Barrel Tuners For F Class

[ned kelly]

G'day all,
A very interesting subject.

I've never used a tuner but have witnessed light and heavy designs in both F class and BR, for each shooter they worked, some rifles/barrels may require a light weight tuner, some may prefer a heavier tuner, this would come down to the individuals rifles characteristics.

Has anyone out there tried a light then a heavy tuner on their rifle and what results did they get?

I've also had to tune barrels from 20" SR BR barrels to 22BR in a standard 28" Palma profile, I've used Truflight, Maddco, Shilen, Krieger, fluted, no fluting, fluted after chambering etc and nearly all have performed to a very high standard. All were capable of shooting much less than 1/3minute from new including the F class barrels. There were a couple that were bought together from the same maker that didn't perform and that may have been the barrels, the steel or possibly the quality of the machining, who knows.

But overall I've found that using sound BR techniques I get my rifles shooting well within the 6 ring and this seems to show up in getting a high super v count. I've never felt the need for a tuner as the rifles consistently outperform the handler.

For example, recently at the Australasian Police and Emergency Service's games in FO, shooting 3/5/6/8/9/1000, I scored 346-27V with a 6x47lapua. No tuner fitted, for the record it was the first time I'd shot beyond 800 without a coach and certainly the first time at 1000, the low score was due to my inexperience in shooting at long range, but the interesting point is the relatively high V count, 5 more than 2nd and 10more than 3rd, this to me shows the tune is right and the BR techniques have proven there worth on paper. The load was holding an excellent waterline from 300 back to 1000yds with tight grouping inside the super v and the inexperience in wind reading showing up with a lower score when compared to the points vs super v count.

FWIW, there was only 6 points between 1st & 3rd and 2 points between 1st & 2nd in the final results. So it was a very close scoring event that could have easily gone either way for any shooter during the event.

Also for the record my bullets were moly coated sierra 107gn MK, not sorted, pointed, or trimmed; just careful weighing of powder, careful attention to seating depth, neck tension and case prep. No idea of ES or SD or MV, if it waterlines and is grouping accurately, who really cares? Or should I say is it really that important to know the figures (usually derived from an instrument that is mass produced and never calibrated for its entire service life)?

FWIW, I believe sound proven reloading techniques can achieve as much as a tuner, and I'll wager that all those shooters who represented Australia did a considerable amount of preparation and testing to have absolute confidence in their rifles AND their ability to read conditions which is absolutely essential for success in any field of endeavour.

Reading conditions is not as sexy as arguing the relative merits of barrels, actions, scopes or tuners etc, but me thinks constant practice in all conditions on varied ranges with a well tuned rifle is what brings success.

In short you do whatever you need to, to ensure the results on paper are the best you can get, then go shooting.

Food for thought.
Cheerio Ned