No, I don't want to make or buy one.

But there is a question currently on the forum about soldering quarter ribs, and I was just wondering what exactly are the steps to making a barrel with the quarter rib integral.

Seems to me that with all of the work and fitting required to fit a quarter rib, plus the cost of the rib itself if you buy it, you might just as well have it integral to the barrel in some fashion.

What involved and what tools are required.

FWIW, the Ruger RSM has an integral rib.

I can't tell you what all is involved, but the price doubles if the word integral is used.

Terry

Last time I was quoted a solder-on quarter rib, they were about $500.00.

Danny Pederson only charges $300 for an integral quarter rib. At least that's his "starting price."

Assume that doubles with a fancy rib - then integral is about the same price as soldered on.

If the price of the barrel is the same, then integral can be done for the same money.

quote:

Originally posted by new_guy:
Last time I was quoted a solder-on quarter rib, they were about $500.00.

Danny Pederson only charges $300 for an integral quarter rib. At least that's his "starting price."

Assume that doubles with a fancy rib - then integral is about the same price as soldered on.

If the price of the barrel is the same, then integral can be done for the same money.

Seems reasonable to me.

I am going to take a shot at just guessing what needs to be done.

1. You get an oversize blank.

2. you machine for a normal barrel except where the quarter rib is going to be.

3. You move over the the milling machine where you have a couple of centers mounted. You put the barrel in the centers.

4. you start roughing everyting away that doesn't look like a quarter rib.

5. you refine it.

6. when you install it you index it to the receiver so that the rib ends up on top where its supposed to be. (i.e. you leave everything long and fit it)

am I close?

Chris,
Danny charges 800 for intregal sight bases, and quite a bit more for the rib .. that is to say, he WISELY upcharges for intregal sights bases, then quarter ribs

I have done both.....the rib however was full length and not a true quarter rib.

Based on what I did the solder on job was extemely easy compared to the integral work. There was no comparison.

I have never heard of anyone only charging $300 for a rib in the past decade. Don't know Pederson but would look at his work closely before I bought something at a bargain price. He could very well have the deal of the century there for all I know. I am just saying that if you live by the addage of "you get what you pay for," then you definitly reduce the number of times you get burned with lower quality work. Plus some folks either do not recognize, or do not care about lower grades of work. I am just glad we live in a country where everyone can choose their price point.

I will say right here that I have never done an integral barrel. I have a 31" long, 1.5" straight diameter Krieger CM barrel sitting in the closet, waiting to be an integral barrel. It will be my first, and I have a pretty good idea of what I am getting into. That is because I have done enough "non-integral" things and have spoken at length with friends who have done integral work. That is not to say that I know exactly what I am getting into, only that I have an idea.

What .22WRF said is correct, with a caveat. What he said is sorta like saying, "Go climb Mt. Everst. It is straight forward how to do it-just keep putting one foot in front of the other until you get to the top." While technically it is true, the devil is in the details and there is a little more to it than that.

Many people (not 22 above) talk about a task and say, "It's easy. All you gotta do is..." Many years ago I learned the perfect response to this statement: "Please tell me about the last time you did it that way. How long did it take you? How much did it cost? How..." To date, no one has been able to say they have ever performed the task. Many, many things look easy when you see an expert do it or hear an expert explain it. Hell, I even got to thinking Qribs were a lot easier after reading Mr. Weibie's posts. Seriously! That man is a virtuoso and makes the difficult look like a cake walk.

Everyone I know who does integral barrels charges more than the same barrel would cost with "add-on" stuff. Now granted, I don't know many people who do integral work. That's because it is so damn hard to do. But man, integral barrels are cool as hell!

I'm pretty sure Mark Stratton posted some pictures of the machining of an integral rib, and I know it's in his book. It would seem to me (a non-machinist) that although the "rough" machining is quite straightforward, it would require a LOT of hand-filing and finishing to get a completed product ready for bluing.

Having watched the progress of three of them being made by a true master gunsmith who had already done quite a few others, I know that the labor alone exceeds 40 hours. Add to that the cost of the barrel and it is easy to see why they run upwards of $2,000.00, if done correctly. With all due respect to New_Guy, I truly dought that Danny Pederson only charges $300.00 for one.

Danny Pedersen was the barrel maker for Fred Wells. If you've seen a Fred Wells integral barrel, then you've seen Danny's work. I doubt any here could find much fault with Fred Wells' rifles.

