Cost to thread barrels?

[dieselrealtor]

Wondering about this as I have been thinking about getting a lathe in the next year or so for playing & maybe some Form 1 toys.

Trying to figure out if I would be better off just having barrels threaded or doing it myself.

 

[nucular]

It will depend a little on the gun and barrel but generally between 100 and 150. I have a South Bend heavy 10 and have threaded barrels in the past but at the cost and quality of what is out there, I will probably never thread another barrel. Of course the form 1 stuff is still easier to do yourself.

 

[snorko]

With so much stuff coming from the factory threaded now, i think demand may decline some. The price range above is what I have seen as well. I admit I do want to thread my Buckmark rifle just for funsies.

 

[ws6duramax]

Wondering about this as I have been thinking about getting a lathe in the next year or so for playing & maybe some Form 1 toys.

Trying to figure out if I would be better off just having barrels threaded or doing it myself.

It's not terribly difficult if you have some machining knowledge and the right tools.

Most barrels have some concentricity differences from bore to OD. I like to zero each one to the bore before I start. Not all lathe chucks give the option to move them independently. Some lathes will have a 3-jaw chuck and they move all together, which will make it tougher to zero.

If your not very familiar with machining, speeds and feeds and proper tooling , you can mess a barrel up in no time. Practice, practice and more practice on scrap metals until you have confidence.

 

[nucular]

It's not terribly difficult if you have some machining knowledge and the right tools.

Most barrels have some concentricity differences from bore to OD. I like to zero each one to the bore before I start. Not all lathe chucks give the option to move them independently. Some lathes will have a 3-jaw chuck and they move all together, which will make it tougher to zero.

If your not very familiar with machining, speeds and feeds and proper tooling , you can mess a barrel up in no time. Practice, practice and more practice on scrap metals until you have confidence.

You absolutely have to do it on centers if it's for a suppressor and that either means a nice chuck (and spider) or using a dog and live center which is how I like to do it if the barrel is short enough. It took me years of learning before I felt comfortable chucking a barrel up and threading. Of course back then, factory threaded barrels weren't really a thing like they are today.

 

[55fairlane]

Let me start by saying I am a professional machinist. I might know a little something about lathe work.
Your gonna spend 5k to ?? An a good machine tooled up. Then you need to spend the next several years spending hours in the shop doing projects to get yourself familiar with your lathe. Along the way you will scrap jobs, screw up projects, fave a few wrecks, and after 5 plus years you will just start to get a han7on what your doing. After 34 years I'm still learning, I still scrap jobs.
I am not trying to discourage you, but I want you to understand, buying a harbor freight lathe and a $4.99 set of tool bits is not the way to go. Come spend a few weekends in my shop, I will get ys running a lathe......

 

[55fairlane]

You absolutely have to do it on centers if it's for a suppressor and that either means a nice chuck (and spider) or using a dog and live center which is how I like to do it if the barrel is short enough. It took me years of learning before I felt comfortable chucking a barrel up and threading. Of course back then, factory threaded barrels weren't really a thing like they are today.

I call BS .....a talented machinist can competently thread under several different set ups. Between centers is good, but that long skinny barrel sticking out with no support is a disaster waiting to happen

 

[Dinny]

I thread barrels using an Emco Maximat Super 11. With inboard and outboard spiders and a short headstock most times I don't even need to remove the barrel from the action. I dial in the bore to .0005" or less and let the chips fly.

My machine cost $7000 and I have nearly $3000 in tooling.

When I paid for threading the cost was $90.

 

[nucular]

I call BS .....a talented machinist can competently thread under several different set ups. Between centers is good, but that long skinny barrel sticking out with no support is a disaster waiting to happen

Sure, there are many different ways to do it. I probably wouldn't do a 24" barrel between centers but I have never needed to. I have put barrels through the headstock before which was the reason I got the 10L in the first place but I find it easier to do it between centers. Most of the barrels I did were either Contender pistol barrels or SBRs so it wasn't an issue. I guess the point I was trying to make is that you can do it however you like in order to get the job done but no matter how you do it, the threads need to be concentric to the bore not the barrel. You can't just chuck up the barrel and go.

 

[Creedmoor]

I'm not picking on anyone here.
I will say that I can do a lot of things in my shop. but, its all good until one blows out a baffle stack on a $1,400 dollar can. I just pay the guys that do that stuff for a living. I'm a fabricator and a tig guy.
I tend to stay within my knowledge and limitations.

 

[nucular]

I'm not picking on anyone here.
I will say that I can do a lot of things in my shop. but, its all good until one blows out a baffle stack on a $1,400 dollar can. I just pay the guys that do that stuff for a living. I'm a fabricator and a tig guy.
I tend to stay within my knowledge and limitations.

100%. I only do it for myself. I would never do work for strangers or for money.

 

[Stengun]

Good used machines exist out there. Do not be phased (pun intended) by 3 phase machines. Often cheaper.

You can make a 3 phase rotary converter with A larger motor 3 phase motor and starting circuit. and feed your whole shop

 

[Stengun]

My side hobby is fixing older machines. Next on the block is a 1914 power hacksaw

 

[Hoosier8]

Let me start by saying I am a professional machinist. I might know a little something about lathe work.
Your gonna spend 5k to ?? An a good machine tooled up. Then you need to spend the next several years spending hours in the shop doing projects to get yourself familiar with your lathe. Along the way you will scrap jobs, screw up projects, fave a few wrecks, and after 5 plus years you will just start to get a han7on what your doing. After 34 years I'm still learning, I still scrap jobs.
I am not trying to discourage you, but I want you to understand, buying a harbor freight lathe and a $4.99 set of tool bits is not the way to go. Come spend a few weekends in my shop, I will get ys running a lathe......

Yeah, I would love a decent lathe to mess with and by the time I figure out how to do something I would probable be on a walker in an assisted living home! LOL

 

[55fairlane]

Yeah, I would love a decent lathe to mess with and by the time I figure out how to do something I would probable be on a walker in an assisted living home! LOL

If you were closer I would teach you all I know

 

[H&M Gunsmith]

Threading is usually about $100. Cut and thread runs more, of course. I do my work on a Smithy 1224XL. I center with a 4-jaw on the barrel as far through the headstock as I can get it, then use the live center in the muzzle. I've never had a complaint about alignment. I'm a retired Quality Engineer with a background in machining for aerospace and military. I've been running machines since the late 1960's. I still make models to work on before I turn some guns. Better to mess up $2 worth of scrap than a $2000 shotgun. Oh, and I use the harbor freight lathe for the really little stuff that the big one can't hold right.

 

[55fairlane]

Threading is usually about $100. Cut and thread runs more, of course. I do my work on a Smithy 1224XL. I center with a 4-jaw on the barrel as far through the headstock as I can get it, then use the live center in the muzzle. I've never had a complaint about alignment. I'm a retired Quality Engineer with a background in machining for aerospace and military. I've been running machines since the late 1960's. I still make models to work on before I turn some guns. Better to mess up $2 worth of scrap than a $2000 shotgun. Oh, and I use the harbor freight lathe for the really little stuff that the big one can't hold right.

If your telling the truth, you not well versed in machine work. And I for 1 would run as fast as I could away from your show. Yes the man makes the machine, not the machine makes the Machinist, but you need quality machines.....a smithy or a South bend.....I will take the south bend