Chambering a rifle at home

[birdiemc]

The question of whether or not a regular guy can chamber a rifle at home comes up a lot. Depending on the day, the particular forum, the mood of those responding, the answers range from "you're gonna cause the world to crash into the sun if you try" to "attaboy, good on you for trying to build something with your own 2 hands."
I started asking the question several years ago and got more of the former responses than the latter, but over time learned enough to decide to give it a go.
I wish I saved my receipts so I could share with the next guy how much I've spent on tooling and equipment. I spent 3 years getting familiar with my lathe, very little experience before purchasing one, and finally this year I set a goal that by the end of the year I would cut my first chamber and build my first rifle.
It's almost the end of the year and it's still not done. I spent the past week chasing my tail. The first time I chucked up that barrel through the headstock and got it dialed in just perfect I took my first cut and now all the sudden i have .006 taper across the length of the shank...no good. It didnt occur to me, but I had some dirt work done around my shop recently and it seems moving dirt right outside the wall that my lathe sits against caused things to settle just enough to throw my bed out of whack. So finally today I got out there and re-leveled my bed and got the taper down to .0003 over 6" which I can accept. So now the barrel is dialed in and just sitting there waiting.
I'll get it done. And hopefully it will be a shooter, but even if it's no better than the model 700 tomato stake that sent me down this path in the first place it will be worth it to me. And I'll keep at it because I enjoy it. Sure I could have bought 3 custom rifles for what I've spent so far, but that's not the point. If it all works out then I will have the satisfaction of having built a rifle myself.
So if you're sitting there thinking you might want to go down this path yourself I'll tell you it's a lot of research, countless hours of practice, and its freaking expensive. You aren't going to save any money. And you aren't going to magically be good enough that people flock to you and want to pay you thousands of dollars to build them one. That's best left to the guys with experience, and insurance, you know, real gunsmiths. But if you like getting your hands dirty and do it yourself and you're willing to throw away your hard earned money on equipment and tooling that you currently don't even know exists then knock yourself out.

 

[JJMoody]

This is rapidly becoming my philosophy on soooo many things in life. Different but related ... building my own house and shops from bare ground to trim work—- eh, sounds really cool right??! Nope. Actually, it's sucks. Everyone from the outside thinks it's amazing and so neat. The novelty of things like this wears off pretty quickly. DIY is overrated, but I still find myself wanting to do it. Good on you for giving it a go!

 

[crystalgayleguy]

have a friend in Colorado that started the same way now has several lathes milling machine and says he can't even spell machinist does it for s hobby has a lot of reamers

 

[birdiemc]

This is rapidly becoming my philosophy on soooo many things in life. Different but related ... building my own house and shops from bare ground to trim work—- eh, sounds really cool right??! Nope. Actually, it's sucks. Everyone from the outside thinks it's amazing and so neat. The novelty of things like this wears off pretty quickly. DIY is overrated, but I still find myself wanting to do it. Good on you for giving it a go!

Building houses is my day job, kinda sad I've built 12 houses in the time it's taken to just get this barrel in the lathe...lol

 

[PBR driver]

The question of whether or not a regular guy can chamber a rifle at home comes up a lot. Depending on the day, the particular forum, the mood of those responding, the answers range from "you're gonna cause the world to crash into the sun if you try" to "attaboy, good on you for trying to build something with your own 2 hands."
I started asking the question several years ago and got more of the former responses than the latter, but over time learned enough to decide to give it a go.
I wish I saved my receipts so I could share with the next guy how much I've spent on tooling and equipment. I spent 3 years getting familiar with my lathe, very little experience before purchasing one, and finally this year I set a goal that by the end of the year I would cut my first chamber and build my first rifle.
It's almost the end of the year and it's still not done. I spent the past week chasing my tail. The first time I chucked up that barrel through the headstock and got it dialed in just perfect I took my first cut and now all the sudden i have .006 taper across the length of the shank...no good. It didnt occur to me, but I had some dirt work done around my shop recently and it seems moving dirt right outside the wall that my lathe sits against caused things to settle just enough to throw my bed out of whack. So finally today I got out there and re-leveled my bed and got the taper down to .0003 over 6" which I can accept. So now the barrel is dialed in and just sitting there waiting.
I'll get it done. And hopefully it will be a shooter, but even if it's no better than the model 700 tomato stake that sent me down this path in the first place it will be worth it to me. And I'll keep at it because I enjoy it. Sure I could have bought 3 custom rifles for what I've spent so far, but that's not the point. If it all works out then I will have the satisfaction of having built a rifle myself.
So if you're sitting there thinking you might want to go down this path yourself I'll tell you it's a lot of research, countless hours of practice, and its freaking expensive. You aren't going to save any money. And you aren't going to magically be good enough that people flock to you and want to pay you thousands of dollars to build them one. That's best left to the guys with experience, and insurance, you know, real gunsmiths. But if you like getting your hands dirty and do it yourself and you're willing to throw away your hard earned money on equipment and tooling that you currently don't even know exists then knock yourself out.

You should go to a good Gunsmithing School. There is a lot that people don't what they don't know.
There is nothing better than having an experienced Gunsmith teaching you the ins and outs, teaching you a good way to thread and cut a chamber then you chambering correctly then stepping into to the test fire booth, gripping the BBL over the cylinder and pulling the trigger.
First time you might pucker a bit, then having a instructor look at your brass and take measurements.
Not everyone can take 1.5 years for school but if you can it will be worth while.
BTW, the first rifle I ever chambered was done by hand, no lathe. It can be done but not really recommended. Good luck to you.

