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Author Topic: barrel contouring?  (Read 2776 times)

Offline LH

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barrel contouring?
« on: April 28, 2013, 04:01:15 PM »
I'm wondering about re-contouring a barrel.  A friend of mine took a 15/16" octagon and turned the front half of it round from the nose cap (half stock rifle) to the muzzle and didn't see any change in accuracy or any problems, but some of the guys I've talked to seem to think there might be a stress issue in doing that to a barrel. My thinking is that as long as you don't bend it or get it so hot in milling that it is bent due to tool deflection,  it ought to be ok. I'm thinking of milling an "C" weight swamped to straight 13/16" from the muzzle back to about half way to lighten it.  How do the manufacturers contour barrels? Anything I should "not"  do while milling it?     
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Offline Mike Brooks

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Re: barrel contouring?
« Reply #1 on: April 28, 2013, 05:48:19 PM »
It would be an incredibly ugly barrel, other than that it would probably be fine. Why do you want to do this? Certainly not because of weight. C weight barrels aren't heavy.
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Offline smylee grouch

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Re: barrel contouring?
« Reply #2 on: April 28, 2013, 05:53:23 PM »
LH, I have done that and ended up with a lighter weight barrel that shot ok but like Mike said, it is ugly and when you put a rib on the bottom of the tappered round front, the ramrod goes too deep (is alinged at the wrong angle to the hole ).
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Offline LH

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Re: barrel contouring?
« Reply #3 on: April 28, 2013, 08:52:21 PM »
This gun is already buttugly in the eyes of a traditionalist,  I'm not after tradition or pretty,  I'm wanting to lighten the muzzle end without giving up sight radius.  Its a C weight .40 caliber and it is pretty heavy.  At least to me it is.  It is strictly a target rifle and does not carry a loading rod. The sights are adjustable rear and Lyman 20mjt front.  By the rules,  its got the provision for accepting a rod (an entry pipe and a thimble near the muzzle but no rib).  I jumped the gun when I built it and used a barrel I could get "right now" instead of waiting 3 or 4 months on what I really wanted.  Its been a learning experience.   
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Offline LH

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Re: barrel contouring?
« Reply #4 on: April 29, 2013, 05:17:51 PM »
Ok,   I milled it and shot it and it seems like (based on one short session at the bench)  that it probably didn't have an effect on accuracy.  I had a separate issue that confused me at first but it appears that the accuracy is intact.  It certainly does not look like anything Davy Crocket would have had,  but it handles a lot better for me now. 
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