I want to learn how to chamber my own barrels. I have a lathe, and I can rent or buy reamers. However, I do not want to go through several barrels learning how to do it the right way. Can anyone recommend a good book on this subject? Thanks.

Randy

When I was starting out I got "The Mauser Bolt Actions" A Shop Manual by Jerry Kuhnhausen from Brownells or Midway USA and it has a wealth of info, measurements, dimensions and illustrations that to me makes it well worth the money. Another one that is an oldie but a goodie is Gunsmithing by Roy Dunlap, not as up to date as Kunhausen but still very informative. Hope this helps.

Steve E.......

The NRA "Gunsmithing" has good info on this and other matters. I would practice first on some junk barrels.

Good Luck!

"Gun Digest Book of Riflesmithing" by Jack Mitchell, has a very good chapter on rebarreling.

You can never have too many good books. But if you only want one, then get "The Complete Illustrated Guide to Precision Rifle Barrel Fitting" by John Hinnant. It's not fancy, my copy started out as pages bound with large staples on the left margin. The staples gave out, so it now resides in a 3-ring binder. No pictures, but lots of good drawings. It's available from Brownells, http://www.brownells.com/ , part # 404-100-000.

There are leaning styles:

* doing (active experimentation)

* watching (reflective observation)

* feeling (concrete experience)

* thinking (abstract conceptualisation)



I learn by watching. You mileage may vary, but for me there was a BIG problem with Jerry Kuhnhausen's manual on Mausers.



The way I did it was to buy my brother a lathe, and I made HIM read Kuhnhausen's horrible book. Then I went about scrounging infromation for my brother. I found out from the internet about making a spider from AR member Roy B:

http://public.fotki.com/Rbertalotto/machine_tools__guns/headstock_spider.html

I found out about how to push the reamer from Gunsmith list forum.

I found out about how deep to ream and what reamer to buy on the phone from a gunsmith on staff at Brownell's.

I found out about the bucket of gas, oil, and a toothbrush to clean the reamer every .050" of reaming AND about controlling the torque on the reamer without introducing chatter causing compliance from Randy Ketchum of Lynnwood Guns.



Then I watched my brother do it.

Then I got my own lathe and did it myself.



And I JUST learned about tapered rods for dialing in the barrel here on Accurate Reloading Gunsmithing forum:

thread with tapered rods





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

For the money, that is the best book I have. Lots of really good stuff and you dont need to wait for your income tax return to get it.

Remember that you can get Bauska barrels for around $50 You could give it a try and if it doesn't work, then cut it off and try again until you get it right. Or see if you can get some takeoff barrels for cheap. sometimes you can find them on ebay for around $10-15.

Book link

ranb40
This link will get you to a auction on E-bay. I have read this guys book (soft cover not the cd)and it is very good. I will say he doesn't barrel the same way I'm being taught by a local gun smith but I am sure his methods are quite sound. Even my gun smith has said so, they just do things differently. For what it's worth I also got a barrel from him a year or so ago. 1 in 10 30 cal DouglasXXX for about $80 bucks. My parents live in Wasilla AK, so they brought it down with them. Even with shipping his prices are pretty darn good, that is if he still has anything you want.

Shawn