Blackhole Weaponry Barrels ?

[Eye Patch]

Looks like they switched from enfield to polygonal rifling sometime in the past 6 mos (which is just a slight change of the broach profile).

WHEW! You'll get my hospital bill ....... I read this and laughed *SO* hard, I fell outta my chair and broke something - tears running down my cheeks!!!!!

Enfield rifling is neatly RIPPED into the interior surfaces of a rifle barrel - a series of dies with progressively increasing dimensions that are "dragged" thru the bore until there are small grooves and larger lands .... With a slightly smaller diameter of bore than bullet, the 50 - 60,000 psi explosion forces the ...........

Polygonal "rifling" doesn't use a "broach" at all. The process - in the rough stage - uses a formed rod - with precise bore and polygonal "bulges" - and they are slight. The barrel & rod - locked together - are loaded into a "rotary hammer forge" and this quasi-medieval machine - uniformly - pounds the ever-lovin' be-jeez outta the exterior of the rough" barrel, conforming the interior to the sized rod .... Boom! Dead-smooth bore with the unmistakable absence of grooved "rifling" - but with that unusual "lobed" look to where Mr. Bullet slides thru when fired.

My 14.5" heavy barrel is enfield rifled, but I have had a HK in the past that was poly. I don't think the difference between the enfield and the poly is all that significant, but they're both easier to clean than conventional as the lands aren't recessed and therefore don't collect as much crud.

HUGE difference!!! No brushes needed with a polygonal barrel - ever! Why? No grooves that bite into the bullet and scratch away copper or lead. They can be made clean like a whistle with a solvent-wetted patch. Let the solvent do it's thing, then run a few dry patches. When they come out spankin' clean .... VOILA!

The quality of my 14.5" is top notch. The ground surfaces are dead nuts on dimension and fit my upper with just the right amount of tension (you couldn't easily pull the barrel out once seated - and that's before the nut ever came close to it, but you didn't need to drive it in either).

This thing also shoots better than me. With shitty optics and bad ammo (wolf and cheap federal) putting a 5 round group into a quarter was not difficult at 50yds. Now if I had some real glass on it, and some bullets worth mentioning, I'm certain ragged holes would be the norm. It's also not a floated barrel. For the shortest gun I could build without a tax stamp, she's a tack driver.

I'd love to see a stainless Blackhole against a stainless Noveske barrel head to head.

They're same - same .... 'cept Noveske's are brutally expensive. Are they still in business since their owner passed away?

I have a Black Hole Weaponry 16" M4 profile 300 Blackout barrel. On accurate re-loads, my 10-round 50 yard groupings are easily covered by a golf ball.

I have a 16" carbine-ported M4 profile in 5.56 and an 18" mid-length ported 5.56 and basically took a perfectly good "Enfield" rifled 16-inch barrel from a high quality manufacturer (Ha! "Assembler"!) And, after taking off the pinned-on FSB so I could remove the barrel nut / delta ring assembly - just threw it in the trash .... Yeah, the polygonal rifled barrels are THAT much superior.

BTW, someone noted they saw some BHW's at a gun show and wasn't impressed - "cheap" steel, unlined bores, yadda, yadda."

Black Hole Weaponry uses highest quality 416R ('R' for rifle or "ordinance" grade), stainess steel, with a "melonite"-type coating on the interior / exterior. The bores are as shiny & slick as snot on a doorknob ........

Based on my 5.56 & 300 Blackout barrels from Black Hole Weaponry, if I were doing another Upper build and they had the caliber I wanted, they'd be *my* first choice - based on 100% satisfaction.

As always, Y.M.M.V.

[KingsideRook]

Let's be honest here, a 5 second google search would have made it very clear that Noveske is still in business. Pretending not to know otherwise looks like product bias. Also, Noveske doesn't make BHW barrels - both may be polygonal in the Stainless but they're not identical products.

[MorphCross]

Let's be honest here, a 5 second google search would have made it very clear that Noveske is still in business. Pretending not to know otherwise looks like product bias. Also, Noveske doesn't make BHW barrels - both may be polygonal in the Stainless but they're not identical products.

Agreed, there was a lot of misinformation in Eye Patch's post. Just because H&K uses cold hammer forging to make their Polygonal rifled barrels doesn't mean that all polygonal rifling is made from CHF. Pac-Nor has done polygonal rifling with buttons. Noveske used to use (and may still) Pac-Nor machinery to make their barrels.

