Gentlemen

I managed to pick up this barrel from a local Gunsmith in OZ for a VERY good price. He tells me it's never been fired (looks new inside) and was removed because it was too big a barrel. It has a simple bluing on the outside to stop rust

It's chambered in 416 Taylor and would make a great barrel for a new 416 Wildcat, I already own a TAYLOR

Here's some PICS



The problem is its a 24 inch barrel, at least a number six profile in straight taper with a long parallel shank of about 8 to 10 inches and the rest is Hexed, it weighs a tonne

The smith tells me it's a MONTANA barrel off a MONTANA action......who knows.

In any case can I get it turned down to a no 4 basic profile or will it damage the barrel

regards
S&F

Don't see why not. Some say it adds stress. I've had two factory magnum barrels turned lighter with no problem.

an AB barrel would be cheaper .. at least here.

Sure, turn off the octagon till round, and shotern the shank. thread should be the same a m70/ruger.

the lathe monkey has to go slow.. oh, i am not much concerned about the heat, though you need to worry about that.. rather keep the bore in the center of the barrel!

I would consider it a Mortal Sin to grind off the octagon part of the barrel....

Don

I had I T & D turn several down for me with good results.

Chuck Grace turned a Krieger blank down by over half for my 300 H&H and it will shoot .4 every time with IMR 4350 and a 180 gr BT.. This was the first load right out of the box and the OAL is limited to the magazine length. I only use cut rifled tubes and if the smith knows what he or she is doing AND it is a good blank that has been properly stress relieved it should be no problem. Building a couple more right now with the first being a 280 AI that I have high hopes for..

The fear I have is that a barrel not perfectly stress relieved will warp when turned down.

Ever seen those pictures of the guy at Savage who's job it is to straighten barrels?

I have an F14 taper A&B barre that arrived 0.5" out of straight.

What does it all mean?
Of course you can turn down barrels, I am just afraid to do it.

I had a bull barrel fluted, knocked the weight down some. But it wasn't an octagon.

Most barrels can be turned down .Being it is a octagon this a much tuffer deal .I would re think this one.

Turning the corners off that fatso is no big deal. Chuck it about half way down and turn a steady rest pad. While you are at it use a taper attachment to turn most of the material off the muzzle end half leaving some to clean up say .100 if you have it. Pull it out of the chuck and turn the rest of it one of two ways. 1. Reverse the barrel and the angle on the taper attachment and rough taper the big end. 2. Or put the steady rest on it and start turning. Minimize the depth of cut, use a zero tool nose radius hand grind if you have to. Use and extremely deep chip breaker and hone the tool razor sharp. Such a tool puts little force against the barrel and almost sucks its way through the metal. When you get through look through it for any crookedness. It may already have a bit anyway. Mark the crook so you can turn it to point up when the barrel is installed. If all is well any weirdness in the POI will just be canceled by gravity.

It helps to have a big heavy lathe and some patience. There is a possibility that the interrupted cut may stress relieve the barrel by the vibration.
In a production process you just cut deep enough to take the corners off plus a bit more on the first pass. Then you get no interrupted cut.
You got it. You either use it as is or cut it down.

I think you may have just made my point .What is the cost of this work vs, a new barrel.

quote:

Originally posted by rocket56:
I think you may have just made my point .What is the cost of this work vs, a new barrel.

If you have your own lathe it is not much of a job. A gunsmith may not be set up with a lathe that can do this. For those that do have such a lathe it is no big deal. Just another hour in the shop.

In fact, it is no big deal anyway. The Montana barrels do seem to be properly stress relieved and turn nicely. Probably an hour and a half plus rebluing. Regards, Bill.