Briley Spherical Bushing

[TBF]

Just installed Briley spherical bushing on a 1911, easy to fit ( used an oversized OD )

perfect fit to barrel ( order spherical part .001 over bbl. od )

Like it alot, improved accuracy over worn match bushing.

Any experience with these? Life expectancy ?

Travis F.

[Larry White]

Would not use a bushing type setup without one. Don't know how long they last, I have one in a para that has 10k+ on it and still shoots as good as the day I put it in. Larry

[L9X25]

Guys,

I had one installed on a Briley match barrel in a Colt Gold Cup Ten gun. At first it was great ... super smooth and tight. After shooting a few thousand rounds the fit was getting MUCH looser. The gun still shot fair group but you could wiggle the barrel muzzle in the slide. The spherical part was still petty tight on the barrel but had loosened up on the fit with the outer bushing. I asked Dave Dawson about the bushing and he commented that you had to maintain a .001+ minimum clearance between the barrel and the sphere and the sphere had to have a minimum .001+ clearance with the outer bushing. That makes for .002-.003 minimum clearance at lockup, before you account for wear. I took it out a replaced it with a tight "match" bushing and never looked back. Blame it on a violent 10mm gun or anything you want. I believe that it was a neat answer for a question that was never asked.

Leo

[BrianH]

I think Salassa and Leibenberg got a little obsessed on spherical lockup way back in SA...they started doing it on their Bianchi Cup autos a long time ago....a spherical bushing mounted in a block that was welded to the frame, to get the barrel and frame locking together (since that was where the scope was...)

Notice Pauley just uses standard bushings on his .45's now....

Leo pointed out the real issue, which is indeed the intended fix...you are just supposed to buy a new ring when the barrel wears down. I think that was the whole ideer....new ring instead of new bushing...I like the way the gun unlocks with them...

[L9X25]

Brian,

Possibly because my barrel was nearly mirror polished, the sphere to barrel fit was still pretty tight when I removed the part. The problem was that the sphere was loose in the outer bushing. It was still gold from the Ti coating but had beaten itself loose. I believe that the parts were just too delicate to survive on the long term.

Other people had problems like the sphere dragging on the barrel when the barrel expanded from heat. By the time they got enough clearance for the gun to function, the bushing fit was way sloppy. Exactly the problem that the bushing was supposed to fix. I don't know of anybody still using one of the bushings.

Leo

[Jeffro]

I don't know of anybody still using one of the bushings.

Leo

L9x25,

Travis (TBF) is still using one!!!!!

Jeffro

[L9X25]

Oops! My bad! I guess I meant from "the old days" when the bushings were "hot" and "cool" and everybody had to have one!

I didn't even think that Briley still made/sold the spherical bushings.

Sorry,

Leo

[danielwatters]

I think Salassa and Leibenberg got a little obsessed on spherical lockup way back in SA...they started doing it on their Bianchi Cup autos a long time ago.

Actually, I suspect that Leibenberg's use of the spherical bushing started with his employment at Pachmayr Gun Works. The late Frank Pachmayr used a spherical bushing system in his Signature Series. Pachmayr's original system was attached to the slide by a large nose piece with a threaded spring cap which was then screwed into the slide's dust cover. Leibenberg then took the bushing system and made it static for the conversions you mentioned earlier. Salassa later picked up the concept and converted a standard barel bushing to accept the spherical ring.

[BrianH]

Right....

[TBF]

Yeah I'm using one, I'll see how long it lasts.

Only 200 rounds or so at this time.

I do like the feel and accuracy improvement, but any bushing would have been an improvement

over the worn out clunker I replaced.

I did not notice any problems with heat swelling the barrel and causing drag, and I had slide

Glide smoking ( literally ) but someone running alot less recoil spring would notice drag

sooner I am sure.

Thanks for the replies.

Travis F.

[danielwatters]

Right....

For proof of Pachmayr's very early start with spherical bushings, check US Patent #3,411,406.

[L9X25]

I'm not positive but I think the guy that was having the problem was running a .38 Super. The busing was sized .001 bigger than the barrel diameter but it would drag and eventually "seize" when the barrel got hot ... like after 35 fast rounds. They had to increase the clearance until it felt sloppy before it ran smoothly. They ended up taking it out and using a standard bushing with no problems.

Leo

[benos]

Although I was scared of it in the beginning, I let my gunsmith install one on a Briley barrel I won at a match. The gun, for whatever reason, turned out to be the most accurate .40 I've ever shot, and ran flawlessly for many, many thousands of rounds. But I still don't think that has anything to do with the bushing. I'm sure a properly fitted standard bushing would be just as accurate, and you'd never have to worry about anything going wrong with it.

be

[Newguy]

15k or more with the spherical bushing and no problems. The Baer remains VERY accurate and reliable. If there are problems with them, I haven't experienced any. I'm a do-it-yourself kind of person and so I like the idea of just replacing the spherical ring if there's a problem. BTW, I noticed a significant increase in accuracy after I installed the bushing.