I just bought a Grizzly 12x36 and have never done this before. Any good starter projects for a nube.
Gunsmithing New to Gunsmithing
- Thread starter rigmaster10
- Start date
I want to pick up a G4003 to build some simple shit- basic rebarrels to start learning- but cannot find a metalworking/machining class at the local Comm. College. I just can't see this as a "self-taught" endeavor....
Do you have any machining experience outside of gunsmithing?
Do you have any machining experience outside of gunsmithing?
Call up some of the gunsmiths on this site like GAP, etc and see if they have some take off barrels to sell and play around with those. What I also did was buy a cheap barrel blank from Midway and practiced chambering etc on that. A long one can be chambered 3 or 4 times before its too short to fit in the headstock. Also I got a scrap 1.250 round stock to practice threading. Also have the Grizzly 4003.
Thanks for the help guys that what I was thinking practice on junk first. Also have any of you guys heard of those engine kits for starting machinist. They are pieces of stock that you machine to spec and makes a small engine.
When I got my machines the first thing I did was start to make the tools, jigs, fixtures, vises, mandrels and gizmos I would need. A barrel vise and action wrench are great projects to get familiar with your equipment. Then you can whip up an action truing fixture and so on.
I have to agree with Colchester. Ive learned more about my machines and their capabilities and functions by making all of my own tooling than I could ever have gained from reading a book or online.
How much experience do you already have running a lathe? If you've already spent some time during basic setup/measurement/turning/facing/boring/threading, then you may not have much of a learning curve when it comes to basic gunsmithing.
If you do not have much experience running a lathe, find someone that knows how and have them show you. The basic operation is not all that difficult, but an experienced teacher is necessary to avoid costly and/or very dangerous mistakes. It's one thing to screw up a part while learning; it's quite another to wreck a machine or lose a limb.
colchester's suggestion of making fixtures is an excellent one. I've found practice to be far more productive and rewarding when it has meaning.
The Hinnant book is excellent. I would also recommend the two "Gunsmith Machinist" books by Steve Ackers.
If you do not have much experience running a lathe, find someone that knows how and have them show you. The basic operation is not all that difficult, but an experienced teacher is necessary to avoid costly and/or very dangerous mistakes. It's one thing to screw up a part while learning; it's quite another to wreck a machine or lose a limb.
colchester's suggestion of making fixtures is an excellent one. I've found practice to be far more productive and rewarding when it has meaning.
The Hinnant book is excellent. I would also recommend the two "Gunsmith Machinist" books by Steve Ackers.
Check out youtube. Lots of great stuff to getyou thinking. Practice threading on PVC pipe. Cheaper than steel. Check out Tublecain videos or just look for barrel chambering, etc. The Hinnant book is another thing you can't be without.
Chris
Chris
STR on the hide has several great videos on youtube. You should search chambering a barrel or blueprinting a rem 700. He has several videos under suar08161991. While some of these aren't for a novice, watching them will give you some insight into the procedures of building a rifle.
Thanks again. And im looking for take off barrels. 6.5, 7mm, 30, 338, 375. I figure ill start threading and chambering on those.
I agree about practice.
I started with cutting threads on plastic tubing, moved up to Aluminum, then steel pipe, then cheap old sewer pipe bore military take off barrels,...... Before I ever put a Krieger in my lathe and made mistakes on it.
Watching a two minute video of me talking while cutting threads on a barrel will not really teach you how to do it. But it will give an over view of what you are going to learn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-JhnjgtxQw
I started with cutting threads on plastic tubing, moved up to Aluminum, then steel pipe, then cheap old sewer pipe bore military take off barrels,...... Before I ever put a Krieger in my lathe and made mistakes on it.
Watching a two minute video of me talking while cutting threads on a barrel will not really teach you how to do it. But it will give an over view of what you are going to learn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-JhnjgtxQw
Chambering a rifle barrel is super simple. I chambered my first barrel two weeks after buying my first lathe. I never ran one ever, before i bought one. Get some cold roll and make some chips!! You tube is your friend!! lee
Yeah go big or go home. Thats what my gunsmith at home always teased me about. So naturally my first had to be memorable. I put some photos up tonight.
30" Broughton barrel. CNC blueprinted Remington 700 action. XLR Evolution Tactical chassis. 5 rd Lapua cip mags. Timney trigger. And a Nightforce scope
Is it just me or is the muzzle brake upside down lol? Looks great, how does the improved case feed?
Steve
Steve
It can be done with some time and patience. I had no clue how to run a lathe when I got mine years ago. Within a couple weeks of getting all my tooling I had put together my first rifle. 300 WSM on Howa action blue printed with a Shilen CM barrel, shot great and put some meat in the freezer. Havent stopped rolling since then, most of my free time is spent in front of my lathe and applying cerakote.
Kc
Kc
Had some feeding issue. But we milled the front rib out of the mag and tweaked it a bit. Now it feeds ok. Still needs some polishing on the m16 extractor. Its very tight.
... yeah, while Jennifer Love Hewitt records it to video.
So, it sure looks nice - how does it shoot? And what was involved in the action "CNC blueprinting"?
The action was CNC blueprinted. Threads, face, scope base holes, recoil lugs. Pretty much everything is trued up to bore centerline. Chad Dixson of Long Rifles, Inc. did that work for me. He does group buys on here. It shoots 1/4 moa when im driving it right
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