Author Topic: How often do used barrels fit without modification? (Read 15385 times)

dross80 · « **on:** December 30, 2009, 07:05:03 AM »

Just curious - is it fairly common for a barrel to fit another rcvr without having to modify?

cwlongshot · « **Reply #1 on:** December 30, 2009, 07:11:58 AM »

When I was buying multi barrels for one receiver. I have four or five that had multi barrels, I was fairly certain to have at least one drop right on. (Now I prefer dedicated receivers.) I would say maybe 50% of the time if I was guessing.

Fitting is easy and outlined in the FAQ's. If your buying one and it doesn't fit, post up, we will help!!

CW

kwells2006 · « **Reply #2 on:** December 30, 2009, 08:07:05 AM »

the last few barrels for me just dropped right in

petemi · « **Reply #3 on:** December 30, 2009, 08:33:35 AM »

I'd hazzard a guess at about 75% to 90% of the time. At least in my experience, but that's having some frames to swap around to see who fits best.

Pete

wreckhog · « **Reply #4 on:** December 30, 2009, 01:55:04 PM »

Depends how picky you are. A lot will lock up but do you care about side to side knocking, ease of release, smoking the shelf and how it shoots?

wreckhog · « **Reply #5 on:** December 30, 2009, 01:57:50 PM »

I have gotten about 12 barrels used. About 9 kinda fit one receiver. Got so I would trade away barrels if they fit that receiver.

cwlongshot · « **Reply #6 on:** December 30, 2009, 02:07:25 PM »

A good example,
Today I received a barrel in the mail. I put it on the receiver and it "fit", but needed some adjustment. After three or four closing/opening operations I could see that the latch was hitting one side more then the other. Closer examination showed that the latch shelf has received a hard bang to one corner. Moving the steel up for about 1/16" area surrounding the impact point. I carefully mounted the barrel in the vise and hit the shelf with a file. CAREFULLY stroking in a even, square pass so as to only remove steel from where it is "proud" of the remainder of the shelf. Once the bluing is evenly removed so the shelf is parallel, level and perfectly flat. I removed, blew off the barrel and again attempted lock-up on the received. It was better, but still needed some more adjustment. This is now done with a soft stone as I do not Ned to remove very much material. All the while taking care to keep that shelf square to the latch itself. Shown by dykem applied to the shelf and opening/closing the gun a couple times. this can also be dome with a sharpie marker.

Now I have a nicely fitting barrel. it closes with a pleasant and solid clunk. This is a good example because yes it did fit, but needed just a bit of fitting to make it perfect.

CW

peternap · « **Reply #7 on:** December 30, 2009, 02:40:04 PM »

Quote from: wreckhog on December 30, 2009, 01:55:04 PM

Depends how picky you are. A lot will lock up but do you care about side to side knocking, ease of release, smoking the shelf and how it shoots?

I agree completely. I don't have as much experience as some of the others here but out of 10 barrels, 1 was what I consider a perfect fit, 2 wouldn't lock up at all and 7 needed some fitting to be where I was happy with them.

Ironically, one that locked up but I did a fair amount of work to, was factory fitted to that frame.

ulav8r · « **Reply #8 on:** January 21, 2010, 11:43:59 AM »

I have a Topper 88 Youth 20 built in 1980, a Target 38-55 that is about 3 years old, and a 20 gauge barrel acquired from E-Bay. Last Sunday I tried the 20 barrel on the Target and the 88. It would not close fully on either one. The barrel from the 88 fit on the Target and locked up tight. I fired one round through it in order to get a stuck shell out of the barrel. A 1 ounce load has plenty of recoil when fired one handed.

Bullshop Junior · « **Reply #9 on:** February 11, 2010, 09:21:56 PM »

I have had 2 Pardner 12ga, 2 Handi SB2 243, 1 Mod #157 30/30, annd one huntsman 58 cal ML. When I had them all at the same time, I tried all of the barrels on one of the 243 receivers, and the 30/30 receiver, and they all fit just fine. I hope the 44 Mag barrel I just ordered fits the one frame that I have left.

nova71 · « **Reply #10 on:** February 14, 2010, 02:12:24 PM »

when trying other barrels on a receiver, what all needs to be checked? I got one yesterday and tried it on my receiver. it fit great, locked up tight, no wobble, opened good and ejected the shell just like my factory barrel. It looked perfect to me.... any thing else I should be aware of?

parson48 · « **Reply #11 on:** December 04, 2010, 06:48:33 AM »

After reading discussions about barrel fitting, I was curious about my 2 Handis, a .44 mag and a .357 reamed to max. So I checked them out a couple of hours ago and either barrel fits on either frame and locks up tight, with no movement.

