First rebarreling attempt

[Ernest]

Hello looking for advice from the experienced.

I have no idea why but I have always wanted to be able to barrel a rifle. Just one of those bucket list things I suppose. Over the years I have acquired all the stuff lathe, indicators, etc. I have taught myself basic turning threading etc. and have watched video's to no end. Now with great trepidation I want to try to barrel a rifle. I have donor actions 1. commercial Mauser 98 ,2. old Ruger 77 and a already trued rem 700.

My interest is not in ultra precision. I would like to barrel either the Mauser 1st choice, or Ruger 2nd choice but I have been told the 700 is the easiest to have a successful out come for a first timer.

Which action should I start with??
Thanks in advance for your input.

[Tracy]

The easy way is a short-chambered, pre-threaded Mauser barrel. I've done a few of those.

[LAGS]

I vote for you trying to do a Mauser 98 action as your first project with a Pre Threaded Short Chambered barrel.
That is what most Gunsmithing schools start with to teach their students the basics.
Probably because they use to be plentyful and Cheap.
But you can find plenty of old Mausers that have been butchered up or need serious rebuilding or even Restoration to semi original styling.
They make fine doner actions.
Good luck on your project.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Tracy is absolutely, 100% correct-- no argument here. But, I do understand where you're coming from. It sounds like you've done a lot of preparation, both in acquiring tools, and by virtue of that fact in studying technique. Like many subjects, this can be very big with lots of information transmitted, but why do that when a fellow named Jack Mitchell wrote it all down in great detail with plenty of photographs in a Gun Digest softback book named (oddly enough!) "Riflesmithing." I think it's out of print, but a copy can usually be found on e-bay. I had 3 copies, 2 of which I used to loan out, and eventually neither came back. I haven't looked at the book for quite awhile, but I'm pretty sure that the rifle he uses for an example in the book is a Mauser. In any event, that is the one that I would start with. Read the book, and as you go along ask any specific questions you may have and there will be plenty of advice and knowhow coming your way. Good luck with your project.

[HollowPoint]

Are you rebarreling from scratch with a barrel blank or are you installing a complete or nearly complete pre-turned and threaded barrel?

Either way I just wanted to say that it may seem daunting at first, but then you realize it's not as complicated as reading about how to do it leads one to believe. The first rifle I rebarreled was a Lee Enfield No.4 Mk1. I did it on what one might call a cheap Chinese 9x19 Grizzly hobby lathe. I read as much as I could about it and I watched countless videos on the subject until I had convinced myself that I could do it too. I was like the "Little Train That Could." I was like, "I think I can, I think I can"; then, "I know I can, I know I can" then, I did it.

I was pleasantly surprised that it turned out the way it did. There are things I learned from that project now that I wished I'd known at the time I was doing it but still, all in all it turned out well. The rifle in question tuned out to be more accurate than it had been just before it had blown up in my face. I survived, the action survived and that's when I decided to rebarrel it. I've done five others since then and with each one I learned a bit more about the process. I know you can do it too.

I look forward to hearing your results.

HollowPoint

[country gent]

Before attempting the rebarrel, Practice turning and threading on the lathe. Turn a few threads to get used to it and know what to exepect.

[Moleman-]

You'll do fine. Don't look at the project as a whole, think of it as several steps and work your way through each one. Measuring your action and making a test barrel tenon as suggested is always good practice.

[GBertolet]

I rebarreled a Ruger #3 from 22 Hornet to .357 magnum. It was my first rebarreling attempt. I was gifted a 35 cal Douglas 1-14 barrel blank. I had to do everything from scratch. My headstock would not accept the 1.250 barrel, so all work was done on centers. Threading and getting the shoulder right is critical. Some prefer using centers, but mine was done out of necessity. Lot's of apprehension along the way, but the end result was worth it. When your project is completed, and your gun shoots and looks great, you will be pleased also.

