DIY barrel rifling.

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BDK
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Re: DIY barrel rifling.

Post by BDK »

OK, so I had a really screwy dream, about making them from barrel sleeves from titanium 3 gold. Aside from expense, that would also be really dumb, right? I think I printed them somehow...
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HTRN
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Re: DIY barrel rifling.

Post by HTRN »

BDK wrote: Thu Jan 07, 2021 12:00 am Aside from expense, that would also be really dumb, right? I think I printed them somehow...
The big thing that eats barrels is high temperature corrosion - that's why stainless barrels last longer than cromo. Ideally for service life, you'd make a barrel from inconel. In practical terms, barrels don't see signicant erosion/corrosion forces until barrel pressure exceeds 40k psi - it's why rimfire barrels basically last forever.
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Netpackrat
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Re: DIY barrel rifling.

Post by Netpackrat »

The 9mm button I ordered arrived the other day. At some point I may even try to do something with it.
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Combat Controller
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Re: DIY barrel rifling.

Post by Combat Controller »

It's important for Europe as they regulate the pressure vessel vs the receiver like we do.
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Precision
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Re: DIY barrel rifling.

Post by Precision »

I had a thought a while back and can't find a reason not to do this.
why doesn't someone build a rifle with a chamber that is machined from separate metal then screwed into place? or build one the normal way then ream out the area when it gets screwy, thread it and screw in a new chamber. Possibly even of inconel.
Sure it wouldn't make any sense on a cheap ass barrel, but on an expensive precision barrel...
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Netpackrat
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Re: DIY barrel rifling.

Post by Netpackrat »

Precision wrote: Tue Feb 09, 2021 11:47 pm I had a thought a while back and can't find a reason not to do this.
why doesn't someone build a rifle with a chamber that is machined from separate metal then screwed into place? or build one the normal way then ream out the area when it gets screwy, thread it and screw in a new chamber. Possibly even of inconel.
Sure it wouldn't make any sense on a cheap ass barrel, but on an expensive precision barrel...
I think differential rates of thermal expansion of the dissimilar metals at the joint might play hell with such a setup.
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HTRN
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Re: DIY barrel rifling.

Post by HTRN »

Precision wrote: Tue Feb 09, 2021 11:47 pm I had a thought a while back and can't find a reason not to do this.
why doesn't someone build a rifle with a chamber that is machined from separate metal then screwed into place? or build one the normal way then ream out the area when it gets screwy, thread it and screw in a new chamber. Possibly even of inconel.
Sure it wouldn't make any sense on a cheap ass barrel, but on an expensive precision barrel...
Because inconel is a bitch to machine, and for the average gun owner, the rifle barrel lasts basically forever.
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Precision
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Re: DIY barrel rifling.

Post by Precision »

ok so use 4160, same as the barrel.
Lets say you have a barrel in your 6.5x284 which gets 900 rounds before death. Use the original chamber until then, cut a much bigger chamber, thread it and thread in a replacement 4160 chamber or perhaps just the throat leade area. Now you have your same barrel, same length and it is fixed at half the price with out needing to do tons of (20%) of barrel life in load testing to get you back to shooting well.

needless to say only important for competition rigs, not dad's old 30-06, but still a huge market
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Precision
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Re: DIY barrel rifling.

Post by Precision »

perhaps even simpler is to have the first 5" of the barrel be screw on, so the chamber is easily replaced by unscrewing the burnt one and screwing back in a replacement. You would need to use a locking agent to stop creep, but hit it with a torch and unlock the locking agent. thread in the new chamber and away you go. 21" barrel, 5" chamber area and now you have a 26" barrel where the actual barrel is fairly proof against issues and the chamber can be fixed two or three times before the rest of the barrel is iffy.

It would also allow simpler caliber conversions assuming the same bullet diameter.
300 Winmag to 300 PRC for example would just be a chamber replacement, no machining needed.

You could even change the barrel length by having longer chamber blocks 4,6,8"
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HTRN
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Re: DIY barrel rifling.

Post by HTRN »

Precision wrote: Fri Feb 12, 2021 1:40 pm ok so use 4160, same as the barrel.
Lets say you have a barrel in your 6.5x284 which gets 900 rounds before death. Use the original chamber until then, cut a much bigger chamber, thread it and thread in a replacement 4160 chamber or perhaps just the throat leade area. Now you have your same barrel, same length and it is fixed at half the price with out needing to do tons of (20%) of barrel life in load testing to get you back to shooting well.
"Half the price"?! Try again. You're saving maybe 200 bucks, for what is widely known among competition shooters as an ongoing expense. It will also introduce another source of inaccuracy. I would also point out that the chamber isn't the problem, the throat, and the first inch or so of rifling is. How do you propose to get around it without introducing new issues? Those stellite liners for machineguns were shrink fitted into place then chambered and we're non removable.

The best barrel steel for longevity vs machinability is... 416R. Which is what is used today for stainless barrels. They're are better materials from an erosion perspective, but machining them, particularly rifling them, would be a nightmare.
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