Fitting a new barrel to a rifle action is a lot easier today than it was in the
old days. Back then we started with a straight barrel blank, then with a good
lathe and a steady hand we patiently contoured the outside, threaded and
chambered the rear end, then cut off and crowned the muzzle. Let's take a look at an
easier way to do that job. Today things are much more standardized and the bulk
of aftermarket barrels come from the manufacturers already threaded, chamber
cut to final depth, the muzzle crowned, and everything in-between contoured
I chose this contour because of the desired final weight and balance of
the gun. However, we could have chosen from several other standard contours or
requested something custom. There's more to rebarreling a rifle than just
screwing on a new barrel, there are still some specialized tools required. To
install the barrel I'll use an action wrench and barrel vise, along with the
finish reamer, t-handle, and headspace gauges. For this installation I won't
need a lathe, but on some installations a lathe is required to adjust the length
of the shank or to polish or chamfer the chamber. I'll start the installation
by measuring the barrel shank length then comparing it to the factory barrel
so that I'm confident it's of the correct dimensions. It's easy to see how
the parts fit before we screw them together. This is what Remington calls
the three rings of steel. Notice how the cartridge fits into the
bolt face, this is the first ring. The bolt fits into the recess in the back of
the barrel, which is the second ring. The receiver holds the barrel and creates
the third ring. Here is the factory recoil lug, we're
using a replacement that's precision ground and tapered for
easy removal from the stock. Both of the same thickness which measures 0.1860".
After greasing the barrel threads and placing the recoil lug on
the barrel shank I screw on the action untill the lug is snug between the action
and the shoulder of the barrel. Then I secure the barrel in a barrel vise using
a bit of rosin to hold the barrel securely in the blocks. Now I can install
the action wrench. This cutout on the front of the wrench ensures the recoil
lug remains properly aligned. A brass shim protects the receiver as we
tighten everything together. The wrench is used to turn the action an additional
eighth of an inch to get everything tight. I'll check to make sure the boat
closes. This will verify the boat nose recess at the rear of the barrel was cut
to proper dept. Since we'll need to remove the barrel later for bluing I'm
adding witness marks to ensure it gets put back together exactly the same.
Before we can finish chamber the barrel the objector must be removed from the
bolt, this was done during this disassembly. Now we can insert a go gauge into the
chamber and observe the bolt won't close. This is because the chamber has been
left about 50 thousandths short of final depth. I'll finish cutting the chamber of a
hand with the reamer inserted into the T handle. With the barreled action secured
vertically, I add generous quantities of cutting oil to the reamer, insert it into
the chamber from the top, and begin cutting by turning the reamer clockwise.
It's absolutely necessary that one goes slow during this process removing the
reamer frequently, cleaning the reamer, and the chamber, and checking progress. I
continue reaming and checking until the bolt will just close on the go gauge. A
quick check with the no-go gauge ensures headspace is not excessive, the bolt
should not close on this gauge. All that's left is to test-fire the barreled
action with factory ammunition and mark the caliber.