Subject: Re: Liquid nitrogen gun barrel dip?

From: [email-masked] (W. Sugai)
Date: 3 Dec 1994 23:32:38 -0500

In article <[email-masked]>,
Donald R. Newcomb <[email-masked]> wrote:

#A an article in a recent Precision Shooting Magazine discussed things on
#man did to get a rifle barrel to shoot accurately. One thing he mentioned
#was sending it off to be dipped in liquid nitrogen. Now, I asked a 
#mechanical engineer I know what this does and was treated to a long
#discussion of the cryogenic properties of metals which left me more
#bewildered than before.
#
#Can someone give me a simple explanation of why chilling a barrel
#in liquid nitrogen would make it shoot better? Thanks.

i'm afraid i can't help you with the nitrogen-dip question but i do 
recall from my shooting days that the single biggest factor affecting 
accuracy in precision bench rifle shooting had to do with the way that 
the internal stresses in the barrel caused stringing as the barrel heated 
up with repeated shots fired. the smith that spoke to me about this 
embellished his account with the tale of how the "old-time" barrelmakers 
(pope, et al.) would throw the barrel blank on the floor a few times to 
relieve the internal stresses. perhaps this nitrogen-dip technique has 
something to do with relieving internal stresses, but if it doesn't, i'm 
sure my remarks will invite rejoinders anyway, thereby keeping this group 
active. :-)