Dumb question #7675, barrel direction

[roysha]

A fellow bought a barrel for chambering and fitting to an XP. It was a 31" blank. He wants it cut in half so he can use it for 2 projects.

So, one piece will be chambered from the normal end which is stamped with the normal info and the other piece will be chambered from the "muzzle" end so as to use up the part that is normally cut off, so as to achieve as much length as possible.

In the course of conversation with a another fellow, he said that he felt the second piece would probably not perform satisfactorily because the bullet would be traveling "against" the way the rifling was formed causing accuracy and fouling problems.

This is a high dollar barrel which is supposed be hand lapped and so forth. It seems to me when one pays nearly $400 for a barrel blank, it should be good from any direction, but I honestly have never given it a thought and before he spends a bunch of money I want to be sure we aren't making a mistake. Giving up a couple of inches in length is really of no consequence if direction is going to be an issue.

My question, is the above concern valid?

[B R Shooter]

It must be a straight barrel, no taper, or you may not have enough diameter for a shoulder on the muzzle end. Why not cut it in half and maintain the direction?

Then again, if it's a fully lapped barrel, anything directional should be gone.

[Texas by God]

Interesting. I do recall reading an article a few years back about threading a .30 caliber blank on both ends for the action. Then each end was chambered and headspaced to the same action. One end was chambered for the .300 H&H magnum and the other end was chambered for the .300 WSM. The purpose was to compare the two cartridges from the same barrel. According to the article it was a successful albeit strange looking result. Personally, I don't know if there's anything wrong with doing it either way, but I would probably go the one directional route.

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[ulav8r]

If properly hand lapped, the muzzle groove diameter should be less than the chamber end, should not cause any prob lem if the barrel is cut and the front is is chambered at the rrear end. Keep the muzzle at the muzzle.