Could you re-machine a barrel that has been shot-out?

[UpSideDown]

If the primary form of wear in a barrel is throat erosion, would it be feasible to cut the threads off the back of a barrel, cut a new shoulder and threads, and cut a new chamber deeper in the barrel to refresh it? You would need the outer diameter of the barrel around the chamber to be long enough to recut, and you would not have a brand new barrel, but is this a reasonable assumption? If the throat is by far the fastest means of failure, this would be cutting out the throat and creating a new one.

Not that barrel blanks are necessarily expensive but this would be a pretty notable cost savings if all you're looking at is limited machine work & chambering on one end of the barrel, correct?

 

[Kadams1563]

If you have access to a lathe and or getting it done for cheap you usually can set a barrel back once or twice but when you do it’s not gonna last the same amount of rounds as it did before. Maybe half of the original amount. It does add some life back into the barrel though.

if your gonna a have to pay full price for a chamber job then just go ahead and replace the barrel.

I don’t think you save any money if you have to pay for the machine work though really.

 

[jcmullis2]

Yes you can but I don’t know if the accuracy will be any better. Buy a new barrel without a taper and give it a shot

 

[Dthomas3523]

This is called a “set back” and has been around a long time.

There are differing opinions on the value of it.

 

[jcmullis2]

Set back is a good name for it. It only sets you back the price of the labor. Darn sure worth trying

 

[vinniedelpino]

IMO, If you're paying someone to do it you'd have to cut it down a good bit to make it worth your while. If you're starting with a 30" barrel, give it a shot. If the barrel was on the shorter side to begin with I'd skip it.

 

[Ledzep]

It's usually about 6-8" worth of the breech end of rifling that gets cooked when a barrel let's go. Setting it back 2" only marginally recovers useful life. Most of the time not worth the effort.

 

[spife7980]

Set back is a good name for it. It only sets you back the price of the labor. Darn sure worth trying

Only sets you back the entire cost of the labor for a 30% increase. Better off just using that labor on a new tube for 100%

if you can do it yourself or for cheap then go for it, but when it’s 300 bucks to do so I’d rather spend marginally more for a new barrel.

 

[GrumpyOleFart]

Unless you have a sentimental attachment to that barrel, better off getting a new one.

 

[Supersubes]

I can do the work myself, and the only time I did it was when I was learning. I wouldn’t bother now.

 

[just browsing]

Have done it a couple times with 6 Creed barrels on competition rifles. It works well - you won’t notice any difference in accuracy - but as mentioned, it will only have about 1/2 the life of a new barrel. Not really worth it unless you have free or heavily discounted labor at your disposal.

 

[AMMOWASTER]

Think Short Action Customs used to do it as part of a upgrade package on a factory Remington heavy barrel gun. As mentioned unless you are doing it yourself it will usually cost a good chunk of what a new barrel would be.