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Sub-MOA Barrels is the name of a new phenomenon in the airgun world. It’s a company established specifically to create barrels for use in the highest quality air rifles.
Above. Part-finished barrels await the next manufacturing stage.
The aim of Sub-MOA is to create the most accurate barrels possible for long-range shooting accuracy. For that, read 100 Yards plus. Particularly when shooting slugs. Think “competition-winning accuracy”.
With this aim in mind, it’s no surprise that the company is not intending to flood the mass market with its barrels. These are “best of the best” quality products that are intended for use with the finest air rifles by the most discerning shooters.
So yes these are going to be expensive barrels. But they’re also going to be superlatively-accurate. And I’ve not yet met the air gunner who doesn’t want the best possible accuracy from his air rifle.
To find out more, I visited the company in its Arizona facility. There I met two of the leading lights behind the project – Managing Partner Tracy Skipper and Tom Costan, well-known for his American Air Arms air rifles.
Tracy (above) and Tom answered all my questions openly. They also showed me everything I asked to see. This is what I discovered…
Why Are Barrels A Big Deal?
As we all know, the past decade has been a period of explosive technological growth in the airgun industry. In particular, the ongoing development of PCP air rifles has revolutionized many aspects of airgun shooting.
No longer is 50 Yards an “extreme range” for air rifle shooting. Now “long range” starts at 100 Yards and enthusiasts are regularly shooting at and beyond that distance in benchrest competition and when hunting large game.
Below. Part of a – very long – barrel drilling machine.
Initially this PCP technology explosion derived from the improving power capabilities of PCP air rifles. The widespread adoption of regulated actions combined with improved air use in valves, plenums and porting have been combined in designs that continue to become ever-more sophisticated, capable and efficient.
Of course, power is not the only driver here. There’s no value in power if you can’t see the target! Parallel, significant improvements in optical engineering have produced outstanding riflescopes, ideal for hitting small targets at extended ranges.
But wait! Accurate shooting at any range demands consistent, precision-manufactured ammunition. For long distance accuracy, Ballistic Coefficients become increasingly important too. Thus we have the explosive growth of interest in airgun slugs.
Below. Another view of a barrel drilling machine.
In addition, the ongoing development of long-range airgun benchrest shooting – exemplified by the Extreme Benchrest competition – has also served to highlight and publicize the accuracy potential of airguns at extreme range.
So here we have a “perfect storm” of developments that bring the focus of attention to another part of the air rifle. The barrel.
The barrel is perhaps the fundamental part of any airgun. After all, the most basic airgun – a blow pipe – is just a barrel, nothing else!
Below. A CNC barrel reaming machine.
It can be argued that the barrel is the primary contributor to downrange accuracy. Certainly Tracy and Tom strongly believe that to be the case.
But there’s one other aspect of barrel-making that’s vitally important. It’s manufacturing consistency. That means being able to manufacture large numbers of barrels that all display identical, outstanding on-target accuracy.
That means the end of “the barrel lottery”, so well known to so many airgunners. Sub-MOA is working to bring competition-winning accuracy to EVERY individual barrel they make.
Sub-MOA Barrels Company History
The project that became Sub-MOA Barrels started in March 2023, Tracy explained.
Obviously – as with starting any new business – there was a huge amount of up-front effort. Basic thinking was refined into precise specifications as the team coalesced. That time spent in early planning translates directly into better results, produced more efficiently.
Finance was vital too. It’s not a low-cost exercise to start a precision barrel-making facility. Highly-specialized machinery is required and it’s all computer-controlled. That means expensive!
Below. A multi-axis CNC lathe provides the final external shape.
Then there was the key decision of the machinery supplier. The Sub MOA Team decided on Precihole as they offer some of the world’s best deep-hole drilling and finishing equipment solutions available anywhere.
Machines and tooling began to arrive in the new facility in January 2024. After many trial runs, the first production barrels were manufactured in May 2024, just weeks before my visit.
It’s obvious that millions of Dollars have been invested to get this far, before a single cent of revenue could be received. That’s commitment!
As Tracy stressed, there’s also been a huge learning curve for the whole Sub-MOA Team. The basic principals of barrel-making are not “rocket science”, he says. But making barrels to extreme quality standards and with incredible piece-to-piece consistency – that’s a completely different matter. It requires skill, judgement and even artistry to achieve!
Below. One of the very few manual operations is the first one of cutting steel rod to length.
Barrel-Making Choices
Tracy explained to me that Sub-MOA barrels are produced using the “cut rifling” process.
This means that each barrel starts as a large-diameter (1 or 1.25-Inch) steel rod. That solid rod is cut, prepped,drilled, reamed, honed and rifled before being turned down to the required external diameter and length. We’ll explain this process in detail later.
Sure, the cut rifling process takes much longer than other rifling methods. However it has the capability to provide a greater choice of twist rates than other methods like hammer forging or button rifling, together with greater precision. (Button rifling is most common for airgun barrels today).
Below. This very tall device is a vertical honing machine.
The computer-controlled machines at Sub-MOA have multiple huge benefits. One is that they are able to cut bore diameters and rifling twist rates to specifications provided by the customer – that’s typically an airgun manufacturer.
