Minimag accuracy

[Wilfortina]

Hi guys, I’ve got a question for the mag guys and girls.
I picked up a Minimag with some sort of shortish aftermarket barrel and it works well, velocity stable and all that after an easy o-ring rebuild. But the accuracy is not what I remember from my old mag. My old one had an RT barrel, so I’m thinking about picking up one of those, but I’m wondering if the paint is just less round and smaller than what I used to use 15 years ago and an RT barrel would get the same result? What barrels have y’all been happy with? I don’t know that bore matching with a freak kit is necessary, but maybe an old barrel is way too big for modern paint.
i do have the original aluminum Minimag barrel to try next time to see if that improves it

[Wilfortina]

Edit: here’s a picture of the barrel that I’m not super impressed with

[Magageddon]

I run a dye 2 piece boomy and a j and j barrel that have worked great. If you don't have plastic detents, get them, so much better than the wire detents

[Wilfortina]

Magageddon
I didn’t realize there are two piece twist-lock options. Is the picture above of mine a j and j?

is my accuracy issue something besides the barrel? I’m thinking about doing a light polish on the inside of the barrel to see if that helps

[scottieb]

That's a Taso barrel.

[Wilfortina]

Thanks!

[superman]

Your accuracy problem could be the result of paint rolling past the detent. I made detents that sit in the breach further that are intended to be trimmed for the paint size.

https://beardedworks.com/products/bw-twistlock-detents

[Wilfortina]

I saw you have those and they look great! I haven’t ordered any yet but they’re on the list

[Hellion360]

Get them for sure, a terrific product.

[superman]

Thank you sir!

[Trbo323]

but I'm wondering if the paint is just less round and smaller than what I used to use 15 years ago

Yes

and an RT barrel would get the same result?

No, the barrel really can't make up for crappy aerodynamic properties

What barrels have y'all been happy with?

Most barrel kits are going to be decent these days

But more importantly what paint are you using? That's likely your problem and solution in one

Sent from my motorola edge 5G UW (2021) using Tapatalk

[Wilfortina]

Do people use kits for their mags these days? As far as I know I would have to get an autococker thread adapter to run a barrel kit type setup.

The paint is a problem (field paint only, and only one type) but my other guns are shooting the same paint more accurately.

[Alexndl]

Superman 3d printed detent work with small paint using your stock barrel

If you already have a freak kit or freak bored barrel (BMC or other can freak bore stock cocker barrel for a good price) buy an adaptor from Doc and use cocker threaded barrel.

https://docsshop.storenvy.com/collections/75558-all-products/products/344125-automag-barrel-adapter

you dont need a full kit of freak insert. The one you will use the most lately are 679 and 684 stainless insert and you should cover most of the paint. Freak XL are slightly better on efficiency and acuracy. But freak boring cost less at the standard 5" length vs 8" XL.

[Grendel]

Doc's Automag Barrel Adapter is the way to go! Plus you will be supporting a long time Air Smith

[Myrkul]

I use a Doc's adapter and a BMC bored freak barrel on my 68 classic mag, and it's dead nuts accurate even with shitty modern paint.

[nak81783]

Personally, I think barrel kits are a waste of money. It doesn’t make sense to try to size to .003-.005” increments when paint in the same bag can vary .030” or more.

If you stick with twist lock, get the Bearded Works detents.

Otherwise, I use a $40 .693” CP Advantage for everything. If I’m running my pump, I add a RedLeaderSB finger detent to prevent roll-outs. They are great, inexpensive barrels. You could run one with a Cocker thread adapter like you mentioned. Cons to the over-boring are it’s a little louder and less efficient. It’s the least likely to break paint though, especially with the aforementioned varying paint size. For me, not breaking paint is higher on the list than a little bit of extra noise and a little less efficiency.

