I had Purchased a Rockwell 10x36 lathe from a retired gunsmith. Along with the lathe, I got a O.B. knee mill, a bucket full of barrels (mostly takeoffs), along with a few Douglass barrel blanks, and a box of reamers. The retired gunsmith specialized in singleshot pistols, so that's what the reamers were mostly for. Lots of oddball calibers.
I had a Ruger #3 in .22 Hornet, which I had purchased used, at the LGS, some years ago, for a ridiculously low price. I soon found out why it was so cheap. The groups were all over the place. Nothing I tried could change that. Adding a Hicks accurizer helped a little, but not enough, so it sat for years.
Our illustrious PA Game Commission, unilaterally decided that in my part of the state, that only RF firearms could be used for small game. This made the usefulness of the Hornet moot.
I decided this was going to be the donor rifle for my first rebarreling project. I wanted a .357 magnum plinking carbine. I had two 35 caliber Douglass barrel blanks that came with the lathe. 1.250 diameter, 29 inches long, 1-12 and 1-14 twists. I went with the 1-14 twist, as I believed it would be more accurate for my purpose.
I used a 12 ton hydraulic press with wood blocks to hold the barrel, and a 1" square bar, 3 feet long, clamping wood blocks for the action. With a little effort the barrel cracked loose.
I had a small headstock on my lathe, so most of the this projects lathe work was done on centers with a steadyrest as needed. I had a friend who was a gunsmith, walked me through on what to do.
In my pre project research, I learned that a 1.5 degree taper on the leade was desirable for cast bullets. Unfortunately my .357 reamer is 6 degrees on the taper. I had a solution. I had a .357 Maximum reamer in my box of reamers. It had a very gentile taper on the leade. After the .357 magnum reamer work was done, I ran the maximum reamer partially in, to get the taper I wanted. It worked out quite well. Headspace was set up so there was a light feel upon closing the action.
Next was tapering the barrel. I decided on 24 inches of barrel length, with a fatter taper, in an attempt to achieve the balance I wanted. You never know if it is right until the project is finished. I was advised to draw out on graph paper, the diameters I wanted, inch by inch, then turn the barrel down in steps to those diameters.
What I was advised to do next, will sound crazy! Adapt my wood lathe for the barrel? I had to make a faceplate, fit a drive dog, and balance the whole thing. I was instructed to run the lathe at high speed, using a disc grinder, with a flap disc or sanding pad, blending the steps on the barrel. It worked, and the job went pretty fast. I asked why the wood lathe, and was told the higher speed will give a better finish, and you don't want the grinding grit on the ways of the metal lathe. Plus it is fast.
If you are purchasing a barrel, you want it to be already tapered by the barrel maker. It makes life a lot easier. But if the barrel is free, like this one, you make due.
After the headspace was set, the extractor cut on the barrel was made. It was the most difficult cut to make for me, getting it right. With that out of the way, the extractor had to be modified to the larger .357 case. I needed a .440 radius. I fortunately had a 7/16" end mill which is .4375, and it was a perfect fit. Success!
Next I placed the now barreled action in my mill vice, leveled it up, located the center of the barrel, attached the drill chuck, and drilled and tapped for the 6-48 scope block mounts. The DRO on the mill is great for this kind of stuff!
After I was done, I realized that I never did the 11 degree muzzle crown. I still had the 60 bevel for the live center. I decided to shoot the gun anyway, and if needed, recut the crown to the 11 degree standard. It shot just fine as is. It proves the angle of the crown cut is not as important as the concentricity.
The barrel band on the forend is an atrocity. I cut the forend with a bandsaw, at the barrel band, and recontoured it. I purchased a Talley barrel band, and Acraglassed it on, two inches from the forend tip. This was just right for the sling. I topped it off with a Leupold 6X scope, using the existing Redfield blocks and rings.
To proof it out, I loaded some ammo using 2400 and 296, exceeding established maximum load data, by a considerable margin. Velocities were in the 1800 fps range, using the 358156 GC bullet. No problem, the cases extracted easily. This rifle was built for 55k + cartridges, so the case strength will be the deciding factor, not the rifle. At these loadings, this rifle is quite capable of reaching out for mid sized game.
Anyhow, I wanted a subsonic plinker to ring the 6" gong at 100 yards. I started out load development using 4 grains of Bullseye, for around 1050 fps. I can use the 160 grain Lyman 358311 RN and Saeco 382 SWC bullets interchangably, with equal accuracy. The barrel is .358, so .359-.360 bullets are in order for best accuracy. I use an oversized expander ball to keep from swaging the bullets when seating. The Saeco 382 makes a louder slap on the steel, possible because of the flat nose. I have also tried some of my 38 special ammo, 3.7 gr Bullseye, with the Saeco 382 bullet. Golfball sized groups at 50 yards with this ammo.
I was gifted an 8 lb keg of International Clays powder. Having no other use for it, I tried it in the Ruger. 4.3 grains give velocities in the 1050 fps range also, and shoots as good as the Bullseye load. So that's my go to load now.
In summation, with the Int'l Clays load, groups of 1.5" at 100 yards are common. Sometimes I can do a little better. This is a really nice rifle to shoot. Almost no recoil, It doesn't disturb the neighbors too much either. Although I always use hearing protection, it may not be absolutely necessiary. I recently had two novice shooters firing this rifle from a rest at my backyard range. They could not miss the 6" gong at 100 yards, even hitting empty soup cans, out there at will. They left with all smiles on their faces.
If there is an attraction to a "bunny gun" concept, this is it. You can really hear the bullet impacts, due to the light report.
I still have the old Hornet barrel, dies, and a load of brass. Someday I will get around to listing it on Ebay.
I have an additional story on my second rebarreling project. A 788 Remington 30-30 to a 30-30 CBM, which is a custom cataloged reamer from Manson, for a 30-30 chamber, with modified throat and leade dimensions, better suited for cast bullets. If I don't get scolded for being too long winded on this one, I may post that also in the future.
On the bottom picture, the .357 Magnum reamer is on the left, and the .357 Maximum reamer is on the right. I just wanted the viewers to see the contrast of the taper between the two reamers.