Armalon Hammer Forged Barrels
Armalon Limited, incorporating its predecessor "Practisport", embraces almost a quarter century in business as UK Registered Firearms Dealers specialising in the design, manufacture and custom gunsmithing of top quality firearms, particularly rifles, pistols and revolvers.
The company is finalising an expansion programme that will add to their existing largely CNC based production facilities, the complete barrel making plant previously owned and operated by Parker-Hale Limited. Also on hand are the key production personnel who successfully operated that plant. Over the years Parker-Hale produced a wide range of superb barrels, not only with the 1200TX and other target rifles but also their M82 and M85 Sniper rifles, the UK MoD’s L82A1 and L82A2 Cadet target rifles, and their full choice of reproduction muzzle loading classics. The range also included a host of other types from their airguns to the .22 semi-autos. In addition many barrels were produced on contract for other discerning end-users demanding top quality such as for the German Blaser rifles. Many thousands were also made for the UK MoD’s L1A1 SLR and also their GPMG FN-MAG/USM240 type refurbishment programmes.
The superb performance of the top quality barrels produced from this "stable" has been well established. Marksmanship records are consistently logged using everything from the earliest reproduction muzzle-loaders to the most modern The Parker-Hale classic rifles. The M85 for example out-shot all other contenders in trials for the UK Services Sniper Rifle, and with the recently completed MoD contract, the upgraded L82A2 Cadet Target Rifles on their first outing beat all previous records for accuracy and high scores by a huge margin.
The hammer forging method of manufacture has been proved to produce superbly accurate barrels whose performance improves with use and which may peak in that respect well beyond 10,000 rounds, long after cut or button broached rifled barrels would be regarded as completely worn out. They may also be chrome lined for even greater durability. Unlike the other manufacturing methods, the hammer forging process aligns the molecular structure of the ordnance grade steel thereby gently and evenly work hardening the barrels. This makes them extremely stable in resisting dimensional changes to the bore, even where abrupt and significant transitions to the barrel’s external profile may be involved. For example the highly popular and effective Armalon deep barrel fluting may be successfully applied to forged barrels.
The forging process and special mandrels employed are designed so as to produce an even micro taper in each bore towards the muzzle. Thereby, the propulsive gases as far as possible remain encapsulated by the projectile and are unable to scour around the bullet in its track until after its release at the muzzle. The highly skilled art of the barrel straightener is applied many times during the various stages of production, which includes reaming and progressive honing and lapping for premium quality. As with motor tyres, barrels are usually the component that wears out first, especially with heavy use. Even relatively little used firearms which have been inadequately stored or maintained may only need re-barrelling with Armalon hammer forged components to restore them to tip-top performance.
Once the upgraded 250 KvA 440 volt power supply is installed in the new factory location the plant re-commissioning can be completed and returned to full production. Tooling is available to produce barrels in virtually all the popular calibres*, rifling twist rates and forms. Barrel blanks, standard and special profiles may be ordered with thread forms and chambers as required, in the white or finished and blackened to customer’s preference. Finished barrels normally require proofing to CIP standards and may be short chambered to allow a final headspacing tolerance where needed. Classic barrel types may also be produced for a full range of muzzle loading and black powder arms. Tooling is available to produce .451 to .577 calibres in 3 groove 1853 Enfield pattern, 5 groove 1861/1858 Enfield plus the 8 groove Enfield Volunteer format. Included are Whitworth hexagonal form, Metford and Martini Henry 7 groove rifling in addition to smooth bored types. The plant is configured to manufacture even the longest barrels of these classic patterns.
As the UK’s prospective sole remaining producer of centrefire, black-powder and smallbore hammer forged barrels, Armalon intends to take advantage of the decades of expertise and the capacity for premium quality barrel manufacture in volume. In addition to production of their own rifles and handguns, OEM and other appropriately qualified end-users plus other bona-fide dealers and consumers requiring top quality original or replacement barrels for their small-arms are invited to make contact and advise the company of their requirements. Armalon intends to offer good availability of hammer forged barrels of optimum quality at reasonable prices.
*Calibres readily available include: .22, .222, 5.56/.223, .22-250, .243, .25-06, 6.5mm, .270,7x64, 7.62, .308, .30-06,
7mm Mag,.300 Mag, .303, 8x57, 9mm, 9.3x62,.375 Mag, .458 Mag, .451, .577, plus smoothbores in numerous incremental sizes from .196 to .577 cal. Other calibres and special twist rates available to special order.