Gunsmithing Questions On Lathes

The distance from the out board spider to the chuck determines how long a barrel you can hold. So if you want a sixteen inch barrel on my lathe when chucked the out board side can't be held. I know some guys make bushings to fill the gap between the barrel and head stock hole.
I think that's why Grizzly calls some of their machine gunsmith lathes because the have the biggest possible through hole and narrowest head stock.
I'm just starting out and when looking for a lathe I had the bigger is better outlook till my mentor pointed this out. There are other ways to hold the short barrels but more complicated.
 
Southbend 10L (large bore Heavy 10) is the preferred lathe for many gunsmiths. The 10L has a 1 3/8 bore and a relatively narrow headstock. I had one that served me very well for several years until I needed to chamber some 1.450" barrels for my rail guns. My southbend was short - I could not do a 21 inch barrel between centers. I got rid of the southbend 10L and got a grizzly 4003G. After adding a 3 phase motor, vfd and dro, it was a wonderful gunsmithing lathe. I replaced the 12x36 Grizzly with a 14 x 40 grizzly so I could do my F class barrels between centers. (long suckers) That is the lathe that I have now (also added a 3 phase motor, tachometer, dro and VFD).
Bottom line is get a bigger lathe than you think you will ever need and you will save a bunch of money in the long run.
 
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