Looking for a Unicorn- in KY, TN or close by.

[Rflshootr]

Let's be honest. Most barrels getting chambered aren't being indicated to .0002….
Some smith's aren't capable and aren't willing….Again, in all honesty most customers don't have the ability to shoot well enough to know.
Lastly, a LOT of barrels are so crooked it's almost impossible to get them setup as what's been suggested with tweaking them which doesn't work……

So would feel more comfortable having a smith that is capable/willing or one that is not capable/willing to work on your barrel? Is it worth the extra time it takes for precision work and knowing that it was done correctly? Or would you take a $350-$400 barrel, and spend another few hundred bucks, to one that might or might not get it right and take the chance because you don't have to wait as long? I think most would answer "I'll wait for it to be done right".
I've installed a couple of off brand barrels that I got cheap years ago, that were pretty crooked and one shoots very well and one is mediocre. It's crap shoot at that point. These days, the top barrel makers have their process down, and most barrels are pretty straight. If I got one that was so bad that I couldn't get it to indicate true at both ends, it would go back to them before I even took a cut.

 

[DHBWA]

So would feel more comfortable having a smith that is capable/willing or one that is not capable/willing to work on your barrel? Is it worth the extra time it takes for precision work and knowing that it was done correctly? Or would you take a $350-$400 barrel, and spend another few hundred bucks, to one that might or might not get it right and take the chance because you don't have to wait as long? I think most would answer "I'll wait for it to be done right".
I've installed a couple of off brand barrels that I got cheap years ago, that were pretty crooked and one shoots very well and one is mediocre. It's crap shoot at that point. These days, the top barrel makers have their process down, and most barrels are pretty straight. If I got one that was so bad that I couldn't get it to indicate true at both ends, it would go back to them before I even took a cut.

What I am saying is one, there are smiths out there not willing and/or able to do a correct job. Secondly, some barrels are crooked enough that doing a correct job is really hard. Thirdly, a large share of shooters getting a new barrel aren't able to take advantage of this super duper barrel and chambering job.
If you truly know how it should be done and can communicate intelligently it's pretty easy in a 10-15 minute conversation to figure out if you should run or pay….

 

[skipglo]

I am very sure that many machinists are capable of doing barrel work, however a gunsmith is specially trained to do this task, plus they most likely have the tools and equipment to perform essential machining on firearms. Barrel blanks don't come cheap these days and If I had my choice, I would much rather trust my expensive match grade barrel to a well qualified gunsmith than a machinist in the local machine shop who probably has not had any training since it's not his primary job.

Spare me.....Yes...I'm sure a smith sets his mills, lathe , threader up completely in a new and unique way that no Machinist has ever used and that these special Gunsmiths haven't started out as mostly machinists first and smith's second after they received their training. Please don't get me wrong I'm not targeting a Smith at all....but feel free to chime in Smiths...we're you a machinist first or second. I'm merely pointing out that the machine shops are overlooked while folks are whinning about how long they have to wait for the UNICORN to dump! Just me, Offering a possible viable alternative!

 

[DHBWA]

A good machinist that is also a knowledgeable shooter can easily chamber a barrel if provided the tools and time to setup the barrel. Those two caveats are pretty significant if he is already busy….

 

[Rflshootr]

Spare me.....Yes...I'm sure a smith sets his mills, lathe , threader up completely in a new and unique way that no Machinist has ever used and that these special Gunsmiths haven't started out as mostly machinists first and smith's second after they received their training. Please don't get me wrong I'm not targeting a Smith at all....but feel free to chime in Smiths...we're you a machinist first or second. I'm merely pointing out that the machine shops are overlooked while folks are whinning about how long they have to wait for the UNICORN to dump! Just me, Offering a possible viable alternative!

Would you mind if I asked what type work you do or did to make a living? Have you ever been in a job shop? Do you have any idea how threads are cut on a barrel?

 

[skipglo]

D

Would you mind if I asked what type work you do or did to make a living? Have you ever been in a job shop? Do you have any idea how threads are cut on a barrel?

Don't mind you asking at all, owner of 2 welding and fabricating shops building drilling rigs and vac trucks, bridges, supplying structural steel, drilled machined embed plates, moment connections etc and owner of 22,000 sq/ft MACHINE SHOP machining for the RIG builds, automation controls, indexing tables.......etc...etc. So for the job shop welders I had 85 full time men, machine shop 18, I also design build THC/ HEMP extraction facilities and install / advise on all equipment required. Oh....and I also built barges and dredges for the oil sands tailing ponds reclamation projects in Frt. McMurray. These are dredges with 24 and 36" suction lines. The barge was 140' long by 96 ' wide, 6 pumps, on deck 10 ton cranes, E- house....required 27 tractor trailer loads to transport and reassemble on site......and Yes OMG....a rifle barrel.....is.....really complex. Best to leave those to just the gunsmith that is / was a machinist first! I don't comment on things I know nothing about....you see enough of it here and everywhere!
Edit.....you or any of you that know a really busy gunsmith and are a friend....I personally know 4 here at home.....might want to ask them...how many farm out barrels to machinist friends.....just for S..ts and giggles!

