McGowen Rifle Barrels is working on them now. That carbide button arrived day before yesterday. They had the barrel blanks drilled long ago, now they are applying the arts and sciences to the rifling and shaping of the blanks to the contour pattern supplied by Gerard Schultz. I liked it so much, mine will be like that too.

Max, prof242, has one on order too, but I forget what contour he asked for. Max?

I'll see if I can find that barrel profile from GSC for illustration. What's a thread without a picture?

.395" groove
.387" bore
1:12" twist
lengths to 28" at no extra charge
stainless
or
4140


Now what hoops to jump through to get a barrel to RSA? Gerard?

Glad to hear things are moving along!

RIP, I suggested he select the contour, although I did not want something weighing 12 pounds when completed. What exactly is your contour? I was thinking 4 maybe 5.

[Hmmm, a #2 contour 20" bbl, kevlar stock, lightened action, aluminum mounts! Fire the thing and end up on the moon!]

Max,
Sounds like you will be getting the GS Custom Barrel Profile. I cannot get a picture to post right now, but here are some words and numbers:

************************************************
GS Custom Barrel Profile

The Knoxform is parallel-sided.
The diameter reduces through a radius of one inch.
The taper from the radius to the muzzle is straight.
This straight taper is important and must not be compromised by any curvature.
This results in a muzzle light profile and a rifle that handles quickly.
The weight is concentrated between the hands and, overall, is often more than a typical barrel of similar muzzle diameter.
This profile is derived in part from the Model B Mauser of the 1920's.
********************************************************

Shank will be 1.25" diameter and straight/parallel-sided for a 4" run, then the radius taper abruptly to 1.12", then a straight taper to 0.710" at the 26" muzzle.

Simple, lively, beautiful. Not light, not heavy, even Goldie Locks could go for it.

For the .395 Ruger Max, I would take an inch off the breech and an inch off the muzzle for a 24" barrel, or would I want a 23-incher ??? ...

Maybe Gerard has a picture of that barrel contour that he could put on his web site for folks to look at?

I've got the wrong kind of file to post at photobucket, and am a caveman when it comes to computers ...

Maybe Gerard will be getting the import papers for his barrel in order so I may attempt to export one to him, and then later it will be easier and cheaper per barrel to send large shipments of them to the GS Custom Rifle Factory. GS Custom Shop.

quote:

I've got the wrong kind of file to post at photobucket, and am a caveman when it comes to computers ...

What kind of file do you have?

Charles,
Thanks for noticing.
DOC file
RTF rich text format
opens with WordPad?

Got any ideas?
I'll flag the title for Gerard to see if he has a clickable link.

send it over and i'll try posting

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
Charles,
Thanks for noticing.
DOC file
RTF rich text format
opens with WordPad?

Got any ideas?
I'll flag the title for Gerard to see if he has a clickable link.

If BS has not already done it email the file to me and I will see if I can extract the image file from the document. Email is in my profile.

I tried to attach the file to an email and my puter tells me the file has a virus that cannot be cleaned,
so I won't be forwarding that one, though it has not caused me any problems so far.

Thanks anyway to Charles, a prince of a fellow.

boom stick: Ur fired. Webonics, get it?

Anybody who wants to see what the barrels look like: Get a pencil and a piece of paper and draw and label the barrel profile according to the complete specs above. Or order one from Harry McGowen.

Need a better virus innoculator? Actually I find that on the rare occasion I get a bad file it usually cannot be cleaned.

If the file is working okay for you, try opening it in Word or a similar program and see if you can extract the embedded image. Hopefully it is not really infected!

Charles,
Thanks for the pointer about opening it with Word. Even a caveman can do it.

The McGowen barrel for the .395 will differ from this drawing only in being 1.25" instead of 1.28" for the shank/Knoxform diameter.

This is a really cool profile for any custom rifle. I would happily use the dimensions on the right above up to and including .458 caliber. Sporty.

Thanks to GSC, even if Gerard is ignoring this thread!

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:

Charles,
Thanks for the pointer about opening it with Word. Even a caveman can do it.

Nicely done!

************************************************
GS Custom Barrel Profile

The Knoxform is parallel-sided.
The diameter reduces through a radius of one inch.
The taper from the radius to the muzzle is straight.
This straight taper is important and must not be compromised by any curvature.
This results in a muzzle light profile and a rifle that handles quickly.
The weight is concentrated between the hands and, overall, is often more than a typical barrel of similar muzzle diameter.
This profile is derived in part from the Model B Mauser of the 1920's.
********************************************************

Thanks, Ron, for the barrel profile. You are right. I do like the looks of that profile. I may start with the barrel a little long and then shorten it an inch at a time to finalize handling ease. My current .375H&H Mag was cut back to 22" and has been an excellent tool for me to use. One of the things that makes me happy is, with the slightly increased case capacity of the Ruger brass and the increased bullet diameter of the .395 over the .375, velocity should be a non-issue.
Oh, and where did everyone get the pic of my brother?

