Need help with a barrel

[tlivin]

I have a barrel that I want to cut into pistol barrels. How do I go about reaming the barrel for the breech plug, do I take it to a machine shop or is there a tool I can make or buy. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Dave B]

tlivin,
You should have some one who has the right equipment do this part of the program. I have attempted using a hand drill with one of those step down shanks so you can use a 3/8" cuck and drilled a  larger than bore hole to run a tap in. Well it sort of worked but the plug was not snug till the last couple of turns. You really need a lathe to do these properly. Its money well spent to have a machine shop drill and tap the breachs for you. You can hand fit the plugs your self if you have skill with a file and some Prussian blue. You will be much safer in the end with a well formed breach thread.

[P.W.Berkuta]

Please don't do this unless you have the proper equipment. You may kill yourself or injure others when/if you shoot it. Sell the rifle barrel and buy a pistol barrel or two. The rate of twist in a rifle barrel is slower than the twist in a pistol barrel -- unless it is a smooth bore. Yes - you can do it IF you are well versed in using tools and are knowledgeable on threading and thread fit. You may also have a poor fit and blow that breach plug through your head or others. Be safe - buy a pistol barrel - sorry to be blunt - 

[T*O*F]

do I take it to a machine shop or is there a tool I can make or buy.

Contrary to those opinions offered so far, yes you can do it.  However, it depends entirely on what you already own and what you have to buy and then decide if it's economically feasible for you.  You will need the following:
1. A large drill press with at least two feet of clearance, variable speed, and a 1/2" chuck.  It must have a table that can be rotated both vertically and horizontally.
2. A drill press vise.
3. Silver and Deming drills of the appropriate size for the hole you are going to thread.
4. Drill bits of the same bore size as your barrel.
5. Plug and bottoming taps appropriate to your breechplug threads.  Taps are available in different clearance tolerances.  You need the ones that give the tightest tolerances, not those sold in hardware stores.

Big expense so far....let me know if you are prepared to go further and I'll continue.

Also, unless you have a friend with a lathe, having a machinist do it may not be cost effective either.  I just paid a gunsmith $90 to breech a target barrel for me.

[Dphariss]

Its not rocket science and can be done with a drill press and hand tools. But a lathe sure is nice.
You can drill the barrels on a drill press if you have one with a vise and are careful. Clamp the barrel as close to the end the drill will enter as possible.
If doing it this way I would buy a drill smaller than the tap drill size by about 1/16 then buy a chucking reamer about .020 under tap drill sized from MSC. This will give closer to 100% thread depth.
I would buy 2 H1 taps from MSC. Both bottoming. Grind one to cut full depth threads and use the as purchases as a start tap. Use a good tapping oil such as the Castrol Moly bearing tapping oil that MSC sells.
Thread depth should be no more than a little over 5/8 and no less than 1/2".
If you are doing 50 caliber or smaller a 5/8 tap (for 50) or even a 9/16 is OK.
11/16 is good for 54 even with 15/16 barrels. I would not use 3/4 in a 15/16 barrel.
Reaming the hole will give a sharper shoulder at the end of the bore than drilling will but run the reamer very SLOW 100 rpm is plenty fast less OK.
You could have them set up and bored using a lathe and boring bar if you have a friend with a lathe.
This is how I do them and have a 54 barrel in the lathe right now that I will cut off and bore in the AM for a 3/4 x16.
H1 taps are tighter tolerance and will give a better thread fit than the typical H3 or larger taps sold in hardware and auto parts stores. The US made taps from MSC, when available in the size needed, are also sharper etc in most cases.
I would prefer to make pistol barrels from rifle barrels in most cases, under .50 I am not sure its important. For hunting heavy charges are nice and I don't know how much powder a 22" will shoot in the larger bore sizes like 54-58. The only 54s 22" twist I ever used were in 6" belt pistols and I only used 45 grains in these.

This is a set of 3/4x16 taps. The short one has been in use for quite some time and has had several session of being ground back over the years.

This is tapped deeper than 5/8 but it was a rebarrel and done this way for a reason. But basically the tapped hole should look like this when ready for the plug. Plug should seat at the shoulder.

Dan

[tlivin]

Thanks everyone for the information. I will either have this done by a machinist as Iam not set up with the proper equipment or maybe buy pistol barrels. Iam new to building long rifles so this information is a great help to show me how others do projects or don't do projects. This is barrel came off my first muzzleloader, I got a homemade breech scraper stuck and it would not come out no matter what I tried, I wanted to do as much of the pistols myself but I need to be aware of my limitations. Thanks again everyone. tlivin

[Dphariss]

Thanks everyone for the information. I will either have this done by a machinist as Iam not set up with the proper equipment or maybe buy pistol barrels. Iam new to building long rifles so this information is a great help to show me how others do projects or don't do projects. This is barrel came off my first muzzleloader, I got a homemade breech scraper stuck and it would not come out no matter what I tried, I wanted to do as much of the pistols myself but I need to be aware of my limitations. Thanks again everyone. tlivin

Since you are new buy some barrels. GM barrels are reasonable and top quality.
If you need to trim to lenght you can use the stubs as breeching practice if you like.
If you intend to make MLs this is something that is good to know.
Fitting breechplugs to a threaded barrel is simple and can be done properly with a mill file and a felt tip marker.

Dan

[Dale Halterman]

I have one or two GM pistol barrels left over from a lot I bought a few years ago. If you are interested, send me a pm.

Dale H

[J.D.]

Iam new to building long rifles so this information is a great help to show me how others do projects or don't do projects.

I assume that you want to build a pistol for your first project. I strongly suggest buying or renting the Miller or Turpin DVD on building pistols, as a supplement to the information supplied in the building books.

I haven't seen the Miller vid, but Turpin's in pretty good. LOP is more critical in a pistol than rifle, BTW, as is the proper location of the barrel and lock in relation to the grip. Turpin's vid shows how to lay it all out and get the grip dimensions right.

God bless

[tlivin]

I have the Turpin dvd. The barrel I have may end up as a pipe tomahawk or two or I'll use to pratice skills like cutting dovetails for sights. Thanks everyone