Cut my own barrel

WadeWatts

Shameless Glock Fanboy
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I got my tax stamp back for my Sig 556. I planned on sending it to a gunsmith but a few local smiths did not seem interested in doing the job for me. So I figured I could tackle it on my own.

This poor Sig was an ugly duckling. What I really wanted was a SG553 clone.
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I did the first cut a little long and did some practice threading on the cut piece of barrel. Left enough room to send it to a smith if all went wrong
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After some practice, I decided to go ahead with the job on my own. Cut it to 10 inches.
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Used a 90 degree facer to get the barrel cut straight.
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I used an annular cutter to turn the barrel down enough to accept the 1/2x28 die. This part took the longest.
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Then threaded it using a thread alignment tool and die from cnc warrior
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Crowned using an 11 degree cutter from Brownells

Muzzle device fits perfectly
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Very happy with the results
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There is a wind chime at Battery Oaks made from cut off barrel ends. And, enough barrel ends to make a couple of more wind chimes.
 
I started to have chest pain at pic #2. Good job. Nice brass balls….I like it. Angle grinder… jesus. Be still my heart.

Its looks great. Nice job.
 
Does the pilot on the annular cutter keep it aligned with the bore?

I ask because the subsequent threading of the barrel determines if the threads are concentric to the bore or the exterior of the barrel based on the small shoulder left by the cutter.

This is not a big deal if just running a flash hider, but if you ever use a multi chambered brake or a suppressor, I would have a smith check the concentricity so you don’t have a baffle or chamber strike

Otherwise, it looks great. Job well done
 
Does the pilot on the annular cutter keep it aligned with the bore?

I ask because the subsequent threading of the barrel determines if the threads are concentric to the bore or the exterior of the barrel based on the small shoulder left by the cutter.

This is not a big deal if just running a flash hider, but if you ever use a multi chambered brake or a suppressor, I would have a smith check the concentricity so you don’t have a baffle or chamber strike

Otherwise, it looks great. Job well done

If that's the same sort (and it seems to be) as the one I used on the AK it does an outstanding job of keeping everything parrallel.
 
If that's the same sort (and it seems to be) as the one I used on the AK it does an outstanding job of keeping everything parrallel.

I’m not disagreeing, however, the tool can align off the bore OR the exterior of the barrel.

Think of the exterior of the barrel like the walls of a hallway and the bore is like a person walking down the hall. The person doesn’t necessarily have to walk straight down the hallway, they could be at an angle within the confines of the hallway.

The bullet will exit on the path placed by the bore, so if a muzzle device is concentric to the exterior of the barrel rather than the bore, the muzzle device may be crooked in relation to the path of the bullet, even though it looks straight with the barrel
 
I’m not disagreeing, however, the tool can align off the bore OR the exterior of the barrel.

Think of the exterior of the barrel like the walls of a hallway and the bore is like a person walking down the hall. The person doesn’t necessarily have to walk straight down the hallway, they could be at an angle within the confines of the hallway.

The bullet will exit on the path placed by the bore, so if a muzzle device is concentric to the exterior of the barrel rather than the bore, the muzzle device may be crooked in relation to the path of the bullet, even though it looks straight with the barrel

Looking at that one, it seems to have the bore alignment rod.
 
Does the pilot on the annular cutter keep it aligned with the bore?

I ask because the subsequent threading of the barrel determines if the threads are concentric to the bore or the exterior of the barrel based on the small shoulder left by the cutter.

This is not a big deal if just running a flash hider, but if you ever use a multi chambered brake or a suppressor, I would have a smith check the concentricity so you don’t have a baffle or chamber strike

Otherwise, it looks great. Job well done

I’m sure it’s not perfect but I don’t own a suppressor. If I did I would have had it done professionally. There’s enough space to cut it again to 9.5inches if I ever need to go that route.

All the cutters and threading tools I used for this build use the bore to center themselves. I was worried they might damage the bore but they did not. The annular cutter allows the pilot to spin freely so it’s not constantly wearing away at the rifling inside. I also went very slow with the drill and used lots of oil on the cutter and pilot.
 
I started to have chest pain at pic #2. Good job. Nice brass balls….I like it. Angle grinder… jesus. Be still my heart.

Its looks great. Nice job.

I use that grinder so often I can do surgery with it!

I cut in small increments and used oil to keep the metal cool as I was cutting. I know how hot things can get and didn’t want to damage any heat treating.
 
I use that grinder so often I can do surgery with it!

I cut in small increments and used oil to keep the metal cool as I was cutting. I know how hot things can get and didn’t want to damage any heat treating.
I use mine all the time on the farm. Its handy as a third arm. I might think twice about cutting a rifle barrel with it. Who am I kidding, of course I would.
 
How much did you invest in tools? The last time I looked it was cheaper for me to pay Clayton Guns to do it for $60 since I didn't expect to need to do another barrel again for a long time.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
 
How much did you invest in tools? The last time I looked it was cheaper for me to pay Clayton Guns to do it for $60 since I didn't expect to need to do another barrel again for a long time.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

Haha way more than $60.
 
I use mine all the time on the farm. Its handy as a third arm. I might think twice about cutting a rifle barrel with it. Who am I kidding, of course I would.

Given that I did mine with a Dremel and had to cut at an angle for various reasons then clean up the kludge afterwards, his looked like brain surgery lol
 
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