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Barrel turning

epc308

I know I'll probably be set on fire for this, but does anyone here turn down barrels for others?
It's an unknown aftermarket barrel, long, heavy and stainless, definitely not factory.
28" long, 1.250 straight section for 3" ahead of the receiver, straight taper to .990 at the muzzle.
The guy wants a straight taper from the 1.250 section to finish at .625" at the muzzle.
No, he doesn't want to shorten it any.
Yes, I let him know all bets are off, accuracy wise, if this is done.
Yes, I've turned barrels before, but sometimes it pays to write a check.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks
 
Anyone . And I mean Anyone , who has ever shot a Mosin-Nagant will know exactly what that barrel is going to do when installed . There will be no consistency in the grouping , and it will go all over the place . But that's just my opinion. Barrel Harmonics ? Pick a direction . Pencil barrels do that .
 
Turning a barrel down will change the inside diameter as well through the heating, cooling, and stress relieving so there’s no telling what he’ll end up with. Barrel manufacturers turn the outside to a dimension before final long drill boring and rifling and advise against turning the outside of the barrel after that point in manufacturing. But if your buddy won’t listen to you, fat chance he’ll read and heed what we say here. So, I’ve wasted my time and yours.
 
I remember the first and last re contour I did. I bought a green mountain straight and tapered to a sendero-ish.

If I made 12 cents an hour for my efforts it would have been cheaper to buy a bartlein. The amount of grit generated after polishing the chatter was a deal breaker.

It would take a hydraulic follow to make it even semi doable for profit.

Wilson blanks are $185.....that's what id be looking for.
 
Uthink Uknow said:
Turning a barrel down will change the inside diameter as well through the heating, cooling, and stress relieving so there’s no telling what he’ll end up with. Barrel manufacturers turn the outside to a dimension before final long drill boring and rifling and advise against turning the outside of the barrel after that point in manufacturing. But if your buddy won’t listen to you, fat chance he’ll read and heed what we say here. So, I’ve wasted my time and yours.
Click to expand...

Well, I have three barrel manufacturers that I used to make my barrels. And every single one of them contours after the straight blank is finished. I contour from straight blanks nearly every day I'm working

So, I really have no idea what you're talking about.

For example Patriot Valley Arms will contour barrel and send it to you and they don't contour barrels until the barrel is ordered. Then they stick it in a CNC machine and contour it the barrels are already made.

I do know one manufacturer that will not lap a barrel until it's final contoured. They insist it makes a difference. I hadn't noticed. But to each its own. But I can honestly say I don't know anyone who doesn't contour as a last step after the barrel is completely drilled and rifled.
 
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No is the correct answer. If he insists quote your hourly rate times 8. $725.00 should be about right! I once contoured one for myself that had been fluted from Hart barrels. Now that was quite the rodeo with the interrupted cuts! Customer insisted on doing a print himself and sending it to Hart. I told him to specify .006 taper per inch, he put down .006 per foot! Lol! So, l picked up a very good barrel for half price and the customer went off the deep end and stormed out! A win win in my book! Just say no is easier on everyone.

Paul
 
urbanrifleman said:
Well, I have three barrel manufacturers that I used to make my barrels. And every single one of them contours after the straight blank is finished. I contour from straight blanks nearly every day I'm working

So, I really have no idea what you're talking about.

For example Patriot Valley Arms will contour barrel and send it to you and they don't contour barrels until the barrel is ordered. Then they stick it in a CNC machine and contour it the barrels are already made.

I do know one manufacturer that will not lap a barrel until it's final contoured. They insist it makes a difference. I hadn't noticed. But to each its own. But I can honestly say I don't know anyone who doesn't contour as a last step after the barrel is completely drilled and rifled.
Click to expand...
Most quality manufactures lap the barrels after final profiling. That is, that is what many say.

that being said, unless you have the specific tooling for doing this type of work, it is almost impossible to avoid inducing stress by turning down a finished barrel.
 
