Anyone on here profile barrels? Bought a cheap green mountain blank to build a 350 legend with and nobody local to me will turn barrels down. Don’t need any chambering or threading done just have the barrel turned down
My smith that I’m doing an apprenticeship under doesn’t profile barrels. This will be my first threading and chambering job that I’ll do by myselfStan passed away a bit ago. If you can thread and chamber it, why dont you contour it yourself?
It’s one of the gunsmith specials. 1.250 I believe. It’s going on a 788 Remington action and need it close to the factory contour@JASON50CAL What profile is the barrel, and what do you want it to be?
Is this what you mean by "etch-a-sketch" method:I have commented on barrel profiling many times. During my first five years as a gunsmith, I profiled almost every barrel I installed, from a 1 1/4 inch blank. Later, I started buy contoured blanks but still re-contoured many of them. I continue to do the same today (though I don't do much work anymore). I have used a copier, I have offset the tailstock, and I have used what Tom Burgess called the "etch a sketch" method.
The only real issue is dealing with chatter and this is done with tool shape and setup. I still, on occasion have a barrel which just won't settle down. Using a steady can help but not always. If a barrel blank has not been stress relieved, it will warp. Most modern barrels are properly stress relieved so this, at least, is not a real issue. WH
Douglas does a good job on their "finish turned" barrels these days. It's worth the small difference in cost over the rough turned version.I’ve done more than I care to admit to. Turning a blank is somewhere between watching paint dry and playing with a cactus. Unless your doing your own custom contour never ever buy gunsmith special blank. To have a guy with a manual late do it you should expect to pay as much as the blank cost and maybe more depending on the price point of the blank you bought. And to have a shop with a hydraulic follow rest do it will still cost quite a bit more than what the barrel maker would have charged. And then there’s those cheaper Douglas barrels that look like they were profiled on a screw machine that they used to sell for about $50 less than their premium blanks only to find out I charged an extra $75 to finish those..
Their finish turned are good, it’s the budget ones Midway sells that are rough as a cob.Douglas does a good job on their "finish turned" barrels these days. It's worth the small difference in cost over the rough turned version.