Can a fluted rifle barrel be recontoured / turned down to eliminate the flutes?? Anyone done it? What were the results good & bad?? 163bc

Good god man, turning barrrels is hard enough as it is! Talk about a cluster with all of that inturrpted cutting on top of the normal turning torture barrel jeanies gyrating on the lathe.

You are miles ahead price, headache, and odds of turning out OK wise with just getting a new barrel. Possible, sure. Good idea, maybe not.

that is what i needed to know. thanks

It can be done with a carbide tool and a steady rest. I coat the barrel with release agent and put cut a toilet paper into a section 2 inches long put the role over the barrel and fill it with bedding epoxy, center the barrel in the epoxy, I turn the barrel between centers and make a clean up cut on the epoxy. then I put the steady rest on the epoxy area and turn down one end of the barrel then the other side. After the barrel is turned down I remove the epoxy and reset the steady rest on a part that has been turned down than turn down the epoxed area as well, than remove the steady rest and make a clean up cut.

WHat type of diamaters are you turning down to? Have you gone down to something in the orde rof .550-.600" at the muzzle?

What feeds and speeds are you using? Also curious about the carbide inserts you use and how they hold up to the heavy inturrupted cuts.

Sounds kinda crazy, but if you are having luck turing down barrels to small sporter contours, I am all ears and will listen to anything working for you!

Depending upon the caliber of your fluted barrel and the condition its in, you may even be able to swap someone else for their unfluted barrel. Lots of guys rebarrel to fluted barrels and end up with a spare that gets tossed.

Might be something to investigate.

I have found with carbide you need to turn faster than with high speed steel and take a good bite, even with the flutes it won't hurt to take a good bite. I judge the speed and depth of cut by the chip and if there is chatter. I adjust accordingly.

with a heavy lathe, and sharp tooling with the correct geometry, making interupted cuts is ordinary business.