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Gun Barrel Alignment

Gun Barrel Alignment

A customer approached Pinpoint’s engineering team with an application to align bore tube for long gun barrels. These gun barrel assemblies deliver ultra-high precision projectiles for long range military defense. Each barrel tube Is about an inch in diameter and up to 12” feet on length. The alignment challenge is to ensure the barrel is straight.

Pinpoint Solution:

Several customer conference calls were held to understand the critical alignment and measurement needs, then to recommend a measuring system, followed by documentation software, and finally to develop a working alignment procedure. Pinpoint’s Laser Microgage system was selected for this application in the following items were added to make the measurement;

• Laser Microgage 2D system
• Custom small form factor 2 axis disc receiver
• Standard laser transmitter
• DCU Computer Interface
• Pinpoint Capture software

For the alignment, the Microgage laser transmitter is securely mounted at the end of the barrel projecting a reference beam through the gun barrel. Next, the receiver is place in the barrel and measurements are taken as it moved down the length. The Microgage display provides X/Y position readings of the receiver inside the gun barrel during it is passage from end to end.

During the alignment process, readings were shown on the Microgage display for real time adjustment and barrel straightening while also being recorded. At the conclusion of the alignment process, the Microgage readings for X, Y were uploaded using Pinpoint Capture and imported into an Excel spreadsheet showing the existing orientation and the final gun barrel measurements.

This alignment system has been used many times for both new installations and also for repair and service work. Modifications can be easily made to adapt to different gun barrel configurations and user applications.