If you stick with twist lock, and don’t like your current barrel, I had good luck with twist lock Smart Parts All American, J&J Ceramic, and CP Classic. My buddy loved his Dye, and he shot me plenty of times with it over the years.

[Wilfortina]

Thanks for the tips!!

are there any aluminum barrels available or are all these options stainless? The Minimag is pretty heavy and I wouldn’t mind a slightly lighter option 😂

[nak81783]

The SP, J&J, and CP are all aluminum barrels. The J&J just has a ceramic coating, I believe, which was marketed to be smoother and shoot itself clean through breaks.

As much nostalgia as I have for the SP, with the CP and J&J being straight bores, I’d go with one of the latter two.

[Wilfortina]

nak81783 forgive me, but what is a straight bore barrel? It’s a control bore all the way down?

[nak81783]

Correct. No step. The original SP AA’s were two pieces glued together. The CP and J&J are straight bores.

[Chuck E Ducky]

You could get any barrel you want with the doc adapter. My favorite budget kit is the J4 one piece ($160 for 4 barrels and a roll up padded bag). I’m super happy with the quality of this. You can buy a single for $42 without the padded protective bag. ( I recommend the .681)

This barrel is a full control bore from breach to tip the porting is great for lowering sound sig. The bore is very smooth like a high end barrel. The Ano comes in gloss and dust black. It’s got a very thin profile that is very basic and clean looking so it looks good on anything. It’s a great length to I’m really impressed with my kit it’s way better then barrel 2x it’s price. It’s also very lightweight. You check you tube they do a torture test on them to show the durability. J4 makes a great barrel I highly recommend them.

https://www.j4pb.com/product-page/super-stock-barrel-set-350-fcb-polished-black-autococker-thread

[Spider!]

Because of the timing of the automag shot pressure, for efficiency you should keep the barrel at least 12" long and no larger than needed to roll out. Mags don't like tight bores, especially short ones, since it changes the shot timing relative to the ball fit.

Detents are important.

[Grendel]

I like to find out what the average bore size for the paint I have when using my Mag and overbore by the next size up. No barrel breaks.

[Spider!]

Wilfortina, the bolt time is about ~10msec, and the reg uses about 40 msec to recharge. Having a ball squeeze into a tight barrel and slow down the bolt makes the bolt time longer with the same amount of air (not a good thing).

With HPA, the ball doesn't get all of the air force until at least 10 inches. As the barrel gets shorter, you have to crank up the reg pressure to get the same velocity. That means higher pressure on the ball initially, causing more breaks and lost air at the muzzle.

[Wilfortina]

Spider! Thanks for the explanation, that makes a lot of sense

[tunaman5]

In all my years working with the Automag, the most accurate barrel I have found is the J&J Brass 12" with the straight rifling and no porting. My Son will confirm it too as it is deadly accurate on his gun too.

[Dusty Bottoms]

If your using misshapen, oily or very small paint, your accuracy is going to be subpar. Paint has definitely gone down hill in quality over the past fifteen years. I’ve gotten a very rare batch of good, round, consistently sized field paint a couple years ago and was amazed at how accurately it shot out of my mags no matter what barrel I used. It was night and day compared to the usual slop I was used to chucking down range. The paint is the real key.

[Wilfortina]

I found an interesting J&J barrel on eBay with no porting. It seems rare to see one without any porting. Currently I’ve got the stock 8” barrel without porting on it and it’s shooting better than the short taso that I pictured above. I assume the porting helps clear out any barrel breaks better? And quiets the shot down. Any other disadvantages to getting one unported? It’s a 12 inch, so that’s about right efficiency-wise from my understanding

[Grendel]

Ported barrels in general are worse then non-ported when it comes to paint in the barrel after a break. They act as a reservoir for paint after each shot and make it harder to shoot the barrel clean. Unlike non-ported after a couple shots the bore is reasonably clean as long as you did not break the paint in the breach. Break paint in the breach and not much you can do until you can tear it down and get that paint out.