I just observed my father, who is very meticulous, but by no means a professional machinist, thread and chamber a .17 Mach IV barrel to fit into a run of the mill Remington 700 action. It took him about 5 hours on his Grizzly lathe but the end result was very nice. He’s done this many times with solid results.
My question is, can this job be done as well on a manual machine as it could on a modern CNC lathe with an expert operator, although it would likely take a good bit longer? I’d like to learn these skills, but I also like high end results. My idea is to buy a premium action, barrel and chassis and create something that shoots very well. However, if there is no way to come close to what a top notch gunsmith can achieve in a modern shop, I’ll have to rethink this build.
My question is, can this job be done as well on a manual machine as it could on a modern CNC lathe with an expert operator, although it would likely take a good bit longer? I’d like to learn these skills, but I also like high end results. My idea is to buy a premium action, barrel and chassis and create something that shoots very well. However, if there is no way to come close to what a top notch gunsmith can achieve in a modern shop, I’ll have to rethink this build.