OK Guys,

The smith misspelled "STEYR" on two of my rifle barrels ... he spelled it "STYER". Is the second time he's done it on one of the rifles. I think he must be dyslexic.

As I cool down a bit I am wondering how to fix this damnedable mess. The rifles are large ring Mausers. The barrels have a nominal shank diameter of 1.150". Can enough be taken off of the shanks to allow remarking without risking the strength of the barrels?

Thanks!

Are the markings stamped or engraved? Is the barrel stainless or carbon, and how is it finished?

Are Douglas #4 profile chrome moly barrels. #4 Taper has a long shank. Markings are stamped.

Polished right now ... to be rust blued.

well if I didn't have sights on it I would have him set it back & rechamber enough to get the old label below the woodline and redo it.

That has been done to one barrel already ... no way to do it again. Same damn misspelling both times.

Would have to rent reamers again ... and I can't afford to waste another $100 into this project.

Can I turn the barrel diameters down just enough to take off the lettering and then have them properly engraved?

Mike,
I believe I once saw a photo of a barrel that had been rebored and the smith had obliterated the original stamp by milling it out and leaving a flat bottomed oval depression. From the photo it was either restamped or a metal tag inserted with the proper designation.

quote:

Originally posted by mstarling:
That has been done to one barrel already ... no way to do it again. Same damn misspelling both times.

Would have to rent reamers again ... and I can't afford to waste another $100 into this project.

Can I turn the barrel diameters down just enough to take off the lettering and then have them properly engraved?

I guess I don't understand why you should have to pay for his mistakes.

quote:

Originally posted by mstarling:
OK Guys,

The smith misspelled "STEYR" on two of my rifle barrels ... he spelled it "STYER". Is the second time he's done it on one of the rifles. I think he must be dyslexic.

As I cool down a bit I am wondering how to fix this damnedable mess. The rifles are large ring Mausers. The barrels have a nominal shank diameter of 1.150". Can enough be taken off of the shanks to allow remarking without risking the strength of the barrels?

Thanks!

With a cylinder of 1.150 and the major thread at 1.100, I don't believe I would recommend turning it down. Nor would I re-index the barrel to place the screwed up stamp out of sight. I would recommend removing the old stamp with a milling cutter, and re-stamping it correctly like it was planned that way. It would be pretty easy to do, but I don't think I would let him do it. I would hand him the bill though.

BTW, I don't believe the $100.00 would be yours to eat. It seems like that would be his portion to consume.

What a bonehead move!

Could welding be a solution?

It's nice of you to hire the (mentally) handicapped.

New barrels; his $.

In my line of work if I fouled up that bad, I'd offer to fix the problem, and not by fudging what was already wrong, meaning I'd replace and eat it, or, if the customer was absolutely done with me, I certainly wouldn't charge him for ruining his property-- to the point of a refund.

I've done stupid shit and it cost me.

quote:

I would recommend removing the old stamp with a milling cutter, and re-stamping it correctly like it was planned that way

My 358Norma was restamped that way. It looks OK.

There's another way with patience. If stamped and not ground off to make flush...the metal is still there!

You'll need a burnisher..(one you put the handle over your shoulder and press like hell)
An old file, ground and polished in a stout handle will do it.

You can move that metal and fill in the stamp...really! or at least enough to require only light polishing/blending

If you only need to have a couple of letters changed take it to an engraver so he can inlay some soft iron wire into the area to cover up the letters. I have done this before and it works well. If you can use the same size stamps it is easy. I have also used an end mill to cut a slot into the barrel and inlay a piece of steel from an old barrel. I used a dental burr to cut a groove around the slot at the bottom so the inlay could be peened into the slot. This repair looks best when blued. Have it engraved and you a good to go.

Is there any reason not solder a decorative or tasteful 'plaque' over the offending stamping and engraving that? Turn the error to advantage, so to speak. (Preferably at his cost).

quote:

Originally posted by 303Guy:
Is there any reason not solder a decorative or tasteful 'plaque' over the offending stamping and engraving that? Turn the error to advantage, so to speak. (Preferably at his cost).

this is the way I'd go for sure!

mstarling,

I have used a hammer and punch to move the metal back into position then smooth it up before restamping.

