Featured gun/Introduction
Part 1
Part 2
Time to cut the barrel down, re-crown it and cut the new front sight dove tail. First we need to verify how long the barrel is, so we know how much to cut off.
Here is how you measure the barrel: Make sure the gun is unloaded, then check again. Close the bolt on the empty chamber, insert your cleaning rod until it touches the breach face, mark the cleaning rod and remove from the bore.
Larry Potterfield shows us how:
In this case my barrel measured 22 inches, so we will remove 5 1/2 inches to come up with a 16 1/2" barrel, well within legal limits.
First I remove the front sight, drifting it from left to right
Then using the flat part of rear sight I leveled the barrel and then matched the dove tail jig.
Cutting the new dove tail to depth with a file. The jig has been hardened, so the file will not cut into it.
The jig will only allow you to get close, you need to hand file with a triangle file that has one or two safe side(s) for the final fit. You can see the lines we marked for the cutting of the barrel
I re-positioned the jig and used it as a guide to cut the barrel
I then turned the barrel vertically in the vice and lowered the jig a small amount to file the end of the barrel flat, again you wont hurt the jig, just file until the barrel is level with the jig.
After filing and polishing to 400 grit
I will cut a recess to protect the crown, using a slotted brass stove bolt and valve grinding compound
No need to go overboard, just need it deep enough to protect the crown from getting bumped. Many people will argue that you need an 11 degree crown or 45 degree or xxx degree or a flat recess....Short of testing different crown angles on all bullet styles and weights of a given caliber, rifling style and pitch, you could not prove that one is better than another.
The crown on this gun will be uniform and recessed, which is good enough for me.
The barrel looks like a bull barrel, as we cut off most of the tapered portion.....
Here is a pic of the bore, might be hard to tell from the picture, but it is crisp and clean..
I measure the barrel after cutting, you know.... just to be sure, we came out just a tad over 16 1/2", perfect!
Time to strip the old bluing off the gun and polish it. I use naval jelly, after rinsing it leaves a chalky residue.
I then cleaned it up with the wire wheel
Then I polished the barrel starting with 320, then 400 grit. I will give it a final polish with 600 grit before blueing.
I did a quick check to see how it fits in the stock, the proportions look perfect
I had to order a 60 degree triangle file with two safe sides to finish the dove tail. You have to be careful not to take too much metal, stop often to clean the file and check for fit.
You also need to be careful with your fingers, the edges of the new dovetail are razor sharp!
When finished you should be able to get it started by hand but not get it more than 1/2 way.
Then use a hammer and brass punch to center it.
Now we will move on to the other parts and get to bluing the metal