Also, and this is a huge pet peeve because it is a bald face lie, Melonite which is actually a formulation of salt bath nitride, is not a coating but is rather a heat treat with the added benefit of a high Rockwell hardness on the outer surface of the metal and high corrosion resistance. Nitride also does nothing for the slickness of the material. That is imparted by the surface polish methods. Case in point both my S&W m&p 10 and .300 blackout have melonited barrels. The exterior surface has a consistent bead blast feel where as the bore has a mirror smooth surface to the naked eye.

[Obscenejesster]

I always forget who makes the Polygonal Cut Rainier MEDCON. Is it Black Hole or White Oak?

Also what is Black Oxide compared to Black Nitride or Melinite?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[MorphCross]

Black Oxide is done at a lower temperature than Nitride or Melonite. Also the formulation of the bath for Black Oxide is different.

[Obscenejesster]

Black Oxide is done at a lower temperature than Nitride or Melonite. Also the formulation of the bath for Black Oxide is different.

Does it add corrosion resistance to the steel or is it just there to make the barrel black?

[MorphCross]

It will add moderate corrosion resistance, but you would still want to apply a light amount of rust prevention oil to the outer surface.

It is by large a cheaper mass process of treating and finishing rifle barrels, it is also a safer process when compared to Melonite or Hard Chroming.

[Eye Patch]

I know this is an ancient thread, but it seems an appropriate place to support a good vendor.

Disclaimer: my Blackhole build was never intended to be a service rifle, but an accurate range toy. I firmly believe that chrome lining is not a benefit in anything other than a service rifle and is arguably detrimental to accuracy.

That said, I owe Carl some publicity for his excellent service. My new upper was experiencing FTE at an alarming frequency. This was using a Spikes BCG and a Rainier forged upper. Headspacing was good and I tried dialing the gas up and down with no success. I blamed first the upper and changed to a Mega billet upper so I could play with my Young NM side charger (again, not a service rifle, not sure I would recommend the NM carrier for that).

Problem did not go away and I blamed the barrel ext and/or chamber. Blackhole told me to send it right in and they'd make it right. I was nervous to do so since the panic started in December and vendors ceased to provide real customer service. I was surprised to have Carl call me within a day of receipt of the upper. He checked the chamber and found no issues but discovered that the carrier was impacting the front of the upper. He offered to machine the carrier for me at no cost. Neither the carrier nor the upper are his product. Anyways, I didn't want that upper to be forever tied to that carrier so I declined. He called the owner of Mega for me and discussed it and he is managing the repair/rebuild. That is above and beyond, so he deserves an attaboy.

My buddy bought a Blackhole at the same time and is having excellent results. I for one would like to see this company succeed. They offer a lot of interesting chamberings and I will be buying more in the future.

Whether it is correct or not, I've read that odd-numbered rifling profiles offer less resistance to bullet travel because the bullet material deforms more easily.

McGraff, if you read this, what platform is your 6.5-284 barrel? I've been wanting to work with that cartridge.

Agree with Black Hole Weaponry's service and attention to detail. I am convinced their "big cheese", Carl Caudle, is not only a first-class gunsmith but his concern for customer satisfaction is impressive - and it is reflected by his small work-force. They bend over backwards to please.

My first build - my M4-profile 300 Blackout - i convinced them to install a Stag Arms "AMBI" barrel extension onto their barrel. This is no longer necessary as their production manager, "Andy", has convinced me the Black Hole Weaponry-made barrel extensions are fully suitable for right-handed OR left-handed ejection.

In the process of fine-tuning the completed barrel, they undoubtably gaged the head-space - and noting a minscule discrepancy - ever-so-slightly "touched" the inside of the installed and pinned barrel extension with a lathe tool, making the finished barrel .... dare I say it? I will. Perfect!!!

Shoots 125gr FMJ rounds like a laser beam ...... If I sight and hold properly, I can shoot 5-6 rounds and there will be 3-4 distinct holes. The two others went into - or almost into - prior holes ..... That's WAY good enough for my needs!!!

I say they promise excellent barrels - and deliver even better ones!

[graffex]

This guy sounds like one of those freaking tv pitchman...

[ScatmanCrothers]

This guy sounds like one of those freaking tv pitchman...

We've just had the wool pulled over our eyes all this time. The real "cream of the crop" in AR manufacturing lies in Anderson's branded lowers and BHW barrels