Gunsmithing factory barrel

[SilencercoJames]

Is cutting, recrowning and rechambering a factory remington spsv barrel worth the cost? I have a 700 spsv that I feel I can shoot better than now. I want to get the action trued but dont know if i should wait till i have an extra $700 for a new barrel or just have the work listed above done on the factory one. Please help.
thanks

 

[oneeyedmac]

Re: factory barrel

Yes it's probably worth it but it will not perform like a custom hand lapped barrel.

Have a peek at this if you haven't seen it already:

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[SilencercoJames]

Re: factory barrel

I haven't seen that before. Very informative. With the set up I have now I can hold about .75-1 moa. With an action job and the barrel work I have described has anyone else been in this situation and seen gains with out a new match barrel? How about with a new Barrel? I have read a lot and have found some good info but I don't have a lot of money right now and kinda need to take things step by step.
Thanks for the help again.

 

[bohem]

Re: factory barrel

I assume you're reloading for it, if not, that's where you should spend the money right now.

Getting it trued is worthless if you just put the factory barrel back on it.

You don't have to spend 400 on a Krieger barrel and another 300 to get it plumbed, you can get a CM shilen match barrel that will be worlds better than the factory barrel, especially one shown in the video.

The shilen is a debatable point on who says it's better than others, but lots of matches are won every year with them, and I doubt anyone will realistically argue that it's not significantly better than the OEM tube.

I think the Midway price on a Shilen tube is $155 for the everyday customer. If you get a dealer discount they're $125.

 

[SilencercoJames]

Re: factory barrel

Yes i do reload and it sucks to do all of the case prep and spend all that time for a rifle that can only pull off .75moa. It will occasionally shoot .5 in groups at 100 but I would love to be able to do sub .5 all day long.

 

[oneeyedmac]

Re: factory barrel

What stock is the SPS-V in? What optic are you using?

Cutting, recrowning and rechambering the barrel will probably have a positive effect on accuracy. Remnington's factory chambers are pretty loose and a shorter stout barrel tends to be more stiff than a long one so there may be some accuracy gain there. Blueprinting the action can help if you have the barrel cut back and rechambered at the same time. If the bore of the barrel is crap though cutting the barrel back, recrowning, rechambering and blueprinting won't help much.

Let's look at the cost of cutting, rechambering and recrowning, you are probably at somewhere in the neighborhood of $200-$250. A new barrel in the length, contour and with the crown style of you choice from McGowan and short chambered is $300 or so and as mentioned above you can pick up a Shilen short chambered and otherwise ready to spin on from Brownells for $275 or so.

With a decent stock (B&C $200), a blueprinted action ($200 or so) and a new barrel you are at around $700 and shoot .5 MOA. For another $125 put a Timney trigger on it and have some fun. These are all things yo can do progressively, you don't have to dump all the money at once.

 

[SilencercoJames]

Re: factory barrel

It is in a B&C tactical medalist stock. I bedded it in the stock my self with marine-tex and am happy with the stock for now. Midway has Shillen ss barrel for $270 in the rem varmint contour. I know it depends on the smith, but how much on average (if i provide the shillen barrel) does it cost to get the barrel installed? Is it something I can trust to a local smith here in Salt Lake City? Should I send it to a well known shop here on the Hide?
Thanks

 

[SilencercoJames]

Re: factory barrel

Oh for got I have a nikon monarch. (its in the signature)

 

[oneeyedmac]

Re: factory barrel

All that needs to be done is to spin the barrel on and finish chamber it. There is probably a competant guy where you are. The price can vary from $50 to $200 on the very high end. Most shops charge $50 an hour and it shouldn't take more than two hours. If you want a nice tight chamber mention it to the smith and hopefully he'll have a match reamer he can use. It's also a good time to upgrade your recoil lug as the barrel will already be off, although you may have to rebed it if you change the recoil lug.

 

[SilencercoJames]

Re: factory barrel

What is the benefit of a heavier recoil lug? I have never understood it.

