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A bridge too far- is it a waste of time to reline a small auto?

Trboatworks

Diamond
Joined
Oct 23, 2010
Location
Maryland- USA
I have a FN 1905 with a shot bore (rough, pitted).
Is it crazy talk to think of relining this thing?

.25 acp 2” barrel
I don’t have calipers handy to state OD on barrel.
Chamber is probably passable if one sometimes leaves in place.

Crazy talk?
Possible for a guy with decent lathe but no experience or gunsmith specific tooling?


Thanks guys
 
I have a FN 1905 with a shot bore (rough, pitted).
Is it crazy talk to think of relining this thing?

.25 acp 2” barrel
I don’t have calipers handy to state OD on barrel.
Chamber is probably passable if one sometimes leaves in place.

Crazy talk?
Possible for a guy with decent lathe but no experience or gunsmith specific tooling?


Thanks guys

Why not? Should be dead easy to do. It was never very accurate to start with so you aren't going to hurt it. Go for it, those little pocket pistols are fun to shoot. I have a Beretta 950 I shoot all the time.
 
Ok then- that’s what I wanted to hear!
In my minds eye I am hoping that a length of rifled lining stock could be purchased in thin wall so a bore operation, solder in then crown and chamber work.
I will do some homework to see what is involved.

Thanks!
 
I have a FN 1905 with a shot bore (rough, pitted).
Is it crazy talk to think of relining this thing?

.25 acp 2” barrel
I don’t have calipers handy to state OD on barrel.
Chamber is probably passable if one sometimes leaves in place.

Crazy talk?
"Masturbatory" might be the better fit.

No idea what ATF or ITAR rules might apply. Too hard for a non-pro to keep up with the nuances. I won't even make my own screws, pins, or springs, lo these many years already.
 
Now Bill- be nice.
You know I like these antiques- hardly rational but I like the ideal of saving the original barrel.

Cease abusing it with live ammo, treat it with RIG, and put it in a display case, then.

Don't shoot much these days so I have more than a few "modern" handguns, .22 rimfire, .380 ACP, 9 mm Parabellum, .45 ACP, as aren't being treated all that differently.

FN's craftsmanship was generally righteous. Once damaged by wear or corrosion? Why preserve THAT?

The .25 ACP cat-ridge, OTOH, was never even as good as to class as a BAD joke.
 
Can be done, either by buying a barrel liner or making one by turning down a barrel from another make that still has a good bore. A friend made a short barrelled .45 ACP revolver by turning down a 1911 barrel and soldering it into a bored out barrel. A .357 cylinder was rebored and rechambered to .45 ACP. This was some time before S&W came out with their own version.

If you own the gun there is no legal problem doing this.

FWIW, most modern .25 ammunition is much milder than the European ammo of an earlier era so it is usually safe with older models in good condition.
 
But why? I have a Browning 1910 in .380 that has a bore that shows portions of rifling in between the craters and it still groups well at 21 feet. By grouping well, I mean 3-4" with no evidence of tumbling bullets. Yes, I like my bores to be bright and shiny with crisp rifling but given the "purpose" of such a pistol, it is satisfactory as it is.
However, I think it would be easy enough to do but I would include the chamber in the reline. Maybe even increase the length a few inches.
 
Thanks Scott- it was my instinct that a owned arm can be worked on.

Bill, I own various arms which should not be modified due to historical reasons, I have other wall hangers I wouldn’t bother to repair for practical reasons.
All others I want serviceable.

Numrich lists a new replacement barrel for $70
There is no financial argument here..

Gaza- honestly I haven’t shot this.
Bore is gone- no rifling left to speak of.
 
But why? I have a Browning 1910 in .380 that has a bore that shows portions of rifling in between the craters and it still groups well at 21 feet. By grouping well, I mean 3-4" with no evidence of tumbling bullets. Yes, I like my bores to be bright and shiny with crisp rifling but given the "purpose" of such a pistol, it is satisfactory as it is.
However, I think it would be easy enough to do but I would include the chamber in the reline. Maybe even increase the length a few inches.

.380 ACP is a whole different horse. 21 feet (I have two Walthers in .380 ACP. 9mm "Kurz") is about triple the distance at which that belly-buster round is at its best.

Yes, they can print well-enough at 25 yards. But the round doesn't start with a great deal of kinetic energy, and loses what it has rather more rapidly than its "cousin" - the 9 mm Parabellum.

If nothing else, the .25 ACP is unpredictable.

Sometimes.. one round is lethal.

Other times - and I KNEW both parties involved, Rappahannock County, Virginia - shooter "A" puts an entire magazine of .25 ACP into "B" at arm's length, gifting "B" with a permanent limp from a damaged hip-joint, but no noticeable effect but bloody trousers for nearly an hour. Yes, strong drink was in-play.

"B", unarmed with anything other than greater body-mass and heavier bone-structure, meanwhile barehandedly gifts "A" with a smashed skull that left him with a silver plate to cover the damage ... after he came out of the coma. Even so, he was never QUITE right in the head, afterwards.

All a piss-ant handgun of that sort can be counted on is to get a person into more danger than it can get him OUT of.

And a .22 rimfire was always cheaper to plink with.