I can't price his work, but can tell you that he has listed a price of $300 for a cut-rifled blank plus the following options:

Octagons (basic barrel price plus) $200
Integral Quarter Ribs-- Starting At $300
Integral Front Sight—Starting At $200
Integral Secondary Recoil lug round barrel $100
Integral Secondary Recoil lug ribbed barrel $200
Integral sling attachment $200

Here is his complete price list.

http://www.cutrifle.com/prices.html

Shane Thompson is doing one for me (add on, not integral)on a barreled action project. He charges $700 for the service plus the cost of the barrel and normal cost's of threading and chambering. I've looked around at the price of some integral barrels before and a round barrel with an integral quarter rib and front sight was right at $1500 if I remember correctly. That's where my statement about the price doubling came from.

Terry

quote:

Originally posted by new_guy:
Danny Pedersen was the barrel maker for Fred Wells. If you've seen a Fred Wells integral barrel, then you've seen Danny's work.

Here are the prices Danny has posted on his website.

http://www.cutrifle.com/prices.html

Octagons (basic barrel price plus) $200
Integral Quarter Ribs-- Starting At $300
Integral Front Sight—Starting At $200
Integral Secondary Recoil lug round barrel $100
Integral Secondary Recoil lug ribbed barrel $200
Integral sling attachment $200

I book marked the spot! Should I ever need one I will give this guy a call.

Chris finds some neat sh!t He turned me onto a BRNO ZG-47 in 8X64 Brenneke a few months ago. Yes, it's at it's new home now

Terry

quote:

What .22WRF said is correct, with a caveat. What he said is sorta like saying, "Go climb Mt. Everst. It is straight forward how to do it-just keep putting one foot in front of the other until you get to the top." While technically it is true, the devil is in the details and there is a little more to it than that.

Thats why I put in #5, where I said, "you refine it". and I suspect that is where the true craftsmanship comes into play, is in the refining, and the hand polishing, etc.

Okay, lets talk about the price.

I would tend to agree that one "usually" get what one pays for. But I am wondering what one is actually paying for when one orders an integral quarter rib barrel?

1. Obviously the raw material, i.e. the blank.
2. some overhead, i.e. shop supplies, sharpening of tools, electricity, depreciation, etc.

3. However, what about the time. How long do you figure it takes to fully complete (not install) an integral quarter rib barrel? Somebody said 40 hours. That seems a bit LONG doesn't it. working an 8 hour day without any breaks whatsoever that means it would take a full week to do one barrel.

quote:

Originally posted by 22WRF:
3. However, what about the time. How long do you figure it takes to fully complete (not install) an integral quarter rib barrel? Somebody said 40 hours. That seems a bit LONG doesn't it. working an 8 hour day without any breaks whatsoever that means it would take a full week to do one barrel.

I had in over 200 hours on the full length rib I did!!!.....You ought to try it sometime.

Chris,
I stand corrected. He quoted me 800 just (litereally weeks) before he left wells' shop, and before he had his own place. it was 800 for intregal sights, and 1800 for intregral qrib, recoil lug, and sights

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:

quote:

Originally posted by 22WRF:
3. However, what about the time. How long do you figure it takes to fully complete (not install) an integral quarter rib barrel? Somebody said 40 hours. That seems a bit LONG doesn't it. working an 8 hour day without any breaks whatsoever that means it would take a full week to do one barrel.

I had in over 200 hours on the full length rib I did!!!.....You ought to try it sometime.

Vapo

I believe ya. I, and I am sure a few others, would be interested in hearing how you went about it and what difficulties you had. I am guessing that it was probably your first one. I know the first time I tried to inlet a stock it took weeks because I was too afraid to do any hogging so I took a sliver at a time. I suspect that a good barrel man like Mr. Peterson would go broke if he was only charging $1500 for a barrel that took 200 hours to make.

Tell us how you did it, and show a photo if you have one.

I can't speak to the quoted prices on Pedersen's website, but I priced out with him a barrel having an integral Q-rib, sights, etc and the price quickly got over $3000. The "starting at" prices are less relevant than the actual finished price.

A really basic integral Q-rib might cost the same as a fancy soldered Q-rib; but in an apples-to-apples comparison, an integral job is going to cost almost twice as much as a solder job.

quote:

Originally posted by new_guy:
Danny Pedersen was the barrel maker for Fred Wells. If you've seen a Fred Wells integral barrel, then you've seen Danny's work. I doubt any here could find much fault with Fred Wells' rifles.