Headache

The one thing I was wondering. Is the stock already inletted to that barrel's diameter. If you turn it down, and I would not, it woule leave a gap in the inletting.

Jim,

Stock is synthetic ... was intended to be a "practical" rifle. Will certainly have to be rebedded but I expected and can do that.

Others,

Unfortunately, the metal that was displaced during stamping has been removed as the barrel has been polished. Hard to move metal that is no longer there.

At what diameter is one likely to start seeing any bevel on the receiver threads?

quote:

Originally posted by mstarling:
Jim,

Stock is synthetic ... was intended to be a "practical" rifle. Will certainly have to be rebedded but I expected and can do that.

Others,

Unfortunately, the metal that was displaced during stamping has been removed as the barrel has been polished. Hard to move metal that is no longer there.

At what diameter is one likely to start seeing any bevel on the receiver threads?

Pull the barrel and place it between centers. Turn the cylinder portion of the barrel to a distance just beyond the offending stamp and to a diameter of 1.110". This will leave a shoulder on the barrel. We will call this shoulder X.

Cut the cylinder portion off of an old take off barrel leaving it slightly longer than the section you turned down. Set up, square and bore the piece to an I.D. of 1.113. Degrease and apply Loctite 271 to both the barrel and the "sleeve".

Start the sleeve onto the barrel. Advance the sleeve by threading the barrel into the receiver until it makes contact with shoulder X. Remove barrel and mop up excess Loctite.

Light a propane torch and heat the back end of the barrel uniformly until it is uncomfortable to hold on to with your bare hands and let cool. Place the barrel between centers and turn and polish the cylinder to the correct diameter and remount the barrel. Re-mark the barrel with the correct spelling and refinish.

Personally after he did it twice I'd give him a choice, correct the error at his expense or remove the barrel so I could hammer the marks off the barrel shank by beating it against his head...

Have you been able to measure how deep the lettering is, to have an idea how far to go?

One way (albeit primitive but it works surpisingly OK) is to oil the lettering and use a quick set epoxy, hard stuff like JB Quick and not the 5 min stuff in the clear tube, put a dab of it on the end of a dowel and when it starts firming up press it to the lettering. You can examine it under a loupe and compare it against feeler gauges to have an idea of the depth.

I'm hesitant to suggest some never-tried idea seeing as some incredible talents have already been there and done that and posted their methods, but a possible option is to build up the voids by iron plating, then polish down and restamp.

a far simpler way is to turn off just enough material from the shoulder to allow the errant mark to be rotated to the BOTTOM where it is then invisible then remark the barrel.

This will however require you to finish ream the chamber again by the ammout you need to set it back.

But I still recommend flattening the incorrect lettering using the smith's head as a punch

AD

Or oyu cna just turn the shank down, leaving a shoulder with radius right in front of the reciever ring. Like what Malm talked about but without the sweating on of the new piece. Since it is synthetich you can just rebed to fill in th egap.

Lots of old rifles were made that way. The BRNO 21H's that have achieved cult status on this board have the shoulder right in front of the ring PLUS a section where the reduced the diameter and sweated on a on a sleeve. I have made them with the shoulder with a nice radius, then have the shank that radiuses down to the barrel taper. it looks really nice when done correctly. WIll be an easy fix in your glass stock

But if soemone is such a dumbass as to mispell the same word twice, I would be worried about him cocking up the job to repair it.

What has he offered to do for you out of curiousity? I'd think he make it right on his dime and let him sell the barrels he screwed up to somebody else at a discount.

Just tell everyone that asks that it is a custom rifle built by Styer. Simple.

quote:

Just tell everyone that asks that it is a custom rifle built by Styer. Simple.

Being unique, it could become very valuable in time! One of only two.

Dyslexia can be a bit of a handicap , good job he wasn't asked to sign the work!, Wonder if his name was Wally?

I think this is a very viable solution.

quote:

Originally posted by Marc_Stokeld:
Or oyu cna just turn the shank down, leaving a shoulder with radius right in front of the reciever ring. Like what Malm talked about but without the sweating on of the new piece. Since it is synthetich you can just rebed to fill in th egap.

