Gunsmithing cutting, crowning and fluting

[Biscuit]

Have a Rem 700 factory 243 varmint barrel, 24"

My best friend has a shop with good mill and lathe etc

I want a 20" barrel, recessed target crown and maybe 5-6 flutes.

Should we attempt this ourselves or is it cheap enough to pay a smith to do? I have a bad case of the poor right now so funds are tight as can be.

Is there a handy guide on how to do these things?

 

[STR]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

It's a fairly simple job, but you will need the tools to dial in the bore. You can try it; worst case if it doesn't turn out correct, you can send it to a smith, and he can fix it. Don't know your specific use for this rifle, but I wouldn't cut that .243s barrel to 20 inches. Good luck.

 

[x ring accuracy]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

Like STR said....worst case scenario you make a mistake and need a premium barrel replacement. Try it and have fun. If you want some factory take offs to practice on first I will ship them to you for shipping costs only. Let me know

 

[x ring accuracy]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

Follow up, no instructions that I know of for " how to do it" online.

 

[Biscuit]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

What is the shortest you'd go on a 243 barrel? I want it for targets, varmints and hunting deer and antelope. I was hoping for something a little compact and lighter than what it is.



X ring I sent you a PM, thanks for the offer.

 

[colchester]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

Cut and crown using sound practices and you wont hurt anything. There is quite a bit of info out there on how to do it. I wouldnt try to flute it unless I didnt care how it shot when I was done. I would think there is potential to harm the accuracy with little benefit. I would say the machining process to do the fluting is a bit more involved than the cut and crown, and Ive never found much in the line of how to's for fluting. As mentioned above this would be a good candidate if you dont care if it goes south.

 

[MikeeBooshay]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

What problems with the gun are you trying to fix? Or is this an exercise in " I wanna try this "? that's OK too, but having a goal, BEFORE you start cutting chips is a pretty good idea.

If you gotta bad case of poor, I wouldn't touch it, I'd save the money for more ammo. By shortening the barrel, it won't improve the ballistics, might foul up the barrel by fluting it, and you probably have a good crown if the rifle is shooting OK now. So, you'll have a rifle that shoots like crap, and no money to buy a new barrel ( $350 ), no money to chamber and crown it ( $200-$500). You can sure shoot a lot of ammo for $800 bucks, and be a better marksman in the process.

Learning on your only "best gun", is a sure fire path to ... no gun.

 

[Biscuit]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

Thanks for all the great advice.

To clarify, I have a Rem 722 action that was near free, and this factory rem varmint barrel that I bought here for $65 shipped. Barrel is 24" with factory blue, some scratches. I want to use what I have to build a shorter/lighter/handier rifle that is also decently accurate. I have barrel vise and action wrench, my friend is an engineer with decent brain and tons of equip in his home shop.

This is not a rifle I will ever use for anything farther than 600 yds, mostly use it to pop squirrels, prairie dogs, pigs deer and antelope. It will be carried around the woods so length and weight matters to me a little. It will be my first "build" if you can call it that. Though the barrel was only $65 I cannot afford to ruin it.

If it did not cost much I would send it to someone else to do it for me.

 

[ugsly]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

Cutting and crowing shouldn't be an issue with the right tools. Do you have a go-gauge to check the head space when you put that barrel on? Keep in mind you may have to set the chamber back a tad, and then cut the muzzle end to the final length you would like.

Kc

 

[Biscuit]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ugsly</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Cutting and crowing shouldn't be an issue with the right tools. Do you have a go-gauge to check the head space when you put that barrel on? Keep in mind you may have to set the chamber back a tad, and then cut the muzzle end to the final length you would like.

Kc </div></div>

I had planned on getting a gauge, just hard to buy it if only to be used once.

 

[ugsly]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

If you have to set the chamber back you will need a reamer also. At the price of a reamer and go-gauge you can have a smith do it. Once you have all that stuff, you can always use it to put another barrel on. Just the initial investment that stinks.

Kc

 

[JGilesEastTx]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

Smith....Don't kill yourself

 

[Arkast]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

I want to cut my 26" barrel to 24" and recrown but I am scared to try it on my only barrel, might go out and find another to try it out first.

