Salvaging an M16 barrel?

Exspiravit

Exspiravit

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A friend gave me a barrel he found in his dad's accumulated stuff that I believe to be some flavor of M16 barrel.
It's pencil/A1 profile, .625 at the gas port, 20 inches, rifle length, old rifle style ramps on the barrel extension. It is also chrome lined with the Colt Markings " C MP C", but no caliber or twist. Bore is immaculate and shiny with no corrosion. Crown is in perfect shape too.

Here's the problem though. At some point it had a P&W muzzle device on it someone wrenched off. This buggered about half the threads. Looks like it just flattened them.
It also is drilled for a FSB that I don't have.

How hard would it be to:
1. Fix the threads? Can I just chase them with the correct die?
2. Put on another FSB with taper pins even though it's already been drilled? Could a good gunsmith line up some new holes close enough to work?

If it's not possible or expedient to fix it, I'm thinking of a set screw gas block and a free float handguard. Or maybe finding a smith adventurous enough to turn it into a dissipator.
 
Frack N Cylons said:
ADCO certainly used to be able to do these things. What’s the budget?
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Less than the price of a new barrel I suppose. Any more than that and it's kind of pointless, unless the current cloner market makes this barrel more valuable than it should be.
 
Exspiravit said:
1. Fix the threads? Can I just chase them with the correct die?
2. Put on another FSB with taper pins even though it's already been drilled? Could a good gunsmith line up some new holes close enough to work?
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1. Chasing the threads should work. If the crush washer does not hold the muzzle device can be welded in place.
2. I have redrilled the front sight post. I line up the notch in the barrel with the drill bit, assemble the new FSB (using a vice grip with leather jaws on the opposite barrel “ring”) drill hole. Remove FSB and repeat with next hole. Put FSB on, ream for taper pins.
 
It depends oh how much you like that barrel.
If you have the tools or know someone that does then it’s might be worth trying to salvage, but it’s probably more trouble than it’s worth.
 
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Here's what I'm working with. What's left of the pin sits a little higher than the threads too, so I'd have to knock it down or try to pull it out.
 
Chop the butchered threads off. Not much left there to work with properly.

Turn a new thread set and crown a new muzzle.

Use a set screw gas block and free float the barrel and it should be fine.
 
Hashknife said:
Chop the butchered threads off. Not much left there to work with properly.

Turn a new thread set and crown a new muzzle.

Use a set screw gas block and free float the barrel and it should be fine.
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I've already got a die in the mail, but I'm only out $9 if it doesn't pan out.
 
Exspiravit said:
I've already got a die in the mail, but I'm only out $9 if it doesn't pan out.
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If you can, check the muzzle bore diameter with a gage pin ( .219" - .220" ). This will insure the bore was not disturbed when the dowell pin destroyed the OEM threads.
 
Hashknife said:
If you can, check the muzzle bore diameter with a gage pin ( .219" - .220" ). This will insure the bore was not disturbed when the dowell pin destroyed the OEM threads.
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Passed.
I ran a die over the threads and it cleaned them up. Muzzle device slides on like it's supposed to.
 
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