you can get barrels that are threaded, cut to length, crowned, polished and chambered.....and from Douglas they are called FTC.....meaning finished, turned and chambered.... but these barrels must still be "fit" to your action....it takes very little time to do so but they must be measured and final cut to fit your action...this means cutting the shoulder and end properly fits the shoulder of your action. It's not too hard to do but it must be done

No, you can't just buy a prechambered barrel and screw it on.

When you get a barrel isnt it already "chambered"? I mean if I get a barrel already chambered say for a 30/06--cant I just screw it in?? I am just wondering how you know when to stop screwing it in. Am I way off here???

I have a couple of questions and please excuse my ignorance on this subject. I have read when you rebarrel an action you have to "set" the headspace. I see in the Brownell catalog "go" and "no go" plugs.

Now, if I was to rebarrel a gun of mine and didnt want to spend alot of money on fixtures and tooling for doing this, is it possible to fit the action in a padded vice and turn the barrel out with a padded pipe wrench? Or, would you put the barrel in the vice and turn the action? Now, I know this sounds kind of crude but can it be done without damaging the firearm? After doing this, how does one "set" the headspace? I have done minor gunsmithing and have reloaded ammo for many years so I am familiar with "headspace" and the machanics of guns but I have never attempted a project like this. I have alot of time on my hands and like to tinker and from what I have heard this isnt a big project. Can someone explain how this is done? TIA

The headspace must be properly machined into the barrel for most actions before the barrel is attached to the action.....

I use a set of wooden oak blocks that the approximate barrel taper is machined into and sprinkle Brownells "resin" into the blocks and clamp the blocks about the barrel in a vise.....nothing metallic ever comes in contact with the barrel.

I then use brass blocks that are machined to fit the action and clamp them around the action and attach a steel retainer to the brass blocks to tighten the action to the barrel.

The oak blocks are real easy to use and work great but the resin is required for a good grip on the barrel.

Assuming there are already threads on your barrel...



Setting the rifle headspace is changing the distance from the bolt face to a ring of points on the shoulder of the chamber. This distance can be changed by:

1) Cutting [with a reamer] the chamber deeper into the barrel before putting the barrel on the receiver will increase headspace. If the barrel is short chambered, some do this without a lathe, like in Walsh's book on Mausers.

2) Cutting material off the breech and shoulder of the barrel will decrease headspace. This is what is done on a lathe to a barrel that is long chambered. Notice it requires no reamer. This is called "setting the barrel back".

3) Removing material from the bolt face increases headspace. This requires a lathe and a fixture to hold the bolt. This is to be avoided.

4) Removing material from the large ring of the receiver can decrease head space. This must be done with a mandrel to hold the receiver in the lathe. This process is just done to "true" the receiver, and should be minimized. If the receiver has an inner ring [ "C" ring], then removing material from the large ring changes the distance the barrel must be cut from the breech to the shoulder. Inner rings are sometimes lapped for truing, but I have never heard of them getting much material removed.



Changing the headspace of ammo to fit a rifle with headspace different from the sizing die:

1) If the rifle headspace is too long, the neck of the case can be opened to the next caliber size. Then the case is partially sized until the bolt just closes. After fire forming, the shoulder will be full.

2) If the rifle is headspaced too short, the brass can be resized with a shim under the case. Or material can be removed from the bottom of the die.



--

A society that teaches evolution as fact will breed a generation of atheists that will destroy the society. It is Darwinian.

THe odds of you being able to get the barrel off of the action withour breaking a bench vise are pretty small. You need a barrel vise of some sort.

You can deepn the chamber of a short chambered barrel by hand, BUT you need to know what you are doing to have a good job. As posted earlier, the action definitely won't be square (MUCH less chance of that being square than being able to get the barrel off). Also, if you cut a little too deep by hand, then you need a lathe to set back the shoulder and possibly threads, depending on the barrel.

I would strongly advise against doing it like this.