New Project- Bolt action build - All Done. Check it out!

CHRIS_WNC

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I got a Grizzly gunsmith lathe last year and have been tinkering with it for a little while. I've made parts for a couple of Form 1 suppressors, threaded some barrels, finish chambered a short chambered barrel, made some tractor and lawn mower parts, and created a big pile of metal shavings. Easy stuff so far. I'm going to start on this project soon. It will be my first full barrel fitting job.

I had a GA Precision built .243 Win several years ago. It was chambered for some Corbon produced ammo using David Tubbs 115 grain bullet. I bought several hundred rounds of loaded ammo (loaded on Lapua brass!) and 2000 of the 115 gr DTAC bullets. I ended up selling the rifle at some point but kept the ammo and bullets. This rifle will be chambered for the 115 grain rounds.

My list of components are:
  • Curtis Custom Axiom action. Rem 700 footprint, 60 degree bolt throw, pinned rail and lug, coated bolt
  • Triggertech trigger
  • Manners EH1 stock with Gen 2 mini-chassis (my first Manners...this thing is awesome)
  • Brux 29" Remington varmint contour 1-7.5" twist SS barrel
I have a reamer and throater ordered that will be delivered next week. It looks like the toughest part of the whole project will be dialing in the barrel. I'm horribly slow at it right now. I hope it doesn't take me too long! My plan is to finish the barrel at 24" to 26" with a threaded muzzle. The more I screw it up, the shorter the finished length will be. lol.

I'll post updates as I make progress but it's looking pretty awesome so far.
Pile of parts:
PaiPOT5.jpg


Mocked up:
oUMBaZG.jpg


CHRIS
 
Great project!
 
Cutters are in. Chamber reamer, throater with extension, and go/no-go gauges.
Totally ready to trash a barrel now! lol. I think I'll start dialing it in tomorrow.
Wzh6im7.jpg

CHRIS
What reamers (brand) are those? I’ve never used a throater reamer, when you progress to that portion of the project you’ll have to explanify that for me.
 
PTG for the cutters and Forster for the gauges.
I'm going to set the headspace tight and use the throater to lengthen the throat for the long 115 grain bullets that I'm going to be using. A SAAMI minimum chamber will be too tight for the ammo.

Of course this IS my first rodeo so I may be screwing it up and not even need to extend the throat. We'll see! lol.
I'm dialed in on the barrel. Going to cut the tenon tomorrow. May cut the chamber too. Took the day off from real work to meet the UPS guy. I've got a different stock and a new scope showing up and it was shipped signature required. Going to be a 5 day weekend for me!

CHRIS
 
The blank is 29” long so I have it set up through the headstock. My lathe has a spider built on on the back side of the spindle. I indicated OD on both ends (4-jaw chuck and spider) first then used a long needle indicator on the lands at the chamber end. Back and forth about an inch there.

I’ll recheck again this morning to make sure I was seeing what I thought I saw. The dialing in part is the tough part for me. I really need to practice more on scrap and take-off blanks so I don’t get so frustrated when I do it. I think a grizzly rod or indicator rod would speed things up. Watching the needle jump on the lands and grooves is tough for me to follow.

CHRIS
 
Looking good so far! Barrels are a disposable/replaceable part, so I wouldn't be concerned too much by life as long as it keeps the accuracy you want.

Looking forward to seeing the finished project.
 
Thanks. I would like to try chambering but haven't made the effort to get set up for dialing in the bore. Several different methods are used, and of course stuff to buy for each one. So far all I've done is practice threading and fitting a piece of scrap to the action.
 
Did a little work today.
Starting on the tenon. I needed to get the 1.25" barrel diameter down to 1.062".
mX6f0Mi.jpg

My cuts weren't great. Seemed galled over and not smooth. I internet searched and found out that my feed and rpm was too slow and I was taking too light of a cut with the carbide cutter. So I upped the speed to 750 rpm, adjusted feed to 8 thou, and went with a 30 thou depth of cut. Much better!
Tenon turned to diameter and left longer than needed. Will face that off later. Recoil lug fits on nicely.
mPkfykr.jpg

I left a shoulder for the recoil lug to ride and cut a recess for the threading. This is the first light pass to verify TPI is correct. Needed 16. Got 16. Woot!
KLOKSWo.jpg

