ErikW Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 I sent the slide and barrel from one of my Limited guns to forum member BrianH of Experimental Machining, for installation of a tungsten barrel sleeve and re-fitting the barrel to the slide. BrianH's classified ad. The price was a bargain compared to the cost of a new tungsten-sleeved barrel, to which one must add the cost of fitting the barrel to the frame and slide. Hmm, $425 and I wait for a gunsmith, or $125 and I keep my barrel with its known velocity and accuracy. Not a tough choice, really. I didn't think it was possible to machine my STI bull barrel because it was hard chromed, but Brian indicated it was no problem. So off it went and off went the money by PayPal. In no time at all, it was back in my hands. BrianH turned down the bull barrel and threaded it, threaded the tungsten sleeve on it, and fitted it to the slide. I assume he uses some kind of thread locking agent to keep the sleeve tight. The recessed crown on the muzzle is perfectly seamless; I assume he had to do some extra machining for that. When I put my gun back together, the barrel-to-slide fit was exceptionally tight. The gun was reluctant to cycle out of battery by hand and would not go fully into battery if the slide was slowly lowered by hand. At the range, it functioned flawlessly and has since loosened such that it will not bind at its tight spot when cycling by hand. Before I continue I should describe the gun and the reason I had it sleeved. It's an STI contingency amalgamation, built by a gunsmith. It has a long/wide frame with an STI Unique (heavy) slide, freebored .40S&W STI bull barrel, and heavy RecoilMaster. It was built to be near-identical to my primary Limited gun, but it differs in one major aspect. The slide was lightened internally by removing material from around the hammer/disconnector rail. Perhaps because of this, I have found this gun to be unusually flippy in comparison to the other guns. With it, I can't help but climb shots up and out of the A zone in a Bill Drill. Shooting two shots on IPSC targets, I frequently shoot an A on the first shot and a high C, B, D, or Miss on the second shot, which I rarely do with my primary Limited gun. My hope was that the tungsten barrel sleeve would reduce the muzzle flip and let me shoot it like my other gun. In my initial tests with the newly-sleeved gun, I practiced with 180 gr JHP bullets over N320 at over 1,000 fps. Then I used FMJs at about 980 fps. After several hundred rounds of practice, I shot a 160-round match. With the tungsten sleeve, the gun's accuracy remains unchanged. One would think the re-fitted barrel might shift the point of impact, and I did move the Bo-Mar one or two clicks. (However, I can't rule out the shift was not due to the sunlight or the shooter.) Unfortunately, the sleeve did not appear to reduce the muzzle flip. I still fling the occassional high second shot with it. I did notice a softer feeling to it when shooting the 176+ PF FMJ loads. It seemed to dampen some of the sharpness I feel with N320, for a softer, gentler feel. I had no sensation of the gun cycling slower than normal or feeling sluggish, which some tungsten barrel users have reported. I can pound out .12 splits with it at will and it feels good. I don't know what heat transfer properties tungsten possesses, but I noticed the gun was unusually hot between practice strings, hot enough to keep me from using the slide's front serrations. The tungsten barrel sleeve did not produce the results I was hoping for, but I did get excellent workmanship and fast turnaround at a fair price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 Erik, Are the front sights identical on these two Limited guns? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted October 22, 2003 Author Share Posted October 22, 2003 Basic black, straight up, unserrated, width within a few thou of each other, around .100". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 Well...that blows my theory out of the water. I was wonder if your "B" gun had a fiber optic, or even a white dot. I had to black out my white dot earlier this year. My timing was off. I had been shooting Minor, and switched back to Major. Basically, I would break the second shot on paper as soon as my vision caught the dot...but, I wasn't done with returning the gun from recoil yet. So, I had the same result...second shot = high miss. I had to drink deep, from the cool waters of the spring of visual patience. Burkett's timing drills were helpful. (Any time you change anything...back to the timing drills.) The timing drills are extra helpful (over just Bill Drills) because of the changing of the grip pressures. Of course...it could be as simple as putting too much thought into the fact that the gun is different? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted October 22, 2003 Author Share Posted October 22, 2003 Of course...it could be as simple as putting too much thought into the fact that the gun is different? No, certainly not. I'm sure it's due to me timing this gun as if it were the other, not relying entirely on the sight to tell me when to pull the trigger. But I can't get over it. It shames me to say this, but I'm wondering if I can put in a heavy spring and change the timing. BTW, it was like this with 12-13# springs before the RecoilMaster. And I'm pretty sure I used a tungsten guide rod for a while. Got a link to MB's timing drills? I barely recall something on his #4 DVD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 Do I have an link??? Forgetaboutit. http://www.mattburkett.com/10.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted August 13, 2004 Author Share Posted August 13, 2004 Update... I sent this gun back to BrianH to get a new Caspian slide. Yes, I'm that picky/sensitive, that I'm getting rid of the lightened hard-chromed slide just trying to stop the increased flippiness. Well, that and I'll have fixed rear sights on my Limited guns and I'll never have to deal with broken hinge pins and elevation screws again. I've been shooting nothing but another Limited gun (identical but for a non-tungsten-sleeved barrel) for months. Shooting this gun again was a shock. It is soooooo soft! It's like it's shooting marshamallows at 100 fps, not 180 gr bullets at 950 fps. It was actually a little distracting at first, especially burning Clays powder. It may be too early to say but I think the muzzle flippiness has been conquered finally. I don't know if it was the extra mass of the Caspian slide, or a subtle change in slide-barrel fit, but I'm not tossing high shots all over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eerw Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 Good to hear the gun is running the way to want it too.. years ago..I had a long heavy dust cover gun with a full slide and tungsten sleeve..it was a soft shooter..and with 220 lead bullets it was super soft shooting..at the time..actually played with 155jhp to get the gun to snap up a bit..the muzzle wasn;t any flippier..but it lost the rolling feeling of the 220s... what I did notice though..the gun was softer and less flippy than the same setup in a std dustcover and slide gun.. It was a pretty heavy gun though.. wish I had it back though..it would be fun to experiment with now.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandro Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Do you guys know who else besides BrianH and Limcat does the Tungsten barrel sleeve? Thanks, SC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 This sounds like the bushing barrel vs bull barrel controversy. The heavy barrel does change the way the gun cycle and lift BUT the recoil spring can also have a big effect. I know two shooters who shoot nearly identical bushing barrel S_I guns BUT one used a 10# spring and the other uses a 16# spring. The 16# feels good to me and returns right. The 10# does not..... Now carry this out to add weight to the bull barrel (Tungsten) and see what happens..? Maybe it's time to try new springs...more? Less? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 " I did get excellent workmanship and fast turnaround at a fair price." That has always been my experience with Brian's work - though I found the prices were rock bottom and the machine work + know-how to be second to none. He know his way around CZ and Tanfoglios too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandro Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 " I did get excellent workmanship and fast turnaround at a fair price."That has always been my experience with Brian's work - though I found the prices were rock bottom and the machine work + know-how to be second to none. He know his way around CZ and Tanfoglios too! I would send the barrel to him if he is still doing it. But I contacted him a few months ago and he indicated he was not doing it anymore. If you guys know someone that does the tungsten barrel sleeve please let me know. Thank you, SC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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