Rifling bench

[DuncanvonYeast]

I understand the process of rifling and kinda understand how to do it, but how does one make or find a tube with the grooves of proper twist to turn the reamer rifling the barrel? And how does one decide to change the twist of the tube to maybe get a faster or slower twist? Do they make a new bench or grooved
Tube? And finally how does one get/make and grooved tube for gain twist rifling?   
 

Thank you

[Joe Stein]

Here are two good websites to get you started:

http://toadhallrifleshop.com/

http://www.hootalrifleshop.org/index.htm

[James Wilson Everett]

Guys,

Here is the rifle bench that I have used since the 1970's.  The cam is ash wood about 3.5 inches diameter X 4 ft long.  The cam has seven grooves X 1/56 twist.  The grooves were laid out mathematically and cut with a chlsel.  Really no short-cuts in making this thing.  I cannot imagine making another just to get a different twist!





Here is a rifling machine from the mid-19th century used at Ligonier Pa by the Fry brothers.  It uses a large caliber rifle barrel for the guide.  The barrel/guide is rotated to move the cutter head from one groove to another.  With this machine you still cannot change the twist, but you can change the number of grooves cut.  With this machine you can cut 6 - 7 - 8 groove barrels.





Here is a very similar tool that was used in Somerset County Pa in the 19th Century by the Border - Dunmeyer - Knupp gunsmiths





A rifling bench in the 19th century style surely would be a lot easier to make than the 18th Century style.  Let me know if you wish more photos of these benches, or if you wish to inspect the actual tools.

Jim

[David Rase]

Here are two good websites to get you started:

http://toadhallrifleshop.com/

http://www.hootalrifleshop.org/index.htm

I agree on using Steve Bookout's reference material if you are going to build a rifling bench. I purchased 2 other rifling books prior to Steve's.  Steve's book was the only one that was written in laymen's terms that I really understood.  I built my rifling machine using the Toadhall rifleshop instructions.  Would I make some modifications if I were to build another one, of course, but what I have definitely works.
David

[Daryl]

VERY Impressive, David!

[L. Akers]

I made a sine-bar rifling machine that uses an adjustable sine-bar and a rack and pinion gear.  I can do twists from straight to 1 turn in 24".  My machine is made to cut 8 grooves but there is a way to index off the rack gear to cut various numbers of grooves.  I can also cut a gain twist by changing an adapter on the end of the rack gear to follow a parabolic groove in a piece of plywood.  The gain twist is not adjustable.

[David Rase]

I made a sine-bar rifling machine that uses an adjustable sine-bar and a rack and pinion gear.  I can do twists from straight to 1 turn in 24".  My machine is made to cut 8 grooves but there is a way to index off the rack gear to cut various numbers of grooves.  I can also cut a gain twist by changing an adapter on the end of the rack gear to follow a parabolic groove in a piece of plywood.  The gain twist is not adjustable.

I was given a sine-bar rifling machine with .36, .40,.45 an .50 caliber rifling heads this past spring.  It can rifle up to 46" long barrels.  A friend of mine inherited it from her father.  She was going to scrap it out if no one wanted it.  I could not pass it up.  Currently it just takes up space in my shop.  I figured it might come in handy to fresh an old barrel out some day.  I will see how long I can continue to walk around it. 
David

[bob in the woods]

As mentioned in a prior post, my "rifling bench" consists of two pieces of angle iron and a length of key stock , along with some blocks and clamps.  You can only do one groove at a time , since you rotate and reclamp the barrel, but it works.