I have a Husky that has a M38 6.5x55 barrel on it with the military steps. I talked to my "smith" about putting it on his lathe and re-contouring the steps out of the barrel and making a lightweight contour out of it. I'm all for it but he cautioned me about the possibility of inducing stresses. Iknow I could go buy another barrel but I really like the thought of not wasting the barrel I have. I'd like to hear some professional opinions about the project.
Thanks

It's a crap shoot. You will end up smiling, or, whining. Barrels become stressed from shooting. Because the wall thickness isn't always uniform from breech to muzzle, they heat and cool differently. This produces stress. Removing metal releases these stresses. And if things aren't uniform from breech to muzzle then the stress that is released is not uniform and you end up with a pipe instead of a barrel. You put down your money and you take your chances.

Yep a crap shoot. I leave them as is. If you have to have a smooth no step barrel get a commercial one. An A&B barrel in 6.5x55 small ring Mauser can be had from Midway pretty inexpensively.

I've had two Springfield barrels recontoured to closely match Winchester's featherweight profile. Both turned out OK and shoot well. But like Malm and Doug say, it's luck of the draw.

quote:

Originally posted by craigster:
I've had two Springfield barrels recontoured to closely match Winchester's featherweight profile. Both turned out OK and shoot well. But like Malm and Doug say, it's luck of the draw.

Or, the guy behind the trigger, eh Craigster? Oooorahhh!

Well I got the gun so cheap and sold the rings and scope off of it to offset the cost even further that I think I will roll the dice on the $75 cost to re-contour. I knew it would be a crap shoot but I'm a lucky gambler and even if it doesn't shoot well I won't be that far behind in the budget overall.
I like hearing the opinions though, thanks a bunch.

quote:

Originally posted by malm:
Or, the guy behind the trigger, eh Craigster? Oooorahhh!

Well, the Marine Corps did learn me a thing or two 'bout rifles and marksmanship.

Semper Fidelis!

One of my best shooters is a VZ-24 in 8x57 with a recontoured barrel.

I always found that in turning a barrel down I wanted the machine to go slow with lots of coolant. Run like that I've never had a problem, but turning at a higher speed, knocking of big chips etc. is going to creat heat and stress.

quote:

Originally posted by Snellstrom:
I have a Husky that has a M38 6.5x55 barrel on it with the military steps. I talked to my "smith" about putting it on his lathe and re-contouring the steps out of the barrel and making a lightweight contour out of it. I'm all for it but he cautioned me about the possibility of inducing stresses. Iknow I could go buy another barrel but I really like the thought of not wasting the barrel I have. I'd like to hear some professional opinions about the project. Thanks

It will NOT induce stresses, but it may release some the barrel already has!! The result would be essentially the same-a warped barrel!

The key is to have the recontouring cuts made very shallow and gradual. I have had a number of stepped Mauser barrels recontoured, and when done by a real expert,like the old Paul Jaeger outfit in PA, they have invariably turned out as accurate as they had been before turning - the same goes for WWII Springfield barrels..... It is amazing how nice a Swede with a turned-down barrel can be!!

Get it turned by a person who has experience doing it. If it goes to hell (unlikely!!), then you can still get a new one of the shape you want. Military 6.5X55mm Mauser barrels are not worth the King's ransom anyway!
Good luck

quote:

Originally posted by El Deguello:
It will NOT induce stresses, but it may release some the barrel already has!! The result would be essentially the same-a warped barrel!

and when done by a real expert,like the old Paul Jaeger outfit in PA, they have invariably turned out as accurate as they had been before turning

Get it turned by a person who has experience doing it. If it goes to hell (unlikely!!)...

It has been my experience that the bore is going to do whatever it wishes, and no amount of expertise has control over that. If you're lucky it will shoot, if not, oh well...

I tried it once.....never again...it was a disaster.....maybe others can do it......I sure can't

Hi: I agree with "Vapodog". I had a rifle that had shot a 5 shot 0.93" group at 300 yards. Very accurate to be sure. The barrel was slightly heavy and the new contour just plain ruined its good accuracy. And I only gained about 1/4 pound in weight reduction.
The newly made Adams & Bennett Barrels from Midway had worked real well for me...and they seem to always have sales. I would leave it alone as is, or get a new barrel. Avoid recontouring.
Best Regards, Tom

According the my Smith's a lathe is the wrong way to recontour a barrel.
We use a jig that is basically 2 live centers mounted on a adjustable metal bar. We then contour the barrel on a Wilton belt sander with the flat plate reversed so the belt can flow with the contours.
I've just in the last week I recontoured my first 2 recontoured barrels using the jig and belt sander and it worked great. One of the barrels I redid had been previously contoured on a lathe and had chatter marks etc.and it cleaned them up quickly and easily. The jig allows the barrel to turn while sanding and leaves them very smooth and round and hopefully with far less stress than having a cutting tool on them.
I haven't reshot the 2 barrels yet to see if my first 2 efforts have changed accuracy or not, but guns from the shop currently hold a world record and a National Championship or two and so I think they might be on the right track. I could be wrong but it seems to me so far to be an excellent way of contouring.
After I get the rifles a little further along I'll try and post some pics of the contours for Critiquing, and I'll see if accuracy is at all affected......................DJ

I could be wrong...but as I understand it, it is the removal of steel that releases built up stress and how the steel is removed is of little importance.

