This is a two part post- one part I'm a lazy bastard who did a half-assed job in the first place and one part Chad Dixon's tolerances are unreal. I wasn't sure which forum this really belonged in since it's not exactly a gunsmithing question, but since it relates to precision 'smithing, I thought this fit best.
I recently bought a second Barnard Model P to cut down on the number of barrel switches I've been doing. Since my first Model P was not blue printed (I'm pretty comfortable with Barnard's precision in the first place), I figured it would be no problem to fit one of my existing barrels to it. One of them being a .260AI barrel that I recently had chambered by Chad Dixon at LongRifles.
When the action arrived, it was covered cosmoline (or whatever Barnard uses to protect a new action) and I sort of half-assed the job of cleaning it cause I was in a bit of a hurry. I thought I did a pretty good job of cleaning the threads though. I attempted to fit it to the barrel Chad chambered for me- uh, no go. About 6 turns and it started to tighten up and drag a little and there was no way I was going to force it. I tried it on a different barrel (chambered by another smith before I had Chad chamber my .260AI), and it went on fairly easily with no issues. The bolt ran a bit rough though and it just wasn't cycling smoothly. I thought about it a bit and it bugged me that I couldn't fit it to both barrels and that it wouldn't cycle smoothly. This morning, I sat down with a bucket of hot, soapy water, stripped the action, and really scrubbed the crap out of it. Every single bit of cosmoline was stripped off. Oiled it up, and figured I would give it a try on the .260AI again. This time, ran on smoothly, just as it should have the first time had I bothered to do the job right the first time. Checked the head space with a go gauge + tape (.002) and it was dead on. Bolt drops cleanly on the go gauge and stops dead with the go gauge + tape (.002").
Both barrels shoot well so this is not a knock on the barrel that was chambered by the other smith. I've cleaned a few targets with that barrel. But as this instance clearly demonstrates, there's precision and tight tolerances and then there is *precision and tight tolerances* as demonstrated by the guys at LongRifles. I'm a numbers nut so this sort of thing hits me right in the OCD.
Also, note to future self, don't half-ass a job that should have been done right the first time.
I recently bought a second Barnard Model P to cut down on the number of barrel switches I've been doing. Since my first Model P was not blue printed (I'm pretty comfortable with Barnard's precision in the first place), I figured it would be no problem to fit one of my existing barrels to it. One of them being a .260AI barrel that I recently had chambered by Chad Dixon at LongRifles.
When the action arrived, it was covered cosmoline (or whatever Barnard uses to protect a new action) and I sort of half-assed the job of cleaning it cause I was in a bit of a hurry. I thought I did a pretty good job of cleaning the threads though. I attempted to fit it to the barrel Chad chambered for me- uh, no go. About 6 turns and it started to tighten up and drag a little and there was no way I was going to force it. I tried it on a different barrel (chambered by another smith before I had Chad chamber my .260AI), and it went on fairly easily with no issues. The bolt ran a bit rough though and it just wasn't cycling smoothly. I thought about it a bit and it bugged me that I couldn't fit it to both barrels and that it wouldn't cycle smoothly. This morning, I sat down with a bucket of hot, soapy water, stripped the action, and really scrubbed the crap out of it. Every single bit of cosmoline was stripped off. Oiled it up, and figured I would give it a try on the .260AI again. This time, ran on smoothly, just as it should have the first time had I bothered to do the job right the first time. Checked the head space with a go gauge + tape (.002) and it was dead on. Bolt drops cleanly on the go gauge and stops dead with the go gauge + tape (.002").
Both barrels shoot well so this is not a knock on the barrel that was chambered by the other smith. I've cleaned a few targets with that barrel. But as this instance clearly demonstrates, there's precision and tight tolerances and then there is *precision and tight tolerances* as demonstrated by the guys at LongRifles. I'm a numbers nut so this sort of thing hits me right in the OCD.
Also, note to future self, don't half-ass a job that should have been done right the first time.
