Currently silver soldering on a carbide parting tip and re-shaping it with diamond wheels.

A universal machine, it will gun drill, ream and rifle a barrel.

So far, Ive drilled, reamed and rifled 3 barrels, none of which are as good as I can buy commercially, but each one gets a little better after playing with speeds, feeds, oil pressure etc.

Just wondering if theres any others here that have followed a similar path and might be interested in sharing their experiences, comparing notes etc.

The search function on PM works pretty good but sometimes you get better finds by using the persons handle and a description on a google search.

A good starting point for reamer speedfeedpressure can be found here.

I dont use homebrew equipment but the basics remain the same.

BTW.I have watched homebrew.357 over the years and I admire him.

Now that Ive butchered more than the cost of the book in materials cost.

Reaming seems to go OK, though the gun drill is chattering vibrating enough that the initial hole vibrates oversize to the point that the reamer doesnt clean up everything.

Are you single point cutting or pulling a button Im single point cutting and finding it quite labour intensive (now, I see the attraction to button rifling ).

Making barrels with either process has its advantages and disadvantages of manufacturing.

I started this a year or so ago - was more work (and expense) than I ever thought it would be.

Retired about 4 years ago - find I need something to do, a project to occupy my mind and I like learning something new too.

A universal type machine, it will gun drill, ream and rifle a barrel.

Barrel making has a fairly steep learning curve to it and Im still learning.

I started out with enough 1.25 4140 HTSR round bar to make 8 barrels.

One was dedicated to an alignment bar for the chip box, 2 were total disasters with the rifling head jammed in the bore and having to be hammered out.

The next 3, I managed to get rifling in but it looked kind of rough.

Each barrel gets a bit better, though still not as good as I could buy.

Gave one of my first rough ones to a friend who mounted it on a Martini action and shoots it with Black Powder - says it actually shoots pretty well - I think it will probably be prone to leading though.

Im determined to keep going though, until I can produce a match quality barrel.

The Gun Drilling Handbook Pdf