Relining a Barrel - Do a Junk Barrel First?

[sign216]

I've a .22 barrel to reline, a Rev-O-Noc falling block. Brownells' instructions (pg. 2) say to do one or two junk barrels first, that it conditions the drill bit for better performance, and it gives you practice for the "real" barrel.

Is that good advice? I'd rather do one-and-done.

 

[StrawHat]

A good machinist should be able to hit it first time. Same for a talented amateur. Are you using a piloted drill bit? That will help a lot. I made my own piloted bit and put an extender on it to allow me to drill full depth.

What are you using to turn the bit? How are you handling the flushing fluid? How often will you clear the chips? What clearance is there between the drilled hole and the liner? You have to know what those answers are to decide if you want the first attempt to be the original barrel.

Is a spare barrel available? I have not heard of that brand.

Good luck!

Kevin

 

[easy]

I did one with a hand drill on the first run. Came out very accurate. Fun project, impressed the owner as well. Drill from both ends, use lots of cutting oil. Go slow take your time.

 

[sign216]

Easy, thanks for the report. A hand drill, eh? I've got a hammer drill that I was going to use by turning off the hammer portion. If a regular hand drill worked well for you, then I should be all set.

 

[velocette]

When I did the barrel of my 1906 Winchester, I used the original bulged and ringed barrel as a test mule with a new Brownells drill bit.
This was done on a friends lath. We experienced with the first bulged barrel, the new sharp drill would dig in and jam even when the feed was very slow as we were watching for just that problem. It actually pulled the bit out of the tailstock chuck. When we had finished practicing with the ringed and bulged barrel we bored out the new (old from ebay) barrel and had no problem with digging in. Use LOTS of cutting oil, withdraw the bit very frequently to clear the chips and take your time. Also remember that the steel used in old rifles, particularly .22s is very soft which also adds to the bit digging in.
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/06-winchester-finished.927956/ and

1906 Winchester resurrection

As noted previously when I asked about a barrel drill, I finally broke down & ordered a nice new one from Brownells. Then I began a closer examination of the barrel in my rifle. It has suffered greatly in its past. Beyond being ringed, it has a section of it's barrel about 1 1/2 inches long...

www.thehighroad.org

Another suggestion is to have the muzzle crown done with a high quality guided tool like:
https://www.midwayusa.com/s?searchTerm=.22+muzzle+crown+tool Or pay a gunsmith to crown the barrel (and chamber it too)
The quality of a rifle's crown has a very large effect on accuracy. Do it once, do it right.

 

[sign216]

Velocette,
Using a lathe is the gold standard. I'm surprised you had problems. Do you think when Easy used a hand drill he didn't jam because the drill had lower strength?

So overall, you suggest going first on a junk barrel, and doing the "real" barrel second.

I've crowned several barrels by hand, using a piloted chamfering cutter from industrial sources, similar to Midway's. Doing it by hand is slow, but reduces catastrophic mistakes.

Joe

 

[jmorris]

Brownells' instructions (pg. 2) say to do one or two junk barrels first....and it gives you practice for the "real" barrel.

Is that good advice? I'd rather do one-and-done.

The fastest race car drivers still qualify before the race. Every golfer at the masters, will make a practice swing before the one that hits the ball. They would probably like less work too but the best results are the priority, to them.

What is the deepest hole you have ever drilled in steel?

On a scale of 1-10 how important are the results of this job to you?

 

[Telekinesis]

The first time you do ANYTHING is going to be a learning experience (especially with machining). I can’t look back on anything I’ve made in the past and honestly say that the first time I attempted a new technique it came out just as good as the second and third attempt.

Especially if you’re using a handheld drill and not something rigid like a lathe, I would absolutely recommend a practice run on something you don’t care about.

 

[sign216]

Wow, a tough crowd. Okay, I'll do a practice barrel first, you bunch of kill-joys. (joking)

 

[Odd Job]

Let us know how it goes, with pics also if you can!

 

[sign216]

Odd Job, I will, but now I have to find a .22 with a bad barrel. One that is cheap, but still worth the effort. Ironically, the orig. rifle, a Rev-O-Noc falling block I scored on GB for $125. I thought it was a deal. Who knows?