Would a barrel maker drill/ream/rifle a piece of steel supplied by me?

mofugly13 · Jun 24, 2013

The job I'm working on right now has some drillers sinking 3" diameter rebar into the ground. There are some 4-6" cutoffs laying around and I am wondering if anyone knows if a barrel maker would turn one into a .50 cal barrel for me? Would I save any money this way? Or maybe it would just be cheaper to buy on already done? I have a feeling I know the answer.

MIBill · Jun 24, 2013

I highly doubt it... I know I sure wouldn't. There is no way to know what the steel is or it's suitability of barrel making when received from a unknown customer. The liability would be horrendous!

Smrtman5 · Jun 24, 2013

Rebar?

that sounds like a terrible idea. One slag inclusion and ka-blamo. I cant imagine rebar is the most quality controlled of the steels. If i was making something that contained an explosion...material certs and a big smile when i pay extra for them, cuz i like my hands attached to my arms.

lazarus · Jun 24, 2013

A safe way to do this is bore the 3" rebar to 1.5". Sleeve it with a 1.5" x 50 cal barrel blank. Put it in the lathe and cut the OD down to 1.5". Do it yourself at home and you'll have a safe barrel.

johnoder · Jun 24, 2013

Now I have heard everything

speerchucker30x3 · Jun 24, 2013

It's safe but there is far to much stress in re-bar to make consistent barrels. It's also not tough enough material stand up over the long haul and it would cook out early. The steel in the barrel is the cheapest part of making a barrel so there would really be no savings considering the hassle of drilling an unbalanced piece of material. Besides, its been done already, so why bother?

Before you ask. Yes, its really re-bar and it's a real barrel cut from re-bar. It was drilled and rifled by Ron Smith in Whimborn Alberta and was a joint effort between Ron, a local target shooter and probably a bottle of scotch. It reportedly shoots very well.

adamsgt · Jun 24, 2013

mofugly13 said:
The job I'm working on right now has some drillers sinking 3" diameter rebar into the ground. There are some 4-6" cutoffs laying around and I am wondering if anyone knows if a barrel maker would turn one into a .50 cal barrel for me? Would I save any money this way? Or maybe it would just be cheaper to buy on already done? I have a feeling I know the answer.

So you're wanting to make some 4 to 6 inch .50 cal barrels? Really?

sticks · Jun 24, 2013

mofugly13, .50 cal at 4-6" sounds like a BP pistol that wouldn't see much pressure after all, & it might shoot ok at any range it'd be effective to without being rifled. Seems like you could bore/ream for that yourself, but I wouldn't encourage it, ok? (I apologize for thinking you'd want a home-made hunter vs another carry piece. You're ok, I'm :crazy:

)

If this is about that 'scratch-built' fever thing I almost like the idea. You'd only need to fire a few rounds to prove it out and only you would risk digits or eyeballs, esp if the camera was rolling right from the git. :leaving:

GenePoole · Jun 24, 2013

adamsgt said:
So you're wanting to make some 4 to 6 inch .50 cal barrels? Really?

I assumed that was a typo and he meant 4-6 feet.

mofugly13 · Jun 24, 2013

MMkay, thanks guys.

LKeithR · Jun 24, 2013

NOW I have seen everything!!

precisionworks · Jun 25, 2013

speerchucker30x3 said:
... drilled and rifled by Ron Smith in Whimborn Alberta and was a joint effort between Ron, a local target shooter and probably a bottle of scotch. It reportedly shoots very well.

Certainly should, has the built in hot rolled harmonic stabilizer only available on rebar

speerchucker30x3 · Jun 25, 2013

Actually, having now seen a barrel made and tested from nearly poorest quality materials has brought me to a very startling and most unexpected revelation. Old men, ***should not drink !***

Cobber · Jun 25, 2013

Having worked in a steel mill and the same company's rod and wire products division, I seen the quality of steel that goes into rebar, it all depends on what scrap goes into the furnace on any given day!
Some days the steel is harder than others, you can always tell when the steel is hard, the cassettes on the machines that roll the pattern into the rebar play up!
No way known would I use rebar as a barrel blank

speerchucker30x3 · Jun 25, 2013

Cobber said:
Having worked in a steel mill and the same company's rod and wire products division, I seen the quality of steel that goes into rebar, it all depends on what scrap goes into the furnace on any given day!
Some days the steel is harder than others, you can always tell when the steel is hard, the cassettes on the machines that roll the pattern into the rebar play up!
No way known would I use rebar as a barrel blank

If you were given a chance to work in a US steel mill in 1900 for a year or so. It would be interesting to see whether you would choose the regular production steel that was made in 1899 in US steel plants for Winchester or Remington back in 1899. Or modern re-bar?

ADD NOTE: Anyone who has ever hot blued a lot of the older Pre 64 1894s and observed the red and orange lines and streaks running through the receivers and some times the barrels and the brilliant palladium like spots in old Krags and Mausers and purple, blue, green and orange Springfields and Enfields will be smiling right now.

keydiverfla · Jun 25, 2013

speerchucker30x3 said:
Actually, having now seen a barrel made and tested from nearly poorest quality materials has brought me to a very startling and most unexpected revelation. Old men, ***should not drink !***

Party Pooper

tdmidget · Jun 25, 2013

speerchucker30x3 said:
It's safe but there is far to much stress in re-bar to make consistent barrels. It's also not tough enough material stand up over the long haul and it would cook out early. The steel in the barrel is the cheapest part of making a barrel so there would really be no savings considering the hassle of drilling an unbalanced piece of material. Besides, its been done already, so why bother?

View attachment 79719

Before you ask. Yes, its really re-bar and it's a real barrel cut from re-bar. It was drilled and rifled by Ron Smith in Whimborn Alberta and was a joint effort between Ron, a local target shooter and probably a bottle of scotch. It reportedly shoots very well.

Perfect right beside Larry the Cable guy's guitar with OSB top.

Anvil Jenkins · Jun 26, 2013

speerchucker30x3 said:
It's safe but there is far to much stress in re-bar to make consistent barrels. It's also not tough enough material stand up over the long haul and it would cook out early. The steel in the barrel is the cheapest part of making a barrel so there would really be no savings considering the hassle of drilling an unbalanced piece of material. Besides, its been done already, so why bother?

View attachment 79719

Before you ask. Yes, its really re-bar and it's a real barrel cut from re-bar. It was drilled and rifled by Ron Smith in Whimborn Alberta and was a joint effort between Ron, a local target shooter and probably a bottle of scotch. It reportedly shoots very well.

All I can say is "wow now I have seen it all" hehehehehe. Do you suppose he had it annealed first ??

speerchucker30x3 · Jun 26, 2013

Anvil Jenkins said:
All I can say is "wow now I have seen it all" hehehehehe. Do you suppose he had it annealed first ??

Probably not. 615 rebar is made intentionally soft so that it can take the odd flexing without breaking. All I could find on the net was that it was 22 to 28 RC which is pretty soft. It's pretty low carbon and chrome but it has a lot of molybdenum and nickle in it so it must be pretty tough crap and I know a lot of welders that claim it gets pretty hard and ugly when you weld it. They claim nearly screw driver hard. They say it makes good flux chippers. I have never tried to machine rebar but it sounds like it would be pretty hard on tooling.

KB3AHE · Jun 26, 2013

Besides all of the legal ramifications.............

To the OP: Would you walk into a restaraunt with a steak in your hand and ask them to cook it for you? ?
(That's kinda what the title sounds like)

Frank

Would a barrel maker drill/ream/rifle a piece of steel supplied by me?

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