To Thread or Not to Thread? (existing rifles)

What would you do with your existing rifles?

  • Thread the factory barrels

  • Keep them unthreaded

  • Other: See comments


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Hey guys, you should check out Whitt Machine & Tool. They custom make clamp on muzzle breaks for a very reasonable price. In a previous thread guys were talking about threading barrels and weather or not the barrel needs to be removed from the action. The answer is no. The barreled action is chucked in a lathe with non-marring jaws and the barrel is turned down to the proper diameter and then threaded. If the guys any good he will recrown the barrel as a courtesy
 
Threading your muzzle is a simple job for any gunsmith worth his salt. And your concerns of the action whipping around doesn't happen. The barrel will be held in a 4 jaw chuck about an inch from the muzzle and held in a spider at the chamber end of your barrel. A spider is like a mini chuck with 4 moveable contact points. So your barrel will be held at 2 points around 18 to 20 inches apart depending on how wide the headstock is and will run true with no wobble. If you don't like the looks of thread protectors have the smith turn it down smooth to your barrels thickness and you can barely see it. A mini rubber strap wrench will get it off if it gets to tight. If you keep it lubed it won't get stuck.
Shep
 
I may get a suppressor in 2020, and I have a couple Savage rifles (models 10 & 11) without threaded barrels. What should I do with these guns? None of them are collectors' items, but they shoot well as is.
One thing that has not been mentioned here is the rifle barrels contour. If you have lets say a typical sporter style barrel which will be light in weight (as opposed to say a Varmint or Bull barrel) this barrel muzzle end may be large enough to accept threading. In order to turn lets say a 5/8" X 24 T.P.I. you must turn said barrels O.D. to a dimension of .625" x .5OO" In length. What do you do if your barrels OD is too small. Well you really only have 3 options with this barrel.
The first two options are D.Y.I.
1) Turn and face off the barrel's length until you can turn lets say .500" of length with a square shoulder & undercut of a .625" Outside Diameter(O.D.)
Thread and re crown your muzzle face.
This will remove barrel length until you can establish your thread pitch diameter.
2) Purchase a Clamp On muzzle Break or Suppressor. I myself think that the screws which are used to tighten the clamps are unsightly and detract from your weapons appearance.
On the plus side you will not have to concern yourself with the correct alignment(called timing) as you just slip it on and tighten the clamping screws.
Additionally if you have another rifle with a similar barrel contour it is an easy manner to switch your devise from one rifle to another.
3) Send each barrel to a competent smith and let them do the work.
So please examine your rifles barrels in order to make an informed decision.
 
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It seems that the US is limited with only 1/2-28 thread and 5/8-24 mostly which severely restrict options of threadings when foreign manufacturers can have up to 15 or so options of Threadings available.
Now days with the cnc machining of parts , any brake or suppressor could be supplied with way more threading options. It is really up to the manufacturers to sit down and establish a few more options for the general public. A good thread should remove just enough meat to establish a good shoulder but not remove too much material as to look ridiculously thin. As an exemple , I have threaded recently a savage rifle in 300wm to the install a brake with a muzzle diameter of about 15mm. The thread was M14x1 which leaves about 2.51mm of wall thickness between bottom of the thread and inside of the bore .
 
Harrels has a vast selection of sizes available.
Shep
 

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I put the barrel with action on through my lathe and dial the barrel with a 4 jaw on both ends, never had to remove the action. But the barrel has to be over 20 inches to do that
 
If you plan to thread the muzzles, I'd go for the whole nine yards and cut a new chamber into each of your two rifles. The barrels will need to be removed to thread them, so why not rechamber and have what essentially amounts to a brand-new gun?
Noooooooo! :) Sorry, I thought we were still in the other thread. OP, leave the barrel on the action to thread and there is no need to rechamber. You aren't cutting corners by leaving it alone and simply threading for a muzzle device.
 
It seems that the US is limited with only 1/2-28 thread and 5/8-24 mostly which severely restrict options of threadings when foreign manufacturers can have up to 15 or so options of Threadings available.
Now days with the cnc machining of parts , any brake or suppressor could be supplied with way more threading options. It is really up to the manufacturers to sit down and establish a few more options for the general public. A good thread should remove just enough meat to establish a good shoulder but not remove too much material as to look ridiculously thin. As an exemple , I have threaded recently a savage rifle in 300wm to the install a brake with a muzzle diameter of about 15mm. The thread was M14x1 which leaves about 2.51mm of wall thickness between bottom of the thread and inside of the bore .

It's simple really: you've got a really good chance of getting the proper threads from the factory & every Smith doesn't have to keep oddball threading tools.
1/2, 5/8", & 3/4", & 7/8".
 
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