Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Barrel Cutting Question

I just asked a local gunsmith what he’d charge to cut a M-700 sporter barrel from 24” to 22”.

He said it would be about $150. He also said that he’d have to pull the barrel in order to do it properly, and that the barrel and action would probably both have wrench marks when he was done.

My instinct is that this is complete bullshit.

Am I wrong?

Thanks,


Okie John

Had my Wby Mk V cut back to 24” & recrowned. Never had to remove the barrel. Cost was less than $50

Wrench marks guaranteed? Move on. He’s a loser.

Ask a real gunsmith. You won't experience those type problems.

Don't be traveling the "Wrench Marks Hwy".

Try Dennis Erhardt
https://www.yelp.com/biz/frontier-gun-shop-helena

One of the best 'smiths I've done business with.

I'd ask someone else or get the hacksaw out. I'm no gunsmith but can't imagine why the barrel would have to come off.

My gunsmith builds palma match rifles. The barrel is cut on a bandsaw and the barreled action is chucked in his milling machine where he squares the muzzle face and crowns the barrel. Price is $50.00.

OK, I suspected as much. Thanks.


Okie John

There should never be any wrench marks.

Yep. That was my first clue.


Okie John

The answer is - it depends.

If a gunsmith is going to align to your bore as it leaves the barrel, vs. the outside of the barrel, and then cut it square it’s going to take removing the barrel, and spending a good amount of time dialing it in so he can get it square withinn a couple of 1/10,000.

Now if you have a factory gun, and your not a great shot - you don’t need that....
However if you shoot Long distance, or are a precision nut, and the rifle action is solid, it’s worth getting done.

I always hear people brag how cheap one method was - I always wonder if thier groups got better, worse, or stayed the same.

Go do a really good test group before you have someone chop it off, then see how it will group after... that’s one way to find out.

BTW - 150 is high even for what i see from high precision bench rest gun smiths...

Why? I’ve cut and crowned hundreds of barrels with the receiver on. Stick the whole thing through the headstock and dial both ends in. Under 20” may pose a problem for some lathes depending on spindle bore diameter and length. And if it takes very long to dial in on the bore you need to go to someone who has more experience running a lathe, should be around 5-10 minutes tops to dial in both ends.

Of course as you say it likely isn’t going to matter much anyway, you could lop it off with a sawzall and run a countersink in it to deburr it and it’ll probably still shoot fine.

Probably not BS it just shows he does not have the experience to not mark the barrel and action to separate them or an alternate way of cutting and crowning a barreled action. Go elsewhere...

Do a search for tikka vs hacksaw. Stinson did a nice job. DIY

150 bucks is a good start to a Manson barrel crowning kit. The ones they do in the vids look good. Nub back 2 or 3 barrels for friends & the tooling's paid for.

TheKid,

The answer is it depends - some guys have long headstocks on thier lathes which requires pulling the barrel.

I brought up the dialing in the bore vs. outside more for - did you even ask this question on how they are aligning the crown cut - it doesn’t take to long to master - provided one does it in the first place.

Hacksaws, and drill bit jigs are another method we’re seeing here - some people thing that’s all they require.

I’m a bit of an accuracy nut, so knowing that all things add up, why would one go sloppy on the crown ?

This.

My smith charges $45

https://rifleshooter.com/2018/03/do-rifle-crowns-matter-does-a-crown-effect-accuracy/


Like I said - if its not a .25 MOA rifle, you may never notice anything

Just had one done. Cut from 26 to 25 inches and crowned at 11 degrees. It cost me $30 bucks and it took about 10 minutes at the gunsmiths shop. YMMV.

Good article. I once had to cut 1/4" off the end of an ex-mil Mauser barrel due to it having bore damage at the muzzle. Used a hacksaw and just filed the barrel end smooth and square, no crowning, and it shot well.