Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing timken rifle barrels

does anyone have information on this barrel? i beleive they were manuf. by johnston arms in rhode island.

I do believe Timken refers to the steel used by barrel maker rather than the barrel itself.

thats a start

It was the type of steel used. It was made, I think by Lathrode Steel Company. The steel, not the barrels.

Back in the 50s, some custom gunmakers used 'Timkin Steel' barrels. I remember writing to Griffen and Howe about haveing a custom rifle made and I specified a Timkin Steel barrel.

They said they could do it and quoted me a price. Today, it would be a bargain, but then, I just couldn't afford it.

Also, IIRC, the steel did not make a good barrel and barrel makers quit using it.

i believe johnston arms built their custom rifles with these barrels. i have one of their .30 calib. feather weight barrels i would like to sell but dont want to sell someone a poor quality or unsafe barrel thus my question. it seems very thin walled. any comment?

Timken steel rifle barrels were the rage 50+ years ago. IIRC, Roy Weatherby used that steel for his barrels, and he used that fact in his advertizing. Johnson did make some fine rifles back then, and was a champion marksman too, in that era.
That steel kind of went by the wayside however as I don't know of any barrel maker today that uses it. Maybe someone does however???

Timken is still in business, and I think they might be a part of Latrobe.

Timken makes several different alloys for different purposes, mostly bearings for car engines and other applications. They also make steel tubing.

Timken steel is also used for some of the inside parts of car engines.

I don't know if Timken only made the steel and other companies made the bearings from Timken steel, or if Timken did it all.

They also have made, and might still make them, barrels for the large military guns, or at least make the steel used in the barrels.

I don't know the alloy used in the gun barrels, but IIRC, and it has been a long time ago, it was determined that this paticular alloy was not suitable for small arms barrels and barrel manufacturers stopped using it.

Or maybe it was no better than anything else, but cost more, but I can remember reading about it no longer being used for gun barrels.