I had two detailed posts this summer on the CBA forum, on rebarreling this Ruger, and another on rebarreling a 788 Rem 30-30 set up for cast bullets. Both done from scratch. If there is any interest, I can repost them over here.

[Ernest]

I don't post much on the internet or spend that much time on it but I have to say this site is just the most friendly and helpful site out there. Not only that but the amount of experience and knowledge here is amazing.
Thank you for your replies. I am just going to jump in and try to do this.
I have done several turning and threading projects and think I have that down pretty well.
I will be doing from scratch with a .411 barrel for the 400 Whelen. I have the reamer already. I'm still working so it will take time but I will keep every one posted.

[LAGS]

A word of caution.
The caliber you selected , The 400 Whelen , can be a little tricky when you set the headspacing.
The shoulder on the cartridge is really narrow and is in some cases able to let the casing form or push the shoulder back if the rifle if the cartridge is forced forward in not a true Controlled Feed action like the Mauser 98 .
That will leave that cartridge casing just before firing , with too loose of headspace because of the shoulder being pushed back.
Please do some reading up on the cartridge so you know any issues that you may come up against.
Just my opinion, But this would not have been the Cartridge I would have chosen for my First Re Barreling from Scratch.

[John Taylor]

The Mauser need a lot more work to make a good rifle , bolt bend or replace, drill and tap for scope and a new safety. The other two choices don't need the extras. Also the Mauser may need the mag box lengthened depending on what it is going to be chambered in. At one time Mauser were so low priced it was easy to build a hunting rifle without spending a lot of money but now you may have more into it than you would pay for a new Remington. I still get quite a few Mausers come into the shop. I had two last month that I refused to do because of bolt set back in the frame. Out of the three mentioned the Ruger would be the easiest. The Remington has the extra cut to clear the bolt and the Mauser butts up on the inside of the frame and has to have a relief cut for the threads.

[swheeler]

The Mauser need a lot more work to make a good rifle , bolt bend or replace, drill and tap for scope and a new safety. The other two choices don't need the extras. Also the Mauser may need the mag box lengthened depending on what it is going to be chambered in. At one time Mauser were so low priced it was easy to build a hunting rifle without spending a lot of money but now you may have more into it than you would pay for a new Remington. I still get quite a few Mausers come into the shop. I had two last month that I refused to do because of bolt set back in the frame. Out of the three mentioned the Ruger would be the easiest. The Remington has the extra cut to clear the bolt and the Mauser butts up on the inside of the frame and has to have a relief cut for the threads.

John he says COMMERICAL MAUSER

[Bent Ramrod]

The only Mauser I rebarreled was a Siamese Mauser. If the other ones are like mine internally, there is one shoulder on the barrel that contacts the end of the receiver and another ahead of the barrel threads that abuts the shoulder of a “socket” inside the receiver.

My barrel blank lost a few inches as I did the job over a couple times in order to make both of these abutments fit at the same time. Later I found a gunsmithing book that said tightening against the inner abutment wasn’t necessary, but I wanted to to it the way I did it anyway.

In any case, I would recommend one of your actions that needs only one shoulder on the barrel to contact the receiver for your first try. I’m not sure, but I think Remington 700s are like this. Go over and over the threads until the last bit is cut out, rather than getting impatient and dialing in another thousandth. You want a sort of “hydraulic” feel when you screw the barrel in by hand, until the last quarter-turn, which needs the action wrench to tighten. You don’t want it to screw together like a nut and bolt from Lowe’s.

Make sure you have all the stuff out of your bolt (firing mechanism, extractor, etc.) when you set the headspace.

[Texas by God]

I rebarreled a Ruger #3 from 22 Hornet to .357 magnum. It was my first rebarreling attempt. I was gifted a 35 cal Douglas 1-14 barrel blank. I had to do everything from scratch. My headstock would not accept the 1.250 barrel, so all work was done on centers. Threading and getting the shoulder right is critical. Some prefer using centers, but mine was done out of necessity. Lot's of apprehension along the way, but the end result was worth it. When your project is completed, and your gun shoots and looks great, you will be pleased also.

