Cat's Head for Shortening Rifle Barrels

epanzella

epanzella

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People here in Ct like to build rifles that will kill a brontosaurus at 500 yards but are so awkward they won't kill a white tail at 50 yards. Unfortunately, white tails at 50 yds are mostly what we have around these parts. As people figure this out I get requests to shorten barrels to 20 or even 18 inches. The problem is that once a gun is finished I don't have a good way to shorten the barrel without an extensive tear down and marks on the blued finish. What I've been doing is making a split bushing that bolts on the barrel and then machining it concentric to the bore. This then goes in the steady. It works but it burns up time and materials. I decided to make a fixture that I could just build once and then dial it in for any barrel while in the steady rest. The action will be dialed in with the 4 jaw and the muzzle will go on a live center until the steady is dialed in.


done.JPGTAPPING.JPG
 
On the most accurate gun I own I used a hack saw to shorten the barrel and then used the Brownells chamfering reamers to clean it up and apply the 11° crown. It shoots 1/4 MOA IF I am doing my part correctly and 1/2 MOA with factory hunting ammo IF I am doing my part. That is hard to argue with and it looks great too. If the cut and crown job takes an hour your milking it. It will take longer to refinish to match than it did to do the job.

The set comes with one brass pilot of your choice and you will need to get additional pilots for each caliber.

www.brownells.com

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BROWNELLS 79 DEGREE MUZZLE CROWNING CUTTER | Brownells

Hardened steel, muzzle crowning tool cuts a slight (11° less than square) target chamfer on barrels. Gives good rifling protection without going too deep. 90° - 11° = 79°, hence the name. Eight, precision-machined flutes give smooth, chatter-free ...
www.brownells.com www.brownells.com
 
Flyinfool said:
On the most accurate gun I own I used a hack saw to shorten the barrel and then used the Brownells chamfering reamers to clean it up and apply the 11° crown. It shoots 1/4 MOA IF I am doing my part correctly and 1/2 MOA with factory hunting ammo IF I am doing my part. That is hard to argue with and it looks great too. If the cut and crown job takes an hour your milking it. It will take longer to refinish to match than it did to do the job.

The set comes with one brass pilot of your choice and you will need to get additional pilots for each caliber.

www.brownells.com

Shop All Shooting & Gunsmithing Supplies | Brownells Since 1939

Brownells offers Free Shipping over $49 through July on all products including ammunition, firearms, reloading, handgun and rifle parts, AR15 supplies, gun cleaning products, and more!
www.brownells.com www.brownells.com
and
www.brownells.com

BROWNELLS 79 DEGREE MUZZLE CROWNING CUTTER | Brownells

Hardened steel, muzzle crowning tool cuts a slight (11° less than square) target chamfer on barrels. Gives good rifling protection without going too deep. 90° - 11° = 79°, hence the name. Eight, precision-machined flutes give smooth, chatter-free ...
www.brownells.com www.brownells.com
Click to expand...
Yeah, I saw those. Look nice but over $200 for one caliber and one crown style. My cat's head cost me $9 for brass tipped bolts. With it I can do any caliber, any crown style, and thread for suppressors, brakes, ect.
 
It ain't a CAT'S HEAD, it is a CAT HEAD, derived from the word Cap Head, and it is not either one, it is a SPIDER! (EIGHT LEGS), a cat head is a device that is cup shaped with radially disposed setscrews and a center drilled hole on the side opposite the cupped side and is used to clamp on a rough OD and supported by the lathe tailstock center, to machine a steady rest spot on a workpiece to be machined so that a center drilling can be preformed on the actual part.
 
Well I guess you're not the only one without a clue. I always understood that to be a cat head too, and a spider is the 4 screw fixture that goes on the tail end of the spindle. :confused 3:
 
From your OP I was assuming that you are doing this often. That $200 in tools would have a pretty short ROI vs the time and material to keep making and setting up all the hardware to do it on the lathe.

I did buy that tooling 25 years ago back when it was $50 and before I got my lathe, but is is still my #1 choice for crowning jobs.
 
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