More deadly, too, for whatever THAT might be worth.
 
that 25acp is a pos round isn't really relevant.
sure I favor the 45acp or even a 380 for being actually useful
that 25acp will serve as a noise maker just fine.

but that has nothing to do with relining a shot out barrel.
now for $70 is it worth it probably not.
but then again people reline 22 rimfire barrels so it can be done
to each his own
 
I got out to the shop today and picked up some calipers-
Od is .473”

Not lots of wall there to work with.
I will have to look into what is required to pull this off.
 
Liners in 25 acp are available ,and guys experiment with rifles in that caliber,including using blackpowder.......the 25 acp is smaller than a normal 25 dimensions,so a dedicated bore is needed..........incidentally ,in WW2 my mother was grabbed by two GIs after a armed forces dance,her father had showed her what to do,and she plugged them both in the crotch with a 1905 25,......she used to say she saved three lives with that little gun.......as the men were dark,they would have swung.
 
TJ Liners sells liners by the inch, $4.75/inch last time I looked, plus shipping. He has .25ACP liners, 7/16" OD.

Phone number is 859-635-5560. You have to call to confirm in stock and shipping cost. Good people to deal with and an excellent product. Liners are hammer forged chrome moly steeel and are available in many other calibers for the same price.
 
but then again people reline 22 rimfire barrels...
Surely. Sometimes in Brass, rather than steel, even.

But the .22 RF is ordinarily lubed or plated, seldom FMJ.

The .25 ACP ordinarily IS FMJ. Puny as it is, that jacket and its deformation still has to be considered as to differences in liner stress when in a tiny barrel with a thin supporting wall.

Pre regulated-to-death-and-back, if I had the need, I'd just make an all-new barrel for the Walther system (blowback, pinned, no lugs) for-sure, or MAYBE even the Browning system (toggle and locking rib features). At .32 ACP and up, of course. Not .25 ACP.

However.. so long as Dealer's cases are full of decent new and used firearms I have not YET owned?

I'd trade away or give away this here one, keep only the memories, and go scout something DIFFERENT if not also BETTER.

So many interesting firearms. So little time....

:)
 
To quote Julian Hatcher "No one wants to be shot, even with a .25."

A fellow who did his Army time as a lab technician in Fitzsimmons Hospital when it was in Denver said the worst gunshot case to come in when he was there was someone shot with a .25. Shot in the abdomen, the bullet tumbled and mowed its way through soft tissue.

Bill
 
I see some options, cheapest to most expensive in fussiness/time/materials:

Vigorously clean the barrel and shoot it first. Compare your groups with this pistol to you shooting another similar size pistol. The difference in accuracy might not be much different.

Buy the Numrich barrel for shooting and leave the old barrel in it for display. The new barrel will likely need some fitting before it will function in semiauto mode, sometimes not an easy task.

Line the barrel/recrown. Getting the new liner and original chamber concentric could be difficult and you only get one shot at it for concentricity and headspace. Most people now days use epoxy for liners instead of soldering.

Line the barrel and rechamber/recrown. Probably more chance at success but you'll need to rent a reamer and headspace gage. This was the first renting service that came up on my search: 4D Reamer Gunsmithing Tool Rentals - Kalispell, MT

The last two assume you have enough "material" left in the old barrel and new liner for safety. I'm not sure that will be the case. I'd also do some research to see if others have tried this and their success rates.
 
To quote Julian Hatcher "No one wants to be shot, even with a .25."

A fellow who did his Army time as a lab technician in Fitzsimmons Hospital when it was in Denver said the worst gunshot case to come in when he was there was someone shot with a .25. Shot in the abdomen, the bullet tumbled and mowed its way through soft tissue.

Bill

Hatcher wasn't wrong... but still..

Worst seen in Denver?

Your technician might have had a different viewpoint had he been in an Evac Hospital, RVN, around the time of the Tet offensive.

24th Evac, Long Binh, was trying to "rebuild" a local boy of about ten years of age during my stay there. A Chicom mortar round had left them only about 5/8" of a kid to work with, but he - and they - were managing somehow.

Have to say that his cheerful attitude surely humbled anyone whining over lesser injuries.
 
I see some options, cheapest to most expensive in fussiness/time/materials:
.
.
Buy the Numrich barrel for shooting and leave the old barrel in it for display. The new barrel will likely need some fitting before it will function in semiauto mode, sometimes not an easy task.

I'd rate that "Second most sane".

My take as a better one:

Buy another handgun - user's choice of similar .. or not - for shooting.

Do nothing but preservative measures for display to the decomposing one. Or not-even.
 
Hatcher wasn't wrong... but still..

Worst seen in Denver?

Your technician might have had a different viewpoint had he been in an Evac Hospital, RVN, around the time of the Tet offensive.

24th Evac, Long Binh, was trying to "rebuild" a local boy of about ten years of age during my stay there. A Chicom mortar round had left them only about 5/8" of a kid to work with, but he - and they - were managing somehow.

Have to say that his cheerful attitude surely humbled anyone whining over lesser injuries.

I met the fellow in 1957 and the incident was some time before that. He probably was referring to local shootings. To the best of my recollection, the bullet entered at the bottom of the rib cage, glanced off a bone, and spun across his belly. Anyway, if someone points a .25 at me, I am going to give serious consideration to his demands.

Bill
 








 
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