MIM Barrel? Look at This

[psjoe]

Bottom line, if they were made like the guns of old people would be complaining about how expensive they are.

What matters to me is the final product and despite the occasional complaint, S&W is still doing it best.

What is up with all the ressurected threads lately? Since there's no new whining we bringing up old whining?

No whining. Surprised, yes. Curious about how it's holding up, yes.

 

[DonD]

Kilibreaux - harsh but true.

Some examples of technology frozen in time are FAA certificated aircraft piston engines. Forged cranks, forged rods, nitrided steel, sand castings, tolerances in the mils, lubricated with 50w oil. The good old days in spades. Except a new engine of say 300 hp costs like a very nice luxury car; an overhaul like a nice new Impala. About the worst performance per $ I can think of.

Absolutely on the mark. The typical light plane piston engine is a dinosaur by comparison with today's car engines. Output per cubic inch of displacement is pathetic and if I'm not mistaken, the rules require an aviation and powerplants mechanic to do real work on them, now that's expensive.

Very few of the old consumer products perform better than the new products. Don

 

[psjoe]

Was on the telephone with S&W asking about the 442 Pro series finish so I also asked bout the mim barrel. The barrel comes in as a blank and is finished/machined for forcing cone, threads, EJ rod pin housing, and rifling..... he said it goes through 3 or 4 stations and 5 or 6 operations in the finishing process. The barrels have been found to be very accurate and without any issues.

 

[Maximumbob54]

Makes me curious about the new Ruger revolver barrels as they look really similar with the markings.

 

[Florida J Frame]

Has anyone ever had a 442 / 642 barrel fail? I've never heard of one being blown up or shot out. I personally don't are if it's MIM or not as long as it works.

 

[gatchelguy]

I looked for a connection between Parmatech and Ruger. Couldn't find one, but.... Pine Tree Castings is a division of Ruger. And Parmatech's Calif. address is on Pine View Drive. Coincidence????

 

[steelslaver]

How does any one here KNOW that a MIM barrel would not be far superior to a regular barrel. Some rifling went from cut to button and got an improvement. If they kept doing the good old fashioned way non of us would have magnum rounds. Somebody show me some real proof that MIN is inferior.

The best steel money can by is CPM steel which is not smelted and poured in any of the traditional methods. It is more like high grade damascus. Many fine particles heated and pressed together.

If your don't like MIM, injection molding and the like you had best stay away from modern jets.

 

[wrangler5]

There was a time when some of Ruger's castings were done by Callaway Golf - this from a good friend who worked at Callaway at the time. She didn't know exactly what parts they made, just that Ruger was one of their casting customers.

As for S&W outsourcing parts production - well, for high tech parts that seems to be the way industry works these days. Everybody can't do every kind of high tech in house, so get it done by the best guys and use it in your own product. And if S&W's going to outsource, I'd guess that the only industry that's more concerned with product liability than gun makers is the medical devices industry, which should translate into a little more comfort on the QC side of things.

 

[shouldazagged]

According to a study funded by the AMPMA (American MIM Parts Manufacterer's Association), there is nothing wrong with MIM parts.

Well, that's certainly a relief!

 

[JAREDSHS]

I believe J frame barrels have been MIM for a long time.

 

[nipperdog]

Properly done, MIM parts are as reliable as parts that are Forged, or Machined from Bar Stock. All of the mass produced Firearms currently made in the "Good Old USA" probably have some MIM Parts. MIM is the Future like it or not. The Relics of the past are nice to own. I would love to have my Long Gone 57 Chevy Convertible back, but I wouldn't pay $60 Grand for one at Today's prices. What would a brand new S&W Revolver sell for Today if all of the parts were hand Machined and polished as were the Guns of the Golden Era of S&W. I am just Happy that S&W is still making Firearms, and that we still can own them. I can live with the MIM parts.

 

[wbraswell]

This thread has more lives than a damn cat. Rehashing it reminds me of an ancestor of mine. He wasn't going to have any of that modern day "****" they were trying to pass off, he knew it couldn't be as good as the old stuff, so he hurried down and bought a 1927 Model T, even though the one he had was fine. He wanted nothing to do with that new fangled Model A.

 

[DanP7]

Isn't that just a barrel shroud?


Isn't the entire ruger sp101 and gp100 made out of stainless castings?

 

[DanP7]

Lol those old "Detroit america big block" cars had more cast moving parts than anything. Forging was as common then as it is now.

 

[frankcr]

Just got rid of a van with 150,000 miles on it which would have been good for many more miles before it actually needed replacement. So how many autos of the 50-60-70 model years were capable of what the new ones can do?

Materials and design today are so far superior to what was available in the past that it is a laugh when someone day dreams of the good old days. The world works with tolerances today which would have been impossible to have maintained in the past.

I have great memories of growing up in a house which had a single heater in the dining room with no heat in the other rooms and no cooling at all in the summer. I much prefer the luxuries of today however.

I expect a firearm to do the job it was designed for regardless of the materials used plus modern interchangeability is a nice plus. Hand fitted sounds great, but the cost of that handwork is now sky high.