TC Encore barrel stub

T

Tincamp67

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Has anyone done one of these?

I have a trashed encore barrel the I want to cut off, and hopefully sleeve , via threads, another barrel into. I would prefer a savage style barrel, or Ruger American style, as the lock nut seems like it would be the easiest way to headspace and tweak to get the action to work properly.

Now for the dilemma. The encore has an OD of 1” on the money. I have a Savage Axis in 7mm08 with an OD of about 1.1”. From what I can find online, the Ruger American has an OD at the threads of .99”. Obviously, after boring/reaming/threading the stub, I will have well less a 1” hole to work with. I’m hesitant to turn down the chamber area of the replacement barrel beyond factory specs, likely in the neighborhood of .75”.

I know these builds have been done. Are they limited to smaller, lower pressure rounds? I was looking at 6.5 Creedmore or maybe 243 AI, depending on what barrel I can get my hands on.

Any input is appreciated.
 
I am not a gunsmith. I have seen these questions come up on other forums. You need to calculate the hoop strength of the barrel. There is a fairly simple formula for hoop strength.

If you are paying someone to do this, it is probably less expensive to buy an Encore barrel in the caliber that you want. Numrich has some Heym Arms barrels in both 243 and 6.5 that are .700 OD. So a .750 OD barrel may be Ok. It all gets down to the hoop strength of the barrel. Only you can make that decision.
 
This is slated as a winter project for me. The cost of a gunsmith is probably more than a barrel from Bullberry or MGM, and the thought was to challenge my skills as inexpensively as possible.

How did you locate those barrels on the Numrich website? They must have a thousand barrels from a hundred manufacturers.
 
They are under Gun Barrels then Barrel Blanks. Here is a link. https://www.gunpartscorp.com/category/barrels/barrel-blanks?page=3

I bought a 257 Roberts barrel from them for one of my small ring mausers. I have not yet installed it. Hope to get to this project in the not too distant future.

Green Mountain Rifle Barrels is another good source for inexpensive barrels. https://www.gmriflebarrel.com/ From what I have read these are good barrels for hunting rifles.

And welcome to the forum. There are a fair number of members who do their own gunsmithing. Hopefully they will chime in here with more info for you.
 
mickri said:
You need to calculate the hoop strength of the barrel. There is a fairly simple formula for hoop strength.
Click to expand...

Yes, calculating hoop strength is pretty simple - just some straightforward multiplication.
The trouble is, you have to KNOW the metallurgy of your barrel. What's the makeup? What's the hardness? What's the alloy? etc.
Now, yes, there's always the guy that can say "for most part..." and "I've never heard of a barrel that wasn't [this]..." But if you're to the point of needing a burst strength number - and accompanying Margin of Safety - you gotta have hard data to go on.
THEN
You gotta have hard data on your loads. See, when guys mess with calibers, they almost always mess with loads, which is fine. But once again, you gotta KNOW your pressures each time.
As an alternative... just kinda throwing this out there.... is to leave yourself lots and lots of room and not worry about it. If you think it's getting 'a bit thin', then chances are it's a bit thin.
If you're going into unexplored territory with thinner dimensions than you've seen, this is equally thin ice you're on.
It can certainly be done, and you're certainly as capable as anyone else. Just be careful. Inspect carefully after every shot, etc.
[By the Way: most catastrophic failures of barrels are nowhere near as bad as they appear in the subsequent pics. So it's not an instant death sentence or even ER visit if you forget to carry the one. It CAN be, but it's not a guarantee.]
 
Out of curiosity I spent some time last evening researching your question. I found this about minimum barrel wall thickness. It might help you. https://web.archive.org/web/2015072...org/sites/default/files/new_file/A-4-1_EN.pdf

I also read a thread about doing what you want to do. Then I couldn't find it again to give you a link. What that thread said was that you can't use the Savage barrel nut system on a break open rifle. On a break open rifle where the new barrel is fitted into the stub of the old barrel the new barrel has to extend past the stub and then be machined so that the action will just close. Then you have to cut the chamber so that the action will close on a go gauge but not close on a no go gauge. This thread was about a NEF handi rifle.

Hopefully someone will chime in who knows more about this.

Found the thread. https://www.go2gbo.com/threads/rebarreling-stub-intructions.74069/

Another thread https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?268631-H-amp-R-Stub-Barrel
 
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As best I can tell, 4140 is the barrel steel for savage blued barrels. For ruger, it seems 4140 or 4130 fr blued steel. I’m going to stay away from stainless just because of the added difficulty in working with it, at least for me.

I’m surprised no one is chiming in that they have done this exact stub process.

A rough calculation tells me that nothing above little cartridges will work. Things like 22rf, 22 hornet, 25-20, 32-20, 327 federal, and others in that range. Articles I’ve read discuss heavier and larger diameter calibers like 357 max being sleeved in to Encore stubs. I’ve also seen internet pics if savage barrel with the nut sleeved in to Encore stub. I’ll have to look for those again. Now I’m puzzled.
 
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Could be nobody want to feel like their advice gets someone hurt or killed. I have sleeved a bunch of actions and barrels in my experiments with different calibers but wouldn’t give advice on how to do it. Too many variables. Accident with a high pressure round close to face and arms not good. It can and has been done safely. Do much research. Sorry for long post.
 
I did a smokeless muzzle loader stub job on an NEF 12 gauge. Cut at 3 inches. Bore out the tapered chamber and thread to 1" x 16TPI. Bought a McGowen .458 x 22 blank in 4140. Threaded it to go into the stub and reach the breach block. Bored and threaded for Savage breech plug. Pretty straight forward but I had to make a few simple gauges to get the depths right . If memory serves, the barrel OD at the chamber of the original barrel was 1.100 inches.
 
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