Making rifle barrels?

[DL]

Many years ago I worked my way through college in a machine shop, operating presses, lathes, etc. whenever I could. I see ads for barrel blanks in some of the catalogs I get, and that's got me wondering what goes into making a rifle barrel, and of course, what it would take to dust off some of those old skills and give it a try.

Can anyone describe the process? What kind of $$$ investment am I looking at for tools? Is it possible to learn to do it from published materials, or do I need to fork over more $$$ to get an old pro to show me the ropes? (Might do that one anyway.)

I'm not looking for a complete gunsmithing course or setup, just interested in learning enough to make and install a barrel on a rifle.

Thanks...

DL

 

[Tshoes]

Grasshopper...........a bold idea, and proposal...but.....

Forget making your own barrel............
The blanks you see, are rifled.....
You cannot afford, or would even want to afford a machine to cut rifle, or button rifle a barrel.
(Based on your statements).
Now, for the fun part, you could very easily get a gunsmith special barrel.....usually short chambered around .010 short, and you could easily get some old hand to show you how, and maybe even use his equip.....for a price!!!!!!

 

[bergie]

several methods

The 2 that are currently most common are I think button rifling and hammer forging. These 2 methods impress the rifling into the barrel using a great deal of force. For an explanation of these two methods by a master who unfortunately is no longer with us, the highly respected Gale MacMillan, do a search using barrel making as the keywords and his name, in the Art of the Rifle forum. I believe that there are a few companies that still actually cut rifling in their barrels, but these two methods have taken over.
bergie

Tshoes, I would like to be able to afford the machinery

 

[Spatula]

Hammer forged barrel....

is the easiest once everything is in production. Even the chamber can be done at the same time of rifling! Unfortunately hammer forging is properly the most expensive way to make a small quantity of barrels. Only a few large cooperates can afford those machines. i.e. Ruger, Remington. The machinery and mandrel are very costly. Bottom rifling comes second. Cut rifle is about the same but offer better flexibility.
I haven't heard of any EDM'ed rifle barrels (many pistol barrels are made this way nowadays). Can't give you much info on that.
Unless you want to make a living out of producing and selling barrels, it ain't worth making one yourself no matter which method you choose.
Lijia has very good tech info on his website and he does make great barrels.

 

[4V50 Gary]

Contact the NMLRA (National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association). Ask to buy this month's and last month's copy of their magazine, Muzzle Blasts! Both discuss the rifling of a barrel blank with the last month issue discussing a rifling machine.

If you can get a copy of Ned Robert's book, The Muzzle Loading Cap Lock Rifle, Roberts has an excellant description of how to use the rifling machine and setting up the twist. Conceptually, it's not hard to understand at all.

Closed and continued at the Smithy Forum.

[Edited by 4V50 Gary on 02-22-2001 at 09:36 PM]