The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Guns, Politics, Gunsmithing & Reloading Gunsmithing Easiest way to open up a barrel channel a bunch?Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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I got a stock from Boyd's yesterday, but I need to open it up from factory contour to varmint. (.86 at muzzle I think) What would be the easiest way to it? Sandpaper would take an ungodly amount of time, last time all I did was float a barrel and it took forever. Love shooting precision and long range. Big bores too! Recent college grad, started a company called MK Machining where I'm developing a bullpup rifle chassis system.  | ||
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Barrel bedding tool from Brownells. They have two handles and do a very nice clean job.  HERE is a link to the product. | |||
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I've used a straight & curved chisel, coarse tail file and an old lathe gouges smoothing out with a scraper depending on the amount of wood to remove. In your case I would think a scraper would take care of it pretty quickly I've also used a router to follow a pattern. Years ago I used a dremel now past history. While it would remove wood it was not forgiving, had a friend try using one and ended up with major gaps. As usual just my $.02 Paul K | |||
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If sandpaper took too long, I'd guess you were using too fine a grit. Use a 40 grit and it removes wood pretty fast. The trick is to know how much wood to remove with coarse grits, then use finer grits only to remove the scratches of the coarser grits. I like to double the grit number when doing scratch removal, so after 40 go to 80, then to 160 and then to 320. Of course you can be flexible with that rule of thumb and use what you have (in general I follow up 80 with 120 because I have a lot of that grit). Scrapers are great tools, and by all means use one if you have it (or can make one) but if you are on a budget you may want to experiment with a coarser sheet of sandpaper first. for every hour in front of the computer you should have 3 hours outside | |||
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I almost don't like to suggest this but a palm router, which is a smaller version of a normal router, can get you as close as you dare then finish up with a scraper. If you have one available to you try it on scrap first then decide if you feel comfortable using it. I find them very controllable if you have the speed correct, nothing like the dreaded dremel tool. ______________________ Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else. | |||
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 Try a cranked--"dog leg"--in-cannel gouge. You have to be a little careful with these; the wood will tell you which direction to cut from. Also, I wouldn't inlet for a tight fit on a varmint rifle. I'd cut the channel oversize to get a little air circulation. Then clean it up with your scraper, etc. flaco | |||
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Bridgeport driven 3/4" ball endmill. John Farner If you haven't, please join the NRA! | |||
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Tyler, Marks got your answer trust me. I use an old golf club where I cut the shaft off just below the grip, the grip holds the sandpaper well....with 80 grit, you can remove a lot of material really fast. I opened up from a sknny little factory contour to a Heavy Varmint in a laminated stock in about 30 minutes of actual sanding, stopping and looking at the channel and new barreled action OFTEN. Try some more agressive paper with it wrapped around something as a backer, even a 5/8" or so dowel would work well. | |||
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+1  Tyler, These are excellent tools. You would be surprised at the amount of control you have with these. They work equally as well with the various composites also. _______________________________________________________________________________ This is my rifle, there are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend, it is my life. | |||
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I have done that. The surprising thing was I could put foam rubber in the vise [to keep from pinching or scratching the stock], as long as the tool turned fast and I cut slowly. | |||
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Thanks for the suggestions. Love shooting precision and long range. Big bores too! Recent college grad, started a company called MK Machining where I'm developing a bullpup rifle chassis system. | |||
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If wanting minimal cost what size/sizes of the Brownells tool would you guys recommend? | |||
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The 3/4" should work for you. If removing a bunch of material, try to sribe the outside contour of the barrel onto the stock. Then take a 1/2" or 3/4" flat chisel and cut toward the line across the grain of the wood. Smooth it out later with the barrel bedding tool. Jim Kobe 10841 Oxborough Ave So Bloomington MN 55437 952.884.6031 Professional member American Custom Gunmakers Guild | |||
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Yup, and before you scribe the outside contour of the barrel, either run a length of tape down each side of the barrel, or, place a sheet of paper between the barrel and the forend and then fold each side over the barrel as you scribe so as to protect the barrel from the scribe or if you're using a pen, the pen. There is nothing that screams "Bubba was here" faster than scratch marks down the side of the barrel.  _______________________________________________________________________________ This is my rifle, there are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend, it is my life. | |||
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I did it with a router once. It wasn't quick, but I made a masonite template of the barrel, adjusted the spacing for my router bushing and used a 3/8" straight bit to get the first eighth inch or so in depth, then used progressively larger bushings and stepped deeper. The larger bushing puts you more on center. After that I cleaned up the little steps with gouges and scrapers. This was on a prone stock with a pretty broad forend, so carpet tape worked to hold the template in place. I really just wanted a nice clean edge at the top, and I got that. Now I'd use the milling machine, but I didn't have one at the time. | |||
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I've used a flat chisel to cut the rough outlines of the barrel, but it's more dangerous than using the dog leg gouge cutting in the correct direction. The grain is more likely to split. When I scribe, I use a fine point plastic mechanical pencil. This certainly won't blemish the metal. Which, for the most part, should be refinished after, not before, inletting the stock. If one wants to scribe more accurately, use a traditional wood pencil, and cut a deep flat in the side so you can more accurately achieve a vertical line. flaco | |||
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Silly as it my sound, about 25 years ago I took an old big round bastard file, heated the ends back about 4" from each end, and bent them up to create a big square cornered U shape, with about 5" in the middle to grind with. I used both ends as handles and drug the middle through the barrel channels. I still have that old file and it still works great! | |||
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I just did one with coarse sandpaper wrapped around a deep well socket the diameter of the barrel. Jason | |||
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chainsaw fast and easy, but it does carry a bit of the bubba look if you aint real carefull  | |||
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NO BAD! NEVER EVER USE A ROUTER OR DREMEL TOOL TO OPEN A BARREL CHANNEL, YOU WILL HAVE OVER RUN AND DAMAGE YOUR STOCK! | |||
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