 

[TCA4570]

Re: factory barrel

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: .308er</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Is cutting, recrowning and rechambering a factory remington spsv barrel worth the cost? I have a 700 spsv that I feel I can shoot better than now. I want to get the action trued but dont know if i should wait till i have an extra $700 for a new barrel or just have the work listed above done on the factory one. Please help.
thanks </div></div>

If you know it now, the weather is changing.
It's easier to learn what you have, than start over.

 

[oneeyedmac]

Re: factory barrel

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: .308er</div><div class="ubbcode-body">What is the benefit of a heavier recoil lug? I have never understood it. </div></div>

I don't know that there is any benefit from a heavier recoil lug. I don't use heavy recoil lugs much. There is a tremendous benefit to a recoil lug that is ground perfectly flat, like all the other surfaces we true we want it flat and sqaure to the face of the receiver which should be perpendicular to the bore. I prefer parallel recoil lugs too instead of tapered, although I've never seen an itota of evidence that tapered works better than parallel or vice versa.

 

[TCA4570]

Re: factory barrel

I thought I had clamps to show, but they were backwards.
Clamping, or locating should not be an issue.
Do a kiss, and we're good.

 

[SilencercoJames]

Re: factory barrel

WTF? I'm lost on that last one.

 

[Hateca]

Re: factory barrel

How many rounds down your barrel?

Yes factory barrels can benefit from turning back and all that but you need to determine what and when you want to do it. Working on the factory barrel then two months later getting a custom barrel is a waste of money.

I would not even consider the short chambered barrel unless you can do it yourself. For just a little more you can get a custom barrel blank and have the builder chamber it for you.

Installing a short chambered barrel or starting from a blank the builder will in all likely hood charge the same, I do so why not just get the blank?

You don't need an oversize lug if you are shooting .308 or less and using nothing heavier then the varmint contour barrel. Just get a good and flat one or have the factory lug re-ground. If you want a new tapered lug get the Holland, not too thick and it looks good.

If you are shooting hard kicking magnums or using a MTU type contour then the larger lug is beneficial in that it will give a little more support at the barrel/receiver junction.

Take the videos taken with a bore scope with a grain of salt. They will tell you nothing about whether or not a barrel will be accurate or not. I have seen pretty custom barrel shoot like shit and I have seen shit looking factory barrels shoot like a champ. The video is more marketing then knowledge. Unless you know what you are looking at they can cause more harm then good.

Any questions feel free to email.

 

[oneeyedmac]

Re: factory barrel

I agree with everything HateCA says in the above post. He put it better than I did.

 

[bohem]

Re: factory barrel

HateCA put things very well. As to the question about a recoil lug here's an except from this thread that I posted the technical details of HOW it works, not the general BS that flows at a shooting range.

http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthre...rue#Post1192351

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: bohem</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

You have that backwards.

Modulus of Elasticity gives it the deflection "strength" that you're talking about. You want a STIFF lug, not a HARD lug. The E of the material does not change with the heat treat. Non-treated mild 1060 is within 5% of the stiffness of AISI 4340 300M.

You're looking for bending and shear stiffness, not allowable stress level, the thicker one gives you a stiffer lug because of how the moment of inertia works. Given equivalent I's there's virtually no difference between 1060 and 4340 stiffness.

A 3/16" thick vs. 1/4" thick lug gives a 237% increase in I and therefore 237% increase in stiffness.


If you want to talk about total lug package being improved you need a hard lug in the area that it slips over the tenon threads for bearing stress resistance. If you REALLY want the "cat's meow" for a lug, use something like 86xx bearing steel, carburize the 86xx with a thick case so that you have the surface hardness to counteract the bearing stresses and the ductile core with extra thickness so that it's not going to crack from carbon embrittlement.

</div></div>

 

[Lburt]

Re: factory barrel

I had essentially the same question yesterday, got the same logical advice and decided to order a barrel which will probably take 4 months to get here. I will still have my rifle here for deer season and get the work done over the Winter. It's very nice to have people in the know point out the prudent choice as opposed to the emotional choice. Good luck