how is rifling cut in rifle barrels
- Thread starter salt
- Start date
- Location
- Hillbilly shack in the boonies
Ever see a drill rig for oil, lay it on its side, same thing 
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
not all are cut, some are hammered.
No, not THAT kind of hammered
No, not THAT kind of hammered
Imagine a little hooked scraper that would shave a thousands of an inch or so at a time. It is adjustable and is designed so it will not cut past what it is set for.... at least that is what I remember from a barrel I made in a shop 40 years ago...
Not all barrels are cut rifling... some are button rifled where a very hard button with the shape of the rifling in it is pulled through the barrel in one pass...
I am sure if you do a google search you will find many websites with good info.
Not all barrels are cut rifling... some are button rifled where a very hard button with the shape of the rifling in it is pulled through the barrel in one pass...
I am sure if you do a google search you will find many websites with good info.
There are three main ways, as outlined above; the oldest method is done with a hook-shaped cutter, that is pulled through the barrel while the cutter or the barrel is twisted, and you have to do that over and over again until each groove is cut as deep as it's supposed to be.
Hook cutter:
The second most common is called button rifling, which uses a mirror image of the rifling cut into a piece of very hard metal like tungsten carbide; that button is screwed into a rod which is pulled through the barrel blank under tremendous hydraulic pressure, leaving the land-and-groove pattern.
The third common type is made with a full-length mandrel that has the rifling cut onto it from the outside, then that mandrel is placed inside a tube of larger diameter and the whole thing is put inside a hammer machine that pounds the tube down to the proper diameter and leaves the rifling pressed into the inside. Afterwards, the mandrel is pressed out of the barrel with hydraulic pressure; I can't find a picture of a mandrel, though, sorry.
Hook cutter:
The second most common is called button rifling, which uses a mirror image of the rifling cut into a piece of very hard metal like tungsten carbide; that button is screwed into a rod which is pulled through the barrel blank under tremendous hydraulic pressure, leaving the land-and-groove pattern.
The third common type is made with a full-length mandrel that has the rifling cut onto it from the outside, then that mandrel is placed inside a tube of larger diameter and the whole thing is put inside a hammer machine that pounds the tube down to the proper diameter and leaves the rifling pressed into the inside. Afterwards, the mandrel is pressed out of the barrel with hydraulic pressure; I can't find a picture of a mandrel, though, sorry.
I was just reading about this topic tonight...
http://www.border-barrels.com/articles/bmart.htm
This article basically discusses the same things mentioned above with fewer pictures and more words.
I found it enjoyable reading.
KFB
http://www.border-barrels.com/articles/bmart.htm
This article basically discusses the same things mentioned above with fewer pictures and more words.
I found it enjoyable reading.
KFB
There are 2 ways rifling can be made in a barrel:
It can be cut out or it can be pressed in.
There are many, many ways to achieve either process.
When speaking of cutting rifling, the tool is called a cutter, a broacher, a rifler, a scorper, a rifling cutter, a rifling scorer, or whatever. Depends on circumstance and who you are talking to.
It can be cut out or it can be pressed in.
There are many, many ways to achieve either process.
salt said:
When speaking of cutting rifling, the tool is called a cutter, a broacher, a rifler, a scorper, a rifling cutter, a rifling scorer, or whatever. Depends on circumstance and who you are talking to.
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SDC said:The second most common is called button rifling, which uses a mirror image of the rifling cut into a piece of very hard metal like tungsten carbide; that button is screwed into a rod which is pulled through the barrel blank under tremendous hydraulic pressure, leaving the land-and-groove pattern.
Actually, that is a picture of a broach.
Ted
Remingtons, on the other hand, are gouged out by tiny evil gnomes with Pulaskis and hoof rasps, who urinate in the grooves and heap curses upon the lands as they work their way through. That's actually a quite an improvement - up until a couple of years ago, they mixed cheese with their barrel steel and had thousands of tiny rats gnaw them out.
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yes thoses are the right thing. BTW the drill that is used to create the first hole before the button is pushed is simply called a gun drill, it is used in 100's of other application but is still called a gundrills. they used a special bit that can deliver the cuting fluids
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SDC said:Here's a picture of a TRUE button, but it's harder to see the lands and grooves in it:
Thanks for the pictures, SDC. I have seen them in Bevan King's shop, but did not have a picture of them to post.
Ted
