Gunsmithing Well... I finally made my first cut

[GasLight]

Now this isn't to show off work or anything close to that, it is more of a testiment to anyone who has been keeping track that I am making progress

. I just got the thing set up and wanted to give 'er a test run, so I grabbed a junker barrel and gave it a little recrown. I somehow get the feeling that this is just starting to get expensive LMAO. Looking forward to doing some project work soon though!

Dave

 

[Mgordon]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

Looks good, I personally like when you indicate on the outer diameter and then put a 45 degree cut on the edge. It gets rid of the sharp edge and looks better.... My .02

 

[GasLight]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

I agree, and if this were going on a rifle, I would chamfer the outer edge as well, it was more of a cut to make sure everything was set up

 

[BLAWTON]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

Looks like it spun a little......

 

[GasLight]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

I had it in the steady rest

 

[BLAWTON]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

haha

 

[Mgordon]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

Do you typically crown and chamber in a steady rest? Or just for this test?

 

[GasLight]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

I was just using the steady rest for this test. I will likely chamber and thread in a spider. I have been contemplating how to use the 4-jaw approach as my headstock is pretty long (29" to the front of the chuck), so it severely limits my ability to use a spider on the back end. I may end up making an extension so I can still use a spider on the rear of the spindle, but I just haven't gotten that far yet. This was my first cut on the lathe, so I have a long long long way to go. I need to assemble some tooling and practice a ton.

You have some suggestions or pointers?

Dave
Dave

 

[Revenge Seeker]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

Dave, Look at the spindle exit, see if it's threaded, if so, turn up a sleeve indicated into the spindle Via 4/6 timed allen screws, and threaded to the mentioned spindle exit.

 

[GasLight]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

Creeter, not 100% sure I understand what you are suggesting, but what my problem is, is that a standard barrel won't reach to the spindle exit where I could put a spider. If I do a short chuck like 300Sniper, I could get slightly more room, but currently it is 29" from spindle exit to chuck face...

 

[GasLight]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

Also, to clarify, what are the negatives to doing barrel work on the steady rest?

 

[BLAWTON]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

Unless you dont have much length on the bed there isnt really any other then being a pain. One thing you could do is make a adapter that goes into the spindle and make inserts for it for different muzzle sizes.

 

[GasLight]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

if you just have an insert for the spindle, how would you indicate and make sure the bore is indicated right?

You could indicate the face of the bore with the 4-jaw, but the run out would be difficult if not impossible that way, unless the chamber area of the bore runs perpendicular to the jaws

DD

 

[BLAWTON]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

Using that insert will make sure you are within about .002 almost all the time at the muzzle. It would be decrease as you went down the barrel toward the 4 jaw or spider.

 

[GasLight]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

if the bore wanders enough, couldn't the .002" get worse as it gets to the breach end?

 

[BLAWTON]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

Thats what the 4 jaw is for... Most barrels arnt that close on runout anyways when they get drilled.

 

[GasLight]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

Maybe it is close enough, I don't know. I can't make it seem to make sense in my head, because I think you if could only make adjustments at one end of the barrel, or at one point on the barrel you can only indicate either the bore directly at the breach or the run-out...

 

[BLAWTON]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

Thats why you use a piloted reamer....

 

[Hateca]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: DebosDave ©</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Maybe it is close enough, I don't know. I can't make it seem to make sense in my head, because I think you if could only make adjustments at one end of the barrel, or at one point on the barrel you can only indicate either the bore directly at the breach or the run-out... </div></div>

If you can't adjust both ends of the barrel to dial out run-out on the end you're working on you're spitting into the wind.

You can chamber a barrel with a steady rest but there are several machine steps to prep the barrel before you even begin to cut the chamber to help minimize run-out. It's a PITA and most will use a spider to chamber for that reason. I've done it both ways and I feel, and found, using a spider is more accurate then with the steady rest, but that's just me, some are still comfortable doing it with the steady rest. Practice and more practice and having the opportunity to do it both ways will convince you which way is best for you.