 

[skipglo]

Here's one of 4 of the Dredges...and me! Built in the middle of Prairies.... and there were just a couple of machined parts on these that were a little harder than a rifle barrel....you can trust me on this!

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

Here's one of 4 of the Dredges...and me! Built in the middle of Prairies.... and there were just a couple of machined parts on these that were a little harder than a rifle barrel....you can trust me on this!

You should be on "GOLD RUSH" and make Tony some Dredges!
AWESOME WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[skipglo]

You should be on "GOLD RUSH" and make Tony some Dredges!
AWESOME WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks man....as for Tony....where he goes....no roads wide enough or stable enough

 

[Bang4theBuck]

Look Biff, again, I'm not belittling you but, you can't possibly have a set up ready to go, that allows you to throw any contour barrel up in a lathe, have it run concentric to benchrest standards, (which is what people expect when they are spending money) without spending time indicating properly within .0002 end to end. First of all, the barrels are not finished on the outside that concentric to the bore so they have to be indicated, And without inducing any bend or distortion to the barrel. Secondly, to do a proper job, the compound should be set to the same angle as the body taper of the reamer, then the barrel gets rough drilled and pre-bored so it is concentric for the reamer to follow. That's before you even touch the reamer. There is no way on God's green Earth that any person can do that in just an hour. I've had problem barrels that were crooked as a dog's hind leg that take an hour just to get running true enough that I feel comfortable enough to continue the process on. Did you know that when a barrel is turned and rifled that they finish the outside with a belt sander? I'm here to tell you that is the way it is done. They don't pay people to stand there and hand polish all the tool marks from the outside by hand. They're not concentric....period!
People on here must think that the top gunsmiths in the country get up in the morning, go out to the lathe and get everything ready and sit around in the shop twiddling his thumbs waiting for joeblow to show up with his XYZ barrel and reamer(that he has already set up the machine for because he has a crystal ball) so they can walk in and be the only work that the gunsmith has to do that day...and expect him to be done their barrel in a couple of hours. Being a well know, top notch, match winning, precision accuracy gunsmith doesn't happen overnight. And to think he is going to stop what he is doing, letting all of his other top customers go to the back of the line because joeshmo stomped his feet and threw a tizzy fit in the shop isn't going to happen. If it did, he wouldn't be a top gunsmith very long. And if he did **** work, he wouldn't be in business very long either. Understand that I've been in this trade all of my adult life, served a state and union certified apprenticeship, made precision parts for jet fighter engines to parts that are in outer space of which many have tolerances on surfaces within helium light bands, and everything in between. (look that up on google) I know when I hear bs about machining. Sorry if I hurt your feelings.

I gotta hand it to you......that was a good rant! Tizzy fit......ill have to remember that one.....lol

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

Here's one of 4 of the Dredges...and me! Built in the middle of Prairies.... and there were just a couple of machined parts on these that were a little harder than a rifle barrel....you can trust me on this!

What were theses Dredges used for????

I worked as a machinist in 11th & 12 Grade full time at night and weekends for Medico Industries machining 60mm motors, 275mm rockets, 75mm recoilless rifles. Started learning how to chamber rifles from a top comp shooter in PA 1960s and up. Built Hot Rod Engines to spend all my money burning tires off the rims. Was a Marine then a Computer Engineer. Later on in life I was building Submarines for General Dynamics. Did a lot of Structural work on the Hulls for the 688s Fast Attacks, Sea Wolfs, and 726 Boomers was one of the top welders for the Nuc reactor. I was called in to do any repair work-Had a ZERO % defect rate. I can weld the crack of dawn!
Along with that have several thousand Sky Dives and SCUBA world wide. Went with the Cousteau Society on an expedition, Was an Ultra Athlete, ran hundreds of Ultra Marathons (50 mile +) did the Appalachian Trail many times (the southern parts where the mts are 6,500ft). Climbed Ranier and Denali was and still a survivalist.
Avid hunter world wide.
Oh and by the way we are animal lovers and rescue discarded/abandoned cats & dogs!

