Did you just tell Terry what you're building? I'd be kinda surprised if he didn't just know what to do, if told the contour?
-Nate
When Siscoe308 submitted the Work Order request, the barrel contour was only listed as Heavy Palma. This prompted me to advise him that the straight cylinder length dimension would be needed before I sent a P.O. to McM for the raw stock body. I would have likely asked for it even if the initial inquiry said Krieger.
#1: The straight cylinder section of all the Palma contours vary a GREAT deal from different barrel makers.
For instance, Shilen Palma contours can run 2" to 2.5".
Kriegers usually default to 2.5" unless specified otherwise like I do*.
Bartlein defaults to 3.00"
Lilja defaults their own Palma contours between 3.0" and 5.0" of straight cylinder.
#2: I have seen some shops cut a pretty good chunk of the breech end off before machining and chambering while others skim just enough off to remove the stamping on the end.
McMillan requires a pretty accurate number for that dimension before they allow it onto the inlet fixture. That is the only way to keep the clearance lines uniform and avoid huge gaps or conflicts between the channel and the finished barrel.
I keep over a 100 Krieger blanks in my shop at any one time. 95% are Heavy Palma contour of different caliber and twist specs. 100% of mine have 3" straight cylinder sections. If someone were to get one of mine and install it with a stock supplier assuming a 2.5" length, the completed barreled action would not even fit into the stock because the fist taper corner would hit first.
I am not real smart and I know that. Accordingly it is not a good idea for me to guess or assume a dimensional value on a customer's order when I am not in control of any other processes. This or any other comparable stock is a fair amount of money to invest. The finished project is 2 or 3 times more than that. Getting as much right on the front end as possible only makes sense.
When so many shooters are getting parts and components from different sources, the devil is in the details. This is exactly how a lot of the do-it-yourself projects end up being posted back into these forums because something doesn't fit right, the channel is touching or is uneven. (I know Siscoe knows better but a lot of others out there never think twice about it.)
Siscoe, whoever is installing your barrel should have been able to give you an exact number value for that dimension right off the bat.
I wanted to explain the way I do things and why.