I could detect no difference in the fit of either.

petvetdoc · « **Reply #12 on:** January 02, 2011, 11:38:43 AM »

Fitting is easy and outlined in the FAQ's.
Can someone post a link to this topic in the FAQ"s for a website challenged fellow such as myself, please?

quickdtoo · « **Reply #13 on:** January 02, 2011, 11:55:41 AM »

Just go to the FAQs and Help sticky which is below this topic in the brown section, scroll down to BARREL FITTING. You can also search for any word in the FAQs, or on any page using the Ctrl f page search option which is explained at the top of the FAQs page.

Tim

http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,82412.msg504758.html#msg504758

tennhillbilly · « **Reply #14 on:** January 21, 2011, 02:47:40 PM »

Will an "ultra" barrel fit a "handi rifle?? Aren't they the same? I have a 22-250 handi. All I can find in a .223 or .308 heavy sre ultras.

quickdtoo · « **Reply #15 on:** January 21, 2011, 06:09:00 PM »

Yes!

Cat Whisperer · « **Reply #16 on:** February 09, 2011, 02:43:36 PM »

I've taken both bbl and action into pawn shops to test on-the-rifle the fit of a barrel or action I wanted.

Often cheaper than a factory barrel.

Trey45 · « **Reply #17 on:** February 12, 2011, 10:11:59 AM »

I have owned an H&R Buffalo Classic 45-70 for quite some time. On another forum a man had a Buffalo Classic 38-55 for sale that came with 2 factory fit extra barrels, 30WCF and 45-70. I bought it. All 3 barrels fit the Buffalo Classic I had, and the barrel to my BC fit the new receiver. That's 100% for me in my limited experience.

As an aside, the 38-55 BC I bought must have been one of the few good ones, no chamber reaming required. I'm sizing my cast bullets to .3805 and loading them in 2.125" Star Line 38-55 brass.

Winter Hawk · « **Reply #18 on:** March 08, 2011, 08:37:00 AM »

Just received a 20 ga barrel from one of the folks here, and it seems to lock up tight, no play, no gaps. It kicks an empty out with no problem. I am happy!

-WH-

ibgp3 · « **Reply #19 on:** September 13, 2011, 03:04:20 AM »

I just bought a used 223 barrel that has had some heavy handed "fitting" work.

Since I wanted to practice fitting, I am not that disappointed, (although the condition was not disclosed before the sale). There is no bluing left on the pivot point, so I suspect that it has been worked on. The latch shelf is no longer flat. The barrel does not latch. The gap between the barrel and the frame looks square, but it is greater than .010

The "brinneling" on the under side of the latch extension is greater than it is on my other barrels.

The face of the underside of the latch shelf is .244 (a). On my other barrels it ranges from .236 to .240

My thinking is that I can square the latch shelf and take it down to where the barrel does latch. Then shim the pivot point to fit.
It seems like the alternative is to use it for a fishing weight, since I wouldn't want to drop it on anyone else.

Comments, cautions, concerns?

Modified Aha!?! It dawned on me that if the under side of the latch shelf is the problem then when I push the barrel back in the action the alignment will get screwed up. So I put in a test shim and held the action closed.

Looks to me like I should start on the under side of the latch shelf. Any expert suggestions?

quickdtoo · « **Reply #20 on:** September 13, 2011, 06:03:59 AM »

The barrel fitting info in the FAQs has a couple fixes for an overworked latch shelf.

There's never any bluing on a fitted barrel pivot, just the hinge pin, the bluing is ground away from the underlug pivot when they fit the barrel at the factory and not reblued. You can get an idea of the wear on a used gun by the bluing wear on the hinge pin and the breech face wear from the ejector/extractor.

