Quote Originally Posted by oldred View Post
This has been my point all along and this fixation with aligning the muzzle and breech ends ignores the fact the bore does not perfectly follow that axis line! Sure by centering both ends and then turning the outside of the barrel will give us a straight barrel with the bore being centered on each end but where is that bore going to be located in relation to the outside of the barrel at, for instance, the middle of the barrel? By centering both ends we get the bore dead-centered with the axis on the ENDS but it is still going to be out of alignment by varying degrees along it length! Again by simply centering the ends we get the ENDS of the bore dead centered at the point of machining but we are ignoring that all important ANGLE at that point, how much angle is determined by the amount of error or drift that is inherent to all bores. Center both ends as closely as possible but then indicate a couple of inches back inside the bore and see what we get, that wobbling indicator/range rod is proof the bore also is wobbling at that point and when both ends of a barrel are centered that rod will wobble.

By aligning the last few inches of the bore we have that part running in true alignment regardless of where the other end may be but having the part being machined in alignment with the tooling is what is important and that can't possibly happen if the last couple inches of the bore is wobbling even if it does indicate center exactly at the end.

I do not disagree with the geometry. But I do say that as long as there is not 1/4" (.250") of wander to the bore within 26" in the end it may not matter much to even the very best shooters/bullets/rifles/shooting types.

Only a blind test would really show any difference...except every barrel is an individual. The guy at Sierra that tests their bullets has done some blind tests on stuff like Cryo treating....with say 8 barrels in the test, all of same mfg...and 4 done the easy way, and 4 the hard way...the data would show if a shooter using matchhkings and other off the shelf bullets could ever discern the difference. My guess is "nope".

Bill