Thoughts on a spider

[pontiac428]

I have done 3 barrels so far on my lathe. Some on here may cringe at how I supported the outboard side of the barrel, but sometimes you have to make due with what you have.
I bought a cheap roll of electrical tape, marked the barrel at the end of the outboard side of the bore, then started wrapping the tape around the barrel until it was a snug fit into the bore.
It actually got it within a few thousandths. Way better than not having any support. Plus, they all were 22lr barrels. 50-100 yards max, so I did not need the same amount of precision that a barrel for a 1000 yard centerfire match rifle would need.
I then indexed the it with the 4 jaw on the chamber end.
I shot one for the first time last weekend for the first time, and it shot great.

You don't have a steady rest? I'm not really cringing about the electrical tape, but you do know that the barrel doesn't have to go though the head stock, right? John L. Hinnant had some choice words in his book about that.

 

[Tincamp67]

You don't have a steady rest? I'm not really cringing about the electrical tape, but you do know that the barrel doesn't have to go though the head stock, right? John L. Hinnant had some choice words in his book about that.

Not sure about “jeepsnguns” but my smithy is a short bed. Even with a steady rest, I don’t have enough room. My SB9 has a long enough bed, and a steady rest, but a small spindle bore. And, even with the steady rest, I would have to take the barrel and action apart. Thats virgin territory for me.if I went to that length with Marlin that started my thread, I would probably send it off to be relined. Assuming I could find someone to do it.

 

[mickri]

Rifles, and handguns for that matter, are just tools to achieve a certain result. It doesn't matter what that result is. The biggest factor in achieving the result you want is confidence in your rifle that it is up to the task at hand. If you don't have faith in your rifle you will not shoot as good as you could.

It has been over 50 years since I did any competitive shooting. I shot mostly small bore prone at 50 yards to 100 meters. My rifle was not optimized for prone shooting. It was an Anchutz designed for some kind of international 3 position shooting. It was all I could afford at the time. Yet I believed that it was more accurate then my skills. Because I believed in my rifle I did well with it. Including a 4th place in my class at the national matches at Camp Perry one summer.

There is a huge debate on chambering through the headstock verses using a steady rest. Either method can create excellent rifles. Use the method that you believe gives you the best rifle for the task at hand.

 

[Tincamp67]

I have faith in coming up with a solution, somehow. With Smithy, or the SB, or both, fabricating if necessary. I have no faith in the shootability of this gun, but have to be careful not to get so far down the rabbit hole that I’m past someone else being able to salvage it with a re line. I’ve looked for used barrels without success. Even Redmans was sold out of liners the last of checked and not accepting new business until further notice.

 

[JeepsAndGuns]

You don't have a steady rest? I'm not really cringing about the electrical tape, but you do know that the barrel doesn't have to go though the head stock, right? John L. Hinnant had some choice words in his book about that.

Nope, do not have one. I would like to, but have not bought one yet.
The barrels I used, were barrels removed from other guns, that I modified to fit the new guns.
So the barrels were already blued, and I only needed to re work the tenon. All the work was done at that end of the barrel.
If I had used a steady rest, I would have had to refinish the barrel.
Plus I am limited on length on my lathe.

 

[Dane Bramage]

This is an old thread but I just stumbled across it. Maybe this will be useful for somebody. Here is the one I made. Based on John Stranahan's book on rifle rebarrelling. You need an over size heavy duty steel nut. There is just enough room to turn out the old threads and make new ones to fit your Smithy spindle. Its a fair amount of work but works great

 

[verbotenwhisky]

Another idea. Probably crazy and out of the box. The muzzle will be held in chuck. All the spider is doing is keeping the receiver end from bouncing around. Could you make some wedges to keep the receiver end centered? Or using fiberglass make an oversize casing at the receiver end. Then turn the casting to be a tight fit in the spindle bore. With plenty of mold release wax on the barrel the casting won't stick to the barrel. You could probably use a piece of hardwood.

Ignore, I failed to look at the date...