I came across this short thread and for some reason my interest peaked, as I too was taught that an accurate, skinny barrel was a matter of sheer luck and not to waste my time. I have occasionally come across skinny profiled barrels that shoot well and have begun to wonder about this
truism. So I consulted with a source I highly respect and have admired from a distance for some time: Varmint Al at varmintal.com.
He was kind enough to respond and here's what he has to say (paraphrased):
Quote:
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Hi Bud. I would agree with Bart but add one caveat. The light barrel would also need to be stress relieved. The modulus of elasticity of steel changes very little with the temperature increase range in shooting, so the stiffness would remain unchanged. One thing about small diameter barrels, is that they can usually be more easily tuned for small variations in muzzle velocity. Check my page on Esten’s Rifle: http://www.varmintal.com/aeste.htm
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