 

[BLAWTON]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

Most barrels will have more runout going down the barrel then you can adjust out of the muzzle.

If you are spending the time to get the muzzle dead nuts then you are wasting time. It only needs to be within a thou or two and the pilot will do the rest of the work itself.

 

[Hateca]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

One can get the bore at the muzzle or the breach dead nuts, or dang near, for about 4 inches with the right tools whether or not one is working on the breach or muzzle and that's all that's needed, or wanted for accuracy and for a chambers cut with no run-out.

The pilot on a reamer, a floating reamer holder, or a pusher does not remove run-out. If one chambers using a spider one only adjust run-out on the end one is working on, whether that's the muzzle or breach end, one could care less what the end sticking out the spider is doing.

There are ways to prep the barrel when using a steady rest but it's a PITA to do and is not as accurate as using a spider.

 

[x ring accuracy]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

Lots of good info here. My suggestion is to get "The Complete illustarted guide to precision rifle barrel fitting" by John Hinnant. Some may not agree with all the things he says, myself included, but for the most part good info and good reading and lots of insight. YMMV

 

[mavrick10_2000]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

Dave,

Glad to see you finally got the lathe juiced up!

 

[Bryan27]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

Congrats! Looks like you're making progress. I just sold my lathe a few months ago, it was way too big for my garage and it had to go. It was a Monarch 16CY 18.5x54, I don't remember what the measurement was chuck thru the spindle but it was probably in the 30" range. I had a steady rest but had no intention of using it for chamber/crown work, just my opinion but it seems like working with a spider would take a lot of variable out of the process and maybe more accurate work. The problem was that I couldn't figure out how I'd accomplish this with less than a three foot long barrel. Then I ran across a little gem of information on this forum when reading over 300Sniper's compact 308 thread. After reading several of his threads and seeing the machine work he does I'm always impressed with his common sense if not obvious solutions to accomplishing the machining task. He is a much more talented machinist than he gives himself credit for, imo. The problem was that with an 18" barrel his headstock was too long to work with the spider so he took a peice of scrap and internally threaded it to screw onto the chamber end of the barrel as a type of barrel extention. In your case you could make 2 barrel extentions, one for the chamber end and one for the muzzle end.....threaded appropriatly. Let's say you start with a 28" blank that you want to finish at 22"s. The way I would do it would be to start with the blank chucked in a 3 jaw with the quill of the tailstock in the muzzle bore, then I'd thread it for about 3/4-1" to match the muzzle end barrel extention. Screw on extention and now your barrel is as long as you need it to be! Then I'd chuck the barrel with extention up in the 4 or 6 jaw, center up the muzzle end in the spider and dial in the chamber end for all the chambering and threading work. After I finished the chamber end of the barrel I'd attach the barrel extention to the chamber end of the barrel, flip it around, part off the excess and crown the muzzle end.

Check out 300Snipers post on 10/11/2009 http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1354594&nt=3&page=1 on this thread for some pictures and a better explaination.

 

[Keith Johns]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

Here's the first one I ever cut. I tried cutting, crowning, and threading all in my first go.

Cant tell in the picture anyways, but I didn't stone the crown. That barrel was just a throw away I decided to learn on.

Fun stuff

 

[BLAWTON]

Re: Well... I finally made my first cut

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: HateCA</div><div class="ubbcode-body">One can get the bore at the muzzle or the breach dead nuts, or dang near, for about 4 inches with the right tools whether or not one is working on the breach or muzzle and that's all that's needed, or wanted for accuracy and for a chambers cut with no run-out.

The pilot on a reamer, a floating reamer holder, or a pusher does not remove run-out. If one chambers using a spider one only adjust run-out on the end one is working on, whether that's the muzzle or breach end, one could care less what the end sticking out the spider is doing.

There are ways to prep the barrel when using a steady rest but it's a PITA to do and is not as accurate as using a spider.
</div></div>

I agree. But what i was trying to say was most barrels are not drilled straight enough to warrant a critical center adjustment at the muzzle when chambering.