these things.


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Can't see the forest for the trees, at times...

Can't see the forest for the trees, at times...


CYA friends:


Is barrel diameter critical to producing killer RFBR accuracy?


The answer is, no.


The only reason we use a lot of .900's in RFBR today, is based around economics......plain and simple as that sounds, it's true.


No one ran comparison tests between the various diameters of RFBR barrels, and determined 900's produce the best accuracy.



This is why I'm so comfortable with .800" diameter pistol barrels....


A Class A RFBR pistol with a .800" diameter barrel don't back up from no rifle with a .900....



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CYA friends, we've had the most obvious example of how barrel diameter hasn't a thing to do with producing killer accuracy since late 1998....


Late 1998 is when I put "tuners" on IR-50 Sporta barrels, when I introduced my original Sporta profile barrel and placed one in the hands of Harry Deneen........


And the rest is history......



Here's a rough doodle of the original Calfee Sporta barrel profile....


A chain is only as strong as its weakest link..........so is a RFBR barrel.


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CYA friends, since late 1998 the world of RFBR has been killing it with Calfee IR-50 Sporta barrels, with an actual structural foundation of only .635" in diameter.


Just .635".......................



CYA friends, barrel diameter has no bearing on producing killer RFBR accuracy.


Your friend, Bill Calfee


We have to, someway, make these pistols available to the masses.



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