I cut down a Savage 358 win barrel to 16" for a subsonic suppressed project. While squaring off the end of the barrel in my lathe I saw that it was off center (0.030").

Is there anyway to salvage this barrel? I need to mount the silencer aligned as close to the bore as possible to avoid baffle strikes. I am thinking about using a snug fitting piece of brass in the muzzle so I could mount the barrel between the chuck and a live center and turn down the barrel to make the muzzle and a portion of the barrel concentric to the bore. The silencer will telescope over the last four inches of the barrel. Suggestions? I hate to waste $200 on the NFA tax. Thanks.

Ranb

Ranb,
I have a set of Deltronic pins for each bore size that I work with. They are in .0001 increments. Indicate the bore and turn the outside to size. It looks like you are .015 off center?
Butch

One side of the barrel is 0.030" thicker than the opposite side. I will try that. Thanks.

Ranb

Off center bore is typical. If you turn and thread the barrel between centers you will be good to go with the bore. Don't forget to recrown the thing afterwords.

quote:

Everytime I spend $50 on material to make a silencer, I have to pay a $200 tax to the ATF to keep it legal. Where is the justice in that?

The justice comes from not being prosecuted for making the silencer in the first place. Unless of course you are a federally licensed manufacturer of such things.

quote:

Originally posted by Westpac:

The justice comes from not being prosecuted for making the silencer in the first place. Unless of course you are a federally licensed manufacturer of such things.

You are killing me man! That f-ing tax is like a bribe to keep the ATF from knocking on my door. I'm not about to pay $200 for an FFL, $500 a year for the SOT and $2250 for the ITAR each year to appease them either. Egads, what is this world coming to?

Ranb

I finished turning down the barrel. It looks ok until seeing the shoulder that forms behind the shoulder as a result of the crooked barrel.



I will probably find out how well it shoots this weekend. Even if it shoots well, the real test is how well it aligns with the silencer sticking out eight inches from the muzzle. I have to wait the usual 4 plus months for approval then wait again for a trip outside of that oppression that is called WA.

Ranb

That little offset isn't bad. I've seen much worse and those still worked fine. Most every muffler I have installed has more bullet exit diameter than is needed specifically to reduce the likelihood of bullet strikes. Of course having the bullet traveling off center through the thing isn't great for accuracy. I sure hope the torque shoulder is the muzzle.

And, to address your dilema about having to travel outside of "that oppression that is called WA", Ryder rents moving vans and there are a shit load of roads leaving that State.

I do not have anything on paper for the silencer design, but the muzzle will rest in a center adaptor four inches into the back of the can and torque against it. The rear shoulder next to the threads is probably (I hope) more centered on the bore and is as large as I could make it, but only a few thousands larger than the 13/16-20 threads. The rear shoulder is only for alignment anyway.

As for my oppression problem; I have this comfy job that allows me to sit on my butt watching other people work. For this I get 60k a year and a decent retirement plan. As I have a bad ankle and two bad knees, living in WA is easier to do for now as I might be expected to actually work on my feet if I try to get a job at a nuclear power plant in a less gun unfriendly state.

I know some might be mocking me for my "path of least resistance" plan, but it is going to have to do for now. After I convince the WA gov to make an exception for registered silencers, I need to get to work on SBS/SBR and MG's which were made contraband in 1994.

In 14 years I retire to Thailand/MN/Vegas. There will be a 1200 yard rifle range built next to my brother's house in North Las Vegas. Most of my gun collection will live there waiting for my 4 month yearly vacation from the sun/scuba/sand/girls/decadence in Thailand. MN is almost a complete bust for guns as most of my collection is banned by the MN law that prohibits anything equipped to use a silencer.

Ranb

It shoots 2 moa with Remington 200 grain spire point at 950 fps. The sporter stock has not been opened up to properly seat the medium weight 358 barrel yet. With the stock inletted properly and a better load it should do better. It is shown here with my 13 inch 300 whisper silencer for display purposes. The can for it will be 1.625x12"



It took 12 grains of WC820 to get 950 fps, the same amount for driving a 300 grain bullet 1050 fps out of my 338 whisper. This amount of powder fills the case only about one quarter the way, but the stdev was still only 26 fps. I am one of those who think low load density detonation is a myth.

I am going to change the barrel profile to eliminate the 13/16-20 threads on the barrel and cut 5/8-24 threads onto the muzzle so the can will put tension on the barrel.

Ranb

quote:

Originally posted by ranb40:
I am one of those who think low load density detonation is a myth.

Ranb

Ouch. If you don't mind couching your bet, remember the advice about pointing the rifle straight up before taking a shot in order to position all the powder in one place before it ignites. The "myth" was that somehow you get two discrete piles which ignite separately and blow the works when the shock waves meet.

I have read about it. I just do not think that there is enough evidence to support the claims made about low density loads. But I am not going to argue about it, it is just one of those things I believe for now.

Ranb

It shoots ok so far. Good enough to see how well it does with 250-300 grain bullets.



Ranb