What sort of lathe is needed?

[Jack V]

It's real shame that there isn't a TAFE course or equivalent on gunsmithing available in Australia.

Finding a good gunsmith is getting harder these days.

You are quite right it is a shame , and a good gunsmith is very difficult to find. My last effort was I waited 12 months for a gunsmith to ring me when he could do my job in the end I saw him at the range and asked politely when he could do it . The answer was , you could always take it some place else After 12 months of waiting this is the best he could do . I went out and bought my own equipment . He also lost all my other purchases every year like powder , cases etc. etc. It was a real easy job for him too as the action was already fully stripped and the old barrel removed and new barrel supplied all he had to do was thread and chamber . The problem now a days is there is too many so called accuracy gunsmiths that only want to build target rifles and turn their nose up at anything else. In the end they loose vital business .

[Monty]

That is a good call as there is no need for gory photos. In fact I don't even like too gory photos of downed game . It's just not necessary , even though I know it's kind of unavoidable on a shooting forum.

For a discussion on bullet effectiveness, wound channels, relevant things like that we'll let a few photos slide.

No gore for the sake of gore though.

[tapper]

Jack,

Screw dealing with that guy. Those kinds of *&*(^ just make things 10x more stressful than they need to be.

[Jack V]

Jack,

Screw dealing with that guy. Those kinds of *&*(^ just make things 10x more stressful than they need to be.

Too right mate , I found out on Wednesday that he has fallen out of favour at the range also so maybe more business is gone.

[Khan]

Oh well, he'll eventually figure it out at his own expense.

When he's down to living off Ramen noodles his service and manners might improve

[Jack V]

The problem is even if you do most of your own work you still need a gunsmith now and then especially for any registration adjustments . A few months back I found out we have a new one not far away but have not had a chance to check them out . Might give them a small job just to see how I get treated . It's not cost effective to buy special expensive jigs and tooling to do one small job for yourself.

[veep]

It's not cost effective to buy special expensive jigs and tooling to do one small job for yourself.

I guess that's why some businesses think they can treat you crap, because you can't/won't go and do it yourself.

[Jack V]

I guess that's why some businesses think they can treat you crap, because you can't/won't go and do it yourself.

Not quite the case in my situation. I can always buy or make the tooling if they do piss me off. However for most that's correct .

[veep]

Yeah you know what I mean.

When I said you I didn't mean you. I meant us, the average customers.

[RealNick]

Not quite the case in my situation. I can always buy or make the tooling if they do piss me off. However for most that's correct .

I'd love to have a workshop at hand like that.

I'd never have a spare minute

[Jack V]

It's not all beer and skittles. As I said before the tooling to do things can keep you broke and there is no profit from anyone when you just do your own stuff.

Economically it's crazy but satisfaction is good. It is nice to have some tools but most people are better off putting the money directly towards the gear they need.

I bought my stuff out off frustration and anger not sensible economic thinking. It has been good for fixing and making dies and I needed a few new swaging dies as some were wearing out. They only have to loose.002 between the core seater and the point former and they play up. It takes a long time for that to happen but some of mine were second hand to start with. It's a very common mistake for new bullet swagers to blame the point forming die when the bullet will not eject. However the real culprit is usually the core seating die because it has either worn and lost the critical match tolerance or it was made wrong to start with.

Commercial die makers put about.001 critical match tolerance so the dies wear out quicker around 50 000 bullets for tool steel. It's BS as.002 match works perfect and the dies last much longer. Lathes are good for this mucking about with dies. Now you really need to know that right

I had planned to share my tools with a friend at no expense to him but all of a sudden he started making insulting remarks about my gear and how I was doing things,well I was new at it and trying to learn things. It got to the point he was making fun of me in front of others even at the range so one day I gave him the verbal heave ho right out the door and don't come back.

To this day I can't figure out what happened but some other people said it may have been shear jealousy and he could not hide it. I guess that's cutting your nose off to spite your face. So I got some new tools but lost a friend, go figure.

