EngineerEli Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 (edited) Hey all, I have been going back and forth for a while about whether or not to have a 5.4 barrel put into my standard govt length SVI 2011. I decided to go ahead with it, and I just got it back from SVI. All I can say is that the work SVI did on the well used gun is nothing short of amazing. I essentially have a new gun after something like 40k rds were already put through it with the old barrel. Brandon suggested I should have about another 40k to go before the slide to frame fit starts becoming prohibitive, and that should last me a good long while. If you are interested to read the discussion for and against the idea read the previsous thread: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=170859 I'll attach pics below, and as soon as I make it to the range, I'll post my thoughts. All in all, so far, I'm extremely pleased! -Eli Before pics: After Pics: Edited August 2, 2013 by EngineerEli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShanePennington Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 That is a very nice looking gun. Hopefully it runs well for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torrpd Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 That is real nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerEli Posted August 2, 2013 Author Share Posted August 2, 2013 Thanks guys, I just hope it runs as well as it looks! Now if I could only get it to the range, unfortunately I wasn't thinking when I promised my fiance I would spend the weekend doing stuff with her, guess it will have to wait till Monday... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted August 3, 2013 Share Posted August 3, 2013 Yep. Bad promise with new blaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wes777 Posted August 4, 2013 Share Posted August 4, 2013 Thanks guys, I just hope it runs as well as it looks! Now if I could only get it to the range, unfortunately I wasn't thinking when I promised my fiance I would spend the weekend doing stuff with her, guess it will have to wait till Monday... Don't make a habit of those promise things, you will get guilted out of your shooting time. My method is to ask things like this "sweetheart, would you prefer that I shoot saturday or sunday? Oh, I am sorry, I did not mean to give you the impression that I would not be shooting this weekend. How well do you know me?" Use at your own risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerEli Posted August 4, 2013 Author Share Posted August 4, 2013 Haha, I am absolutely using that! Thanks for the VALUABLE advice :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cnote Posted August 4, 2013 Share Posted August 4, 2013 What finish did they apply?..?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerEli Posted August 4, 2013 Author Share Posted August 4, 2013 It's just blued. I think they bead blast most of the gun first then polish and give a brushed finish to the sides of the slide and frame before bluing. Its the cheapest option but personally I love the look. The rest is either polished stainless or aluminum. Two interesting things they did was leave the inside of the aluminum magwell matte finish so it doesn't looks so scratched up after use, and they actually matte blued the top of the polished stainless grip safety to keep from glaring when you look at your sights. Nice little touches. If you shoot any USPSA around northern IL as your location shows, you are welcome to check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toast Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Very nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a matt Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Nice touches, good looking SV too. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerTrace Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 That will be a nice shooter!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerEli Posted August 7, 2013 Author Share Posted August 7, 2013 Well I got out to the range Monday for the new barrel's maiden voyage! Problem is I didn't chamber check any of my rounds before hand, I had though they would fit the same as the old barrel for which they were made. Both are AET barrels, the new one just longer and uncoated. Apparently the free bore dimensions are now a little different. I used to load my MG 180 JHP's to 1.230, but now they have been touching the free bore ever so slightly, upon testing the longest I feel comfortable going with is 1.200. Even worse the 180 gr bayou bullets that were loaded to 1.200 jammed up so bad in the chamber, that when extracting I pulled the case off the bullet and powder went everywhere, had to pound out the bullet. After some testing last night, it seems the longest this barrel will accept the Bayou bullets at is 1.150, which is a little shorter than I may be comfortable with to make Major with WST my powder of choice for bayous... Aside from that I had a few issues with FTF's, the bullet jamming against the barrel hood, and the case rim somehow getting in front of the extractor hook. I have been in touch with Brandon at SVI and he said those sounded like magazine related problems, I still have to look into that, but my mags are a year old SVI mags so I don't know about that. They did send the gun back with a fresh 12 lb recoil spring and a blue shock buff which I have never used before. I wonder if that is effecting the dwell time at the rear of the recoil cycle and effecting the feeding reliability. I still have to work on the slide stop to keep it from locking back. It was even locking back on the second to last round with some frequency. Another thing to note. When I received the gun back I was surprised to see the chamber of the SVI AET barrel was not fluted. When checking