Barrel harmonics is the minute explosion experienced by a rifle barrel when the bullet is propelled down the barrel. In simple words, it refers to the way barrel twists, whips, or torques. The gun barrel vibrates in all planes: up and down, side to side, and even circular motion.
Interestingly, even the shooter may not be able to feel these movements due to the high velocity of the bullet. Let us discuss this in detail. The rifle bullets move at about 4,000 ft per second. This is absolutely negligible in comparison with the vibrations created by a fired round. How much vibration does a fired round create? More than 20,000 ft per second. Insane, right?
Now, this simply means that the shooter won’t even be able to see it! The large force will also prevent him from achieving the best accuracy.
The theory of barrel harmonics is one of the two theories of barrel vibrations. According to this, the barrel vibration leads to a weaving movement of the barrel and muzzle as well as shifts the line of departure up and down at a constant frequency.
This upward and downward movement of the barrel is called crest and through respectively. When your barrel is above its normal resting position, it is called a crest. The through is when the barrel is below its normal resting position. The first round takes place in the normal position, However, the next shot most likely gets fired at some angle.
No matter how small these vibrations are, they have the power to have a huge impact on your overall accuracy. Wondering how to go about this? We’ve got you covered! In this blog, we will talk about everything you need to know about barrel harmonics. There is no iota of doubt in saying that these basic principles will help you up your shooting game.
Use of shorter and fatter barrels
A shorter and thicker barrel yields the best accuracy. It is so because with shorter length and greater thickness, the number of vibrations decreases, which in turn allows you to shoot with better accuracy. On the other hand, a thin and long barrel vibrates a lot more than the fat and short one.
Use of Quality Ammo
Ammo is key! To ensure better consistency between rounds, the use of match-quality ammo can help. It ensures that your rounds exit at similar points in your barrel’s vibratory. It is surely worth paying some extra bucks for quality ammunition. Click here to purchase the best quality ammo for excellent results.
Note: Barrel harmonics tend to change with various types of ammunition. With every changing barrel, the harmonics are different. Shooting various brands is indispensable to find which one works the best for you.
Free Floating Barrel
As the name suggests, free-floating refers to leaving the barrel free to vibrate naturally. This can be done by ensuring that the barrel does not come in contact with the handguard along its length. When the handguard touches the barrel, it can lead to greater vibrations and lesser accuracy.
As mentioned earlier, free-floating facilitates the best accuracy for thicker barrels, the naturally rigid ones. For the thin ones, bedding is more preferable.
Bedding
Firstly, let’s understand what bedding means. Inserting a spacer or fitting a stock forearm around the barrel for stability is known as bedding. It is one of the core steps to achieve rifle accuracy. To minimize the total number of vibrations, make sure to apply steady pressure in an upward direction at a single point or support the barrel along its length. This can be done by bedding.
In general, bedding works best for thinner barrels. For thicker barrels, it is recommended to opt for free-floating. For more details about free-floating, read the next segment.
Note: Handgrip has an important role to play in overall accuracy. If you’re using a rifle without a free-floated barrel, off-hand shooting while gripping the receiver or magazine and leaving the rifle sling as it is can yield amazing accuracy.
This type of gripping removes extra pressure from the barrel allowing the vibrations to be as natural as possible. For some shooters, using a well-braced rifle sling helps to attain better accuracy. Want to buy a good quality rifle grip? Click here to explore a large variety of rifle grips of different materials, angles, and manufacturers.
Barrel Weights And Vibration Tuners
There are innumerable devices used to tune barrel harmonics with the bullet load. These devices allow fixing weighted collars to the barrel at some specific points. Finding an accurate pressure point between the stock and barrel that can further be adjusted to tune the barrel harmonics is another method facilitated by various devices.
Note: To optimize the overall accuracy:
- The barrel harmonics have to be repeatable
- The pressure waves need to align with the muzzle such that its diameter is placed at a similar dimension
Tension Sleeves
The use of sleeves is another method of bedding your barrel. The steps involved are:
- Installing a sleeve around the barrel
- Installing and tightening a nut on the muzzle, against the sleeve
Although uncommon and costly, this setup can produce brilliant results for rifle accuracy.
The Bottom Line
By understanding the barrel harmonics, you can turn any rifle into a great shooter! It can be regarded as a stepping stone for achieving rifle accuracy. Even learning the basic principles of barrel harmonics can help you optimize your rifle accuracy.
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