This is a huge difference compared to other barrel-making technologies, Tracy explained. Other barrel-manufacturing methods have a very limited range of choices from which the customer has to choose. The cut rifling technology gives much greater freedom of barrel design.
Because Sub-MOA barrels are machined from solid, the resulting barrel also can have a relatively large external diameter.
Tom Costan explained to me that this produces long-range accuracy that is demonstrably superior to the alternative of using “very thin” rifled liners that are inserted into an external tube.
Such multi-part “liner barrels” will always be less thermally, statically and dynamically stable, Tom explained, and often require tensioners and other additional bolt-ons to wring-out improved accuracy. Even then, they are unlikely to be as accurate as a one-piece barrel.
Tracy confirmed that Sub-MOA manufactures barrels designed differently for pellets and slugs. Bore diameters are standardized for commercially-available slugs with appropriate twist rates. Also, the breech-end “lead” is longer in slug barrels to accommodate the longer projectiles.
Typically, the twist rates for “Slug Barrels” are much faster (revolutions per Inch) than for conventional Airgun pellets. For example, 1:11-Inch to 1:16-Inch range for 22 caliber, Tracy commented. For pellets, twist rates vary from 1:22-Inch to as slow as 1:80-Inch.
Calibers available currently in production are .22, .25, .30, .357 and .45.
How They Do It
As Tracy explained, if you are producing top-quality barrels with minimal piece-to-piece variability, Process Control is a very big deal!
The process starts with selecting the best steel. Sub-MOA has developed very precise specifications for their steel stock. It’s all made in the USA by known suppliers. The company also works with a small number of trusted local distributors to ensure that the right material arrives at the right time.
Below. Inside the vertical honing machine.
In Sub-MOA’s impressive machine shop, all the major machines are computer-controlled. A critical machine is a deep hole drill and reamer. Then there’s a hone, a rifling machine, a finish machine and, finally, a lapping machine to produce a superb mirror surface in the bore.
There’s also a lot of other precision machinery, including some very sophisticated air-gauging equipment. If you’re working to high-precision tolerances, you need very precise measurements. They also need to be done multiple times, for example after both honing and rifling.
Sub-MOA works to tolerances in the 1/10,000 of an Inch range. That’s right, their manufacturing is measured to the nearest tenth of a Thou!
Let’s think about this a little more…
Not only does the bore need to be machined perfectly concentric within the finished barrel. In addition the dimensions of lands and grooves need to be kept to similar precision. In fact the entire barrel must be dimensionally consistent all the way down – as much as 36 Inches length.
That’s really tough, but it’s the way they do it at Sub-MOA Barrels.
Sub-MOA Barrels Benefits
While Sub-MOA’s barrels offer much flexibility to airgun manufacturers, there are a couple of ways in which their design is fixed. But they’re fixed for good reasons.
Below. Finished barrels ready for shipment.
In an industry where 12 grooves is the standard for barrel-making, the company’s barrels have just 5 grooves. Why? I asked…
Tom explained that more grooves means more lead displacement which increases drag. Even high-powered air rifles work with relatively low amounts of excess power beyond that necessary to start the projectile accelerating from stationary. Less grooves means a not inconsequential increase in Muzzle Energy, he said.
Secondly, Sub-MOA barrels have no choke. The bore is perfectly-consistent from breech to muzzle. Chokeless barrels are known to be good for shooting slugs, but Tom went further.
His opinion is that the purpose of a choke at the muzzle is really an attempt to overcome a lack of dimensional consistency throughout the length of the barrel. Chokes are a “make it right in the last Inch” approach, he says.
Because Sub-MOA’s barrels are manufactured and finished so precisely, they simply do not need a choke. That’s one reason they are perfect for slugs.
Tom also offered another intriguing opportunity for the future…
Because of the ability of Sub-MOA’s cut rifling system to customize bore and twist rate, he sees the opportunity for manufacturers to specify barrels specifically matched to specific pellet, or slug types.
Yes, Sub-MOA is able to manufacture barrels dedicated to providing the best possible accuracy with – say – JSB Jumbo Monster Grand pellets, should an air rifle manufacturer request it. Now there is a VERY interesting possibility!
The Future of Quality Airgun Barrels Is Here
Yes, Sub-MOA barrels has just opened its doors for business. This report is the first public report on the company. However it’s clear that this is an organization with a clear vision, the people and backing necessary to be a success.
I believe that we can expect to Sub-MOA to be a major player in the precision airgun barrel market within a very short time.
If you are one of the many airgun industry members who reads Hard Air Magazine, you should be talking to the company if you want the most accurate barrels for your company’s products!
And here’s the final twist (groan!) in this story. Regular airgunners like you and I will be able to buy barrels directly from Sub-MOA ourselves.
Yes, the Sub-MOA website will be offering a range of pre-finished barrel upgrades that you can buy and install yourself. It’s coming soon and you read it here first…
I would like to thank Tracy Skipper, Tom Costan and the whole Sub-MOA Team for their help with this report.
The post Sub-MOA Barrels – Exclusive First Report appeared first on Hard Air Magazine.