Lots of old rifles were made that way. The BRNO 21H's that have achieved cult status on this board have the shoulder right in front of the ring PLUS a section where the reduced the diameter and sweated on a on a sleeve. I have made them with the shoulder with a nice radius, then have the shank that radiuses down to the barrel taper. it looks really nice when done correctly. WIll be an easy fix in your glass stock

But if soemone is such a dumbass as to mispell the same word twice, I would be worried about him cocking up the job to repair it.

Here is a pic of my alpine rifle with the shank turned as described. I did it to save weight on this rifle and have done it on other rifles where I wanted to reduce weight.

Below it is a BRNO 21H with a sleeve soldered on as Malm described.

needless to say, the jerkoff who screwed up the spelling is responsible for ] all costs of the repairs, including rebedding or whatever.

I must say you have taken this all very well, I'm not sure what I would have done but it would have certainly involved foul language and some form of ironic revenge

Brand the word "steyr" on his forehead in mirror type, give him a small hand mirror, look at him very hard and ask if he gets it this time.


Then name and shame him to the local education board.

If you feel like thumping the jackass i'll help with legal fees .

In all seriousness I hope this gets sorted out.

Regards,

GH

Sorry Marc, my way would have resulted in something more like this, and it wouldn't have been soldered on. It would have been loctited and pressed on.

Guys,

Thanks very, very much for the constructive discussion ... and the humor.

I can assure you it took some time before I was able to be "light hearted" about this silliness. Am afraid I did use some strong language in private Knowing that there is a way to fix this is very helpful.

Thank you all!

quote:

Originally posted by mstarling:
Am afraid I did use some strong language in private

Don't worry about it. I use strong language in public!

solder, LocTite, same result as what is on the 21H shown in the pic. Never claimed how it would be shaped, just was tlaking about the process. When doen properly the joint is very faint and most folks never even notice it. Depends on how savy the observer is.

ETA-for thos enot in the know, the BRNO barrel has a sleeve that was installed the way Malm described. It is the cylindrical part where the rear sight is. BRNO chose to do a decrative radius where it met the barrel. Again, I only described the process of the sleeving and it can be shaped to the owner's liking.

I got the idea to shape the barrel on the green rifle as I did from the BRNO. THe green rifle was just turned with no need to solder (or LocTite) anything on. That is what i was saying would be the easiest way to get the messed up wording off. If you like the full cylinder, then Malm's route is the best way I would know of to save the barrel. Be sure whoever does it knows what they are doing to be sure the joint line is hard to see

I just got an email from Perry Mason. He says Mike is a knifemaker, talks about having rented a reamer. Perry says this may fall into the category of a person walking in to his office saying:"I am here on behalf of a friend who has this problem." Perry says: "Let us quit disparaging this unknown Gunsmith until we know that he actually exists."

quote:

Originally posted by papapaul:
Perry says: "Let us quit disparaging this unknown Gunsmith until we know that he actually exists."

If the gunsmith doesn't exist, how can you disparage someone that doesn't exist?

quote:

Originally posted by papapaul:
"Let us quit disparaging this unknown Gunsmith until we know that he actually exists."

This is where things frequently go off track

the WORK, TWICE was mispelled

There isn't a question of if the gunsmith made a mistake...

Its a question of how to FIX the proken problem

Its addressing reality and behavoirs, not perceptions and emotions...

Your post doesn't help

quote:

Originally posted by papapaul:
I just got an email from Perry Mason. He says Mike is a knifemaker, talks about having rented a reamer. Perry says this may fall into the category of a person walking in to his office saying:"I am here on behalf of a friend who has this problem." Perry says: "Let us quit disparaging this unknown Gunsmith until we know that he actually exists."

Stop introducing unkown unknows into this!

It never helps

Regards,

GH

I just sent Perry Mason a scathing email. He promises not to try to make any jokes from here on out. P.S. You can watch a bunch of old "50s Perry Mason shows for free on Comcast.com. I've been watching one every day while I eat my lunch. It is amazing to watch Perry cut through the BS and get to the obvious truth.