No 4 Barrel Replacements

[XL39E1]

Apparently the Lother Walther barrels are being made to the original BSA drawings supplied to them,

[Peter Laidler]

I notice that the site mentioned in the initial threads was talking about different calibre magazines. To be honest, I think that the originator would have more financial success if he set about developing a No4 magazine that successfully loaded and ejected 7.62mm NATO than on the half baked cartridges that are mentioned. What the world needs are 7.62mm magazines!

Regarding barrel fitting. If I may say so, we had a ready to use rack of about 25 or so new barrels to rebarrel a needy No4 but regardless of what the barrel drawing was, the barrel had to fit THAT rifle. No fit, for any reason = no good. Too much overturn, too little, too tight, too loose....... There were MANY variations. However, while a barrel would be loose on one rifle, it'd fit perfectly on another and so on. What I'm saying is that barrel fitting and CHSing is a bit of an art and definately not a straightforward screw out and in job. We used to selectively fit THEN tighten up, then gauge, then range test.

I had to re-barrel one of our LB No4TP's a couple of years ago. And pretty well the whole tray of new F55 barrels overturned under hand pressure alone.

[Brian Dick]

The new Lothar Walther barrels are commercial production and not military surplus so they are perfectly legal to import on an ATF Form 6. The barrel import ban here in the USA is strictly on military surplus barrels of any description or vintage. I sure wish I'd had the money to buy a few cases of the new 1955 date BSA No.4 barrels that Springfield Sporters had in the 1980's. I bought a dozen at $30 each but all are sold and installed now except for one which will stay here for my own personal use some day. It was all I could afford at the time!!

[bigduke6]

Still fine-tuning the process for the No4 barrels; Those little lugs at the front tend to complicate things.

I looked at getting a run of No4 barrels made few years back but, and as Peter points out its not a case of screwing the new one in and off you go, and along them lines I often thought, who would pay for an exact match and as Thunderbox points out a No4 (shooter) can be had for the price of a barrel.

With that in mind and the fact the exchange rate at the time was dismal, I shelved the idea.

Can understand the need for an exact match for a collectors rifle such as a No4 T, but for the average No4 as a shooter, I would go along with what Peter says about accuracy, early on in the thread.

To me its Easier to get a barrel blank contoured to the correct size (Lothar walther charge peanuts for this option), and do away with the bayonet lugs, and the knox form, this also means the thread start is not an issue and some meat could be left on for final fitting.
If the bayonet lugs are a real issue then it would be easier to make a sleave from an old barrel, or even get a run of them made, but regarding Lothar Walther they are an excellent company to deal with and there products are excellent.

[Centurion]

I've reviewed all the posts and find them very intersting and helpful. Part of the interest is to achieve a better understanding of the craftsmanship skills that have been applied in the development and manufacture of these superb rifles. Any rebarrelled guns will be restored commensurate to the value of a new rifle. They will not just be "shooters." Besides they will have a 4-groove rather than a 2-groove barrel, making them somewhat different than the average rifle available "as new." Yes, I know that this may not make any difference whatsoever in their final accuracy.

[newcastle]

4 groove rather than a 2 OR a 5 OR 6 groove barrel

[Thunderbox]

4 Groove already done as well!:

[Centurion]

Bruce: thanks for the information. Walther will "short chamber" the barrels as an option. I'm wondering if adding extra length to the barrel stub and not chambering might be a better option to get the best headspace and lug alignment. Bolt heads are becoming more-difficult to buy and the advantage of a new barrel is that headspacing can be made perfect, given a little more metal to work with!

[bigduke6]

Bruce: thanks for the information. Walther will "short chamber" the barrels as an option. I'm wondering if adding extra length to the barrel stub and not chambering might be a better option to get the best headspace and lug alignment. Bolt heads are becoming more-difficult to buy and the advantage of a new barrel is that headspacing can be made perfect, given a little more metal to work with!

I gather the barrel stub you refer to is the Tenon? the trouble here is this combined with excess on the shoulder and a short chamber or no chamber, means more expence for the owner to get it fitted, and your creating more than one datum.

The easy way to go is reduce the shoulder and supply spacers like the sterling target barrel conversion kits, and maybe get some made like I said in the prevous post, gives the customer the option of a cheaper version.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

The fact that the .303 is a rimmed cartridge actually makes fooling around with the tenon length a bit tricky.

The single biggest problem with the whole caper is that the range of "fit" of receivers and bolts in "private" hands is much wider than "mil spec" as per EMER/EMEIs, manufacturing drawings etc..

As I see it, the best way to set up a new No4 barrel is to have it:
a. With an extension on the tenon that protrudes back into the inner breech ring, and,
b. So that it headspaces "short" when torqued up "square". Remember that those funny little lugs at tye front have to be aligned to a fairly fine tolerance.

Then simply trim the tenon extension until correct headspace (using a disc gauge) is achieved with a minimum sized bolthead. (very close fit is good). Finish ream the chamber and start having fun.

I am just about to do a couple of SMLEs in a similar exercise. One barrel will be standard profile, the other will be to "H" barrel specs. I'll post the results as they come in.

BTW: Has anyone ever fitted a custom replacement octagonal .38-55 barrel to a Marlin 336 action? Seems like another interesting challenge!