Lining Barrels?

Any tips or tricks to lining a barrel?

I have a couple old Stevens Single Shots (one 1894 Favorite and one 44) that need to be lined.
I made a piloted drill and have drilled out the Favorite barrel. It was a slow process but went well. I ordered the 22LR reamer today so will be gluing the liner in in the next few days. I planned on using Acraglas.
The plan is to then trim off the excess liner and chamber and crown the barrel.

Is it that simple or am I missing something?

Thanks
Jeff in ND

Jeff,
When you order the Acraglas from Brownell, ask for the FREE instruction booklet on barrel liner installation. The Brownell part number is 077-200-143.
You have the general idea, but the booklet will cover everything.

A second question about relining.

Is the liner usually put in place right to the breech face and then chambered or does it stop at the throat?

For a .22 rf it seems the liner could be part of the breech, but I have a Martini Cadet in .310 for which I'm getting a used barrel to use for rechambering as the original is in excellent condition and I'd like to keep it.

I'm thinking of rechambering to either .218 Bee or 25-35 (using a liner from Track of the Wolf as they have a wider selection than Brownell's/Redman). It seems there would be precious little wall width left in the liner, esp. for the 25-35. If it stops at the throat/bore how critical is the positioning? One would want a smooth transition from the breech to the liner.

Many thanks for any insights on this.

(I'll call Brownell's on Monday re their free booklet, although if they want to apply their min. $13.25 shipping and export doc. fees to send it to Canada I'll give it a miss. I don't mind paying a couple of bucks for regular postage and a bit for the booket, seeing as I'm not ordering the liner from them, but that's a little steep in this case.)

You want to have the joint as far to the rear as possible so gas cannot get between the liner and the old barrel.

But generally it is not a good idea to reline for a high pressure cartridge.

[This message has been edited by GGaskill (edited 05-15-2004).]

Sounds like the liner should extend to the shoulder of the cartridge, and make sure there is a good solder flow there. As to the .218 Bee or 25-35, they're both relatively high pressure in comparison to the .310 Cadet round, but I have heard of relining for the former. I'd better find some folks who have done this conversion and see if their liners are still intact!



[This message has been edited by Stuart (edited 05-15-2004).]

If the liner is strong enough to contain the cartridge by itself, you are probably OK, but if the liner is depending on the remaining barrel for adequate strength, there is a significant risk of failure. P. O. Ackley's Handbook for Shooters and Reloaders has a section on relining.

I would think the liner should go all the way to the breech end of the barrel. You would then have to rechamber as you would a virgin barrel. If you reline only to the shoulder of the case, all the force of the expanding gases will be trying to push the liner out the front of the gun. The case needs to be in full contact with the liner just as it did the original barrel so the case can grip the chamber when it expands during actual firing.
Again, I suggest you call Brownells to get their opinion on relining, especially other than .22 rimfire.

Loctite may also be an option; I think that I would prefer it to epoxy, if tolerances are tight.