Jarvis "Expandable Bushing" Barrel
by Charles E. Petty
Quite a few years ago Ray Herriot of Centaur Systems showed me a prototype of a very unusual adjustable barrel bushing. The idea was that the bushing had a slight taper so as you tightened it on the threaded muzzle of the barrel, it expanded to better fit the slide. Now the design is available in a drop-in match barrel kit from Montana gunsmith and barrel maker Bill Jarvis.
The kit consists of the bull barrel, a reverse recoil spring plug, a two- piece guide rod, special spring and a small spanner wrench to use in adjustment of the bushing. Installation requires no modification to the gun and takes only a moment longer than routine field stripping.
Once the barrel is installed, it is a simple matter to adjust the bushing. I installed the barrel with the bushing quite loose and then gradually screwed it onto the barrel until the slide would no longer go into battery. With that done, loosening the bushing about one-half turn allowed the slide to lock up without interference.
The Jarvis barrel was installed on a Kimber Classic Custom pistol and function tested with a wide assortment of both ball and hollow-point ammunition. There were no malfunctions. Accuracy was tested with the pistol in the Ransom Rest. Three 10-shot groups at 25 yards averaged 2.14" with Federal wadcutter, 185 gr. Speer Gold Dot and 200 gr. Norma JHP. The smallest group measured 1.5" with Federal ammo. This is excellent accuracy for an otherwise stock pistol.
Barrels are available in .45 ACP and .40 S&W. The standard barrel retails for $199. A version to fit Para-Ordnance pistols is slightly higher.