Barrel harmonics and airgun accuracy

Posted on January 12, 2006 by B.B. Pelletier ↓ 29 Comments

by B.B. Pelletier

Dok Watson suggested this topic. He says he had never heard of barrel harmonics til he got into
airguns. Since then, he’s learned a lot. It was the same for me, Dok.

What are barrel harmonics?

A guitar string vibrates in a certain way when plucked. Those waveforms (they look like the
waves in the ocean) determine the sound the guitar string makes. It turns out that many things
vibrate in the same way. In a former profession, I worked with vibration dampeners to kill the
vibrations made by steel beams and windows, so people could not listen in on private
conversations from outside buildings!

Airgun barrels have vibration patterns, too, and they can dramatically affect the accuracy of a
gun. Here’s how. When a barrel is free to vibrate any way it wants, it tends to vibrate exactly the
same with every shot. As long as nothing is done to disturb the vibration patterns, such as a
tuneup or using a different pellet, the barrel will try to vibrate the same every time.

The shooter has an effect!

By holding the airgun differently for every shot, you are changing the vibration patterns. It’s
exactly the same as placing your finger on a guitar string at a different place. You get a different
note. If you place your finger at the same place repeatedly, you will get the same note over and
over, which is how guitars make music. If you hold your airgun in the same way every time,
you get the same shot – meaning the pellet leaves the muzzle at the same place in the vibration
pattern every time, so it tends to go to the same place downrange – every time.

But it is impossible for anyone to grip an air rifle tightly with both hands and repeat that
hold shot after shot. It’s the same as trying to hold ten fingers and your shoulder and your cheek
against the guitar strings in exactly the same pattern, time after time. Don’t bother trying – it’s
impossible!

So, the airgunner does just the opposite – he holds the gun as loosely as he can and allows it
to vibrate as much as it wants. And, if he does a good job of not influencing the airgun, his
groups get better. I’m talking about all airguns – not just spring-piston guns, though those are the
ones most affected.

We’re only beginning

A good hold lets the gun do its best, but that’s just where it starts. You can also tune the vibration
patterns of airguns to optimize their accuracy. I have tested adjustable harmonic tuning devices
on several makes of air rifles and found that they not only work – they work dramatically well!
Unfortunately, there isn’t much information relating to airgun harmonic tuning, but the
Browning company makes their BOSS (Ballistic Optimizing Shooting System) for firearms, and
you can find lots of information about it.
 The Browning BOSS is a proven way to adjust barrel harmonics.
Barrel tuning relates to length
Like guitar strings, the length of a barrel defines its vibration pattern. A tuning device like the
BOSS lets the shooter make small changes in the length of the barrel, or more specifically,
where the vibration nodes occur. Some airguns do this on their own through their design. A
rifle with an air reservoir connected to the barrel changes vibration patterns as the reservoir
pressure drops, which causes the reservoir to move. That can have a big effect on where the
pellet goes, and it’s a good reason why a free-floated barrel (no contact with the gun other than at
the breech) is good.

Now you understand Dok’s concern with the barrel-mounted bipod of the Crosman Nightstalker.
Other barrel-mounted accessories, such as muzzlebrakes, will also change the vibration pattern.
In the case of the Nightstalker, however, it seemed to make the gun MORE accurate, not
less. You see, they don’t necessarily make things worse; they simply change things. The
shooter has to be aware of what he’s doing to his gun when installing such accessories.
Vibration tuning is not an exact science. Even the top scientists in the free world could only
guess what the effects of their work might be. We had to test each installation rigorously to
determine whether we had been successful or what else had to be done. And, so it is with
airguns!