I'm finally getting around to screwing a new barrel on my beater Howa. I actually really love these guns because they have been so consistent out of the box. The barrels aren't the best, but are quite good. I have a leftover shilen .308 barrel from another job I'll be using. The end goal is a nice 30-06 mid weight hunting rifle.
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Restocking & rebarreling a howa 1500
- Thread starter moosesgunsmithing
- Start date
Well, I forgot to hit record when I was doing the cuts in the barrel! I did record some of my setup time. But I don't think I gave it thr best explanation. I'll have to edit the footage and give it a better write up.
Fritz the Cat
NES Member
A video would be cool.
View: https://youtu.be/nzYb6fntT6o?si=gZ5ySIUd6YiP5dex
A video on figuring out the barrel tenon dimensions. I needed a cheater bar and a torch to pop off the barrel the reciever. It was held on with a tremendous amount of thread locker. I did take some footage of setting up the lathe but I didn't take footage of actually working. I did get a case of the good enoughs dialing everything in. Did fine in test firing. 5 shots in about .8 in at 100 yards with federal blue box 30-06.
View: https://youtu.be/AwdaVsxqfQ4?si=bpEjOVM70URZggWT
View: https://youtu.be/-RxfFwUlZ7Q?si=c6YkdcaEboQOQpUJ
View: https://youtu.be/C9sb_mGgb8A?si=2RJP2fzzW_5iFVIo
These videos cover the set up and some explanation as to what's going on. As it turns out some of my surface finish issues were stemming from a bad bearing. Replacing it resolved my issues and brought things back to normal. One thing I prefer about cutting inch threads is the ability to use my half nuts and thread at a much higher surface speed which keeps material from smearing and keeps it cutting more cleanly. Unfortunately regardless of what you do surface finish is always an issue on these single phase turds.
I got moving on the stock. It needs a few more coats of oil and I need to finish pointing all of the diamonds. Overall I am pleased with progress. I did elect to do a spray on epoxy finish in an effort to get this done before deer season. Unfortunately I don't have the time to dedicate to fun projects this time of year. Have to stay on top of customer work.
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Fritz the Cat
NES Member
That is a nice hunk of wood. The checkering looks crisp.
Thanks for the machining videos. Brings me back to my youth.
Thanks for the machining videos. Brings me back to my youth.
It is a quite nice looking blank, but I have been having huge issues with fuzzing, as you can see in the photos. I went to a much more square diamond in the grip as I find they tend not to turn into mush quite so quickly. I wound up resorting to putting some super glue on the most difficult portions to harden them up enough to cut the diamonds.
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It shoots well enough. I only had 18 rounds of mixed headstamp ammunition so I shot 3 3 shot groups, a 4 shot group, and a 5 shot group. You can see me get fatigued as the groups increase in size. And God only knows why I chose the aiming points I did! I think I can put more effort in and develop it into a better shooter but I'm not too worried. With my bad groups hovering around an inch it's plenty good for my requirements.
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I had a 30-06 reamer, a leftover shilen 308 1-10 barrel and a suitable action. Nothing more complicated than I had the parts.
