Anyone Make Their Own Barrels?

I am interested in making my own barrel for a project gun. I was wondering if anyone has made their own barrel in the past and would be willing to help teach me/ make sure I perform all of the steps correctly?

I have already taken a lathe class and am working on basic lathe skills on metal scraps to make sure that I can perform all of the required functions to within the required tolerances. I am planning on utilizing a straight bull barrel for my first barrel and was hoping to thread the barrel for a break. I was planning on buying a reamer rather than renting to make sure I can practice all of the steps prior to performing them on an actual barrel.

I’m probably wrong but I thought some law passed where you have to have a special license to manufacture parts for firearms. I’m sure someone will be by to let us know if there is. I’m a prior machinist, and I hated lathe work compared to mill work. I’m guessing it’s gonna be a lengthy undertaking to get it done

ClutchyMcClutcherson said:

I’m probably wrong but I thought some law passed where you have to have a special license to manufacture parts for firearms. I’m sure someone will be by to let us know if there is. I’m a prior machinist, and I hated lathe work compared to mill work. I’m guessing it’s gonna be a lengthy undertaking to get it done

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If you are manufacturing the action or are buying a firearm, modifying it, and then selling it as a completed firearm then yes, you need to have a manufacturers license from the ATF (pulled that off their website). For buying a barrel blank, finishing it, and installing it is not prohibited by the ATF as far as I can tell.

Swaim13 said:

If you are manufacturing the action or are buying a firearm, modifying it, and then selling it as a completed firearm then yes, you need to have a manufacturers license from the ATF (pulled that off their website). For buying a barrel blank, finishing it, and installing it is not prohibited by the ATF as far as I can tell.

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That answers that. Now that you’ve quoted it that’s exactly what I was thinking of.

I read the amateur gunsmithing sction on the BATFE site a good number of years ago. It is also dependent on the number of firearms and profit made to determine if the endeavor is for business. Amateur gunsmithing including modification, embellishments, improvements, etc may be made as long as the profit made is used to obtain subsequent arms acquired, other related gear associated with the hobby or pursuit of the hobby. At one time the guideline was around 10% of gross income but not sure of what the margin is now. 10% of $100K is considerably different than 10% of $30K. Also the receivers are a no-no to sell. The number of receivers built should only be what would be used by that shooter or amateur smith in his/her typical shooting activities. It was also suggested the receiver be serial numbered and registered with the ATF.

Since the manufacturers tax was implemented a few years back might have changed some of that. I started reading it a couple times...the amateur status seems close to the same philosophy.

I think Clutchy was thinking of ITAR .

Making a good barrel requires great skill and proper tooling. I would not expect good results with a regular lathe, starting with "How do you drill a straight hole that deep?" Then, "How do we cut the rifling?" IMHO, far better to buy even the cheapest barrel. ER Shaw makes inexpensive barrels and I chambered one in .308 Palma that shoots 1/2 MOA. Shot well enough to use as a teaching tool and I even used it for .308 matches myself.

As far as making your own firearms,,,

First, if it is legal for you to buy and own, it is legal to make it yourself, for yourself. ANY part of a firearm, even the receiver. No licensing or permission required. I have links to relevant law in this thread, first post: https://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=4197&highlight=machining

Non-serialized parts, really, anything but the receiver, are unregulated by ATF.

Conventional stocks, barrels, AR uppers, bolts, magazines...all of this stuff is unregulated with regard to transfers or possession (except "constructive possession", such as having an AR upper with a barrel of less than 16" without having a pistol or SBR lower receiver to put it on).

You can call any supplier with your credit card and have any of these sorts of items sent right out...no paperwork. You really don't even have to be 18 years of age to buy or possess these parts/accessories, and you can certainly make them for yourself. An example would be the entire Rock River Arms catalog, EXCEPT lower receivers

Next, your home-built firearm is only required to have a serial number IF you transfer it to someone else. There is another active thread regarding non-serialized firearms where the subject is being beaten to death...

Unregulated parts can be made/sold legally without licensing, but transfers of your home-built receivers can be problematic. Even if you apply a serial number, you cannot make a profit on your home made receivers without federal licensing. You can gift it, or even sell it at cost, but you cannot make money on it unless you become a licensed manufacturer. Because the ice thins out at this point and you may find yourself trying to prove what it costs vs what you sold it for...I'd personally not sell any receivers/serialized-type components I had made myself. BGOS aside, better safe than sorry here.

ITAR = International Trade (in) Arms Regulations: Without an export permit, one may not export weapons technology. This regulation group has ONLY to do with export/dealing with foreign nationals. If you make anything at all for firearms, even sights or scope mounts (completely unregulated in the domestic context), you cannot sell it abroad without getting past the State Department. This even applies to training, where one may not train a foreign national on weapons without meeting certain circumstances. Obviously, ITAR has nothing to do with making your own firearms and parts.

Swaim13 said:

I am interested in making my own barrel for a project gun. I was wondering if anyone has made their own barrel in the past and would be willing to help teach me/ make sure I perform all of the steps correctly?

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Search for "Gordie Gritters" and study his method of setting up a barrel blank in the lathe. Once you understand what he is doing, you won't want it done any other way.

I have already taken a lathe class and am working on basic lathe skills on metal scraps to make sure that I can perform all of the required functions to within the required tolerances. I am planning on utilizing a straight bull barrel for my first barrel and was hoping to thread the barrel for a break (brake).

