• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

Q for gunsmith re Replacing Damaged Action

ncageneral

I have a nephew in GA who took his rifle in to have the barrel threaded for a can. I know, all the rage these days, I'm already hearing impaired (thanks artillery). So in the process of taking the barrel off his Browning A Bolt they managed to gall the threads in the action. So now they are offering him $400 credit for HIS rifle that they messed up. Supposedly they will "replace" his rifle with an X Bolt from Browning for a discounted price. And keep the rifle that he took to them for work and supposedly destroy it. Now I dont know if they are sending the rifle back to Browning and they will "destroy" it or if they will do so themselves.
My question is this, is this standard operating procedure? I told my nephew he was getting screwed over and it was their responsibility to make THEIR screw up right. How would one proceed in this scenario? Puskas Firearm Innovations in Richmond Hills GA. So gunsmiths, if you would care to chime in on this it would be greatly appreciated.
 
ncageneral said:
I have a nephew in GA who took his rifle in to have the barrel threaded for a can. I know, all the rage these days, I'm already hearing impaired (thanks artillery). So in the process of taking the barrel off his Browning A Bolt they managed to gall the threads in the action. So now they are offering him $400 credit for HIS rifle that they messed up. Supposedly they will "replace" his rifle with an X Bolt from Browning for a discounted price. And keep the rifle that he took to them for work and supposedly destroy it. Now I dont know if they are sending the rifle back to Browning and they will "destroy" it or if they will do so themselves.
My question is this, is this standard operating procedure? I told my nephew he was getting screwed over and it was their responsibility to make THEIR screw up right. How would one proceed in this scenario? Puskas Firearm Innovations in Richmond Hills GA. So gunsmiths, if you would care to chime in on this it would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
well im no gunsmith but i think we all know if someone you hired to work on your gun screws it up its their responsibility to fix it. on top of that i would have no confidence in this place he took the gun anymore. ive removed and reinstalled/replaced alot of barrels but never galled one up. barrel or action -- it just takes a few precautions.
 
At least they owned up to it. Probably could have fudged it enough it screw it back together and not say anything.

But yeah they should be footing the bill for a full equivalent replacement unless there was some discussion prior that it was a difficult job with the potential to go sideways
 
Browning tends to use Red Loctite on the barrel tennons, maybe this was his first one? At any rate, he broke it attempting to do a job, he should replace at market value unless there was some prior disclosure that we don't know about.

FWIW, I have never found the need to remove the barrel from the action to thread a muzzle, even though there are circumstances that would dictate that depending on lathe and setup. In the future, It may be worthwhile to discuss methods and what steps are in involved to get the job done, that can apply to most jobs, guns or not.
 
The stainless A-Bolts were a problem due to the affinity of the barrel and action material for one another. If one was unaware of the potential, and didn't take steps to prevent it, galling was likely. By the way, I disagree with Rod on the fitment of threads on the chromoly actions too. The thread is not unusually short and I have never heard of one shooting loose. It might be possible to re-thread your nephews receiver, but I can't really say with out seeing it. WH
 
On anything like this this there's always more involved.

I'd say the only thing the shop could have done would have been to alert the customer to the possibilty of damage to the action and have the customer sign off on that. Their offer for compensation seems fair...at least from my view.
 
Doug Beach said:
Right, but if the threads are galled, that happened when it was assembled, not when it was taken apart. In my view, based on what was posted, the smith uncovered a problem, rather than causing one.
Click to expand...
I've also seen where someone installed too long of a screw to hold the rail or front scope ring on. The screw chews up the threads on the barrel tennon and if not noticed and repaired before unscrewing the barrel galling is bound to happen with a steel or stainless action.
 
Doug Beach said:
Right, but if the threads are galled, that happened when it was assembled, not when it was taken apart. In my view, based on what was posted, the smith uncovered a problem, rather than causing one.
Click to expand...
I kinda have to go with this.
The only caveat might be that if the Gunsmith felt the barrel trying to gall after just a turn or two coming off, he should have stopped, perhaps contacted the customer and told him his best bet might be to screw it back on, (hopefully it would go), tighten it up and forget about the brake/suppressor.
I really don’t agree with that explanation in post #6. Heck, Remington 700’s don’t even have that much actual thread engagement.

I fixed a badly galled Bat for a friend. Someone tried to screw a panda barrel into it, it got tight about 2/3 the way in. They just got a cheater pipe. When they finally got it out, it was ruined.

I checked it up true, then bored it to the 1.625 majore diameter of the original thread. I then established 20 tpi like savage to keep the major diameter at a minimumIMG_1160.jpeg in the action, and we put that thread on a new barrel. I also made him a plug thread gage.

Shoots great. The only drawback is he really should use a profile with a 1.250 shank.IMG_1160.jpeg
 
Last edited:
std7mag said:
Mayhaps we can get a smith to chime in.
Like
@Countrycustoms
@Alex Wheeler
@gunsandgunsmithing

They will be our resident experts.
Click to expand...
Well as long as we're guessing...and I am...I'll go with @Tucker65 , as a base screw being the most likely cause but again..without possibly being there when it happened...a guess.

As for what to do. All I can say is that if I broke it, I HAVE fixed/replaced it. If you do anything long enough, stuff will happen sooner or later.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Q re AR15Barrels dot Com Service
Replies
12
Views
325
fkimble@charter.net
Q re Glass Bedding Savage
Replies
4
Views
1,960
skb2706
Repair damaged barrel threads
2
Replies
33
Views
7,013
Archis

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Classified Ads

Forum statistics

Threads
166,254
Messages
2,215,011
Members
79,496
Latest member
Bie

Share This Page

Back
Top