I had two detailed posts this summer on the CBA forum, on rebarreling this Ruger, and another on rebarreling a 788 Rem 30-30 set up for cast bullets. Both done from scratch. If there is any interest, I can repost them over here.

Please do, we will read it up.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Practice threading, get some simple bar stock and thread to fit your chosen action. Grind your threading tool to match the thread. Mauser's are 55* Whitworth, thread guages to grind your tool are available, 60* might work but it is a sign of careless workmanship. For barrels, threading from the shoulder toward 'empty space' eases the process. Cutting tool is upside-down, lathe is run in reverse, removes the concern of stopping the cutting tool before hitting the shoulder. There are a few You Tube videos on this set-up. Practice with round stock, then cut a test thread in bar stock to determine a 'precision' thread. Barrel threading is not tecnichally difficult, it just takes patience and careful measuring. Use a pilot in your barrel to be sure your threads are centered on the bore. Measure, measure, measure, then measure some more.

[HollowPoint]

Practice threading, get some simple bar stock and thread to fit your chosen action. Grind your threading tool to match the thread. Mauser's are 55* Whitworth, thread guages to grind your tool are available, 60* might work but it is a sign of careless workmanship. For barrels, threading from the shoulder toward 'empty space' eases the process. Cutting tool is upside-down, lathe is run in reverse, removes the concern of stopping the cutting tool before hitting the shoulder. There are a few You Tube videos on this set-up. Practice with round stock, then cut a test thread in bar stock to determine a 'precision' thread. Barrel threading is not tecnichally difficult, it just takes patience and careful measuring. Use a pilot in your barrel to be sure your threads are centered on the bore. Measure, measure, measure, then measure some more.

A couple of good YouTube videos that I learned threading, by running your lathe in reverse is put out by a guy named Joe Pieczynski or something like that. I rarely ever dared cut threads before watching this guy's video. I did do thread cutting with my lathe but I did it with alot of anxiety because the slowest speed I could get my chuck to turn was 70 rpm. That was still to fast for my worried hands to flip the switch on the feed.

I happened onto these videos one day and now cutting threads are a breeze for me. I don't want it to seem like just because I was having trouble cutting threads that everyone else does. I just wanted to share the video that relieved me of the anxiety I used to feel any time I had to cut some critical threads. And sorry if I'm taking this thread off on a tangent by including the link to this vid.

HollowPoint

[GBertolet]

Here are the two links as requested, for my two posts on rebarreling, from the CBA forum. They were my attempts as a novice for these two projects. Enjoy. I PM'ed them to the O.P., at his request, earlier.

https://castbulletassoc.org/forum/th...n-gunsmithing/

https://castbulletassoc.org/forum/th...ithing-part-2/

[akajun]

Chamber a barrel stub or old shot out barrel first before you use a good blank. That said it’s basic machining, get the bore running true at two points, cut the tenon and threads, then pre bore the chamber and cut the chamber with the reamer. Go slow and use lots of cutting oil and check your work. FYI on the Mauser , the barrel seats against the internal shoulder in the action, not on the reciever face. In fact if you try to seat both faces it will shoot like poo. Seat the barrel face firmly against the internal seat and give the reciever face .002-.003” clearance. Idk why it is but it works
Good luck with your project.

[fast ronnie]

.001 longer on the end that butts against the inside surface. Take your time and make sure the barrel is set up straight in the lathe. There are several ways to do this. Another thing that helps is to use a floating reamer holder. I made mine, as I didn't want to spend the money for it. If everything is in perfect alignment, you don't need it, but I have yet to see a lathe that is in perfect alignment. My very first barrel job shoots way better than I can.

[sharpshooter3040]

I would vote for the Mauser with a short chambered barrel untill you get the fundamentals down. I’ve done most of the others including lever actions. Once you get the hang of it threading and full chamber projects will make more sense to you good luck and have fun��