So, the answer to the question is: Although Ti barrels can be made with the metal technology and manufacturing technology today, there doesn't seem to be an obvious business case for the rather expensive undertaking.
As Tinker and others have pointed out, there are challenges. Most of these challenges have been overcome but at additional cost as well. Putting a long smooth hole in a piece of Ti is no easy job and therefore no cheap job. I have a 5' long 3" dia piece of 6Al4V Ti with a gundrilled hole and honed to a 63 rms finish, .070 wall, that I found in a local scrap yard 20 yrs ago. This piece is from some aerospace project gone belly up. I'll bet it cost thousands to make that part. I had planned on making another extreme pressure/large water rocket with it, but lost enthusiasm after we successfully made a steel one. I may get back to it for the entertainment.
To your question, Mike, a gun could be balanced with Ti barrels in a number of ways. The most obvious application to me would be in the extremely long barrel o/u target gun market that seem bent on making the longest barrels. A set of barrels could be made to some very long lengths and still have dynamics of a shorter barreled gun. This could give the 'advantage' of a long sight radius with the quickness of a shorter barrel. We might see it yet on a PGUN 38" or 40" barrel set.
Last edited by Chuck H; 07/02/08 09:24 AM.
