Читать книгу Gun Digest 2011 онлайн

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Then as now, if a shotgun barrel becomes obstructed with mud or snow, it is likely to burst when the gun is fired. Sometimes this causes the muzzle to split. Other times it causes the barrel to split all too close to the shooter’s hand or face. Increasing the thickness of the walls of the barrel would make the barrel stronger. Unfortunately, the extra weight would ruin the gun’s balance. To try and solve this dilemma, the Winchester engineers experimented with aluminum alloy and titanium barrels. While these metals allowed for stronger barrels, they could fragment, resulting in an even more dangerous situation. After more than five years of research and development, the engineers settled on a then new material, fiberglass. This material had recently demonstrated its strength and durability in boats and car bodies. Each barrel had a full 500 miles of glass fiber wound circumferentially around a 0.020-inch steel liner. The glass fiber was then bonded under heat and pressure in a polyester matrix. To achieve a conventional appearance, the outer surface of the barrel was wrapped with color impregnated fiberglass cloth. This outer layer was then machined to a smooth finish. The finished barrel, although shiner and slightly larger in diameter, closely resembled a conventional shotgun barrel.