Cutting a .445 Barrel

[petemi]

Tim, this is mainly a question for you, but I thought to post it here so all of us can benefit from your experience.  I know you cut at least one barrel with a Sawz All.  My Milwaukee is loaded and ready to go.  I'd like to bob the .445 to 16.5.  A couple questions first.  I know you taped the barrel to prevent the saw's foot from dinging the bluing.  What's the best way to square it since the barrel is tapered?  Also, whats the best way to prevent the blade from chattering and chopping up the finish?  I went through the FAQs on hacksaw cutting and crowning, and I think I know how to do the rest.

Thanks,

Pete

[thejanitor]

Hey Pete I know how NOT to get it quite square...    And then how to file and file and file- Brent

[Ten Ring]

Pete tape your barrel to protect it and then take a thin piece of carboard or anything with a good staight edge and wrap it overlapping itself around the barrel. Mark it and the cut slowly.
Jim

[YRUpunting?]

Hey Pete I know how NOT to get it quite square...    And then how to file and file and file- Brent

That's a big reason I've not shortened any.  I figure by the time I get it square it'll be illegal. 

[mitch132]

Harbor Freight Horizontal Band Saw. Cheap and highly useful.

[gcrank1]

Power equipment is fast, but not always (or even rarely) accurate UNLESS in very skilled, experienced hands. Mask off any portion of the barrel you dont want to mess up with something strong enough to not cut through as if planning on it going bad (it 'might', so why not be prepared?).
Whether hand or power saw, use a NEW fine tooth steel cutting blade.
Support work at about waist height ideally in a solid bench vise
Hold the saw very securely
Let the blade do the work
Slow the cut when near the end
Have a cardboard box below the cutoff end to capture it (never can tell when a bit of barrel might come in handy).

[cwlongshot]

TWO things are my favorite Peter!!

Go get two scrap 2x4 blocks. Clamp together and drill a hole slightly smaller than your barrel right at the seam between the two boards. Clamp them around your barrel useing wood as a guide and chop!

Go get a piece of stout angle iron with a square end. Clamp it to the barrel and using it as a guide chop the barrel...

True with a file, crown with valve grinding compound or JB bore paste and go shoot!

CW

[gendoc]

pete, go get you some painters tape and scroll mark your line on tha line towards the chamber end with that tape.
then, go get you a rigid pipe cutter and spin, twist & chop !!!! no marks left on barrel because of tha painters tape.
your cut will be perfect square. all you gotta do then is take out tha bevel cut, which would be part of tha crowning process.
 
my 445SM@ 17" isa hoot !!!!!!
 
 
 

[Dinny]

Pete,
  I just cut my 22" 45-70 barrel down. I started at 18" and after I filed it square (as verified with a pocket framing square), sanded it smooth, and used the carriage bolt for the inner crown, it ended up at 17 3/4". I cleaned up all the scratches, etc with a bluing marker. I even epoxied the front sight back in place to make it look like a Talo Trapper barrel. Since this was my first attempt at shortening a barrel I used the 4" scrap piece of barrel to practice on.

Thanks, Dinny

[petemi]

John, I like your idea using the pipe cutter.  My wife has an unlimited supply of those    That shorty looks familiar.

Pete

[gendoc]

ol'febble minds think alike...............

[petemi]

ol'febble minds think alike...............

Kinda amazin', ain't it?  I'll take ya up on a drop of squeezins an the snipe hunt.  Been there, done that, but it would be a blast with you guys after a nip or two.    I'm sure ya could loose "Yankee Boy" in the Swamp.

Pete

[gendoc]

ol'febble minds think alike...............

Kinda amazin', ain't it?  I'll take ya up on a drop of squeezins an the snipe hunt.  Been there, done that, but it would be a blast with you guys after a nip or two.    I'm sure ya could loose "Yankee Boy" in the Swamp.

Pete

naw, it ain't been that long since you beena flawda resident.... you member how southern hospitality be.........
we will sit rite here with ya take'n snorts and shoot'n tha bull.......... and of course...eat'n choice
we luv our freedom, cuz we faught for it in real times.
yur welcome anatime here
 

[mitchell]

im not a big fan of cutting a barrel with a sack saw or sawsall. if you live anywhere near me i would put it in the lathe and cut it for free for you. and even if you pay someone local to do it to me its better to have a clean crown then to go cheap and mess up a good barrel.

