cutting off a fowler barrel

[Two Crows]

Forgive me if this has been covered. I did look first. I want to shorten a .62 fowler barrel from 42" to "36.   What's the best way to go about it? 

(don't tell me to cut off 6 inches) 

Thanks

[T*O*F]

What's the best way to go about it? 
(don't tell me to cut off 6 inches)

Gonna be kinda tough if you don't cut off 6 inches.

1.  Take any convenient cutting implement and cut off 6 inches. (hacksaw, lathe, cut-off wheel, etc)
2.  Square the muzzle.
3.  Chamfer the muzzle.

If this scares you, you should probably have someone else do it  It coulda been done in the time it took you to sign on and post your request, but I understand your reticence if it's your first time.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

this makes a good crown.  It is easy to load with .595" ball and .020" patch wet with LV.

[Two Crows]

Well,

I was thinking of using a pipe cutter to get a square line, but I suppose any kind of consistent scale would give me a set of reference marks. 

I hesitate to just flail away with a hacksaw and was looking for CONSTRUCTIVE HELPFUL suggestions, DAVE

[Long John]

Dave,

A tubing cutter tends to swage the tube down to a smaller diameter during the cutting process.  Consequently, if it were my job to do, I would carefully mark the barrel around its entire circumference where I wanted the cut, slide a bore diameter dowel down the bore to where the cut is to be, clamp the portion to be removed in the vice and cut it off with a fine tooth hack saw.  The dowel inside the bore will tend to minimize burr formation but you will still have a burr at the cut.  After cutting you will have to check the cut for squareness with the axix of the bore and carefully file the muzzle end square.  (If the final muzzle is not square the gun will shoot towards the short side).  Carefully ream the cutting and filing burr out with a deburring tool or a ball file.  As Darryl mentioned, most muzzles are crowned a bit to facilitate loading.  A ball file is the ideal tool to use if you don't own a lathe (I don't).  Usually after crowning a barrel I will take some 600 grit paper and fold it into a cone, shove a ball down inside the cone and use the ball to polish the crown until it is glassy smooth.  This really aids in the loading.

Best Regards,

John Cholin

[volatpluvia]

A fine toothed hacksaw will give you a good cut.  It really isn't hard at all.  Having never used a pipe cutter I don't know how much effort and time it would take.  But truing up a fowler barrel with a medium cut large file should not be too difficult.  Even eyeballing a long file will give you a fairly trued muzzle.  You can check it with a square.  Even a tapered barrel can be checked with a bevel square.  Just set it for one side and then check all around.  Once it is the same angle all around it is true.  A one inch thick chamfer bit will give you an inside muzzle that will not cut your patches, or fingers!
volatpluvia

[Ezra]

Gonna be time consuming if you don't want to cut it.  That sort of leaves...filing, lots of filing.  Not that it couldn't be done, mind.  Just taking the long way is all.


Ez

[JTR]

Use the pipe cutter if you're comfortable with it, but only use it to cut a shallow line around the barrel.
This will give you a perfectly square mark in reference to the bore.
Use a hacksaw to cut the barrel off 10/15 thousands from the mark.
Then take your file and carefully file the muzzle down, shortening the barrel, until the mark is gone.
Crown the muzzle as suggested above.
John

[Two Crows]

Thanks, fellas.  I was thinking along the lines of JTR's last comment. To use the pipe cutter to get a good square mark. I appreciate the help.

DB

[TPH]

The pipe cutter should give you a square mark, but is the barrel tapered? If it is will this cause problems with using the pipe cutter? I'm interested in hearing your results, I've often thought of using the pipe cutter to mark a barrel for the cut but have never tried it. Best of luck, DB.

[Dave B]

 The pipe cutter was a good idea but not practical in that with even a slight taper to the barrel it will force the cutting wheel to run down hill as it were. you will end up with what looks like threads. You are better off making a marking gauge that will allow you to make a fine mark all the way around the barrel and proceed with the fine toothed hack saw.

[Acer Saccharum]

On a tapered bbl, the pipe cutter might try to mark a thread instead of a single line.

I would take a piece of masking tape, and square it up by eye, then wrap it around tha barrel. If the ends meet, you're pretty darn square. If not, peel back and try again.

then bring out the hacksaw.

Tom

[rich pierce]

Moost of us want longer barrels.  Maybe send me the extra 6" and I can extend one of mine.   

[JTR]

True, if the barrel is tapered, the pipe cutter thing probably won’t work.
Just use Tom’s idea with the tape.
But hey, to be fair, I think that whoever’s idea he uses should get the extra 6 inches.
I know I could certainly use a little more! 
John

[Acer Saccharum]

Barrel jokes.

Can only lead to no good.

[Acer Saccharum]

If you cut the muzzle at a slight angle, it just changes the point of impact a little bit. I think if it looks square, it is square, or square enough.

Dave will correct me on my conception of perception of square-ish. It is just a matter of time.

[northmn]

Like some of you others, I have used a hacksaw and square to cut off barrels with no problem.  What looked square enough was.  This is one of those simple processes taht one can overcomplicate.  Like crowning.  I used to have very good luck with a grinder fit in my Dremmel and then polished a little.  These were rifles, a smoothbore is less fussy.  If it does shoot off a little a file can fix it.

DP

[Dave Faletti]

Measure down from the muzzle and scribe a reference line.
Cut with the hacksaw down a little from the line.
True up with a fine single cut file.
Even with a minor taper a  square will tell you if its true just check around the muzzle.  If you have a taper it should show the same slight gap.
Use a chamfer tool and polish.
Thin wall barrels are fairly easy to do really. If you are not looking for an exact length you can cut it a little long and give it a go.  Once you have cut it to approximate length you can do several tries at truing and crowning it without shortning it by more than a quarter inch or so.

[Acer Saccharum]

practice on a piece of water pipe if you're nervous.

Acer

[Two Crows]

All joking aside, the barrel in question is quite hefty and I think it will balance better for me at 36".    Thanks, guys.