Barrel Work on a Southbend 9"?

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Phil3
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Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2010 7:33 pm
Location: San Ramon, CA

Barrel Work on a Southbend 9"?

Post by Phil3 »

Very new to machining, but am a firearms enthusiast with questions on gunsmithing capabilities on my Southbend 9A with a 54" long bed (4-1/2 ft.). That is long enough to hold most rifle barrels. I wondered what is possible on this machine with regards to rifle barrels and what equipment is required. I could be looking at crowning, muzzle threading for a muzzle brake, threading of the breech end, contouring the outside of the barrel, and chambering. Barrels could be AR15 and AR10 barrels, as well as bolt action barrels, that may range up to 1.5" in diameter at the breech. I realize it will be a while before I have the skills to do much of this work, but wanted to know what was possible on the lathe I have.

Thank you.

- Phil
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steamin10
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Re: Barrel Work on a Southbend 9"?

Post by steamin10 »

I think you may in trouble for the headstock pass through is only about an inch. I dont know how important that is in long gunwork.
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Phil3
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Re: Barrel Work on a Southbend 9"?

Post by Phil3 »

Perhaps a naive question, but why would the the barrel need to pass through the headstock? The lathe is long enough to support a barrel length I would be working on, if measuring from around near the front of chuck face to tailstock spindle.

- Phil
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ken572
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Re: Barrel Work on a Southbend 9"?

Post by ken572 »

One must remember.
The best learning experiences come
from working with the older Masters.
Ken.
Wayne Shaw
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Re: Barrel Work on a Southbend 9"?

Post by Wayne Shaw »

Phil,

It sounds like you are after doing the required barrel work after buying a rifled blank, not doing the actual rifling.

It sounds like you have plenty of bed length to work with, and the spindle hole isn't large enough to got through it, which leaves you using a steady. I lot of people use a steady for all their barrel work, but I'm not one of them. I have however done it when needed.

A couple things to think about. A steady rides on the outside of the barrel, meaning you will have wear marks after you're done. But to me, the big issue is the OD of a barrel doesn't mean it is concentric with the ID. Drilled barrels are not straight inside. You may end up with a barrel where you make a truing cut for the steady fingers, then find out the bore isn't dialed in.

To get around this, you need to make a sleeve to fit over the barrel, that has two sets of 4 adjusting screws. True the OD of this sleeve for the steady to ride on, but then use the adjusting screws like a 4 jaw chuck to dial in the bore.

I would advise you to buy the barrel blanks contoured the way you want it. Turning the OD of a barrel is not an easy thing to do on a normal lathe. Barrel makers have special followers that keep chatter down. Plus, the top shelf barrel makers will final lap the barrel after it is contoured to ensure the ID is consistent end to end.

Hope this helps some.
Al_Messer
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Re: Barrel Work on a Southbend 9"?

Post by Al_Messer »

I think that your lathe will be more than capable of turning out good work. You ought to see a photo of the lathe that the late Harry Pope used to turn out his masterpieces! It all depends on your ability to control your emotions and NEVER get in a rush to get it done.

Al
Al Messer

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