Recontouring a barrel

[MrK.]

I read in an old gunsmithing book that said it was a bad idea to recontour an existing barrel. Something about the thinning of the barrel relieving stresses in the metal inconsistantly. I was wondering if this was a bunch of malarky especially in a cut rifled Krieger. What about recontouring a fluted barrel then re-fluting it?

 

[frankgreen]

Recontouring a barrel can be a pain in the but. It's more of a problem in a button barrel in my opinion from what I learned when I was at krieger. The button barrels even though the maker usually stress relieves them after buttoning will/still possibly have some stress in it. When you turn them especially in contours like sporters, Palma's etc... where you have drastic contour changes for example....in the process if you hit a residual stress point the machining relieves the stress and when this happens the bore will open up on you. It's a hit or miss thing with a button barrel. We have recontoured barrels even fluted you do run a risk of putting a bow into it but never experienced the bore opening up in a single point cut rifled barrel. Especially when you take alot of material off and in the case of a fluted barrel the tool is going to be interrupted by the flutes. We just recontoured a heavy barrel to a palma contour and had no problems. There is always some risk. More so with a button barrel. My opinion. Frank

 

[oldjad01]

I had a Ruger 77 270 sporter bbl recontoured and put a super light stock on it to make it my mountain gun. Worked great, I never shot long strings with it so the heat wasn't a factor and I was able to work up a 130gr NoslerX bullet load that would put 3 shots around an inch at 100. But I guess it is like reboring a barrel, it may be hit and miss and your stuck with whatever happens. Buying a new bbl with the correct contour from any of the reputable manufactors gets you in the position to return a problem bbl for fixing or replacement. Depending on make, caliber and round count of the current bbl, it may have some resale value so the new bbl may not be that expensive. JimDee

 

[MrK.]

Thanks guys. The reason I am asking is because as I posted in THIS thread the gunsmith put the wrong barrel on my action. I am not sure weather he ordered the wrong one, was sent the wrong one or misunderstood what I was telling him but the bottom line is it was wrong. Another month has trickled by and I have this sneaky feeling that he is going to try and recountour the existing one rather than order a new one from Krieger. If this would void any recourse through Krieger for a poorly shooting barrel then I would hope he would not do it. I guess I should contact Kreiger?

 

[bbeyer]

I have had three barrels recontured by Hart as I quit shooting VFS and started shooting HBR. All 3 turned out well, but I would have Kreiger do the work and not the gunsmith.