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It actually sounds like you're not "making" a barrel, but chambering a pre-bored and rifled blank. This is easy enough and there are two ways to do this:

a) Buy a 'short-chambered' barrel from one of the barrel makers. They have already cut and threaded the tenon for your rifle model and used a roughing reamer to cut the chamber short to allow you to headspace the chamber to your rifle as you finish the chamber with the finishing reamer. You don't even need to chuck it up to do this.

b) Buy a contoured barrel blank . This blank will require roughing the chamber and machining the tenon to fit your particular rifle model, then final finishing with the finishing reamer to achieve correct headspace. This method requires a large lathe with a headstock bore large enough to pass the barrel. You will have to use a four jaw chick and a spider to align chamber end the barrel. You will see that Gordie Gritters method does NOT use an indicator to true muzzle runout.

I would suggest getting the barrel blank in the exact contour you need. You will have to find the loose end, cut your chamber there, then flip it, cut to final length and crown it. If you re-contour the barrel yourself, you can run into problems with warping due to the way the barrel was stress relieved and it's generally better to leave the contour as is.

I was planning on buying a reamer rather than renting to make sure I can practice all of the steps prior to performing them on an actual barrel.

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The type of steel, even between barrel makers, can drastically change machining properties. If you're local, I probably have couple scrap barrels you can have to hack on until you gain confidence.

Rifling and chambering would be the only things I would be remotely concerned about. Other wise it's straight engine lathe work. I shortened a deadly government profile 16" AR barrel for a pistol build. Lopped the end off with a turning tool, then centered off the bore and turned the OD for the brake threads on a manual machine. Barrel turned similar to 4140 so it's nothing exotic. Noticed the bore was .010" out of true to the OD once lopped off so I centered off that versus the OD.

Ranchero50 said:

Rifling and chambering would be the only things I would be remotely concerned about.

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There is a lot I don't know, how would you set up a 0.300" bore 26" long, or even 20" on an engine lathe and produce a smooth, straight bore?

...Noticed the bore was .010" out of true to the OD once lopped off so I centered off that versus the OD.

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That inherent deep hole runout is what makes Gordie Gritters' method so effective at producing match winning chambers. Most people think that hole is straight.

That could be why good blanks are so expensive. Because they're long and you need to know where to shorten them or from which end to start from.

E.Shell said:

ITAR = International Trade (in) Arms Regulations: Without an export permit, one may not export weapons technology. This regulation group has ONLY to do with export/dealing with foreign nationals. If you make anything at all for firearms, even sights or scope mounts (completely unregulated in the domestic context), you cannot sell it abroad without getting past the State Department. This even applies to training, where one may not train a foreign national on weapons without meeting certain circumstances. Obviously, ITAR has nothing to do with making your own firearms and parts.

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Careful here.

Under the ITAR, manufacturers of defense articles are required to be registered with the Dept. of State regardless of whether they actually export or not.

This requirement has existed for ~40 years.

Bush 43 quadrupled the registration fee in an effort to make the export licensing system self funding.

The Obama administration issued a ruling that the requirement applied to gunsmiths.

You can make your own parts for your own use, but once you cross into being in the business, you may have to meet the ITAR requirement.

The above re-interpetation essentially killed the concept of semi-pro commercial reloading ( ie ATF licensed , but modest production to support their own shooting plus pocket money ) . Th $2000 annual fee forces you to go big or go home .

Likewise the permissible unlicensed gunsmithing services are spelled out , and don't go far beyond cleaning and scope mounting .

Furious George said:

Careful here.

Under the ITAR, manufacturers of defense articles are required to be registered with the Dept. of State regardless of whether they actually export or not.

This requirement has existed for ~40 years.

Bush 43 quadrupled the registration fee in an effort to make the export licensing system self funding.

The Obama administration issued a ruling that the requirement applied to gunsmiths.

You can make your own parts for your own use, but once you cross into being in the business, you may have to meet the ITAR requirement.

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Thank you for the elaboration and good advice.

We are/were trying to stay away from the "manufacturer" definition.

E.Shell said:

There is a lot I don't know, how would you set up a 0.300" bore 26" long, or even 20" on an engine lathe and produce a smooth, straight bore?

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It's a function of the part spinning believe it or not. Google it for a better explanation but from what I understand as long as the tool is machined correctly and the chip load is correct it'll bore a straight hole. There's not much rigidity in a .2" diameter 16" long dill bit. My machinist coworker said they probably do a rough lathe process on the OD to see what stresses get relieved, drill the bore hole and then final turn the OD using the bore as a center. When a completed 16" heavy barrel can be had for $75 from PSA there isn't much time invested in making the part

They use a single flute 'D bit' to bore long straight holes. It's actually so simple you can make them yourself. Making rifle barrels is amazingly simple technology. Just really tedious. Buying rifled blanks is a better use of my time Though can't say I haven't been tempted to make something like a short 9mm bbl 'just to do it.'

E.Shell said:

It actually sounds like you're not "making" a barrel, but chambering a pre-bored and rifled blank.

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This is correct. I was planning on buying a barrel blank, utilizing a straight bull contour, at least for my first rifle, and machining the tenon, chamber, and threading the end. I see what you mean with requiring the four jaw chuck and spider to align the barrel and the reamer. Your advice regarding buying a contoured barrel is not something that I had thought of and will need to take into consideration.

I am having to go through this process as the action I am intending to pair with the barrel, a TC Icon, is not a typical action where manufacturer's stock chambered barrels. I have only found one post online regarding the barrel so am trying to gather the resources and skills necessary to re-barrel the rifle prior to disassembling the rifle as is.

E.Shell said:

If you're local, I probably have couple scrap barrels you can have to hack on until you gain confidence.

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That would be great if you are willing. Do you happen to have any scrap barrels that are from a Remington 700? I have heard rumors that the tenon is the same as on the TC Icon but don't have a way to verify this. Was hoping to borrow a scrapped one from someone and see if the threads match, are the same diameter, and eventually if it can thread into my action. If it can thread in, I can hopefully just buy a pre-chambered barrel and just finish the chamber/ head space the rifle.