Unique Requirements for Rimfire Barrel Manufacturing
If you’re a rifle or pistol manufacturer, you’re well aware that rimfire platforms stand alone in a category of their own. With unique rifling, twist rates, chamber specifications, and exterior profiles, you need an OEM supplier with experience in accommodating the nuances required to produce a high-quality rimfire barrel.
Why Are Rimfire Barrels in Demand?
It’s no big secret that rimfire platforms have been taking off in popularity these past few years. With soaring ammunition prices, they remain fairly cheap to shoot, and unlike the ammunition crunch of 2012, rimfire ammo is still fairly available if you’re willing to search for it.
New and experienced shooters alike enjoy shooting the venerable .22 Long Rifle. This diminutive cartridge has gained in popularity with the prolific growth of novice gun owners entering the market, alongside the rise in demand for precision rimfire trainer rifles designed for NRL22-style competition. Vortakt is uniquely positioned to support both of these demographics with our 200 Series for entry- and intermediate-level pistol and rifle designs, and our 300 or 400 Series barrels for precision rimfire rifle platforms.
Rimfire Barrel Rifling
While the vast majority of our OEM rimfire rifle and pistol barrels are built to SAAMI specifications, with a 6 groove rifling pattern and 1-16 twist rate, Vortakt® can also order custom tooling for unique design requirements. On occasion, we’ve received requests for 1-9 twist barrels designed to accommodate heavier solid-copper turned projectiles. We have even fielded requests for polygonal rifling designs from select OEM clients!
Rimfire Barrel Chambering
While SAAMI specifications for rimfire cartridges are the norm for most OEM rimfire barrels, it’s not unusual to run across custom reamer requests in this particular market segment. Chamber designs like the “.22 Bentz” may be leveraged for unique firearm designs requiring reliable feeding from semiautomatic firearm designs, while other reamer designs may be utilized for additional unique bullet profiles.
Ensuring rimfire chamber reamers match print specifications is incredibly important with these barrel designs, as tolerances and immaculate surface finishes are essential for determining proper headspace, consistent extraction, and establishing optimal bullet jump to the lands. Solutions tied to reamer selection, tool uniformity, and level of chamber polish will ensure that your rimfire rifles and pistols will function flawlessly over the course of the service life of each firearm.
Rimfire Barrel Profiling
Consistent internal bore and chamber dimensions are important, but exterior geometry and fitment are just as essential when considering barrel installation and function. Quite a few of our OEM clients simply request barrel blanks or lollipops (semi-contoured pistol blanks), but many others delegate finishing operations to our team of skilled machinists, engineers, and our Okuma LT2000ED twin-spindle turning center.
This horizontal twin-spindle machine integrates lathe and mill/drill functions on all turrets, allowing us to accommodate exterior profiling work for platforms like the Ruger® 10/22® and other unique rifle designs. General milling and turning operations can be carried out on this single machine, including operations like extractor cuts, threading, feed ramps, and mill-turn engraving (featuring caliber markings and client name).
Why Choose Vortakt as Your OEM Rimfire Barrel Supplier?
Simply put, Vortakt provides the most versatile product offering among all OEM barrel manufacturers. Whether you need pistol blanks or rifle barrels, are producing a budget firearm design for novice shooters to take their first shots, or a high-end custom trainer rifle for a world-class PRS competitor, Vortakt Barrel Works can accommodate design requirements across the full spectrum of rimfire firearm options.
Contact our sales team to find out how Vortakt can satisfy your OEM barrel production needs.