Gunsmiths Please help

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Hello all, a little back round before my problem. I'm Just a hobby machinist I can hold my own, but by no means a professional. that being said I purchased a Remington 700 XCR in 25-06 heavy barrel. Upon close inspection I can see damage to the crown and damage on the top of the rifiling about 3/16 down.
I have a 11" clausing, colochester
I guess my first question am i way off to think I can take that 3/16 off the end of the barrel.on the lathe and machine a target recessed crown,
I am not able to remove the barrel from the action.
Can I hold the whole action and barrel in the lathe ? I do have a steady rest.
That brings me to my next question How to I hold the barrel end without marring the finish, and how do you hold it being the barrel is tapered.
And last can you lead me through the process.
I know I should just farm it out,
problem I dont feel any of the box shops in my area are capable of quality work
MANY THANKS TO ALL
Frank
 
Maybe before you go to all that trouble, you should get one of them rubberized grinding wheels, they come in all shapes and sizes that would probably fit the boar with some diamond dust compound you could probably polish it right out. You got nothing to lose at this point. Then take it out and shoot it was see how well it holds a group.
 
If Genec's idea does not work, then you should build an action wrench and a barrel bushing. Action wrench is used to separate the action from the barrel and the barrel bushing will be used to protect the barrel from damage caused by holding the barrel in the lathe. Both items are fairly easy to make especially for the Rem 700 which is a round action. The barrel bushing can be a simple as a two piece hard wood sleeve to an Al one. This is one of the proper ways to work on a barrel.
For further info look to NRA Gunsmithing Guide, Brownells various publications and many others. Take your time and a good solution will come to the fore.
Pierre
 
If you have a knee mill, you can use a vee block and let the barrel hang down as you hold it at the edge of the table. Then plunge with an end mill, use a boring head, or whatever you have. Stuff paper down the barrel to keep chips out of the action.
 
I just did a muzzle brake on a Remington 700 and chucked the barreled action through the headstock with 4 jaw and the other end dialed in using an outboard spider. I removed the bolt and scope and worked fine. I used a 4 gauge copper ring wrapped around the barrel on the 4 jaw side. My outboard spider uses brass tipped screws. Did the same thing to crown a Savage 22 barrel. On this barrel, I used my front side spider with 3/8" brass tipped screws

IMAG1342.jpg IMAG1343.jpg
 
Actually,you DO have something to lose if you try polishing freehand the end of the bore in the barrel. If this is not bored out exactly square with the end of the barrel,the bullets will fly off at an angle. I like Tony's suggestion to hang the barrel off the side of the table of a mill. However,you need to be able to dial indicate the bore exactly centered under the spindle. I would make a plug that is nice and smooth that fits snug in the bore(but does not damage the rifling). Then,I'd use my Blake co-axial dial indicator to get the plug accurately centered under the spindle. Only then would I introduce an end mill into the barrel(after removing the plug,of course).

There are import copies of the Blake co-axial indicator,but I don't trust them myself. Admittedly,I haven't used one of them. Maybe someone who does have one can chime in. My Blake is the handiest thing there is for centering up bored holes or vertical shafts,etc.,in the vertical mill. I'm always using it to center up 5/8" circular saw blades to bore them out to 3/4" for my 1964 Clausing table saw with 3/4" arbor. The blades run dead true with no trace of "bounce" when running after I bore them. I keep a dedicated little boring head near the mill for just this purpose. I can trust the Blake to do a $100.00+ saw blade accurately,and am about to re bore a whole dado set.

The Blake can be a very handy thing when used in the tailstock of a lathe to center a shaft,or in your case,a barrel. Remember,the outside surface of some barrels may not be perfectly centered on the bore(I THINK!). make an accurate bore plug and use it. to indicate off of.

The way to not damage the barrel in the steady rest is to cut a strip of cardboard off the back of a writing tablet(NOT corrugated cardboard). Wrap the strip around the barrel ONE TURN,and catch the ends of the cardboard pinched in the joint of the steady rest where it closes. The cardboard will not be wrapped completely around the barrel,but it will be around the barrel enough to let the 3 fingers of the steady rest upon it. I hope you understand what I'm describing. Use oil on the cardboard and barrel. Use an absolutely MINIMUM number of rotations at the SLOWEST speed possible to crown the barrel,or whatever you are doing. Center the barrel first,using the bore plug and the Blake. If you don't have a Blake,save up and buy one as soon as you can. Don't try to get off cheaper with an import. One screwed up job on an expensive gun will cost you more than the Blake would have.

I have seen a small cathead with 2 sets of 4 screws used in a steady rest also,to support a shaft without damage to it. The cardboard strip is easier to deal with,though,but must be used with minimum rotations.
 
Thanks all ;
I do have a Bridgeport and a Blake indicator, Not sure I understand how to plunge Vertically , I guess my question again is holding the barrel vertical on the mill. I did consider v-block then mill side cut to the depth I need,
As for my lathe, it has a D1-3 spindle I could make a fixture 4 screw for front, but not sure the attachment for the rear.I think my own ability dictating I can do a more professional job on my lathe
I do like the look of the target crown. I think that's my goal.
The cost of tooling be what it is, Are the spiders for hold down available.?
Any Idea in the rear attachment, other than set screws around the bore sleeve.
Best Regards
and
Many Thanks
Frank
 
I'll mock up something for a picture this morning, Frank. I like doing rifles this way because you don't spin them in a steady rest or have chuck marks to worry about. You can wrap brass or aluminum around the barrel, support it right at the end so you get a nice cut. I've done several this way.

As far as plunging on the mill, just treat an end mill like a drill. Set your depth and feed slowly down into the end of the barrel. Of course, this does assume that you have an end mill the size you want, otherwise you need a boring head, which also works fine, but takes longer.
 
I use 4 jaw and spider. I have made several sets of plastic, UHMW and other material rollers for my steady rest to alleviate the marking problems. Nothing has worked out yet, just the wrong material. The problem I see using a vee block on the mill is the barrel taper, the muzzle will not be crowned square. Polishing inside the bore only opens up the bore diameter, unevenly to boot. What do you do about the burr you push into the bore when using an end mill? The only way to accurately do this is single point from the inside out, dialed in in the lathe. Try holding your action on a mandrel in the headstock, put the muzzle on a center, build a body putty spot to hold in your steady, true it up, then try a steady. Depending on lathe size.
 
Decided to make the spiders for my Clausing, Ill post some pictures as soon as I can, Thanks again
Frank
 
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