[gendoc]

heck man, we gotta shop fulla them lathes an mills  we talk'n elbow production.
but sometimes you gotta do it proper too..........

[mitchell]

doc you crack me up!! almost makes me miss living in the south

[petemi]

John, Thank you, Brother.  that's real Southern Hospitality.  I need to sit again in the moonlight and listen to the frogs croaking and the gators gruntin...havin' a sip while sittin.  Watch the sun go down, hear the doves cooing.  Swattin a skeeter, scratchin a chigger.  Visitin with friends.  That's about as good a life gets.  Come up when ya can and we'll go out an sit by the beaver pond.  It's almost as magic.

Pete

[quickdtoo]

Pete,

Getting in late on this one, been turkey huntin all day, no birds, but had a close encounter with a bear!      Don't worry about making it perfectly square, the file will clean it up, I've used the 90º facer and the recessed crown cutter as well, they all work just fine. Seems to me Doc or LT has a barrel that was cut at an angle and is unfinished (Profino maybe) that drives tacks. 

Tim

[northkid]

OK, Damit where does one get a reamer for the .445 SM?

[quickdtoo]

OK, Damit where does one get a reamer for the .445 SM?

See the GBO reamer sticky. 

Tim

[petemi]

Tim, the hell with the barrel, tell us about the bear.

Pete

[northkid]

OK, Damit where does one get a reamer for the .445 SM?

See the GBO reamer sticky. 

Tim

Tim,

Thanks I was thinking just the 357 max was there. This damn Doc N petemi are trouble makers around here.

[gendoc]

"quote from northkid..
Tim,

Thanks I was thinking just the 357 max was there. This damn Doc N petemi are trouble makers around here.
 
end his quote "

 
hehehe !!!! shame on us............ .

[petemi]

Yeah, we are troublemakers, but ya gotta understand, we have the time to do it    If'n yer lucky, you'll get to be pest one day too

Pete

[northkid]

I may be a pest one day. But many people tell me today I'm nothing but a pain in the @zz.   
 I know I'm doing something right.

[petemi]

Hey guys and girls....it's done.


It came out perfect.  I used CWs 2x4 blocks drilled with an auger and used as a cutting guide, the Sawzall and a slow, variable 3/8 drill and a fine round stone for the crown.  A couple of patches through it to get rid of the grit and she's ready to shoot.  Running those patches gave that poor gal a lot of trauma.  She didn't mind having her barrel cut, but was sure scared when the patches showed up

She's on the bench ready to sight in.  I put an old Simmons on it for now, and I bobbed the hammer while I was at it.  She's got a new scope, rings and stock coming.

[petemi]

I just took a break from sighting in.  The first shot was only an inch or so right at 25.  I corrected and put the next three touching inside the bull.  This is an older .44 with an oversized bore, and these were shot with this .433 Montana bullet:

http://www.montanabulletworks.com/44_Mag_U99O.html

NEI  (252)

240  (22)

.431 - .433

Semi-Wadcutter - Gas Checked  (HT)

0.335  (0.265)

27.40

132.00

I tried .240 gr. XTPs and they were high and wild.  I also had some loaded with a mystery cast bullet and load, and they were low and wild.

I moved out to 50 yards and the Montanas were right there.  The Yankee Dumbass didn't write down the load or velocity way back when.  I'm gonna have to go back and research it, but this bullet works in the older Handis.  I'm just about out of them and need to get more.

Pete

[tacklebury]

Sounds good Pete.  You might also consider hitting Mountain Molds and designing one just for your needs.    Pretty reasonable at $95 for a 2 cavity brass, then you wouldn't be dependent on a particular manufacturer. 
 
http://www.mountainmolds.com/

[nanuk-O-dah-Nort]

regarding pipecutters, I've been told they will walk due to a tapered barrel.

IS that an issue?

could one build up the diameter with tape on the down side, or a shim so the the cutter sits on a flush surface?

[petemi]

I considered a pipe cutter, hacksaw and the Sawzall.  I didn't think the pipe cutter would work well because of the thickness of the barrel.  If I chose the hacksaw, I'd probably be worn out and still cutting    The sawzall worked well with the wood blocks for a guide and rest for the saw's foot, and going slow keeping a square cut.

Pete