Help me figure out what My Kimber barrel is made from

M

Master Blaster

New member
A couple of weeks ago it dawned on me that the barrel on my Kimber Custom Classisc Target may not be made from forged barstock as they claim.

When I dissassembled and cleaned my 2 colts I found that the area between the upper lugs is smooth machined steel, the same for the lower lug and underside of both colt barrels.

My kimber barrel on the other hand has a rough area between the upper lugs and the lower lug and underside has the same rough appearance. It looks like some type of cast metal. So the Lugs appear to be molded into the barrel and then machined leaving the area between them rough like a casting.

Colt barrels are completely machined smooth.


So how do they make the kimber barrels?


By the way I love my kimber and it has been accurate and reliable and shows almost no wear after about 2500 or so rounds.
 
I have the same "sand cast" look on mine, and I've been wondering the same thing.
 
A twist.
In the 70s I was inspecting a plant that was boring 1911 barrels to mil spec. The barrels were cast, sorta. Powder mix into a die then lots of pressure applied. Powder metalurgy can insure a more homegenious mixture of the various alloying materials. Plus less machining required to obtain the finished product.

Remember, a forging started life as a casting. The working of the metal to shape tends to increase strength in some directions.

If the design is appropriate to the procedure, makes little difference how the shape was obtained.

Sam
 
Good point C.R. Sam, when folks say that MIM is not consistant or strong enough for gun parts I have to disagree.

I own many router bits and they are all made of MIM (carbide) which is extremely tough and strong, carbide end mill bits are used to cut and machine steel and they are made of MIM as are the turbine rotors and many other parts in a jet engine.

Hammer forged does not mean that three guys stripped to the waist hit the part with big hammers (like samauri sword makers)
It means a machine with a big drop hammer pounds a piece of cast metal onto a mandrel (glock HK barrels) or into a die much like the way that stamped sheet metal parts are made.

Its all in the execution, My kimber barrel seems well made but I am curious about how its made.
 
Their barrels are forged, guys. They sandblast the barrels after machining, and prior to surface-grinding the barrel hood. The barrel tube itself is masked off during the blasting operation.
 
Kimber barrel I've seen does look like a casting. I couldn't see any signs of forging on the lower part of the barrel (where the lug is located), which seems not to be machined at all...It does look look like it was sandblasted. Doesn't mean, of course, that something is terribly wrong with barrel blank made by casting.
 
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