Cone fit barrel?

[John C]

I see that the higher-end Tanfoglio pistols have a cone-fit barrel. How does it work, and how well does it work? Is it for muzzle weight only, or does it lock up the gun tighter for better accuracy?

[BeerBaron]

Both I'd imagine. The normal 'match' barrels most likely aren't fitted (they just make the bushes and the barrels to within an acceptable tolerance). plus by design a barrel like that must have some looseness to the fit to enable you to lift the barrel up to remove it past the breech face. a cone barrel with a reverse plug can be made tighter as it pulls straight out the front once the reverse plug is removed.

so yeah, the cone barrels should be tighter lockup. and they definitely add some nice weight up the front.

do they shoot any better? be hard to tell without a ransom rest.

[aceinyerface]

http://tonybrong.blogspot.com/2013/04/guest-post-by-joe-chambers-1911.html

The cone can reach tighter tolerances than the bushing system used on a 1911.

[saratoga]

Gents, I dont really agree here...if you look at the high end Tanfos for bulls eye and target shooting, why do they have a straight barrel

http://www.tanfoglio.it/eng/catalogo/sport-amp-competition/gold-match.html

even in the xtreme series.

http://www.tanfoglio.it/eng/catalogo/xtreme/gold-match-xtreme.html

IF it was for the accuracy, the above guns would have bull barrels, would they not?

[kneelingatlas]

More weight in the barrel, less in the slide, no noticeable difference in accuracy.

[BeerBaron]

Gents, I dont really agree here...if you look at the high end Tanfos for bulls eye and target shooting, why do they have a straight barrel

http://www.tanfoglio.it/eng/catalogo/sport-amp-competition/gold-match.html

even in the xtreme series.

http://www.tanfoglio.it/eng/catalogo/xtreme/gold-match-xtreme.html

IF it was for the accuracy, the above guns would have bull barrels, would they not?

I think the reason there is no cone barrel in a gold match is that it's already such a heavy beast with the long slide and long barrel.

There is no doubt that having a cone barrel can give you a tighter fit between barrel and slide. with the match/bushing barrel you must have some looseness otherwise you can get the barrel out. with the cone it can be locked up tight as you like.

I agree that in a gun like these there is no appreciable difference in accuracy in shooting the thing. but the theory is correct that cones will have a tighter lockup.

[John C]

When you guys mention that there is no appreciable difference in accuracy, are you referring to practical accuracy (ie, hand held)? The reason I ask is that I'm primarily a Bullseye shooter, and I'm chasing a 3 inch group at 50 yards for slow fire. My understanding that for action pistol, with fast shots, that level of accuracy may not benefit the shooter, and in fact my be detrimental, due to the trade-off of lower reliability.

Can the higher end Witnesses shoot 3 inches at 50 yards? Or am I chasing unicorns?

[John C]

Thanks, Saratoga, for that link to Tony's blog. I hadn't seen that before.

[saratoga]

If the cone barrel would make a difference in practice in bulls eye shooting i believe that the high end Tanfos would have received fluted bull barrels.

Like some of the custom 1911 have! BTW they look super sexy.

If i would build a bulls eye gun with a straight barrel were the objective would be to have a super tight fit in the front. I would either start with a Briley barrel that is slight over sized from the beginning and machine it down a little for the slide to move freely but leave the front of the barrel super tight, or for ex hard crome the front of the standard barrel for tightness.

BUT i have no experience in bulls eye guns so i might be totally wrong.

When it comes to shooting on long distance with handguns the best experience i have is my Dan Wesson in 357 rem max.

[Nealio]

The way these barrels lock up doesn't require a super tight fit at the end of the slide for the barrel to lock up tight.

[John C]

Nealio;

I'm interested in your comment that the way these barrels lock up doesn't require a super tight fit for good lock up. Can you please explain more?

[Nealio]

It appears that when the breach face pushes on the barrel it creates downward force at the end of the barrel, pushing the end of the barrel against the hole in the slide. So even if the hole is a little big, the barrel doesn't move around. This is due to the bean shape in the lug as opposed to a link like a1911. When the beach pushes the barrel forward the forward travel stops when the slide stop pin hits the end of the bean. And force past that causes the barrel to tilt down and hit the bottom of the hole in the end of the slide.

That's my observation.