JPK , I think you are mistaken in regard to Butch Searcy's rifles! They are not tig welded at the seams! The Searcy barrels are threaded into the mono-block, for about 1" from the seam to the end of the threads, then the rest of the barrel's chamber area is an almost press fit into the rest of the mono-block to the breach end, then trimmed off to be flush with the face of the breach end of the mono-block. The seams can be seen if one looks very closely, but are fitted so well that it is not evident. This is the strongest way to fit barrels into a mono-block, and is exactly the same way barrels are fitted into a bolt action rifle!

The reason I know this to be fact is, I made the same mistake you did in regard to Butch's rifles, makeing the statement that he tigs the seams, and he sent me an E-mail telling me he didn't use a tig weld on the seams, then explained the whole process to me!

I'm not saying, however, that there is anything wrong with tigging up the seams, because tig welding is the coolest weld one can do, and heats very shallowly. I have done this myself on sleeved barrels, with a home made heat sink in the chamber end of the barrels, that consists of an aluminum rod in the bore with it's end being cooled by dry ice. With this process, the barrel can be held in your bare hand as soon as the weld is completed!