Development of barrel material used in light weapons and investigations of manufacturing process parameters

Barrel is the most significant polymer pistol component that is directly related to pistols usage life. Barrel fatigue life is a critical design parameter of light weapon as pistols. There are so many variables involved (gunpowder type, bore diameter, bullet coatings, types and geometry of rifling etc.) that it's hard to predict barrel fatigue life. To determine the barrel fatigue life, light weapon field test and weapon-specific laboratory tests are performed. In order to improve the barrel fatigue life, barrel designs with different rifling geometries have developed. In the meanwhile material improvement studies have investigated. In this study, it has been studied on the development and testing of alternative material for gun barrel which is the most important part of light weapons in this respect. In general, modern gun barrels are manufactured from low alloy steel forgings as AISI 4140. However 1.2340 hot work tool steel is investigated instead of AISI 4140 alloy steel in this study. As a result of material studies, 1.2340 hot work tool steel is more suitable than AISI 4140 alloy steel. According to customer acceptance specification, barrel which was produced from 1.2340 hot work steel has passed weapon field test and weapon-specific laboratory tests like as cold weather test, hot weather test, drop test, velocity test, firing dispersal test, high-pressure shooting test, endurance test, sand and mud tests successfully. The barrel fatigue life of polymeric body guns made of AISI 4140 alloy steel used as barrel material has been determined as 30,000 cyclic rate of fire. Fatigue life cycle of barrel that is made of 1.2340 hot work tool steel has been increased by 50,000 cyclic rate of fire. It ıs seen that cyclic rate of fire has been increased by about %66. In addition, firing dispersal test performance has been improved with new steel. Also the wear resistance of the barrel has increased because of using 1.2340 hot work tool steel. According to material improvement studies, 1.2340 hot work tool steel has been started to use for new generations gun barrels.