Ended up with a sever spinal cord injury for the past five years, but never shut down and keep seeking high precision shooting rifles. Worked on firearms for well over 50 years.
Now putting the finishing touches up on our Dream GS Shop for Custom Chambering and Cerakoting. Invested $$$$$ for all new State of the Art Machines/Equipment/Tooling. Won't take a job unless very good components for anything. Hunting or Competition rifles are all the same to us for the process. There is no Hunting-Competition chambering. Only one way to chamber -Perfect every time. The only difference is the materials used -Action/Barrel and how they were manufactured. Chambering is constant.

 

[skipglo]

What were theses Dredges used for????

I worked as a machinist in 11th & 12 Grade full time at night and weekends for Medico Industries machining 60mm motors, 275mm rockets, 75mm recoilless rifles. Started learning how to chamber rifles from a top comp shooter in PA 1960s and up. Built Hot Rod Engines to spend all my money burning tires off the rims. Was a Marine then a Computer Engineer. Later on in life I was building Submarines for General Dynamics. Did a lot of Structural work on the Hulls for the 688s Fast Attacks, Sea Wolfs, and 726 Boomers was one of the top welders for the Nuc reactor. I was called in to do any repair work-Had a ZERO % defect rate. I can weld the crack of dawn!
Along with that have several thousand Sky Dives and SCUBA world wide. Went with the Cousteau Society on an expedition, Was an Ultra Athlete, ran hundreds of Ultra Marathons (50 mile +) did the Appalachian Trail many times (the southern parts where the mts are 6,500ft). Climbed Ranier and Denali was and still a survivalist.
Avid hunter world wide.
Oh and by the way we are animal lovers and rescue discarded/abandoned cats & dogs!

Ended up with a sever spinal cord injury for the past five years, but never shut down and keep seeking high precision shooting rifles. Worked on firearms for well over 50 years.
Now putting the finishing touches up on our Dream GS Shop for Custom Chambering and Cerakoting. Invested $$$$$ for all new State of the Art Machines/Equipment/Tooling. Won't take a job unless very good components for anything. Hunting or Competition rifles are all the same to us for the process. There is no Hunting-Competition chambering. Only one way to chamber -Perfect every time. The only difference is the materials used -Action/Barrel and how they were manufactured. Chambering is constant.

Oil reclamation in what are called the Tailing ponds on the refining sites in Frt. MCMURRAY. They are called PONDS.. for the Tree Huggers....Google them....35- 50 mile man created lakes. They grow 30 to 70 ft. Of sludge on top just like the first compartment of a septic tank..over 35 miles!

 

[skipglo]

What were theses Dredges used for????

I worked as a machinist in 11th & 12 Grade full time at night and weekends for Medico Industries machining 60mm motors, 275mm rockets, 75mm recoilless rifles. Started learning how to chamber rifles from a top comp shooter in PA 1960s and up. Built Hot Rod Engines to spend all my money burning tires off the rims. Was a Marine then a Computer Engineer. Later on in life I was building Submarines for General Dynamics. Did a lot of Structural work on the Hulls for the 688s Fast Attacks, Sea Wolfs, and 726 Boomers was one of the top welders for the Nuc reactor. I was called in to do any repair work-Had a ZERO % defect rate. I can weld the crack of dawn!
Along with that have several thousand Sky Dives and SCUBA world wide. Went with the Cousteau Society on an expedition, Was an Ultra Athlete, ran hundreds of Ultra Marathons (50 mile +) did the Appalachian Trail many times (the southern parts where the mts are 6,500ft). Climbed Ranier and Denali was and still a survivalist.
Avid hunter world wide.
Oh and by the way we are animal lovers and rescue discarded/abandoned cats & dogs!

Ended up with a sever spinal cord injury for the past five years, but never shut down and keep seeking high precision shooting rifles. Worked on firearms for well over 50 years.
Now putting the finishing touches up on our Dream GS Shop for Custom Chambering and Cerakoting. Invested $$$$$ for all new State of the Art Machines/Equipment/Tooling. Won't take a job unless very good components for anything. Hunting or Competition rifles are all the same to us for the process. There is no Hunting-Competition chambering. Only one way to chamber -Perfect every time. The only difference is the materials used -Action/Barrel and how they were manufactured. Chambering is constant.

And yup....what I said....machinist first....go figure☺

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

Oil reclamation in what are called the Tailing ponds on the refining sites in Frt. MCMURRAY. They are called PONDS.. for the Tree Huggers....Google them....35- 50 mile man created lakes. They grow 30 to 70 ft. Of sludge on top just like the first compartment of a septic tank..over 35 miles!

Thats GREAT. I can see the design of the dredge in my dreams!!!! Great job and Engineering to reclaim oil for sure. If you are company Trading on the Market I would buy your Stock!