Thread: 45 acp project

Work in progress. Home rifled barrel using a shot out 303. Bits and bobs from my junk bin and assembled on a long tom action that was sitting in my safe.

Yes it's over legal length.

Extracts fine, just working on making ejection more postive.

Next major job is to convert to a 1911 mag with a 3d printed adapter. Had one working already but it needed some mods.

Shoots really well considering I have no idea what I'm doing. The group is at 60 yards with 200gr cast SWC that were honking out at 900 fps.

Nice, can you please tell us how you made and rifled the barrel?

Took the worn out 303 barrel, drilled out , reamed to size and then rifled with a carbide button I'd been given

Originally Posted by gedznz

Took the worn out 303 barrel, drilled out , reamed to size and then rifled with a carbide button I'd been given

Was it your first time doing this? Id love to know more about the process. I really want to do the same to a shot out Ross rifle I have.

Originally Posted by -BW-

Was it your first time doing this? Id love to know more about the process. I really want to do the same to a shot out Ross rifle I have.

I'm a hobbiest, not a machinest so had to make do with a lot of the process. This was my third attempt, first one was too rough, bent the second one rifling it when distracted ( yelling at the dog)

In short here's what I did
(1) shortened and spun the old HB between centers to get sections I could run in a steady rest that aligned with the bore. Thread to action

(2) drilled out the existing 303 HB. This was using chinesium HSS bits of varying lengths and sizes up to 11mm. Piloted bits would have been easier but the staged approached worked very well

(3) reamed the bore to final size. Had to use an extended adjustable reamer with a pilot. This was a horrible job as the reamer needed removing to clear chip about 100 times ( it seemed). A chucking reamer woudl have been easier but are too expensive for what was a test.

(4) pollished the bore with some 0000 steel wool

(5) pushed the button through with lots of oil using my 20 ton press and lots of vaious push rods.

(6) final lap with autosolv, crown, chamber and headspace. Cut extractor groove.

Have you tried swaging the barrel with a lead projectile to see if you had some “up and downs” in there.
Good effort in any way.

Originally Posted by gedznz

I'm a hobbiest, not a machinest so had to make do with a lot of the process. This was my third attempt, first one was too rough, bent the second one rifling it when distracted ( yelling at the dog)

In short here's what I did
(1) shortened and spun the old HB between centers to get sections I could run in a steady rest that aligned with the bore. Thread to action

(2) drilled out the existing 303 HB. This was using chinesium HSS bits of varying lengths and sizes up to 11mm. Piloted bits would have been easier but the staged approached worked very well

(3) reamed the bore to final size. Had to use an extended adjustable reamer with a pilot. This was a horrible job as the reamer needed removing to clear chip about 100 times ( it seemed). A chucking reamer woudl have been easier but are too expensive for what was a test.

(4) pollished the bore with some 0000 steel wool

(5) pushed the button through with lots of oil using my 20 ton press and lots of vaious push rods.

(6) final lap with autosolv, crown, chamber and headspace. Cut extractor groove.

That's awesome. A lot of people wouldn't even attempt this with basic gear. Well done.

Keen to see how the barrel shoots.

Thanks been dancing around the project for years so finally go around to it. Composite group at 50 yards off a decent rest. Three rounds each 185 gr XTP @1100 fps and 275 gr RCBS cast SWC @800 fps.

That's pretty awesome, I didn't know those drills are that easy to find, did you get it off aliexpress?

Had to shop around a bit but between Ali express and temu, I found what I needed.