rifleman762
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Alberta
Hi folks,
I thought I would share my project with CGN. I decided to build a shorter barrel for my Remington 597 because nobody sells shorter barrels for it. Of course, due to our laws, I couldn't just chop the existing barrel. I read a lot about short-barreled guns on CGN and some people think it's a grey area to make your own barrel from a barrel blank vs buying one from a licensed firearm manufacturer. Like others have pointed out, there is no legal requirement to hold a Manufacturer Business Firearms License to manufacture barrels or other uncontrolled spare parts so I went ahead and did it. If the RCMP comes knocking at my door, I'll swap the old barrel back on and let you all know.
I took the Green Mountain SS barrel blank and chucked it between centers in my lathe. I turned the outside to .920" and the shank to .748" where it goes into the receiver. I threaded the chamber end to 1/2-20 for attaching it to the "barrel block" as I call it (I don't know the official name). The new barrel is about 10" long. Rifle OAL is well over 26".
Then I had to make the barrel block. This was by far the most time-consuming part! I don't have an internal threading tool small enough for a 1/2" bore so I just tapped it. I used a dial indicator to get it perpendicular in the lathe. I did it all of the non-lathe work by hand as I have no milling machine. A benchtop disc sander came in handy for making the tombstone shape. The horizontal slot I simply chewed out with a hacksaw and lots of cut-n-try. This block is probably the reason no-one bothers to make aftermarket barrels for these guns. It would cost way more than the simple dovetail used in Ruger 10/22's. I made the block from some AR400 scrap that I had. It was 0.5" thick but I turned it down to .375" after I had it screwed onto the barrel. This made sure that the face was perpendicular to the barrel. After the facing cut was done I chambered it by hand with a Brownell's chamber reamer. I cut the extractor slot with a Dremel. I kind of boogered up the 1/2-20 external threads on the barrel by engaging the feed at the wrong spot on the threading dial so I used JB Weld to hold the barrel better in the block.
The rest of it was just work: mount the barrel and hog out the plastic in the forend to fit the bull barrel. For that I used a 1/4" die grinder and a sanding drum. The Dremel didn't have nearly enough power! The plastic would get very melty but I just let it melt and then scraped the melted stuff off once it hardened. I also installed some swivel studs on the stock. I bought those from Brownells in a 10-pack. It has a Simmons 3-9x40 scope on it (highly not recommended POS) and a Harris bipod (highly recommended). I haven't fired it yet, unfortunately, but it chambers a round from the magazine no problem. Just haven't had time to make it to the range. Let me know what you guys think! I'll be posting other projects soon, as well.
I thought I would share my project with CGN. I decided to build a shorter barrel for my Remington 597 because nobody sells shorter barrels for it. Of course, due to our laws, I couldn't just chop the existing barrel. I read a lot about short-barreled guns on CGN and some people think it's a grey area to make your own barrel from a barrel blank vs buying one from a licensed firearm manufacturer. Like others have pointed out, there is no legal requirement to hold a Manufacturer Business Firearms License to manufacture barrels or other uncontrolled spare parts so I went ahead and did it. If the RCMP comes knocking at my door, I'll swap the old barrel back on and let you all know.
I took the Green Mountain SS barrel blank and chucked it between centers in my lathe. I turned the outside to .920" and the shank to .748" where it goes into the receiver. I threaded the chamber end to 1/2-20 for attaching it to the "barrel block" as I call it (I don't know the official name). The new barrel is about 10" long. Rifle OAL is well over 26".
Then I had to make the barrel block. This was by far the most time-consuming part! I don't have an internal threading tool small enough for a 1/2" bore so I just tapped it. I used a dial indicator to get it perpendicular in the lathe. I did it all of the non-lathe work by hand as I have no milling machine. A benchtop disc sander came in handy for making the tombstone shape. The horizontal slot I simply chewed out with a hacksaw and lots of cut-n-try. This block is probably the reason no-one bothers to make aftermarket barrels for these guns. It would cost way more than the simple dovetail used in Ruger 10/22's. I made the block from some AR400 scrap that I had. It was 0.5" thick but I turned it down to .375" after I had it screwed onto the barrel. This made sure that the face was perpendicular to the barrel. After the facing cut was done I chambered it by hand with a Brownell's chamber reamer. I cut the extractor slot with a Dremel. I kind of boogered up the 1/2-20 external threads on the barrel by engaging the feed at the wrong spot on the threading dial so I used JB Weld to hold the barrel better in the block.
The rest of it was just work: mount the barrel and hog out the plastic in the forend to fit the bull barrel. For that I used a 1/4" die grinder and a sanding drum. The Dremel didn't have nearly enough power! The plastic would get very melty but I just let it melt and then scraped the melted stuff off once it hardened. I also installed some swivel studs on the stock. I bought those from Brownells in a 10-pack. It has a Simmons 3-9x40 scope on it (highly not recommended POS) and a Harris bipod (highly recommended). I haven't fired it yet, unfortunately, but it chambers a round from the magazine no problem. Just haven't had time to make it to the range. Let me know what you guys think! I'll be posting other projects soon, as well.
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I have an opportunity now to re-fit my 597 with a nice match barrel. Also, where you turned down the shank to fit into the receiver, does the shoulder of the barrel butt up snug to the receiver face, or did you cut some clearance into it?