I can't price his work, but can tell you that he has listed a price of $300 for a cut-rifled blank plus the following options:

Octagons (basic barrel price plus) $200
Integral Quarter Ribs-- Starting At $300
Integral Front Sight—Starting At $200
Integral Secondary Recoil lug round barrel $100
Integral Secondary Recoil lug ribbed barrel $200
Integral sling attachment $200

Don't forget these prices don't include polishing. There's a ton of time involved in polishing a barrel that's got integral hardware that's been cut with a ball mill. The center of the mill ends up coining the metal and making it harder to polish and blend with the rest of the barrel. Dan makes a great barrel and his integral stuff is pretty cool but plan on spending a lot to have it polished to perfection. The prices for soldered on ribs probably include polishing.

I have a 375 H&H that is on a Westly Richards Sgl Square bridge Mauser action. The barrel was done by David Miller with an integral quarter rib and the barrel was bright polished with the rib being mat polished the contrast is outstanding. Has one standing blade with wide gold line. I just finished installing one of Rusty Marlins cocking piece rear sights. Stock is a piece of nice walnut that was turned by Curt Crum with ebony tip and grip cap. Bottom metal is floorplate lever type original Mauser that has been opened up to take the 375 length. Turned out rather nice if I do say so. Rib has thumbnail cuts for Ruger rings to use a scout scope as I didn't want to alter the original W-R handle which has an engraved knob.

So it seems to me a integral quarter rib, sight bases, lugs, etc. might be easier to incorporate when building an octagon barrel?

quote:

Originally posted by new_guy:
Danny Pedersen was the barrel maker for Fred Wells. If you've seen a Fred Wells integral barrel, then you've seen Danny's work. I doubt any here could find much fault with Fred Wells' rifles.

I can't price his work, but can tell you that he has listed a price of $300 for a cut-rifled blank plus the following options:

Octagons (basic barrel price plus) $200
Integral Quarter Ribs-- Starting At $300
Integral Front Sight—Starting At $200
Integral Secondary Recoil lug round barrel $100
Integral Secondary Recoil lug ribbed barrel $200
Integral sling attachment $200

Here is his complete price list.

http://www.cutrifle.com/prices.html

Dan does very nice work. He built scout rifle for me with integral front sight ramp and scope bases on the barrel. The work is very well done and the rifle is sub MOA. Plus Dan is one of the nicest folks I have met in the custom gun world.

Steve Hughes beat me to it, but if you want an integral rib and front sight on an octagon or half round/half octagon barrel out of the Martini-Hagn shop you'd better allow 3K or so. Of course, it might be money well spent.

Josh

quote:

Originally posted by zimbabwe:
I have a 375 H&H that is on a Westly Richards Sgl Square bridge Mauser action. The barrel was done by David Miller with an integral quarter rib and the barrel was bright polished with the rib being mat polished the contrast is outstanding. Has one standing blade with wide gold line. I just finished installing one of Rusty Marlins cocking piece rear sights. Stock is a piece of nice walnut that was turned by Curt Crum with ebony tip and grip cap. Bottom metal is floorplate lever type original Mauser that has been opened up to take the 375 length. Turned out rather nice if I do say so. Rib has thumbnail cuts for Ruger rings to use a scout scope as I didn't want to alter the original W-R handle which has an engraved knob.

Zimbabwe

sure would be nice to see a photo of that weapon.

The last time I priced a complete soldered quarter rib installation the number was $1500 USD plus. The first and last time I was quoted a complete intergal quarter rib barrel the number was just south of $4000 USD.

The Ruger RSM has an integral q-rib adding to the value of the rifle.

22WRF,
I'm not at home so can't do any right now but there is one on here somewhere talking about quarter ribs.

There are quite a few European prewar sporting rifles around with half octagon full ribbed barrels, in calibres like 6.5 and 7mm. Might pay to pick up one and rebore it for an American cartridge.

quote:

Originally posted by vigillinus:
There are quite a few European prewar sporting rifles around with half octagon full ribbed barrels, in calibres like 6.5 and 7mm. Might pay to pick up one and rebore it for an American cartridge.

Just what I did. A cheap West Texas pawn shop shot out 30-06 J.P. Sauer became a fun little 35 Whelen. The barrel is a work of art.

New_guy:

It appears that you and I were discussing apples verses oranges, i.e. a finished verses a rough barrel, so no harm no foul. As to Danny, I agree with you that he is great to work with. I had him rebore a shot-out barrel that had an integral quarter rib, front sight, and barrel band swivel, and the quality of service was excellent.

Dave

Could someone please refresh my memory and print the title of Mark Stratton's book? Christmas is coming and I believe that's what I'll tell the warden that I want, when she asks!

Tricks of the trade.. Custom Metalsmithing, By Mark Stratton. Thats the only one i know of!!!