Barrel Blocks

[Norm]

I'm looking for information on Barrel blocks as I'm thinking of either making one myself or getting one custom made.

Who makes them?
What are they worth?
Type of material?
Size of hole compared to barrel diameter?
Ideal length?
Stock fitting methods?
etc...

Any info at all would be handy.

Thanks.

[Brad Y]

Norm

I had a barrel block originally on my 260 improved. It shot as good as anything else around. Phil Jones at Redback Precision made it for me out of ally. Cant remember cost but it was a nice piece of equipment. It had delron sleeves that went around the barrel and then the block clamped onto them so there was no ally on stainless.

I made a stock to suit that had two pillars to suit the big machine cap screws that go into the bottom of it. The block just bolted in so I could take the barrelled action off if I wanted to.

I think they are a good idea if you want to run a barrel that your not comfortable hanging off an action conventionally. A 1.25 round on the pierce action was probably starting to push the limits according to John Pierce who makes them so thats what I did.

The only negative to it is you need to profile the barrel to fit exactly the same every time. Possibly there was some effect on the barrel when fired and the section right in front of the chamber was clamped. Not sure it would take alot of testing to confirm with pressure gauges etc I would imagine. Also I found barrel changes took alot longer as I had to get everything angled up the same. But if its for one gun where your not changing barrels so much then its ok.

In the end I moved back to conventional setup. I might consider doing it again but on a 1000yd BR heavy gun.

[Norm]

Brad,
Thanks for the info.

I have a new Stiller Predator magnum action that I want to try and was concerned about hanging a long heavy barrel off it. I will give Phil a call and see what he can provide. Sounds like just the thing I am after.

[Brad Y]

Alan Fraser also uses a barrel block setup on his rifle. They do work.

[Fergus Bailey]

Norm

I would agree that Phil probably has the most experience in Australia with bedding blocks. Between making blocks for rifles, and also making BR rail guns, Phil has probably made more of these than anyone over here.

I have had a few made by Peter van Meurs/Procal that were glue in jobs. The barrel was epoxied into the block, then the block was epoxied into the rifle stock. Peter also made screw down blocks and glue in blocks for his own use and for customers.

As far as length, there has been a bit of research, and 6" to 9" seems to be the most popular.

Some of the USA BR shooters prefer screw down blocks because they consider them "tuneable" by changing clamping screw tension on the barrel block.

When peter began working with barrel blocks about 15 years ago, we found that there has to be a good match in the material of the block and the barrel. If the block is not made out of a suitable material, it can cause the POI to walk as the barrel heats up. We ended up using a steal block to eliminate this problem.

[williada]

Norm,

Go with an aluminium block, as it is a pretty good dissipater of heat and saves weight. Depending on your re-enforce length - maybe 4-5 inches for the block.

If you have a shorter re-enforce you can bore the aluminium block a bit larger, groove each end for a washer, and drill each end for a couple of ports. Then slip it over your barrel, where you can inject Devcon in one end and allow it to flow through and come out the other hole. This will allow you to crib on the barrel taper forward of the re-enforce.

Nick S always used a gasket between the halves of his block to minimise vibrations. The beauty of a split block with takedown screws is you can move the barrel forward and aft a tad to adjust your barrel tune. If you have a test block, work out your tune length and barrel position, make another block, given you have a lathe, and epoxy all in place to minimise vibration if you don’t want to run with a gasket. David.

[Norm]

Thanks for the info.
Plenty to think about for sure.
Seems to be more to this than what I first thought.

[Seddo]

When i fly shooter was talking barrel blocks to me a few years ago he made a comment that you can only have so much barrel hanging out the front or accuracy suffers. I dont have anything to back this up, its just what i was told.