Which aluminium alloy is suitable for making gun barrels?
ZellaHyday > 07-02-2018, 06:10 AM
Don’t make a gun barrel out of aluminum.
There are certain aluminum alloys that would be able to handled the pressures generated by pistol rounds and certain older rifle rounds, but the other properties of aluminum need to be taken into account as well. Aluminum can’t hold an edge as well as steel can, as it is much softer. Because of this, the rifling of an aluminum barrel would wear out very quickly. As well, aluminum has a significantly lower melting point than steel (660 C compared to 1370 C). Gun barrels get hot, especially after numerous rounds. You’d run the risk of your barrel actually melting while you fire, should you craft a barrel out of aluminum.
You could maybe get away with running a very small caliber, like .22 short or perhaps long, possibly something like .25 ACP. I wouldn’t try it, personally, but if I were, that’s where I would start for determining how feasible an aluminum barrel would be.
I’m not trying to take an almighty dump on aluminum here, though. It’s one of my favorite metals to work with, but it has its place, just as steel does. Aluminum for frames, steel for barrels.