Tim

ibgp3 · « **Reply #21 on:** September 13, 2011, 08:43:04 AM »

This drawing by Necchi shows a problem like what I'm having, but...

As I see it, his drawing does not include the shelf where my problem (and his) is occurring.
He isn't getting contact there, and I'm getting it too soon.

If I shim at the pivot pin, my barrel is forced back and up.
As I see it I need to shim at the pivot pin, and take material off of the under side of the latching shelf until I get a squared up fit before I start on the latch.

I apologize for asking again, but I haven't found this problem addressed, except for one comment that if a barrel didn't lock up that it might never fit.

Austin from NC · « **Reply #22 on:** September 13, 2011, 10:39:44 AM »

So your saying it bottoms out before it locks?

ibgp3 · « **Reply #23 on:** September 13, 2011, 10:41:35 PM »

What I'm saying is that as I see it:

Necchi's barrel is bottoming out. It doesn't get to the receiver shelf soon enough, or it doesn't touch the shelf .
Just the right amount of shim will make the barrel face and the receiver match up and the contact shown by the arrow on my drawing won't matter.
The lock up will be:
The receiver against the barrel face
and
The latch against the the latch shelf.

The barrel I'm having trouble with gets to the receiver shelf too soon. If I shim the pivot pin, it hits the shelf sooner, and screws up the alignment..
If I remove material from the underside of the barrel lug where it makes contact with the receiver shelf I can shim the pivot pin and maintain the alignment.If I do it just right I can have a three way lockup:
Barrel face against the receiver,
Latch against the latch shelf,
and
underside of the barrel lug against the receiver shelf.
If I remove a little bit less material the barrel face can be parallel to the receiver but not touching it, and the lockup will be:
Latch against the latch shelf,
and
underside of the barrel lug against the receiver shelf.

My guess would be that the last lockup is the design.
Latch against the latch shelf,

and
underside of the barrel lug against the receiver shelf.

I would not be surprised if the first lockup makes a better shooter.

The receiver against the barrel face
and
The latch against the the latch shelf.

gcrank1 · « **Reply #24 on:** September 14, 2011, 06:58:47 AM »

Be careful you dont 'overthink' this.

ibgp3 · « **Reply #25 on:** September 14, 2011, 07:32:25 AM »

Overthinking it is one of my concerns in fact!!
Of course more likely is that I will underthink it.
The file is sitting next to the barrel instead of scraping metal off because I am hoping for a voice of experience to chime in.
Just by way of explanation, I live most of my days in a very small Motorhome. My ambition is to reproduce the Handi carrier shown here

Only bigger. I am refurbishing an old suitcase with slots for 5 barrels and one reciever.
The plan is to have a one bag arsenal that is suitable for anything from rats to bears.
For this to work I will have to get very good at fitting barrels.

ibgp3 · « **Reply #26 on:** November 04, 2011, 04:45:44 AM »

Not there yet, but this is what's happening, all in an old Halliburton case.
22 Hornet
223
22-250
243
357 (to be max'ed)
45-70

I may send the 223 to be 260'ed.

tobster · « **Reply #27 on:** November 04, 2011, 05:36:55 AM »

My experience is very limited. I had a new 22-250 barrel that didn't fit my .45 Carbine frame( I didn't care but was just curious). I sold it to a friend who also had a Carbine. It fir real tight and after opening and closing it a few times, plus firing a couple rounds it locked up like Fort Knox. No slop, gaps, or any daylight anywhere. FWIW- both Carbines were bought at the same time from the same source so I would guess they would have been manufactured close together.

ibgp3 · « **Reply #28 on:** November 04, 2011, 05:54:55 AM »

I got lucky, and I have 2 receivers made years apart that match.

Jimbo47 · « **Reply #29 on:** November 04, 2011, 06:23:39 AM »

I bought a receiver a few years ago and I've had several used barrels I bought since and only one fit that frame, or I should say came real close to fitting that frame.

I've now got it mated with a .243 ultra barrel with a .004 steel shim and it locks up tight and shoots great, but when I've gotten a new to me barrel I would always try to fit it and never have come close.

I think I know why the guy sold it! It does have a sweet crisp trigger though of about 3#.