Mister Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Hi, yesterday the barrel of my SV Sighttracker cracked. The crack is on the top of the barrel, exactly in the angle where the bridge beginns that fits to the cutout of the slide. The crack goes through an can easily be seen inside the barrel. The gun is one year old and has about 13k shots through. Is this a common problem with Sighttrackers? At the moment I don't know if it is better to have a new barrel fitted or to get a gun with a normal barrel and a slide that is closed on top. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Wow, that's the first I've heard of that happening...yikes! I would definitely be on the phone with SV as there are a lot of Sight Trackers out there and I really doubt there are too many failures like this. R, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 Here are two pictures of the barrel. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lneel Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Give Brandon a call.....I am sure he will take care of the issue for you. Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Definitely not normal... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 Hi, I contacted SVI by e-mail since my spoken english is not easy to understand. I tried to explain, that the sharp angle, where the crack is, causes stress concentration and I asked if it wouldn't be better to make this angle round. But I may be wrong - or I hope I am wrong... I hope the people at SV know things better. I will inform You of the answer. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Cheely Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 I've seen than happen to more than a couple of these guns. The older barrels didn't have enough radius in that corner and they would crack. You're lucky it didn't blow up while you were shooting it, that happened to a guy up here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 I have just got the answer from SV, that this crack is a sign of overpressurization and the barrel vents gases at the crack instead of exploding. Ok, I had no squib and no double charge. If a standard SV cal. 40 can not deal with 175 power factor it may be so. But than this was my last SV. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
get2now Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 I have just got the answer from SV, that this crack is a sign of overpressurization and the barrel vents gases at the crack instead of exploding.Ok, I had no squib and no double charge. If a standard SV cal. 40 can not deal with 175 power factor it may be so. But than this was my last SV. Alex If you're trying to make a 175 pf or more with really light bullets then I can see this happening. I cracked three barrels in 9x21 with light bullets too. It happens. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 Sorry, I forgot to mention, that I get the 175pf with 180grain plated lead bullets and 5.1gr VV N320. That's a standard load and if it is too hot for a SV, the SV should not be sold in Europe, where 170pf is the limit for major factor. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckS Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 I have a open gun with a tribrid II barrel which I think uses the same blank as the sight tracker. Looking at the top view of the barrel the first thing that came to mind was is there clearance between the barrel and slide when in lock up? The wear on the side of the rib sort of looks like there has been some serious contact. If there is insufficient clearance it looks like it would try to peel the rib forward! My T2 gun is about 10,000 rounds old with absolutly no signs of that sort of crack. And I typically shoot a mid to high 170's PF load. Just a thought, Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry cazes Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 When I saw the picture you posted I thought as chuck has stated that there might be some interference between the slide and barrel lug. Looks to me like there's some serious wear there. Did you buy this gun directly from SV? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 When I saw the picture you posted I thought as chuck has stated that there might be some interference between the slide and barrel lug. Looks to me like there's some serious wear there. Did you buy this gun directly from SV? No, I got it from the german distributor of SV. To my understanding the gun was built by SV; I don't know if the german distributor changes something but I guess no. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 The older barrels didn't have enough radius in that corner and they would crack. Without putting too fine a point on it Matt, do you know if that was before or after SV went to barrels made in house? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TONY BARONE Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 What does the radius on your slide look like with that much pounding in that barrel area? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Cheely Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 The older barrels didn't have enough radius in that corner and they would crack. Without putting too fine a point on it Matt, do you know if that was before or after SV went to barrels made in house? I believe it was well before... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckS Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Sorry, but I was wrong on the T2 round count. It is 19,037! Here are a couple pictures that I just took to show the barrel and the slide to show the "wear" patterns. The in-battery picture is when it was brand new. All parts are hard chrome. Later, Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 (edited) From the looks of the pictures I'd send the barrel and slide to SV and have them look at it, looks like the rib has been hitting the slide pretty hard. EDIT: Stay with this issue and try to communicate the best you can with SV: be patient, they are a good group of people and have taken care of every problem I have ever seen that has been related to workmanship or material in regard to their products. It could be a translational error or a context issue at this point, I would be surprised to see them deny warranty without seeing the actual parts in question. SV has treated me extremely well and I would expect that they do the same for you when all is said and done. Edited August 14, 2009 by HSMITH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Biondi Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 I have just got the answer from SV, that this crack is a sign of overpressurization and the barrel vents gases at the crack instead of exploding.Ok, I had no squib and no double charge. If a standard SV cal. 40 can not deal with 175 power factor it may be so. But than this was my last SV. Alex Im sure that at SVI the guys havent undestand well you explanation.... My council is to write another email to explane better your trouble. The crack is really strange and definitely not usually. They must take care of your trouble! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Posted August 14, 2009 Author Share Posted August 14, 2009 Im sure that at SVI the guys havent undestand well you explanation.... My council is to write another email to explane better your trouble. The crack is really strange and definitely not usually. They must take care of your trouble! Maybe they don't understand me. To me it is new that the marks on the barrel are bad. They started to occur after just 1000 shots. After about 8000 shots the gun went back to the distributor, who is a gunsmith, for some tuning because of push-feeding. When the gun came back, it worked really fine. He should have noticed the "bad marks" on the barrel, but he didn't and that's why I think this marks are ok. But I am not an expert, I just use it in training and competition. I sent SVI another e-mail, but they are not responding any longer. The members of my gunclub allready laugh at SVI and their statment, that the crack is caused by overpressure. I take it as it is, maybe they are corresponding with the german distributor about it and maybe they will change their mind. I will give them some time. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brazos Custom Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Looks like a Para Ordnance frame to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhgtyre Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Looks like a Para Ordnance frame to me. Good catch! That would certainly explain why SV isn't too interested in helping..... -ld Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckS Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Looks like a Para Ordnance frame to me. Good catch! That would certainly explain why SV isn't too interested in helping..... -ld And it is a Para frame. But, that is not the OPs gun, it is mine! I just wanted to show him an example of a well used ribbed barrel that did not show any wear marks like his does. Later, Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhgtyre Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Oops. Looks like neither of us was as observant as we thought! :$ -ld Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver_Surfer Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Wow bummer! I guess when most smiths want that "One piece look" heat expansion was'nt figured in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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