I'm not sure anyone is saying that it can't be done and I'm not sure anyone has said for sure that accuracy will be poor. What I see is people posting that have done it and advise against doing it...particularly without a hydraulic follow rest.
I think it is an established fact that SOME, not all, will see growth of the bore, to some degree. That being dependent on a number of factors, like buttoned, hammer forged or cut, proper stress relief and steel quality, as well as the finished diameter. I don't think turning a bbl down to a diameter that still has substantial meat around the bore is a problem, particularly with a centerfire, where muzzle pressures may still be as high as say 15,000psi. And even if it does open a tenth or so, due to muzzle pressure and bullet obturation, I don't think accuracy degradation is automatic, at all. Rimfire may or may not be a different animal with several hundred psi at the muzzle vs several thousand. I do know most rf guys don't want much if anything taken off. My own personal experience is, no problem until you take off a pretty substantial amount of material. And, fwiw, most serious rf br shooters prefer buttoned bbls. Again...fwiw.

A couple of things are obvious though. One is that it's a lot of trouble without the right equipment, it's not likely to IMPROVE accuracy(but it's possible), and the majority of posters here have done it and still recommend against it, or wouldn't want to do it again.

Ultimately, it's the op's call. He has received good advice IME.
 
I'll throw in my 2 cents worth.

Nearly all the precontoured blanks I've ever gotten have not been in the actual center of the barrel when measured between centers. Very few have been truly in the center of the barrel. Most are at least a few thou out. Some are even 10 thou out measured at the chamber and muzzle ends. This is from some of the top manufacturers.

My main experience is with uncontoured blanks with me doing all of the contouring. I know once I'm done, they are centered/concentric to the bore at the chamber and muzzle ends. After that, I do all of the rest of my work. I prefer to do all of my own contouring for this very reason.

The groups shot by my former customers speak for themselves. Not theory or what someone else has said or read on the googlenet or gun forums.

Until the work is done and it is shot..........you won't know what it will do or not do. I do know that if the barrel/blank is properly worked, it has it's best chance of shooting well. "Properly worked" can lead to a LOT of discussions though.

The FINAL judge is the target and the shooter.
 
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Uthink Uknow said:
Turning a barrel down will change the inside diameter as well through the heating, cooling, and stress relieving so there’s no telling what he’ll end up with. Barrel manufacturers turn the outside to a dimension before final long drill boring and rifling and advise against turning the outside of the barrel after that point in manufacturing. But if your buddy won’t listen to you, fat chance he’ll read and heed what we say here. So, I’ve wasted my time and yours.
Click to expand...
You're not saying custom barrel makers contour before rifling are you?
 
epc308 said:
I know I'll probably be set on fire for this, but does anyone here turn down barrels for others?
It's an unknown aftermarket barrel, long, heavy and stainless, definitely not factory.
28" long, 1.250 straight section for 3" ahead of the receiver, straight taper to .990 at the muzzle.
The guy wants a straight taper from the 1.250 section to finish at .625" at the muzzle.
No, he doesn't want to shorten it any.
Yes, I let him know all bets are off, accuracy wise, if this is done.
Yes, I've turned barrels before, but sometimes it pays to write a check.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Sounds a lot like a Bruno HV Krieger to me. I've bought some in the past that aren't what I call a true hv contour that came from Brunos. They're close though and it should sell fine if it's what I think he has, or very close. FWIW. What caliber and twist is it? I didn't see that mentioned unless I missed it. I might buy it from him/you....or know someone that might want it. Just depends on what you have.

..and sounds like he wants something very close to a Krieger #3 or #4
 
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jackieschmidt said:
Most quality manufactures lap the barrels after final profiling. That is, that is what many say.

that being said, unless you have the specific tooling for doing this type of work, it is almost impossible to avoid inducing stress by turning down a finished barrel.
Click to expand...

What specific tooling?

Honestly, I have no idea what you are talking about.
 
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