I continued on with threading to depth and got it to where the action threads on with slight resistance. My first passes looked very nice. Slick and shiny. I F'd up and adjusted my cross slide instead of my compound and buggered up my final couple passes. The threads are not CNC pretty on the bottoms but the side walls look fine. I may put a bag over the cross slide wheel next time I'm threading as a reminder to not touch it. :)
Action threading on now!
khKv9MK.jpg

I left the tenon long so I could face it after all the threading was done. I took a couple of light passes and got the the required length and now the bolt closes like it should.
Action all fitted up to the barrel.
SJ5GmkR.jpg


The UPS guy finally showed up. I ordered a different Manners stock for this rifle. Something with a slightly heavier fill and wider forend. I also got a US Optics TS-20x for it. The other stock will be going with my son's rifle. I have another Axiom action for a build for him.
IqmsnLP.jpg


I'm off for a long weekend in Charleston. Will update next week when I tear up the chamber! Ha!

CHRIS
 
Update:
I broke my first reamer! lol. Sorry no pictures. :)

I guess as I got deeper into the chamber I should have been cleaning the chips more. I was taking .1" cuts slowly. Everything was going fine and then the reamer just shattered. I think the flutes got clogged and the cutter edge grabbed the side of the chamber and exploded. $90 lesson for me. I have another on on the way from Midway already.

CHRIS
 
OUCH! I hope it didn't gouge the chamber.

I did my first one by hand a few months ago. It went faster than I expected. I could only get a maybe 6-8 full revolutions on the reamer before I could feel the chips dragging and binding in the cut.

Have you thought about free wheeling the lathe chuck and turning it by hand? It might give you a better feel on the cut?
 
I hope it cleans up for you. Do you have enough meat in the barrel to shorten and rethread if needed?
 
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Dude, you must have real issues. No shop should ever be that clean...lol. Love the project. I have an old Southbend lathe and a barrel in 416 that I want to design a cartridge and and fit this to a 98 mauser action I have laying around.
 
Dude, you must have real issues. No shop should ever be that clean...lol. Love the project. I have an old Southbend lathe and a barrel in 416 that I want to design a cartridge and and fit this to a 98 mauser action I have laying around.
Ha! It doesn't quite look that clean now.

I'm on the cusp of having the chambering done. 0.08" left to go on reaming. I'm taking way less metal with each cycle. I don't like that my floating reamer holder setup is in two pieces. I'd rather it keep the reamer captive without me having to hold it up and keep everything aligned. I can't turn the feed, hold the reamer holder, and hit the drive lever with only two hands! lol.

I'll finish up the chamber end and start on the muzzle tomorrow. More progress pics tomorrow too.

CHRIS
 
I'm done with the chamber end. Closed on the go gauge. Closed on a live round. Already pulled it from the chuck! lol. So...yeah. Done.

How I ended up finishing the reaming. I used motor power for a little bit then turned the chuck by hand. I stopped using the tailstock to feed the reamer into the barrel and just did it by hand.
8lb89Ar.jpg


This is about 0.005" of chips and cutting oil after a cycle. I cleaned the reamer and chamber and re-oiled between each cycle.
GDXhqSB.jpg


Weird lighting, but this is the finished chamber end. I ran it at about 150 rpm and polished it with 300 grit sand paper and oil.
zu1avSp.jpg


Mock up! I have not cut the muzzle end. It is at 28.25 inches as it sits now. I'm probably going to cut it back to 22" or 24". I'm undecided on this. It has some heft to it being that long. This won't be an offhand rifle so I may go longer length. Decisions!
M9jlqYq.jpg


If I had a do-0ver, I would have gone with a #4 or #5 contour and kept the longer length. I'll do that on the next barrel. :)

CHRIS
 
What kind of oil were you using when chambering? I would have had a stroke if I’d destroyed a reamer. Glad you finished. Give us a range report!!
 
Ok, last update on this thread. The rifle is mostly done. I'm going to shoot it a bit without threading the barrel. I'll thread it later on after I make sure it will shoot well.

I was able to put a box of ammo through it today. Conditions weren't great, but I was able to get 5 rounds into a a group that I could cover with the end of my thumb. I was at 100 yd shooting into a shoot in see type target with 1" circles. I used my trusty Foreman rear deck as a bench. lol. Rock Solid!

Here she sits as a mostly finished project. Changes may be, as mentioned earlier, threading the barrel so I can mount a suppressor, and maybe coating the barreled action with tan or OD green moly resin. Barrel length currently is 24".
kY0reiK.jpg


CHRIS
 
Looks great! And it sounds like a tack driver.
 
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