I need info.. help. Thread tightness survey, please post//

Mike

I have one of those big steel Avtion Vices sold by Brownell. You have to make inserts for it to fir particulat barrels,as the hole is a straight 1 3/4.
I have a set of split aluminum sleeves that have a 1 3/4 OD, the ID bored on the same taper as a typical Krieger Barrel. I also place a piece of note pad paper between the barrel and the aluminum sleeve.
I have a rear entry action wrench I machined myself. It is made from a piece of Heat traeted 4140.........jackie
 
Try using the aluminum right on the stainless barrel :) Try it on an old barrel first if it'll make you comfortable.

I was using playing cards, paper bag, saddle leather, rosin, pitch, all sorts of stuff and posted on here about ten yrs ago about "what to use?" and someone came on and said "why use anything? Aluminum can't scratch SS."

They were right. I've even installed a high polish blued CM barrel ten times and don't have a mark on it.


Brownell's has (or used to have anyway) a casting kit for casting barrel bushings from acra-glas. I've never tried them.


To Mike in co,

I assume that you know that a barrel vise is a far cry from a conventional screw vise but I'll post for those reading this for information. A barrel vise doesn't have jaws, it's more like a clamp. The biggest bench vise in the shop won't work well for barrel use :)

Brownell's barrel vise

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=934&title=BARREL+VISE


al
 
mike in co said:
jerry and jackie,

i am assuming you use an action wrench and a bbl vice to tightten with.

what type of vice/jaws do you use to hold for a 100 plus lb torque ?

thanks

mike in co
Click to expand...
I use a standard 4-bolt barrel vise like Kelblys sell along with a Davidson rear entry action wrench. I think the barrel vise may be a Davidson made also??

This type vise has a vee machined in the upper and lower pieces so no bushing is required.

The down side with the bushing type shown at the Brownell link above is that you need a bushing for every different diameter or taper barrel. The up side of the Brownell vise is that it will probably come less near marring a highly polished barrel, if, and only if, the bushings used are properly fitted to that barrel. I do not polish my barrels. Too much other fun stuff to do.

Several people use the 4-bolt Kelbly/Davidson and use a piece of target paper (best) between the vice vees. There is one of these vises bolted to a porch column at Kelblys. It had been there for years and is still in good repair even though it gets used by many many shooters each year..

I also have one of these vises bolted at 30 degrees to a piece of 2X2 steel tubing. This assembly can be inserted into a 2 inch receiver hitch on my motorhome, truck or jeep. Take it to the range, etc.!! Mounting this vice at approximately 30 degrees keeps the stock away from the vehicle bumper.
 
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I use wood bushings and then place a sheet of lead on top of the bushing. I removed a barrel from a Enfield P17 once that took 8 hrs to get it off. It was so tight that I had a 6 ft bar on my homemade action wrench and couldnt get enough grip on the barrel to keep it from spinning. I ended up making 4 barrel vice blocks in a row with wood bushings and lead sheets. I had to heat it with an oxy/acetylene torch to get it broke loose. It did not mar the bluing at all, but I am guessing it had to be torqued to 300+ ft lbs. When I tighten the barrels now, I use a homeade 4140 rear entry action wrench and torque them to 100ft lbs with a torque wrench.
 
I once removed a barrel for a Winchester collector. I did not have a
bushing that would fit. I was really reluctant and believed I would harm the blueing. He assured me that a steel bushing that was bored to a very
good fit would not harm the blueing. I was surprised, he was right.
Aluminun Bushings need no paper, I prefer them over brass.
 
Regarding Barrel threads, Jackie said barrel threads are self aligning. This
is true, when properly cut. They should go together by hand without effort,
all the way to the shoulder. They should take more effort to break them from the shoulder than they did coming together. Many people cut shoulders
with parting tools, and that is a poor idea. I have taken barrels off and found a ribbon of steel between the action and shoulder. A prominent barrel maker
gave me a barrel that was returned from a customer. Customer stated it
would not shoot. The barrel is in my safe, it shoots about .140 avg as
a waldog. It had a small step on the shoulder which , when screwed into a
remington action, interacted with the final thread that emerges. Light
could be seen at one point coming through between barrel and action.
Appears that the shoulder was also cut with a parting tool. A scope base screw that is a few thou long will quickly screw up the self aligning
threads on your barrel, as will a crooked action face. Lots of things get between actions and shoulders. Stock paint, epoxy and dirt.
 
finishing the shoulder

what is the best for finishing the shoulder? Jim Borden "pulls" the final bit of shoulder. turns the lathe on really high speed, puts the feed on very slow, the chip looks like extremely fine steel wool, the shoulder looks like a mirror.'

I would like to know what this tool looks like, or what would work just as well.

My first bench rifle was built by Nelson Berger. once broke loose the barrel was easy to turn, but if you just touched the barrel shoulder to the action, you needed the wrench to break it loose again. Really slick.. I've looked at lots of smith's "shoulders" and have not seen one like this yet.. (Jim's probably do), I come close but am not satisfied..

Kirk
 
Borden's don't need no index marks :D they click shut like a vault door.

And they definitely come off harder than they go on!

al
 
Tell me how to pull the shoulder Jim? or anyone els who knows what the tool looks lik

A number of years ago, i sent a deer rifle repeater i had built on a Bat action to Jim for stocking. (very nice by the way),,, Jim called me andtold me i needed to be "pulling the shoulder"

He told me everything except what the tool looks like.. he was going to send a drawing but i guess he forgot...or maybe decided not to.

Somebody get hold of Jim and have him describe this shoulder pulling tool.

I would like to start using it,

KIrk Ethridge
 
See, this is what I like about the Good Guys....... they got no secrets, they don't hide nuttin'. They'll let you borrow their gun, describe their techniques, they'll show you their tools, they'll grab your arm and pull you into the race............... all's ya' gotta' do is keep up! :D:D:D


therein lies the rub


al
 
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