with Brandon, apparently people have had more issues with the fluted chamber than it was worth, so SVI does not include the feature on their AET barrels. After reading around on the web about it, I'm actually relieved I don't have to deal with that! All in all the gun shot pretty good and the added sight radius is nice. My loads were probably a little hotter than necessary but it shot pretty flat. I have been shooting production with a Stock II for the last 6 months and have completely forgot what recoil feels like, lol. If any one has thoughts, comments, or suggestions on any of the please go ahead and post it up! -Eli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerEli Posted August 7, 2013 Author Share Posted August 7, 2013 (edited) That will be a nice shooter!! Hey SV-COP, I saw you post a bit on another thread about your use of Bayou bullets in your Infinity, was that in an AET barrel? Do you use the 0.401 dia bullets? What kind of OAL's do you use? What loads have you tried, and which have you found to be the best for limited major? (or minor for that matter, I may use the gun for three gun) Edited August 7, 2013 by EngineerEli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerEli Posted August 7, 2013 Author Share Posted August 7, 2013 (edited) Delete Edited August 7, 2013 by EngineerEli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerEli Posted August 8, 2013 Author Share Posted August 8, 2013 So I have been doing some investigating about my chambering issues. Apparently AET barrels are chambered even tighter than I thought! The leads on them are a smaller diameter then most standard barrels, just a hair over .400. This is why at the ultra long lengths (1.230) the bullet was hitting the free bore. I am going to try loading some of my 180 MG JHP's tonight at 1.200 and I'm thinking 4.9gr of TG, based on my previous loads and the logic that I loose a little velocity for both the MG bullets and the AET barrel, but then I gain a little back with the 5.4" barrel. Think that will be close to 170pf? When it comes to the Bayous I got a lot of good info from Donnie M. The bullets I have now are .401 and they will only load to 1.15 as I mentioned earlier. He said he makes .400 bullets I should give a try which gives me hope on that front. Should I be concerned about accuracy or leading issues with the .400 bayou bullet in my SVI AET barrel? He is really great about getting back to emails SOOO fast! I would love to load those out to at least 1.180. I know a lot of people are thinking why get an expensive AET barrel if you just want to shoot coated lead through it, and my though was that it was only a small up-charge over the standard barrel, and if I can get a little more accuracy through it, that would be nice, pluss i feel like the gain twist lessons the twist you feel as the bullet engages the rifling and spins up to speed. It may be all in my head though. I know some older AET barrels had issues with stabilizing coated bullets, but Brandon assured me the speed at which the bullet is spun up has changed and should be fine with coated bullets now. Now I just have to figure out how to load for the tight chamber and I should be good to go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 You could have the chamber reamed slightly longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigsteffek Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 I am using bayou 180 loaded to 1.180 in my AET sight tracker with no leading and very good groupings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerEli Posted August 13, 2013 Author Share Posted August 13, 2013 I am using bayou 180 loaded to 1.180 in my AET sight tracker with no leading and very good groupings That is very relieving to hear! When is the barrel from? Is it one with the rib with the rounded back edge or squared off one? Are you running .400 or .401 dia. sized bullets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigsteffek Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 They are the standard ones that Donnie sells the barrel is a old one it is a tribrid 2 aet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerEli Posted August 14, 2013 Author Share Posted August 14, 2013 They are the standard ones that Donnie sells the barrel is a old one it is a tribrid 2 aet Hmm, that must be the same generation as my old barrel, I guess the free bore in the new ones is a hair tighter... Im still waiting to get my .400's to give a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerEli Posted August 14, 2013 Author Share Posted August 14, 2013 I should also point out that I shot the gun at my local club match Sunday. I used the 4.8gr TG load at 1.200 with MGJHP 180's. The gun shot great! Zero failures of any kind. It shot rally flat too, but I had some pretty bad brain farts that really screwed me up. I missed a whole target on two different stages.... I suspect the load may be on the light side but until I can get the load over a chrono, I don't want to push my luck. I'm still re-learning the trigger and sight tracking/recoil, but my hopes are high! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cnote Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 will u be at NISA next weekend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerEli Posted August 15, 2013 Author Share Posted August 15, 2013 Unfortunately probably not, this food festival is happening in our town that Sunday that I am going to. I hope to be at North Porter on the 1st though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerEli Posted August 18, 2013 Author Share Posted August 18, 2013 Got the sample of .400's from Donnie, I'll have to load up some dummy rounds and see how they chamber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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