Some ? barrel change

Stig

Stig

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Hi !

In another tread I asked if there was any barrels to buy (outside USA). To find a barrel for my Norinco is one issue I also has to do the job myself. No gunsmith will do it for me here - because they have never worked on an M14.

I read Skullboys tread about barrel change and it was wery helpful. :bigHug:

However my situation is this:

I have a new TRW bolt installed and it needed some lugging before it closed on the Go-gauge for 308w. I don´t want to work the lugs anymore because I´m afraid to take away the hardness on the steel - receiver and bolt.

My first choise is a chromed barrel and they has the chamber finished, correct?

So mount that type of barrel might need some more lugging to reach the proper headspace...or even worse - give me a to big headspace.

The other option is the to buy a not chromed barrel but the chamber is then unfinished. I don´t have a reamer and are VERY, VERY afraid to use one. It feels scary to cut away steel inside the barrel and perhaps ruin it all :eek:

Please give some advise...a chromed barrel that might fit directly or a ordinary barrel that need reaming?

Regards
 
If you buy a short chambered barrel that requires reaming, you are going to need a lathe to do the reaming work. You probably would still need that gunsmith.

I had bought a Fulton Armory NM barrel that fitted perfectly with a TRW bolt in my Norinco M14s/M305. No other work was required other than aligning the barrel properly when we put it on.

If you purchase a USGI barrel or an aftermarket barrel, it should match up very well with your TRW bolt. If you purchase another Norinco barrel, you probably will ended up in the same situation you have now.
 
Assuming that the new bolt has decent lug contact, perfect headspace can be easily achieved if a commercial short chambered barrel is installed. Using conventional reaming techniques in a lathe is one way to do it, but there are a number of potential difficulties. First, you have got to get it right, because if you ream slightly too deep, there is no fix. Second, if you have to remove and reinstall the barrel repeatedly, there could be a loss of proper index. It is possible to hand ream a detached barrel, without a lathe, but you must be extremely careful to avoid an out of round chamber. The solution is to use a "pull reamer" setup. The reamer is assembled in the chamber attached to a rod which is turned from the muzzle. As the reamer is turned, gentle pressure is applied to the right lug of the bolt. When the bolt drops to locked, the job is done, and headspace is perfect. No lathe is needed. Whether there is a pull reamer set in Sweden is anyone's guess. To purchase a set from Brownells for one job would be expensive.
It is generally not considered to be practical to ream a plated chamber. It is my understanding that a carbide reamer will do the job, but such a reamer would be very expensive.
Removing and replacing barrels on these rifles requuires a barrel vice and receiver wrench. I have made both of these, so this is a possibility. Reinstalling a barrel with proper index can be done with steel parallels or a machinist's level.
Installing a new barrel using a pull reamer set takes less than one hour.
 
I know Smith Enterprise, Inc. has the lathe, reamer and experience to do the job.
I'm sending them a pair of Poly M14s for TRW bolt installations and they have installed TRW bolts in my pair of Norinco M14s.
One problem though, I have no idea if you are able to do business with each other.

You could contact Ron Smith and ask ...
 
First of all many thanks for your answers :p

I intend to have a barrel for Sierra 168 gr. up to 500 meters - 1/10 twist?

1. Heavy barrel. (can I use the same op-rod?). Hungry here.. YES use the same op rod.

2. Medium weight barrel.

The "pull reamer" method seems to be the one for me. I gladly buy one because I have 2 Norincos and I can use it in the future. Hungry here: Go for it !

So if I buy a short chambered barrel and a pull reamer - then I´m home? Of course I need to polish the chamber after.

This barrel for example (the heavy pattern for 340 dollars): http://www.kriegerbarrels.com/Rapid...ommon/viewPage.cfm&PageId=3393&CompanyId=1246

The reamer set: http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=5172&title=PULL+THROUGH+CHAMBER+REAMERS

184-300-308
.308 P/T Reamer, complete set

So again...that barrel and that reamer + an afternoon in the work shop then It´s done?

Hungry here: I would say, less than an afternoon. If you are in Ontario, land of McGuinty's war on handguns, then sure I can help you out.

Regards

Ps. The reason for changing barrel is that I have shoot to many steel jacketed bullets through it. I can drop the muzzle gauge til "number 2" from the muzzle. So it needs to be replaced soon. The gauge is from Fulton. Ds.
 
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H2O MAN said:
I know Smith Enterprise, Inc. has the lathe, reamer and experience to do the job.
I'm sending them a pair of Poly M14s for TRW bolt installations and they have installed TRW bolts in my pair of Norinco M14s.
One problem though, I have no idea if you are able to do business with each other.

You could contact Ron Smith and ask ...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. The problem is to ship my receiver and bolt to the US. Needs a lot of papers. :eek:
 
That is the pull reamer set that I use. It works very well.
I use a machinst's level to index the barrel. Clamp the barrel in the barrel vice, set the level on the front sight base, adjust the bubble for level, torque in the barrel until the level shows the same bubble when applied to the receiver flat behind the rear sight. Ream. Reassemble. When reaming, you will feel the reamer cutting. Never reverse rotation. Cut gently, using lots of cutting oil. If necessary, remove the reamer and clean chips. Reapply cutting oil, continue until the lug drops. Helps to have a friend, you turn the reamer, he keeps his thumb on the bolt's right hand lug, so the lug will drop when headspace is exactly correct. PM your email address, and I will send photos of my barrel vice and receiver wrench.
You should not have to change the op-rod. Cannot say about the op. rod guide.

Hungry here: All of the Douglas NM Hvy bbls I've worked with, come with the NM op rod guide pinned into place. Krieger's bbl's are a first class operation and they likely come with the similar setup.


Bore gauges are all very well, but ultimately how well does the barrel shoot? If accuracy is falling off, that is more definitive than a gauge.
 
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The Sierra 175 is a much better bullet than the 168. Less wind drift. It was designed to work in military rifles and to duplicate the 173 grain military match bullet. A 1:12 would be a better twist.
And rememrb to use only medium speed powders, like 4895 and varget.
 
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