Maybe I'm just dumb and not up to date as I really haven't barreled a rifle in years but when I was almost all the blanks I bought were 1 1/4" staight and HAD to be turned to finished dimensions. In Gunsmith school we had a tracer lathe that put on a really nice reverse curve profile that everyone used. High speed light cut and slow feed with a sharp tool was rule of the day. Hated to turn a barrel cause it was an all day job it seemed.

quote:

Originally posted by zimbabwe:
Maybe I'm just dumb and not up to date as I really haven't barreled a rifle in years but when I was almost all the blanks I bought were 1 1/4" staight and HAD to be turned to finished dimensions. In Gunsmith school we had a tracer lathe that put on a really nice reverse curve profile that everyone used. High speed light cut and slow feed with a sharp tool was rule of the day. Hated to turn a barrel cause it was an all day job it seemed.

There seems to be two different topics going on: 1) Re-countouring a new unfired barrel...2) Re-countouring an old fired barrel.

The first has normally been stress relieved after rifling...the second has had new stress introduced due to firing which may or may not be released by the removal of steel.

Rick, I don't think it's two different topics at all. The rate at which you remove the metal can be critical in how much stress you induce whether it's a new barrel or recontouring a previously fired one................DJ

0.93" at 300 yards has got to be world record-- or damned close! What power was the scope you used?

quote:

Originally posted by djpaintles:
Rick, I don't think it's two different topics at all. The rate at which you remove the metal can be critical in how much stress you induce whether it's a new barrel or recontouring a previously fired one................DJ

I believe you are wrong...but I will leave this to people more qualified than I to determine that.

My understanding is that the removal of steel, which reduces the amount of steel that can “hold back†the release of stress, is what can cause bulging, warping, etc, of the barrel. The process used to thin the steel is of little importance.

Rick,

The way in which material is removed can indeed induce stresses. Often it is caused by not using a spring loaded center. You can use a regular center(s) but you must not have it so tight as to not allow for heat expansion. When the barrel expands as you are making chips it will grow lengthwise too. This can bind the barrel between centers and now you've got stress. I've seen barrels expand enough to stop the lathe.

quote:

Originally posted by Poleax:
Rick,

The way in which material is removed can indeed induce stresses. Often it is caused by not using a spring loaded center. You can use a regular center(s) but you must not have it so tight as to not allow for heat expansion. When the barrel expands as you are making chips it will grow lengthwise too. This can bind the barrel between centers and now you've got stress. I've seen barrels expand enough to stop the lathe.

I don’t disagree with you...but I was referring to “releasing†accumulated stresses already present in the barrel steel by removing material...not “inducing†new stresses through machining.

I believe there is a difference...if I’m incorrect I apologize for my ignorance.

quote:

Snellstrom

Before you set off with this project, you might listed to those who have actually done this, rather than those who have had it done for them by others.

You will have a barrel with a profile just a tad smaller than a #1, very light indeed to expect consistancy. In my experience, thin barrels are more likely to string shots as they heat, no matter how carefully bedded.

Unless you want to set it back a half thread and rechamberd (not a bad idea) you will end up with the set screw hole from the rear site still visible on the top of the barrel.

If you take your time and are careful, you can turn down a military step barrel successfully, but even if you are carfull, you may end up bending the barrel. Even if your barrel is straight, you will not know if the barrel will still shoot until you try it.

If you take the cost of 4 or 5 hours at the lathe plus the return of selling an unaltered barrel, you will have a fair start to a decent hunting barrel.

Guys trying to make a living at this will usually advise against it, they understand the risk of a dissatisfied customer. I have turned plenty of springfield barrels, that is no real problem. As pointed above, stepped barrels are a crapsoot.

Roger

carfull, crapsoot???? man I need a spell check

I had a custom rifle built with a certain weight in mind and the 'smith missed it by a bunch. Shot great but too heavy so we fluted it. Shot the same but still too heavy. Had him turn the barrel dowm until you could barely see the flutes....still shot well under moa and the weight is not right and the rifle balances nicely. The secret(s) are find a 'smith who knows what he's doing, uses good equipment and doesn't try to do it in 5 minutes. Maybe I was lucky but I'd do it again if I had to.