Who has the fastest turn around time on rebarrel?

05 November 2003, 03:03

Who has the fastest turn around on a rebarrel job?

urdubob

05 November 2003, 04:19

Terry Blauwkamp

To go to Douglas, Shaw, Shilen, Mc Gowen,Pac Nor etc, it will take a while.

Only way to get it done quickly is find a "smithy" that can order a threaded, chambered barrel from Brownells, that can screw it on and correct the head space.

Any custom work will take a long time.

05 November 2003, 04:47

Nitroman

Some of the benchrest 'smiths will do a "stop everything and get mine done first" job and advertise that service, but be prepared to pay the premium.

www.benchrest.com for all the 'smiths.

05 November 2003, 07:12

wallyw

quote:
Originally posted by Terry Blauwkamp:
To go to Douglas, Shaw, Shilen, Mc Gowen,Pac Nor etc, it will take a while.

Only way to get it done quickly is find a "smithy" that can order a threaded, chambered barrel from Brownells, that can screw it on and correct the head space.

Any custom work will take a long time.

Some of my customers are under the impression that the pre-chambered and threaded barrels are faster/cheaper.

I've still have to have the proper piloted reamer and headspace gages. Must remove the old barrel. Disassemble bolt and receiver. At very least true up front of the action and lap lugs.

Then chuck new barrel into lathe and indicate it in.

From here I can "correct the headspace". However I cannot correct loosely fitting threads or a bellshaped or out of round chamber.

Once the barrel is precisely chucked into lathe accurately threading and chambering does not take much additional time. AND this is what, with good bedding, will most likely lead to a rifle that shoots and feeds/extracts better, provide better case life than before.

Months ago Bill Leeper had a prize winning post regarding the day in the life of a gunsmith. So many interruptions and unknowns.

Last year I had a customer wanting me to rebarrel an older push feed Model 70 SA in .308 he'd recently bought. This was mid-July and he wanted it for hunting season. Shilen barrel chambered in 300WSM.. Appeared to be in good shape. I ordered the barrel, magnum extractor, and reamer.

Though there was little evidence of surface rust barrel was a real bear. After soaking in Kroil and then mystery oil for two weeks AND epoxing a barrel bushing on finally removed old barrel. Then found that pins anchoring extractor and ejector were rusted in. Long story short - I informed customer of problems. Though his project
wasn't finished until mid - blacktail season he has been very pleased with a rifle that shoots considerably less than 1/2 inch moa.

As we have seen on this site recently occassionally we get behind the eight ball. To much work, to many suprises.

However we can usually rebarrel a rifle in short order. As the customer you wan't to be specific as to what you want. And if its something you need right away just ask. You'll usually get a straight answer.

Wally
Waggoner Rifles

06 November 2003, 20:29

Kalispellman

I used to work for Montana Rifle Co. and the turn around time is about 4 weeks. The Work they do is amazing in every way. The team of barrel makers are perfectionists. The prices are fair considering the quality you get.

Dan Bungay

07 November 2003, 02:13

Clio Gun Shop

We normally quote 6-8 weeks on a rebarrel job. I buy my barrels as blanks and contour them to the customers desired shape. For this reason we are not at the mercy of the barrel supplier and his backlog of contoured barrel orders. Most barrel makers can supply an unturned blank in 10-14 days. Once the blank is turned to shape we do the same precision centering etc. as described in an earlier post. Threading chambering and fitting is a matter of hours not days. We have been running a little better than 6 weeks for the last couple of months. I do have a young lady helper who answers the phone, runs interference for me, and being pretty improves the appearance of the place considerably.

07 November 2003, 02:53

Jim Kobe

I think the answer here to the question is, whoever has the barrel of the right caliber or profile for the customer. I usually get a barre from the maker in anywhere from 2 to 14 weeks, depending on who it is. After that, it is merely a half day job to get it done. Blueing will necessarily take longer. There are not too many guys out there who inventory many different barrels, whether it be by manufacturer or caliber or profile. not to mention twist rate.