Any barrel makers here ?

Over the past year or so, I've built a "Bill Webb" rifling machine - with some modifications / improvements of my own.
A "universal machine", it will gun drill, ream and rifle a barrel. So far, I've drilled, reamed and rifled 3 barrels, none of which are as good as I can buy commercially, but each one gets a little better after playing with speeds, feeds, oil pressure etc.
Just wondering if there's any others here that have followed a similar path and might be interested in sharing their experiences, comparing notes etc.

As far as I know there are no commercial barrel makers here. If you do a search of homebrew.357 's posts, he did make his own set up on his lathe to riffle his barrel and posted photos and some details.
The search function on PM works pretty good but sometimes you get better finds by using the persons handle and a description on a google search.
When I spelled his name correctly I found many more threads.

There are a couple of commercial makers here,but none use homebrew gear ......as for home shop makers ,most ,if not all, will be outside the US..........this is due to the US export controlls,which make small quantity exports of barrels and liners prohibitively expensive.

Thanks for your replies, I wasn't thinking of commercial barrel makers, though I'd welcome a conversation with a pro too!
As for no commercial makers using "home brew" equipment, I'm aware of at least 2 up here in Alberta alone.

I suggest you go to the shilen swap meet on March 23
There’s more to barrel making than drilling holes
According to the techs, stress relief and lapping are essential to a good barrel.

The best source of drilling feed/speed/pressure can be found in "THE GUNDRILLING HANDBOOK" by L.C Ketter.
This little book is the best information source that I have ever found.

A good starting point for reamer speed/feed/pressure can be found here.
https://www.rockrivertool.com/documents/reaming-speeds-and-feeds.pdf


I don't use "homebrew" equipment but the basics remain the same. BTW...I have watched "homebrew.357" over the years and I admire him.

you tube : Creating Bergara Barrels in Spain
YouTube

oliver88 said:

The best source of drilling feed/speed/pressure can be found in "THE GUNDRILLING HANDBOOK" by L.C Ketter.
This little book is the best information source that I have ever found.

A good starting point for reamer speed/feed/pressure can be found here.
https://www.rockrivertool.com/documents/reaming-speeds-and-feeds.pdf


I don't use "homebrew" equipment but the basics remain the same. BTW...I have watched "homebrew.357" over the years and I admire him.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply;
Yes, I've ordered the "Gun drilling Handbook", I had seen it before but had resisted spending the $ on it. Now that I've "butchered" more than the cost of the book in materials cost.
The Gun Drilling is what I'm having the most trouble with. Reaming seems to go OK, though the gun drill is chattering / vibrating enough that the initial hole vibrates oversize to the point that the reamer doesn't clean up everything.
Are you single point cutting or pulling a button ?
I'm single point cutting and finding it quite labour intensive (now, I see the attraction to button rifling !)

One more take-off of the "Bill Webb" rifling machine plans -- with a few improvements (I think).
I started this a year or so ago - was more work (and expense) than I ever thought it would be. Retired about 4 years ago - find I need "something to do", a "project" to occupy my mind and I like learning something new too.
A "universal" type machine, it will gun drill, ream and rifle a barrel. Barrel making has a fairly steep learning curve to it and I'm still learning. I started out with enough 1.25" 4140 HTSR round bar to make 8 barrels. So far, I've used up 7 of those pieces of bar stock. One was dedicated to an alignment bar for the chip box, 2 were total disasters with the rifling head jammed in the bore and having to be hammered out. The next 3, I managed to get rifling in but it looked kind of rough. Each one I do though, I learn something, either about gun drilling (speeds and feeds and oil pressure) and the rifling cutter and sharpening it. Each barrel gets a bit better, though still not as good as I could buy. Gave one of my first rough ones to a friend who mounted it on a Martini action and shoots it with Black Powder - says it actually shoots pretty well - I think it will probably be prone to leading though.
I'm determined to keep going though, until I can produce a "match quality" barrel.

Chip Box

Chip Box with gun drill tip protruding.

Gear Train

Gear train to produce rifling rotation. 16DP spur gear and rack.
I made the spur gears, purchased the helical miter gears.

Rifling cutter.
This cutter was HSS, didn't stand up very well.
Currently silver soldering on a carbide parting tip and re-shaping it with diamond wheels.
Carbide stands up better but learning to grind and sharpen it is another learning process !

"I'm determined to keep going though, until I can produce a "match quality" barrel"

In the 90's, I was producing "match grade" .224" barrels of various twists.

I prototyped barrels for two years before I even put one up for sale. Air gauges, heat treating/stress relieving equipment, lapping systems, optics to inspect the interior of barrels...the list is endless and expensive. Also, your tooling will be suitable for a specific lot of steel...and will not product accurate results with the next.

Enjoy.