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Thread: Further my education - barrel making

  1. #21
    Boolit Buddy
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    Here is a pretty good thread on practical machinist about barrel making.

    https://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...-lathe-291506/
    quando omni flunkus moritati

  2. #22
    Boolit Master
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    Grizzly tools has a couple of gunsmithing and barrel making books on their website. Frank

  3. #23
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    2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. - "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

    "Before you argue with someone, ask yourself, is that person even mentally mature enough to grasp the concept of different perspectives? Because if not, there’s absolutely no point."
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  4. #24
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    There is at least one guy on YouTube that makes buttons to rifle his barrels using a hydraulic ram to force them through.

  5. #25
    Boolit Grand Master uscra112's Avatar
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    I had the same yen about 20 years ago. Did a lot of reading, learned how it was/is done, realized that it would use up far too much of my time and resources to justify actually doing it. Unless you're as obsessive as Harry Pope, who did almost nothing else, you won't begin to match what you can buy.

    BTW the book The Story of Pope's Barrels makes good reading.
    Cognitive Dissident

  6. #26
    Boolit Grand Master Nobade's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by uscra112 View Post
    I had the same yen about 20 years ago. Did a lot of reading, learned how it was/is done, realized that it would use up far too much of my time and resources to justify actually doing it. Unless you're as obsessive as Harry Pope, who did almost nothing else, you won't begin to match what you can buy.

    BTW the book The Story of Pope's Barrels makes good reading.
    Just finished reading it. Good book but the hero worship was a bit over the top.
    And I agree, it would be easy to dedicate your life to doing barrels for almost no pay when you could be doing something else that is much more lucrative. I think it's going to depend on how much actual work I can generate once the shop is up and running hopefully I'll be busy enough to not have time to think about making barrels.

  7. #27
    Boolit Grand Master uscra112's Avatar
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    Pope certainly was lionized, but like some others in the gun world he was also a relentless self-promoter, which accounts for some of it.

    I've come to the conclusion that he was chronically depressed. Something that has almost never been talked about is that for some time before it was made illegal he had a cocaine habit. Self-medicating? Have known the type, all too well.

    Given the cost of tooling up, you either have to make commercial quantities of barrels, or you have to charge an arm and a leg for each one, or you live like Harry. Does the book admit that the whole time he was in New Jersey he never paid rent? The guy who owned the building made him a charity case.
    Last edited by uscra112; 04-22-2021 at 09:01 AM.
    Cognitive Dissident

  8. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by akajun View Post
    Ive been to Shilens swap meet and seen the barrel making process in person.
    They start with a gun drilling machine, basically a specialty lathe that spins the barrel, and the carriage feeds a long single flute coolant through drill that is guided by a "steady rest" type guide at the end of the barrel. It is lubricated with oil and the drills are sharpened on large accurate drill grinders. The feed rate on the drill is ridiculously slow, .0005 per rev iirc so the chips stay small and flow out. The chips look like fine steel wool
    Next they put the barrel in a lathe set up the same way and ream with a chucking reamer, this spans the gaps between the drill wanderings and "straightens " the hole. Next is is honed, again to straighten the hole and improve surface finish.
    Next comes the button pulling process which takes all of 10 seconds which puts the rifling in the bore. after that comes hand lapping , then inspection, then possibly further lapping or acceptance or rejection. The tech said reject barrels are bored out larger if possible and that rebored barrels tend to be straighter than ones from scratch.
    Shilen’s open house is coming up very soon!
    Lots of information to be gained with a visit!
    This year it will be on May 15 in Ennis TX !
    Last edited by deltaenterprizes; 04-30-2021 at 09:57 AM.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
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