 

[hunter67wa]

lol. I was thinking the same thing about building my own rifle. I'm going to use my post 911 bill to get a machinist cert then a smithing degree then we will see.

 

[J E Custom]

My recommendation Is always the get some formal training from a good Gunsmith or school. If that is not possible, study the art of gunsmithing to understand all of the in and outs.

Go slow and plan every step. Check your work often and buy the right tools. do a simple job "FOR YOURSELF" and have a good smith check it out before you test fire it.

Even then anchor it down and remotely test fire it preferably with factory ammo and a long cord.

Gunsmithing is not hard, but it is very un forgiving and can be dangerous. The cause of problems can be small but the end results can be very bad.

I hear all the time that anyone can do it, This is false. A non machinist can if he is a craftsman and has other skills, But some people are just not cut out for Gunsmithing and that is OK. they may have other skills that a gunsmith doesn't have.

This is just one of the many good gunsmithing books that is available for About $35.00 dollars John Hinnant You can find it in the back of his catalog @ https://mansonreamers.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/january-2019-catalog-1.pdf

J E CUSTOM

 

[birdiemc]

lol. I was thinking the same thing about building my own rifle. I'm going to use my post 911 bill to get a machinist cert then a smithing degree then we will see.

I had the VA all ready to pay for a school through vocational rehab but just before I signed on the dotted line they told me I could work while going through the program so I would have to quit my job and live off the government tit. It just didn't make much sense to me to force somebody to quit their job before they'll help. So I scrapped that idea and went at it on my own. Lots of time spent reading and reading the book JE mentioned above, as well as Gordy Gritters book and countless machinist books. I hope to find a gunsmith to become best friends some day, but until then I'll just have to keep learning from books.

 

[Mram10us]

I took the jump in and learn to swim method. Luckily I watched a friend (73year old retired gunsmith) chamber a handful of rifles. I bought a lathe, watched every YouTube and read everything I could find on making my lathe accurate. Got a bunch of old barrels and rod stock and learned to thread. Building a rifle IS NOT rocket science. Anyone can do it if they have a bit of common sense. Every rifle I shoot now was chambered and built by me. There is a nice feeling when you shoot a nice group from something you built. Learn safety and don't leave the chuck key in the chuck .... or at least avoid standing in the way when it flies out like a rocket

 

[hunter67wa]

Yes the vocational rehab money is that way.

 

[shortgrass]

You should go to a good Gunsmithing School. There is a lot that people don't what they don't know.
There is nothing better than having an experienced Gunsmith teaching you the ins and outs, teaching you a good way to thread and cut a chamber then you chambering correctly then stepping into to the test fire booth, gripping the BBL over the cylinder and pulling the trigger.
First time you might pucker a bit, then having a instructor look at your brass and take measurements.
Not everyone can take 1.5 years for school but if you can it will be worth while.
BTW, the first rifle I ever chambered was done by hand, no lathe. It can be done but not really recommended. Good luck to you.

No truer words have been said, "There are a lot of people who don't know what they don't know". But, you don't need to go to gunsmith school to learn to chamber. If you would go that route, you'd learn a lot more than that. Basic manual machining skills are all that's needed to accomplish a good chambering job. That and money to spend on an appropriate lathe and tooling. If you have no machining experience, I might suggest a NRA Summer Gunsmithing class in basic machining followed up with the NRA class in threading and chambering. At least you be getting instruction from qualified people that way. There's much, much more to gunsmithing than fitting up a rifle barrel. Unfortunately for the trade, the machining is about the only focus these days, while much of the other skills that used to make a "gunsmith" are neglected or ignored. Those NRA Summer Schools are only a week long and are taught at various gunsmithing schools coast to coast.

 

[Kaboom]

I would say take a machining class first. Learn the basics before you dive in. If you don't have a quality lathe or measuring equipment your results wont be any better than a mass produced rifle, it'll just cost 3x's as much. Having been through the tool & die trade that's my perspective.

 

[PBR driver]

No truer words have been said, "There are a lot of people who don't know what they don't know". But, you don't need to go to gunsmith school to learn to chamber. If you would go that route, you'd learn a lot more than that. Basic manual machining skills are all that's needed to accomplish a good chambering job. That and money to spend on an appropriate lathe and tooling. If you have no machining experience, I might suggest a NRA Summer Gunsmithing class in basic machining followed up with the NRA class in threading and chambering. At least you be getting instruction from qualified people that way. There's much, much more to gunsmithing than fitting up a rifle barrel. Unfortunately for the trade, the machining is about the only focus these days, while much of the other skills that used to make a "gunsmith" are neglected or ignored. Those NRA Summer Schools are only a week long and are taught at various gunsmithing schools coast to coast.

I graduated from the Colorado School of Trades where the student gets a full rounded Gunsmith Education, if you graduate you have earned an Associates Degree. The most important parts of the Gunsmith trade is the Cycle of Operations Design and Function, as well as your months in the Machine Shop learning the Lathe and Knee Mill.
Schools are not cheap, but the lessons learned will help you even if you choose to go into a different line of work such as; Wood working, Welding, & Machining just to name a few.
CST will upon graduation make you an entry level Gunsmith with the basic tools and knowledge to work in a shop.
One side note about a lathe, there are many successful Gunsmith shops that do not have a Lathe.

 

[PBR driver]

I would say take a machining class first. Learn the basics before you dive in. If you don't have a quality lathe or measuring equipment your results wont be any better than a mass produced rifle, it'll just cost 3x's as much. Having been through the tool & die trade that's my perspective.

So true, without proper measuring tools you may be like a acorn finding a blind hog, without them and the knowledge of how to properly use them do not attempt this type of work.