I once did a Douglas premium in half and half on an old 1885 hi wall 32-40. Darn thing stress relieved while machining (and I was using flood coolant) to the point it didn't shoot worth a darn. Wound up having to straighten it on an arbor press. I have cut a lot of barrels and most of them worked out well except for this one. Barrels can do weird things sometimes when you remove that much material.
I've experienced the same thing with a Douglas barrel as well. I've never had an issue with Krieger barrels though. I believe it has something to do with the cryo treatment they use
Thank you. You're right, I should have worn safety glasses especially in the video. The reason I wasn't in this operation was because the tool was running at such a low RPM (around 200) that the chips were simply falling below the tool. It's no excuse though, and I'll make sure to have them on in future videos.
Grumpy Old Man with a Challenge. A file cuts in one direction only... In Draw Filing hold the Tang in your Right Hand and push away from your body.... Observe the Chips. Now still with the Tang in your Right Hand Pull towards your body..... Observe the Chips. Now Switch the Tang to your Left Hand and Push Away from your body.... Observe the Chips. Now with the Tang still in your Left Hand Pull towards your body.... Observe the Chips! A file cuts in One Direction Only. Got my Arse Chewed when I started in a Job Shop by an Old Machinist who had Forgotten more than I could ever know. Teach your children well. 😎✌️🥰
Devil's advocate: why not mill the blank with the milling vise offset by however many degrees, instead of turning down and profiling the blank? Beautiful work, regardless of how the result is achieved.
Beautiful. My dream gun is a half octagon 1873. I’ve read that octagon barrels were easier to manufacture in the 19th century but, with modern tooling, round barrels are by far easier to make today, and therefore cheaper. I don’t know if that is true, but I found the rational behind it interesting.
I'm not an expert on historical rifles, but from my understanding is they were easier to make by hand. The forging process created a somewhat octagon shape, and without a lathe it would have been easier to create the flats than turn it round.
Beautifully done good sir. The design vibe is so Black Forrest. Will there be any inlay work on the barrel flats? Also, what caliber is this 7X57 Mauser maybe?
@@mnrcustomllc8253 excellent, I like the .375 Ruger. One gets the bigger bang in a standard length non-belted casing. And perhaps the caliber engraved into the upper flat then gold inlayed?
@@mnrcustomllc8253 thank you for saying so. I've often admired the elegant script engraving used on high British Bond street rifles. Tastefully appointed, not garish.
5:49 “I call for a drug test” ahhh I miss him so much 🇺🇸 Great work on this barrel, I’ve always wondered how these were made. I can’t imagine Winchester doing all these steps back in the day for production, but then again, labor was cheap in those days. How much does a lathe like that cost? Thanks for the video 👍🏻👍🏻
I just listened to that and got a bit nostalgic myself :) Thank you! Winchester would have had a more efficient method. Probably a horizontal mill that would cut on two sides of the barrel at one time. When I purchased the lathe I believe it was around $5k. I looked the other day and it's closer to $7k for the same model.
I've had problems in the past with different barrel makes, however I've been using Krieger barrels lately and they've worked very well for this type of work. I believe it has something to do with their cryo treatment of their barrels.
What I don’t understand is that you were careful to not over heat barrel when machining then you then you later heat it up glowing red with the blow torch? Why?. Also do you buy them with the barrel already bored? What material are they?
The reason you don't want to heat up the barrel during machining is to avoid warping it. Glowing red? That happens at around 900 degrees. The solder used was low temp that melts at 475 degrees which won't harm the barrel. Yes, the barrel is already bored and rifled. This one was chrome moly (4140).
I still have a Kropatschek that needs a new barrel.. Octagonal barrel. How long of a milling machine do you have? I bet you need a really long one to get this sort of job done. I thought about building a rig for the tool post, to fit a milling/ grinding tool. So every thing can be done on a lathe. Your results look pretty good! Greetings, Jeff
So cool. Are you going to remove the step where the octagon joins the round? My Simson is so cool with full length rib. Wish you great success in making such barrels
