Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Fluted Barrel Diameter Reduction

I have a .270 22" fluted stainless barrel that measures .660" at the muzzle. I would like the diameter reduced by .060" for the entire length of the barrel. A gunsmith told me it can't be done because of the flutes. Does anyone know whether this is correct or not? Thank you.

It can definitely be done but hardly anyone wants to do it.

If you can imagine, cutting the diameter on a fluted six flute barrel would be a nightmare

There are two problems to address on what you want done. Well more like difficulties. One being the diameter of the barrel. It's not a pencil but you're going to have a problem with keeping it from pushing away from the tool during the cut. That's just the way it is. There are ways to overcome that though. The second is the flutes cause the cut ti be what we call interrupted. Unlike the smooth cut you'd have on a non fluted barrel. This is hard on carbide tipped cutters and the tool itself is brittle and breaks easy so every time it goes from one flute to the next there is a shock to that cutting tip and they usually break. Different grades of carbide can help or even using high speed turning tools as they are not nearly as brittle but they wear faster due to not being as hard as carbide. With all that being said it's possible to cut the barrel though but you're likely going to have to do more polishing to get a decent finish. So here comes another snag. If you use lets say the typical sanding belt by hand the edges of the flute will hit harder than the rest and it's not going to leave as nice a finish as you might like. Long cuts on small diameters with an interrupted cut are a pain.

I'd say a tool post grinder would be your only hope. A six flute interrupted cut sounds like a nightmare.

That would work but you'd be at it a while.

I have done it, might not consider doing it again. The flutes make what is called an interrupted cut which plays heck with tooling and the lathe itself. A good heavy lathe might be too bad but a small one really gets beat around.

Thanks everyone for the information. I've found someone who has done it before and has agreed to take-on the job.

Has he given you a price on it?

Yes an extra $90 because of the fluting.

My hat is off to him, he has a bigger set of balls than I have. Let us know how it turns out