How close to original dimensions can a duplicate barrel be made?

[VaniB]

I'm refinishing an old 1971 Remington BDL stock & have very carefully sanded out the length of the barrel channel to free-float fit the sporter barrel with no more then .009" clearance along the entire length of the stock. (ie; the equivalent thickness of about 3 - 4 pieces of paper).

In the future I might want to replace the 221 Fireball barrel with a 20 cal Vartarg barrel. My question is whether it is possible to have a new 20 cal barrel contoured to fit the stock as snug as my 221 barrel currently fits the stock? Is it even humanly possible for a gunsmiths to chamber, finish, thread and final fit a new barrel to a receiver so that it ends up having the exact same tight fit stock dimensions as the current .009" thousandths of clearance? I suppose I can always sand off a little bit of wood in the channel if a replacement barrel was a few thousandths too tight, but I'd rather not have to do anything to alter the new stain and gloss coat stock finish at all if I don't have to. And of course, if it goes the other way and the barrel is too narrow, then I will have a large ugly gap that I would not be happy with.

 

[Doug Beach]

Everything is possible, certainly including what you want, which isn’t extravagant. Just comes down to the planning and the paying.

 

[VaniB]

Everything is possible, certainly including what you want, which isn’t extravagant. Just comes down to the planning and the paying.

Thanks, but terms like "Everything is possible" "probably" and "I suppose" still leave the question unanswered. I'm hoping somebody with experience machining barrels, or, in the business long enough, or, has pursued this for their own guns can tell me if this is a common and very doable procedure. I can always call my smith, but prefer not to do so until I'm serious and ready to give him my business.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

@Stan Taylor can do it. I prefer way more than .009 because that hits, but if you send him your barrel he will contour then chamber your barrel to the exact dimension

 

[500yards]

Everything is possible and the Negative and positive side.

 

[natdscott]

Sheets of paper are generally 0.005” or more?

0.009” is NOT enough to free float reliably unless it’s an aluminum chassis.

For the base contour, just send the barrel to Krieger or Bartlein and have them duplicate it for your new blank. While you’re at it, have them make two.

 

[billlarson]

I'm refinishing an old 1971 Remington BDL stock & have very carefully sanded out the length of the barrel channel to free-float fit the sporter barrel with no more then .009" clearance along the entire length of the stock. (ie; the equivalent thickness of about 3 - 4 pieces of paper).

In the future I might want to replace the 221 Fireball barrel with a 20 cal Vartarg barrel. My question is whether it is possible to have a new 20 cal barrel contoured to fit the stock as snug as my 221 barrel currently fits the stock? Is it even humanly possible for a gunsmiths to chamber, finish, thread and final fit a new barrel to a receiver so that it ends up having the exact same tight fit stock dimensions as the current .009" thousandths of clearance? I suppose I can always sand off a little bit of wood in the channel if a replacement barrel was a few thousandths too tight, but I'd rather not have to do anything to alter the new stain and gloss coat stock finish at all if I don't have to. And of course, if it goes the other way and the barrel is too narrow, then I will have a large ugly gap that I would not be happy with.

It can be done like you want to the .002"....that being said it,s a special order,whichcosts more...
Bill

 

[Stan Taylor]

Without seeing the original Barrel I would almost wager that I've got a contour that's exact already but if not I can duplicate it to the T and you're looking about a two-week turnaround installed

 

[VaniB]

Ok. Thanks guys. I think the challenge is not going to be just how well the shape of the barrel blank is duplicated to the original barrel, as much as how well that finished barrel was threaded and installed onto the receiver to fit the barrel channel like a glove in the exact location as the old barrel. I know nothing about gunsmithing other then that my smith does his job well enough that I obtain supreme accuracy with handloads. I will send the entire rifle (with stock attached) to a gunsmith so he can see and know exactly what I expect. It's possible my smith may decline a job like this which has a demanding cosmetic request. I would be upset if the in-letting gap is made larger after I fussed doing many hours of small careful sanding.

My 3 custom varmint guns all have large open channels with a 1/16" to 1/8" free float gap. But this new project is to reproduce a 1970's Remington BDL sporter rifle that has tight in-letting that looks just like the original Remington factory rifle. It is NOT intended to be a bench-varmint shooter. I can freely slide 2 strips through the entire length of the barrel channel on my rifle, maybe 3. I just finished FIRMLY glass & pillar bedding the action, and via firing only 10-15 shots at a time I intend to keep heat down.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Squeeze that forend and barrel together and see if it touches. Itll slap on recoil

 

[carlsbad]

I used to make my stocks tight. The last one I built I opened it up to 1.5" straight contour.

 

[rsmithsr50]

simple answer is "how much money do you have ?"

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I used to make my stocks tight. The last one I built I opened it up to 1.5" straight contour.

Exactly what i do even with a lv contour. A cat could hide under my barrels but they cool fast and never touch

 

[Pawnee Bill]

simple answer is "how much money do you have ?"

There's the answer, plain & simple.

 

[Stan Taylor]

There's the answer, plain & simple.

You made a good point if you send a barreled action to me at Douglas if you're not a dealer,or law enforcement, retired military,you would have to pay retail our Barrel fitting service for a best grade Barrel in stainless is 580 plus shipping if I had to duplicate you add another $50.

 

[VaniB]

You made a good point if you send a barreled action to me at Douglas if you're not a dealer,or law enforcement, retired military,you would have to pay retail our Barrel fitting service for a best grade Barrel in stainless is 580 plus shipping if I had to duplicate you add another $50.

I don't understand; Are you saying that you would do the entire job and chamber and fit the barrel to the action too, so it's a complete job and will fit into the stock as I want it? Yea, that would be great if I sent you the whole rifle, and it's returned to me with a new barrel installed in the stock with the .009" in-letting gap exactly like the old barrel.

As I said in the first 4 sentences of my post#9, my concern is that the barrel not only has to be contoured to the same exact shape on the outside as the original barrel, but it has to be chambered, threaded, and screwed onto the action so that the radius curves of the new barrel fits into the in-letting the same as the old barrel to leave a constant .009" gap on both sides.

 

[Dub]

Stan Taylor is the one you want for this job

 

[Stan Taylor]

Yes sir you are correct that is stainless steel if you want chrome moly it would be $70 less but then you would have to get someone to blue it.
P.S. all I need is your barreled action with the bolt.

 

[DirtySteve]

Another vote for Stan Taylor.. Douglas Barrels has been around for about 70 plus years. They make some of the greatest barrels you can buy. If Stan say he can do it. Well you can bet your aZZ he can do it.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Aint none better for this job than stan