Re-barreling an m1 garand

lt.hicks@rogers.com

lt.hicks@rogers.com

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Has anyone had an M1 re-barreled here in Canada? I called a few smiths near by and no one wants to take on the project. Also if you have someone to recommend could you give me a quick rundown on the job done, and overall satisfaction. It is getting to the point that I am considering buying the tooling and doing this myself.

Also, on a completely unrelated note, would it be considered sacrilege to have a SA 1942 marked barrel replaced? It is kind of a sewer pipe.

Thanks

-Hicks
 
I replaced the shot out barrel on my 1942 Springfield with a barrel I bought through Numrich. The smith who did it did a good job and if went well; the rifle functions flawlessly. This was long ago and the smith died in a helicopter crash so I can't recommend him any more.

Pick the right guy; there are lots of butchers who would be happy to make a mess of it for you.
 
I think PocketFisherman here and Nick at Vulcan Gun Works in ON are in good standing here regarding re-barrel projects. I'm sure I've missed some others that are good.
 
So, what's the situation on importing a barrel ? Found a couple of good deals, but I'm getting mixed messages, regarding the exportation from the US. Apparently an export permit is required and someone here claimed, Numrich won't send barrels to Canada. :confused:

Grizz
 
it's quite easy to do but requires several hundred in investment to have all the tools needed.
you need @ least:

barrel vise/action wrench with a strong workbench/vise--(you can screw the barrel vise to a stong piece of wood and clamp that setup to a strong bench using c-calmps)
some tape or cardboard so as not to marr the surfaces.
some way to measure the angle of the indexing(table saw angle guages either analog--very inexpensive 10-15 bucks or digital--more expensive about 30 bucks{i've got both}
reamer with rod and tap t-handle and cutting fluid(expensive over 200 for this)
finally headspace guages--go,nogo,field.(at least go and nogo)

you're talking upwards of 3-5 hundred just for the tools.

grizz i've got a barrel or 2 let me know...
 
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A LOT of people opt for a pull-through reamer to do the headspacing finish-ream. This is, I assume, because they have a friend index the barrel and to save money, they do the ream themselves (?)

I find it is actually a LOT faster to take off the receiver for each ream and use a lathe-type reamer with a tap holder. You are only scraping a thou or two at a time at the neck and shoulder. The chamber itself doesn't really cut for most jobs.

Fiddling with a pull-through reamer and cleaning swarf between multiple gauge checks is more bother than I care for.

Another tidbit, some guys have several new barrels on-hand and selectively fit to get one within 15 degrees of index, then snug up. I don't have that luxury, and I'd say more than half the time I have to take a few thou skim cut off the barrel shoulder to get it within 15 degrees hand-tight. You do need a lathe to do this.

Finally, I long-ago gave up on angle gauges. I now use a set of 2' long machinist's parallels and clamp one to the front sight dovetail and the other to the rear sight shelf. I get better, faster results this way.
 
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yes claven,the angle guages are a bit of work but i use them anyway.1 in front on the receiver and one on the gas cylinder/front sight post.
 
toyboy said:
yes claven,the angle guages are a bit of work but i use them anyway.1 in front on the receiver and one on the gas cylinder/front sight post.
Click to expand...

Angle gauges work well enough, in my personal experience parallels work as well, if not better, and are a good bit faster. YMMV :)
 
I installed and indexed my barrel by myself using homemade tools no problem, granted this is my first go so when I have someone do the headspacing I'll have them double check my barrel job
 
Nick does good work - I sometimes use him for headpace reaming guns I don't have the reamer for (e.g. 30 carbine) and I now use him for all my parkerizing - his park jobs are without equal in Canada in my experience. He is also the only domestic source I know of for Criterion .30 carbine barrels.
 
The Badger Ordnance barrel timing fixture ($71.50) is about the slickest thing going for correct barrel indexing. It features 2 blocks which are clamped on the receiver between the rear sight "ears" and on the front sight stud of the gas cylinder. Each block is grooved with set screws provided to lock a length of aluminum angle in place. Install a 30 inch piece of aluminum angle in each block and tighten the receiver to a point where the 2 angles are parallel. I also cross check this with a dial type angle finder just to confirm that I am at zero index/top dead center.

The pull thru finishing reamer from Clymer works well.

Folks should also consider investing in 2 other specialized Garand tools which are well worthwhile and can save a lot of sorrow and strife, a pair of pliers for installing/removing the rear handguard clip/spring and a bolt assembly/disassembly tool.
 
I have used the pull reamer system to finalise the headspace on M-1 and M-14 type rifles. Works. I prefer this method to checking, pulling the barrel, reaming, reinstalling, checking, etc. for a couple of reasons. One being that if I screw up and ream too deep, there is no way to fix it. The barrel cannot be set back, or threaded in a bit further. The other is that installing, retorquing, removing, retorquing, can affect the ultimate torque pullup.
Using a pull reamer only the No Go gauge is really needed. The headspace can be finalized once the barrel is torqued to index.
Installing a previously used barrel is a bit of a crap shoot. Might pull up nicely to index, might not. If it turns past index, rolling the shoulder might get good torque. If the headspace is excessive, there in no fix.
I have used a machinist's level to confirm index.
There are different ways to go abut this job. No matter how it is done, a good barrel vise and receiver wrench are important.
 
Claven2 said:
A LOT of people opt for a pull-through reamer to do the headspacing finish-ream. This is, I assume, because they have a friend index the barrel and to save money, they do the ream themselves (?)

I find it is actually a LOT faster to take off the receiver for each ream and use a lathe-type reamer with a tap holder. You are only scraping a thou or two at a time at the neck and shoulder. The chamber itself doesn't really cut for most jobs.

Fiddling with a pull-through reamer and cleaning swarf between multiple gauge checks is more bother than I care for.

Another tidbit, some guys have several new barrels on-hand and selectively fit to get one within 15 degrees of index, then snug up. I don't have that luxury, and I'd say more than half the time I have to take a few thou skim cut off the barrel shoulder to get it within 15 degrees hand-tight. You do need a lathe to do this.

Finally, I long-ago gave up on angle gauges. I now use a set of 2' long machinist's parallels and clamp one to the front sight dovetail and the other to the rear sight shelf. I get better, faster results this way.
Click to expand...

Have you established a relationship between how much metal you remove from the barrel shoulder and the change in degrees in hand tight barrel offset? For example, how many thou do you remove to get a barrel that sits at 30 deg offset to change to 15 deg offset?
 
"...It is kind of a sewer pipe..." That'd be a reason, no sacrilege involved.
"...Numrich won't send barrels to Canada..." They can't without the U.S. State Dept permit. Getting that isn't worth their time for one barrel. Barrels are restricted for export regardless of what they're for. Other M1 Rifle parts are not. Nothing crazier than U.S. export rules.
"...talking upwards of 3-5 hundred just for the tools..." Hence the reason it's difficult to find a smithy. More about the action wrench than the other tools. It's easy to twist an M1 receiver.
 
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