 

[LRI]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

IF. . .:

. . .your going to use a 90* crown you don't have to indicate anything. Square is square whether it has .00000001" runout or half an inch.


. . . you want an 11* crown, then you will need to center up the bore. Indicate where you want your muzzle to finish and have at it. If your using a parting tool to chop the barrel, be sure to use flood coolant. Heat is your enemy and parting tools tend to create a fair amount.

Good luck and hope this helps!

C.


PS:

You don't need a spare barrel to practice with. Any round piece of stock will work fine. Just turn, face, and drill a hole in it.

Take it out of the machine, put it back in, and set it up as if it was a barrel. The tools don't care if there's "wrinkles" in the bore.

Crowning isn't rocket science. Use sharp tools, keep the heat at bay, and you'll be fine.

Chambering well does take a pinch more work. If your uncomfortable with tackling it just yet, you might consider sending it off to someone else.

 

[p8nt]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

Whenever I crown a barrel I do the 11 degree or whatever first and then I cut a 45 just beyond where the grooves bottom out.
Here I look closely with a loupe for any burrs and just for cheap insureance I use a q-tip and run it in and out. If there is a burr then some fuzz will remain.

Fluting is an entirely different ball game, I disagree with the argument that it will deplete your accuracy, unless of course you get very close to the bore of the barrel thus relieving stresses in the material. I have a jig plate of sorts that I set up a dividing head and center on to throw my barrels to the appropriate angle. I pick a start point and ending point and use a circular cutter so that my flutes look good. Don't use a ball nose endmill because it looks really crappy. To figure out the angle I want to throw my workpiece I take the diameter of the start and end points and figure out however many flutes I want.
Now I figure the size of the flutes so that the flute width and uncut portion are the same. By doing this to both the begining and end I can establish where to throw the fixture.

 

[300sniper]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Big E</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Don't use a ball nose endmill because it looks really crappy. </div></div>

yeah, these flutes look like absolute crap.

 

[p8nt]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

If you have a CNC setup with a controlled Z I suppose you can have a lead in and out. The flood coolant helps as well. I'm not trying to get in a pissing match with anyone or hurt anyone's feelings but the circular cutter is more efficient and leaves less to clean up when you polish. Again if that is your prefered method, more power to you.

 

[300sniper]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

that's right out of the machine. nothing to polish.

 

[p8nt]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

It looks very nice. The first barrel I did was with a ballnose endmill. It was done manually with a good 2 flute inserted endmill with coolant and still left me a lot of polish work. The proceedure I use now leaves me with very little work after the fact, done much faster.

 

[jacq220]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Big E</div><div class="ubbcode-body">It looks very nice. The first barrel I did was with a ballnose endmill. It was done manually with a good 2 flute inserted endmill with coolant and still left me a lot of polish work. The proceedure I use now leaves me with very little work after the fact, done much faster. </div></div>

what is the procedure you use now?

 

[p8nt]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

I have a jig plate of sorts that I set up a dividing head and center on to throw my barrels to the appropriate angle. I pick a start point and ending point and use a circular cutter so that my flutes look good. To figure out the angle I want to throw my workpiece I take the diameter of the start and end points and figure out however many flutes I want.
Now I figure the size of the flutes so that the flute width and uncut portion are the same. By doing this to both the begining and end I can establish where to throw the fixture.

 

[p8nt]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

With the circular cutter I plunge the cutter into the barrel to it's full depth, set the feed to around 1.5 inches per minute with a coolant mist and let it rip. I have a conventional cut pushing the barrel back towards the dividing head.

 

[garyaug]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

tag

 

[x ring accuracy]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 300sniper</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Big E</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Don't use a ball nose endmill because it looks really crappy. </div></div>

yeah, these flutes look like absolute crap.

</div></div>
That is just horrendous! How dare you post of such ugly things on a public forum. HA! Well done!

 

[300sniper]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

the ball mill isn't the problem. the way it is used could be though.

 

[STR]

Re: cutting, crowning and fluting

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 300sniper</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Big E</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Don't use a ball nose endmill because it looks really crappy. </div></div>

yeah, these flutes look like absolute crap.

</div></div>


Boy, I wish we lived closer to one another. On second thought, that might be dangerous. Great looking work!!!!