Muzzle threading on short barrels

[DaveTooley]

Or slip a mandrel into the receiver and drive it that way while running the barrel in the steady. WH

Yep cap screw into the mandrel in the bolt notch.

 

[DaveTooley]

Steady rest always ruins the finish on the barrel especially a blued one.

I'm not in the shop to take pictures but I'll describe what I do. I have a series of metal sleeves, Aluminum and steel, that fit over the barrel. The trick is to wrap the barrel with a triangular piece of paper, offering a taper for the bushing to slide over. Twist on the bushing, tap with a mallet to snug it up, turn true between centers. Run the trued sleeve in the steady rest. Do the work and tap off. No marring.

 

[WSnyder]

Or slip a mandrel into the receiver and drive it that way while running the barrel in the steady. WH

That's what I said I do And yes as Tooley said a capscrew to drive it. Easy peasy

 

[WSnyder]

Steady rest always ruins the finish on the barrel especially a blued one.

There's ways around that. I've done it many times.

You can sleeve it as Dave does or you can do it with a center in the bore. Run a piloted center reamer in to establish a good 60˚ center. I use a small tip low profile CNC live center. Once you cut and thread the tenon (leave it a touch long) you switch over to the steady directly on the threads and then finish the crown and tenon to length. Lots of ways to do it.

 

[Walt Krafft]

The outside of the muzzle is rarely concentric to the bore so a steady rest can have concentricity issues. I have a set of false centers for each bore size. After installing a bushing like Dave describes, I can turn the bushing concentric, then use the steady rest. All this work adds cost a lot of people dont want to pay for. They cant get the juice without the squeeze.

 

[WSnyder]

Yep, if it won't fit in the headstock there's an up-charge for short barrel muzzle work

 

[tobnpr]

Yup. Tapered sleeve is the only way to get the bore concentric to the OD.
Little trick (for me, anyway) is that I'll drill/straight bore to a little over the barrel OD, put release agent-just like bedding- on the barrel to just behind where the tenon will be, put epoxy inside the sleeve, slide it down and let it set up.
For me, faster than measuring and cutting a taper inside.

 

[clowdis]

You can strip the receiver and chuck that in the 4 jaw. Indicate about the barrel shank with the muzzle running in a live center of the tail stock. Then just thread as normal. Don't push the live center in too hard or you may create a burr on the rifling.

 

[LVLAaron]

What walt said is important. I'm pretty picky about making sure suppressors are aligned correctly. I wont debate methods... just make sure you check the alignment of the suppressor. I'm scared of a lot of problems I might cause... Damaging a suppressor is top of my list.

 

[ELR LVR]

I am interested in seeing how you guys are setting up these short barreled rifles for threading the muzzle and keeping the bore aligned for suppressor use. I am getting more and more people wanting these 20" and shorter barrels. Currently, the distance from my outboard spider to the face of my spider chuck is 20". If I can get the barrel off I just set it up in the Viper rest and get it done as I normally would no big deal. The problem I am having is I just had a guy bring in a Howa 1500 that has a factory 20" sporter barrel on it. Try as I might I can't get that damn barrel off so I am interested in seeing how others would handle this project or if you would just tell the guy he is out of luck.

4 jaw and a steady rest or 4 Jaw and a Live Center
Chuck the Action in the 4 Jaw with Brass or copper Shims
you can steel wool any brass marks off afterward
steel wool does not affect bluing (unless you get agressive for a half hour)

 

[ELR LVR]

You can strip the receiver and chuck that in the 4 jaw. Indicate about the barrel shank with the muzzle running in a live center of the tail stock. Then just thread as normal. Don't push the live center in too hard or you may create a burr on the rifling.

This is very true, a burr is easily formed from the live center
once I thread in the live center
I usually then steady rest on the threaded portion, and recut a nice fresh crown which eliminates any possible burr after freshening up the crown

 

[Carl S]

Most of the time I remove the action.if not I cylindrical grind a mandrel if I haven't got one that fits.if you don't want to run a steady rest on the barrel od.because of marking it up.you can turn a fitted pin of your material choice with a shoulder and a center drilled in it.slide it into the muzzle and run a live centre in it.then cut your required thread.if you want to recrown the muzzle screw a cap on your thread and take a truing cut.set your steady rest on the cap and recrown.

 

[WSnyder]

I forget that I keep these in the drawer for another option:

Crown Savers

With crown savers you never have to recrown the barrel when installing muzzle brakes or doing any job requiring a center in the end of the barrel crown. The price is 10 crown savers for $28.95 You will receive a package of 10 crown savers for each order.

newlonprecision.com

You can reuse them on the next smaller or larger size bore so more than one use.

 

[Sniperhandle]

I forget that I keep these in the drawer for another option:

Crown Savers

With crown savers you never have to recrown the barrel when installing muzzle brakes or doing any job requiring a center in the end of the barrel crown. The price is 10 crown savers for $28.95 You will receive a package of 10 crown savers for each order.

newlonprecision.com

You can reuse them on the next smaller or larger size bore so more than one use.

I have been using these for a long time, Good product.

 

[Fuj]

I'm not in the shop to take pictures but I'll describe what I do. I have a series of metal sleeves, Aluminum and steel, that fit over the barrel. The trick is to wrap the barrel with a triangular piece of paper, offering a taper for the bushing to slide over. Twist on the bushing, tap with a mallet to snug it up, turn true between centers. Run the trued sleeve in the steady rest. Do the work and tap off. No marring.

Dave......I've done em' over the years using brass if it was handy. I have one that
I used a thick Delrin rod pressed into a 4130 tube.

 

[tobnpr]

I have been using these for a long time, Good product.

Great for "just" muzzle threading where it doesn't need crowning, much faster than through the headstock or steady. The only caveat I've encountered is that if there are sharp edges at the ends of the lands that can bite into the brass, the crown saver can end up slightly cocked if you're not careful. I always use a piloted 60 degree cutter on all crowns to just break the edges and that will mate perfectly with the 60 degree crown saver

 

[DaveTooley]

I also have piloted brass buttons, caliber specific, that I use. Many ways to get the job done.

 

[Dave in WI]

Manson has these

Muzzle Centering Plug