short bbl

[two bit okie]

I want to shorted the barrel on a rossi Puma 44 mag. I have a 20 inch and want a 16 1/4 in.

I was told that to do it properly the barrel has to be de heattreated before cutting and then re heat treated.

If true, then I will have it done, if not, hmmmmmmmm where is my hacksaw. and then have a gunsmith do the dove tail.

Has anyone ever cut a rossi bbl and is it necessary to heat treat the barrel?

[Hobie]

I want to shorted the barrel on a rossi Puma 44 mag. I have a 20 inch and want a 16 1/4 in.

I was told that to do it properly the barrel has to be de heattreated before cutting and then re heat treated.

If true, then I will have it done, if not, hmmmmmmmm where is my hacksaw. and then have a gunsmith do the dove tail.

Has anyone ever cut a rossi bbl and is it necessary to heat treat the barrel?

Heat treated? New one on me.

[marlinman93]

Hogwash! But don't cut it with a hacksaw! Let the gunsmith cut and crown it properly so you don't end up with it out of square, and shooting poorly.

[mescalero1]

Not true, you have been mis-informed.

[JustaJeepGuy]

Not to take any business from a gunsmith, but if you use the hacksaw carefully, and buy the barrel-crowning tool from Brownell's, you can do it yourself.

[Chuck 100 yd]

Boy who ever told you that hog wash about having to heat treat after cutting and crowning sure dont know what he speeks of. Most barrels are quite soft by the way. Made of very durable alloy, but not hard at all.

[Modoc ED]

Get out the hacksaw and go for it. I just wacked off a shotgun barrel from 28" to 20" with a hacksaw and was shooting it about an hour after the surgery.

[TX Gun Runner]

Use a tubing cutter and scribe a mark around barrel , take a fine blade hacksaw and go around the line going deeper and deeper till you cut it half . Then take coarse sandpaper , use your thumb and keep rotate back and forth and turning the barrel till you get it smooth . Take a brass round head screw and chuck it in a drill and going in a circle to get the recessed crown . Shoot it and look at the star pattern on the muzzle and see if it is even . Buy $100 tool or take to a gunsmith and have it crowned if you screw it up .

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

I want to shorted the barrel on a rossi Puma 44 mag. I have a 20 inch and want a 16 1/4 in.

I was told that to do it properly the barrel has to be de heattreated before cutting and then re heat treated.

If true, then I will have it done, if not, hmmmmmmmm where is my hacksaw. and then have a gunsmith do the dove tail.

Has anyone ever cut a rossi bbl and is it necessary to heat treat the barrel?

Not true,
Cutting the barrel is fairly easy. Re-crowning is a bit more involved if you don't have the correct tool. I hand cut single dovetails. I can do it faster by hand than I can set the mill up to do it. The hardest part will be reaming and re-fitting the barrel band and re-attaching the mag tube/cap plug/and screw. This is because the barrel is much bigger 4" up from the muzzle. And the mag plug screw sets in the detent in the bottom of the barrel. Gunsmithing is not brain surgery but you do need the right tools if you want to do a good job.

[TX Gun Runner]

I'm retired gunsmith , when I moved to Tn from Az , I sold my mill , lathe and tools . So did it the way they did it in ML days .



All the dove tail on this gun were cut by hand , there is 5 in the barrel .

[AJMD429]

I think a high-speed, heat-causing grinder or cutter might change the 'temper' of the steel, but anything sensible shouldn't. I'd not go to 16-1/4" though just because I'm paranoid about what some JBT goon might do - maybe pound the end of it with a ball peen hammer enough to shorten it 1/4" then arrest me for a sawed off rifle or something. I'd stick with 16-1/2"

For the main cut, careful use of a hacksaw would actually work ok, but be prepared to do alot of hand-filing or grinding to make it square, even if you use a miter-system to make sure the cut is fairly square. THEN you still need to crown it, at least slightly. Then re-finish the raw metal.

If it is a 'project' gun you should be able to do it if you have the patience (if it is a Safe Queen I'd hire it out); I've known several home gunsmiths who did really NICE jobs on their own. The hard part I'd think would be if you have to drill and tap a barrel; the 'bottom taps' I've seen sure won't thread to the bottom of an 1/8" sight screw hole! I think I need alot more education and experience to drill and thread sight-screw holes...

[major]

I just got a quote the other day to shorten my 20 barrel to 16 1/2 was $200 no heat treating needed that I know of.

[Modoc ED]

tn gun runner -

How did you afix that front sight to the 3½" Vaquero?

[TX Gun Runner]

tn gun runner -

How did you afix that front sight to the 3½" Vaquero?

I reshaped this ft sight

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?p ... ber=519188

[J Miller]

The one barrel I shortened was on a single shot H&R .22 rifle. I marked it where I wanted it to end up. Then I taped it so I had an idea where to cut, then used a hack saw to cut it. I cut it a bit long so I could finish it square.
To finish it square I used a 6" carpenters square and carefully filed the muzzle till the square said it was. Then I went to a hardware store and bought a 45° rotary file that fit in my hand drill and crowned it. The last thing I did was use a small file to break the edge on the out side diameter of the barrel.
I epoxied the front sight base on to finish the project.

Turned out to be one very accurate little .22.

Cutting barrels is not hard. The hard part is the sights and rebluing. At least for me.

Joe

[Modoc ED]

tn gun runner -

How did you afix that front sight to the 3½" Vaquero?

I reshaped this ft sight

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?p ... ber=519188

Yes, but did you epoxy, silver solder, drill, tap, and screw it? Which one?

Thanks for your patience.

[Modoc ED]

The one barrel I shortened was on a single shot H&R .22 rifle. I marked it where I wanted it to end up. Then I taped it so I had an idea where to cut, then used a hack saw to cut it. I cut it a bit long so I could finish it square.
To finish it square I used a 6" carpenters square and carefully filed the muzzle till the square said it was. Then I went to a hardware store and bought a 45° rotary file that fit in my hand drill and crowned it. The last thing I did was use a small file to break the edge on the out side diameter of the barrel.
I epoxied the front sight base on to finish the project.

Turned out to be one very accurate little .22.

Cutting barrels is not hard. The hard part is the sights and rebluing. At least for me.

Joe

Joe -

What epoxy did you use?

[TX Gun Runner]

I gave you a pic you can see the screw .

[Modoc ED]

I gave you a pic you can see the screw .

Hey!!!!! I'm an old guy and my eyesight ain't what it used to be.

Thanks for pointing it out. Sometimes I need a whack to get going.

[TX Gun Runner]

I gave you a pic you can see the screw .

Hey!!!!! I'm an old guy and my eyesight ain't what it used to be.

Thanks for pointing it out. Sometimes I need a whack to get going.

I know about bad eyes and getting old ... That's why all my post are in large letter , so I can see them to proof read them .

[Old Ironsights]

...I know about bad eyes and getting old ... That's why all my post are in large letter , so I can see them to proof read them .

I thought it was just 'cause old guys talked loud...

[TX Gun Runner]

I thought it was just 'cause old guys talked loud..

We don't hear good and are sex drive is lower too .