lathe for gunsmith question??

found a southbend 13X30 but was wondering if this was enough distance between centers to do rifle barrels?? Threading chambering ect..

what is the spindle bore diameter? You are limited to doing about 28 inch barrel if you put it between centers. for turning tapers

[This message has been edited by Schulze (edited 09-14-2003).]

Think carefully before buying a lathe for gunsmithing. Sort of depends on your long term objectives: My recommendation is a minimum 40 inch centers. Even with a large spindle bore, there are times when you must turn the barrel between centers, or chuck the muzzle and use a steady. 30 inches is not enough room for a 24 inch barrel, muzzle chucked, a floating reamer holder, and the reamer, with enough room left over for withdrawing the reamer without winding the tailstock handwheel. (Once you chamber a few barrels, you will appreciate this last statement). And, sometimes you have to chuck a barreled action, see the photos on the link below to one of the pages on my web site: One of the photos shows a barreled action chucked up, with the muzzle being ground for a barrel band type sight installation. http://home.earthlink.net/~rifles/id1.html

I have a 9x24, a 13x36 and a 13x40 lathe. At times I need more room for long barrels (such as a 36 inch 50 BMG) and use a friend's 16x96. And, if you get into some of the large diameter barrels for long range rifles, they will not fit through a spindle bore of the common 13 and 14 inch import lathes.