Talk:Rifling

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[edit] Why right-hand spin

I seem to remember that there is a reason (more than just tradition) why modern rifling uses a right-hand spin. Anyone else remember?

And does anyone have a good picture down a barrel?Rossami 23:55 15 May 2003 (UTC)


- Agreed, a picture or diagram is definitely needed for this article. -lommer 23:49, 9 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I posted an image relevant to this "Riflilng " discussion. the image is titled "marlin 35 rem 2". --Rickochet 13:01, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] rifling twist

As far as I know, right hand twists are not used exclusively. I once had it explained to me, that it using left or right twist depended on which hemisphere of the earth the barrel would be used in. (i.e. left twists for southern hemisphere) and that the reason for this was to preferential compensation of the earths magnetic effect. I was told this by a guy who was a sniper, and he believed it, but I cannot say definitively whether its true or not.

If the hemisphere thing were true (which it isn't) then you'd also need a different twist for shooting east and west. Right hand is most common, but some makers, such as Colt and many British makes, use left hand. As for the sniper, I'll bet he wasn't actually a sniper; 99% of people who claim they are snipers and/or special forces are not. If you really want to test a the custom 1911 gunsmiths using it on bullseye guns, and why don't you see it in benchrest rifles, where accuracy (i.e. fractions of a minute of arc) is a realy concern?

[edit] Experiment

I'm dropping a ball, and hoping to get it to bounce straight back upwards. Would rifeling help to ensure it fell and returned dead straight? Larklight (talk) 15:32, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

Polygonal rifling to my knowledge can only be manufactured by Hammer forging method which is VERY expensive. It is more cost effective to broach or button rifle a custom barrel and then finish with a lapping process to remove as many imperfections as possible.
--Rickochet 13:16, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
Actually, hammer forged barrels are CHEAP, once you pay for the megabuck machine--that's why Ruger and other big makers use hammer forged barrels. The hammer forging process gives you get a rifled, profiled, and chambered barrel spit out of the machine every minute or so--about what it takes to broach or button rifle (but not profile) a barrel, and far, far less than a single point cut rifled barrel. You can buy polygonal barrel blanks (Lothar Walther: http://www.lothar-walther.de/html/363.php) but while Walther barrels are used by world class airgun shooters, traditional cut or button rifled barrels from makers like Krieger, Lilja and Shilen are still tops in the benchrest game. You can also make polygonal barrels with a broach or button, all you have to do is cut the tool accordingly. Cut rifled barrels are done in multiple passes, so that's the one technique that is really impractical for polygonal rifling. scot 15:44, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
  • Leading is caused by high pressures (such as in magnum cartridges) or gas blowby on a poor seal between barrel and bullet, which cause melting of the lead. You can't claim that polygonal rifling seals better yet leads worse. My speculation is that the polygonal rifling doesn't grip the softer bullets as well, so accuracy will suffer.

scot 16:11, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] error?

"an220 Swift if the bullet was driven too fast.  The result was a blue-ish streak downrange as the bullet flew apart.

If you do some calculations, starting with a 3000 foot per second bullet in a 12 inch twist rifled

I have long suspected, but do not know for sure, that Sam'l Colt was left-handed.

The Single Action Army (SAA), of his design, seems to have been made for left-handed shooters, with the loading gate on the right, making reloading difficult for right handers.

It was possible to reload the SAA while shooting it, by leaving the loading gate open and as an empty came around to the ejection port, kick out the empty, put in a fresh cartridge, and continue firing, repeating this process as long as desired, without stopping to eject six empties and reload six loaded cartridges. This method is a lot easier for left-handed shooters than for right-handed ones.

I note and was somewhat surprised that my inexpensive knockoff of the Colt 1911 by Rock Island Arsenal, has a right-handed twist, more in line with "normal" practice.


I have a high suspicion that IF Mr. Colt was indeed left-handed, this may explain why all (as far as I know) Colt handguns have a left-hand twist, as opposed to most other firearms. It seems like it might just have been a whimsical preference of Mr. Colt to use left-handed rifling in his firearms.

I wonder if anyone knows for sure.

230RN

[edit] picture

The picture captioned "a tank's main gun is often rifled" - wouldn't it be great if the picture was of a tank with a rifled gun.87.102.123.108 19:18, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

The rifling in that picture looks pretty obvious to me...? Socrates2008 22:52, 17 October 2007 (UTC)