Author Topic: Building your own inline barrel  (Read 730 times)

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Offline Forestclimber

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Building your own inline barrel
« on: February 13, 2011, 10:13:41 AM »
How difficult/expensive would it be for an experienced machinist to duplicate an inline barrel if they started with a rifled barrel?

Offline swampgeek

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Re: Building your own inline barrel
« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2011, 03:09:10 AM »
Depends on how well you know the machinist. If you dont know him/her very well it will probably cost you hundreds, you could probably buy a new gun for the price of having a new barrel machined.

On the other hand if you know someone and can supply most of the material it may be cost effective but you do have  some safety concerns to think about. What type of blank or barrel are you starting with, is it of sufficient quality and material to withstand machining AND the pressures produced in a modern muzzleloader. There is alot of if's and but's. Custom work is usually quite pricey although the results can be spectacular if you have a machinist that is experienced with firearms or go to a gunsmith that does alot of custom work.

The key here is experience with firearms if price is not an object, making a gun barrel seems fairly straight forward for a good machinist, making a barrel that shoots well is an art. And there is still that safety concern to consider, all credible mfg's submit their barrels for independent testing and certification. They are generally designed to fail well above the maximum pressures produced by the  largest powder loads that they specify. If you are not careful you could end up with an expensive hand grenade. Going forward just proceed with caution and common sense. Remember it is your face and hands at risk if something goes wrong.
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Offline Nobade

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Re: Building your own inline barrel
« Reply #2 on: February 15, 2011, 02:17:18 AM »
This is why there is a trade called gunsmith. They have the tools and experience to do a job like this. A regular machine shop is not going to have a barrel vise, action wrenches, or the knowledge of what exactly is needed to re barrel a action. Now we know that not all gunsmiths are willing to do a job out of their regular line of business, but there are some out there that enjoy something different from time to time. If this wasn't the case I wouldn't have a super accurate 35 caliber Remington 700ML to play with. Look around, there are guys who could use the work and are very good at it.
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Offline ohiosam

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Re: Building your own inline barrel
« Reply #3 on: February 16, 2011, 09:41:32 AM »
Depends on what you are talking about. If you mean adding a lug like on an Encore then it's a big deal.  If you mean threading one for breech plug and to screw it into a receiver or a donor stub then a competent machinist should be able to handle it.