Barrel welding question

[David R. Pennington]

Question for barrel welders. What would be optimum dimensions for barrel skelp? I am thinking about 3 1/2” -4” x 1/2”  x 36”-40”. Getting ready to go through my wrought iron stock and see what I can come up with.

[mark brier]

Depends upon what size barrel you plan on making, both caliber and breech dimensions. The width you describe are good widths, if your making large bores. You sure don't need 4" to make a .50 cal barrel. I usually use 3" width for .54 cal and under. Larger bores need to be wider. When I weld a large bore barrel i.e. 58 and up I use 3 1/2" to 4" wide by 1/2" thick but run larger mandrels. As far as the length for your skelp goes make it 5"-6" shorter than intended barrels length. The barrel will stretch and grow that much during the welding .
Mark Brier

[David R. Pennington]

Thanks!

[Darrin McDonal]

I don't know how you plan on reaming it out once your finished but you sure don't want to go over 1/2" thick. A 36" long skelp could get you a 44" bbl depending on what size mandrels you choose.