[Lorgar]

I had planned to share my tools with a friend at no expense to him but all of a sudden he started making insulting remarks about my gear and how I was doing things,well I was new at it and trying to learn things. It got to the point he was making fun of me in front of others even at the range so one day I gave him the verbal heave ho right out the door and don't come back.

To this day I can't figure out what happened but some other people said it may have been shear jealousy and he could not hide it.

It's a funny thing, we had a similar experience when I was a kid.

We'd just moved into a new house in a cul-de-sac of about 20 houses and over the next days/weeks my folks were bumping into the neighbours and introducing themselves and all the usual stuff and in one instance my mother invited one of the others over for a cup of tea for an hour.

So this women comes over and after seeing a little of the house says something like "Well, I won't bother inviting you over" or something like that. I can't remember the words as it was 20 years ago but it was clear there was something similar to what you described going on. Sure enough, didn't see much of her after that.

My folks house (still live there) is one of the nicer ones in the street, but it's inline with the rest of the area. It's not some mansion towering above the poor burbs or anything like that... You wouldn't pick it out as anything special.

Never figured out what her problem was in the end and just didn't have anything to do with her.

[Jack V]

Yeah mate some people are strange . Sounds like the same thing. I can't figure out that kind of thinking. They leave you feeling guilty like you did something wrong .
Weird.

[Supporter]

For the best... Less distractions in the workshop and more time for projects Jack

[Jack V]

For the best... Less distractions in the workshop and more time for projects Jack

Yes your are right about that . It's actually better now as he was upsetting me and making the learning harder .

[Bidgee]

Mate get a copy of Gordy Gritters video and John Hinnants Guide to Precision Rifle Barrel Fitting (Brownells).

And get the lathe and start learning!

[Lorgar]

I'll need some lathe advice soon.

My new casting hobby is quickly creating ideas that will need one

[pomemax]

Any lathe that a barrel will fit in would do you IF you know how to use it or have spent the time to learn saying that .
Look for a lathe in your Budget that has a set of change gears LEARN HOW AND WHAT TO DO WITH THEM , lathe steady and 3 and 4 jaw chucks next start to accumulate a set of Micrometers 0-1 1-2 2-3 and the metric equivalents the point im makeing is you wont just do barrels and stuff.
Then get a real decent bench grinder and some square steel Just plane mild steel and practice to grind threading tools you can buy most tool guides from hare and forbes then grind some on hhs that skill will save you money in the long run buying threading tip is ok if your doing 1 thread and if you dont have to sharpen it ever again .
learn to turn it should take you some time to get ok with your lathe (just rember a lathe can kill i have seen 1 guy rip his left arm of and 2 killed in my working life manly from leaving a chuck key in when starting some chuck keys are big and they were guys that had worked their whole life on a lathe )
I HAVE WORKED FOR OVER 40 ON LATHES AND IM STILL LEARNNG ITS NOT LIKE YOU CAN learn in a day
have a watch of this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba3_3qseCB4

[Harper]

But I can learn in 2 days right?

I'm busy after all

[bladeracer]

I have an old lathe and since getting into the guns side of things a few barrel have come my way. I thought about having some practice on them only to find my lathe is too small to accept the 1 1/4 inch barrels down through the spindle. Very dissapointed

1-1/4" barrel?
If the bed is long enough you can turn it between centres instead of through the spindle. If the bed is not long enough then mount one end in the chuck and the other end in a steady.

[darwindingo]

G'Day andym79,

Just a thought, but have you had a look at what your local men's shed has to offer in the metal lathe department ? A couple I have visited in various locations have some seriously top notch gear (more than capable of achieving your desired result in the appropriate hands) .... You may even get lucky and find an old retired gunsmith that's a member that's willing to share his expertise with a young bloke that shows some interest ?....

Worth a look imo.. You never know ? It would leave some coin in your pocket for any thing they didn't have to achieve what you desire to do...

May not be the answer ? but it would be worth some investigation imo.... ! A few questions certainly wont cost you anything !

Just something to consider

Best of luck with it all...