Glad to see you got the profile posted. Is there something I should check regarding virus infection?

If the barrel is longer than what one would like, shorten entirely from the front. The "handiness" of the profile lies in the weight at the action end. Reducing the length there, results in a lot of weight coming off compared to an inch or two at the muzzle and the CG shifts forwards and handiness reduces.

Max,
Must be a ".395 Family" resemblance going on here. That caveman looks a lot like my brother too. Barrel lengths to my liking on a sporter:
23" short as I go
24" happy medium
25" long enough
You wouldn't consider anything shorter than 23", would you Max?
I guess we need to cut an inch off the end of the muzzle, anyway. One can order the barrels to 28" long for no extra charge.

Gerard,
I do not think there is anything virus-infected about the file.
Must be some bug in the interaction of my security system with the hotmail system and that type of file.
There was never any indication of a virus warning when I originally opened and saved the file long ago.
Anyway, I am a caveman, and my computer seems to be working fine.
Word allowed me to copy the picture as a .gif file which photobucket can handle.

Good point on the barrel cutting at muzzle only.
I will leave the shank intact, and only trim at the muzzle end, which is standard procedure anyway, just facing the caliber and twist rate stamping off of the breech end for finishing smooth.

That parallel-sided, 4-inch Knoxform is strong where the barrel needs to be strongest, and helps with the balance of the gun between the hands, jawohl.

It would also be an aid in easily installing a forward scope base to work in conjunction with the front receiver base as a scout scope setup for a secondary scope ... or maybe a quarter rib with express sight and scout scope bases ... along with a banded front sight at the muzzle.

If anyone wanted a flyweight .395 and cut the shank shorter, they would need to turn the barrel down to a lighter contour muzzleward.

Certainly as it is, with 4" long shank, the shorter it is cut at the muzzle, the "livelier" it gets.

Hi Guys,
I planned on leaving the chamber end full length, except for the need to face like you mentioned, Ron. The weight will be between the hands. I may end up going as short as 22", but want to try it at a longer length first. There is a story in going too short, say a #1 contour bbl, at 18", .270?
The quarter rib and express sight might be an option, but have been considering NSCG's Ruger base mounted peep and their barrel band front.
[Uh, no comment on my #2 bbl, 18" long, kevlar stocked rifle, w/aluminum mounts?]
We may have to start an ugliest (or dumbest) brother contest! Brothers-in-law don't count.

Max,
My wife's brother would win the caveman look-alike contest for sure.

Maybe you should call Harry McGowen and make sure you are getting a GS Custom barrel profile if you did not actually specify that. Just tell him to make it the same as that of Ron Berry/GS Custom Barrel Profile. I faxed the drawing and specs to McGowen many moons ago, and Gerard agreed that 1.25" diameter instead of 1.28" was O.K. for the Knoxform/shank.

I do believe they turn the blanks to profile after they are rifled.

I reckon the cryo treating comes last after the barrel is shaped to final contour.

They were just starting to temper the blanks for the carbide button pull through Friday when I called.

Surely there is time to confirm the GS Custom Barrel Profile for your order.

I will be talking to Dave Manson about when he can get a ".395 Ruger Max" Reamer made, ASAP.

Ron,
Saw your board item on the .375 Ruger specs, so answered that one first. Will call McGowen first thing tomorrow morning.
On the reamer, Dave already said he could do the separate pilots, didn't he? That way, if there is a later desire to get another caliber done... You order, just tell me the amount to send Dave.
Max

Max,
I'll call Dave tomorrow.
I'll ask about the .375 Ruger reamer with removable pilot. I already have the desired neck and throat reamer with removable pilot to fit the .395 cal.

As you say, the .375 Ruger reamer with removable pilots could be used for other Rugercats, with various neck and throat reamers to match the barrels.

Sounds like you plan a .375 Ruger and .395 Ruger Max switch barrel?

I called and talked to Harry McGowen's brother Bob this morning and asked him to duplicate the form from the other barrels. I hope that does it.
As far as a switch barrel, I'm not sure which additional calibers I'll want. It seems every bolt centerfire I own has at least one extra barrel.
Also, Whittaker's just waiting for the FFL and check to arrive on my LH Ruger. Thanks again for that info

Max,
I thought Bob McGowen was Harry's son ...
Dave Manson is getting a .375 Ruger reamer with floating pilot made up to send my way. I can loan my reamers to you after my .395 Ruger Max is chambered, By Kevin Jenkins, or you can get your own and your own gunsmith, or you can ship your action and barrel to Kevin to have him do yours too, or your gunsmith can use my reamers, whatever.

I am not worrying about reloading dies until I have fire formed some brass to get custom dies made.

Wild Turkey