Butch Lambert
Active member
Saw this on the practical machinest forum:http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/showthread.php?t=164205,
Butch
Butch
The Jacobs flex collets are fine, but not BR quality. I asked him what he supported the outboard end of the barrel with and he said he used nothing but the collet. They have a grip range of about 1 1/2".
Butch
He doesn't dial in the muzzle when chambering. He re-cuts the breach OD of the barrel essentially on centers the same as you would for the typical steadyrest method but then chucks the barrel by the breach to finish the job. The muzzle will be running somewhat true but who knows how close with that chuck or if there is any whip at the muzzle end being unsupported. I have seen this same setup and method but the chuck was a 6 jaw set-tru with a spider on the outboard end used only for suport and not for alignment. It seems to me that this setup would give you the same product of a barrel chambered in a steady (good or bad depending on your opinion of the steady method) but maybe less accurate than a steady depending on the chuck used.Im baffled as to how he can dial in the muzzle end, when there is no spider, etc.
J. Valentine,
My Uncle Bill has a couple used Jacobs Rubber Flex setups. Might not be as bad as you think.
Butch
Hi
Interesting to see that my discusion is all here.
First, I am not into benchresting, and never will be.
That is not my game, however I try to make to job as good as I can anyway.
I have in the past been a full time gunsmith, but work today with inventions and special solutions instead and just make rebarrelworks as a hobby thing.
When it comes to the wrench, I agree it looks like this, but works ok.
There is nothing that touches the sight dovetails so they can not get hurt, I have yet not had a problem with damaged surface either, so it's really not a problem.
I however use other wrenches for other actions.
When it comes to the jacobs chuck and this is also true for te rest of the workshop, regarding the comments on the fact that they are expensive.
I paid 200 USD for mine, second hand, and everything is bought second hand to avoid loan and mortgage.
But if we look at the setup...
When the chuck is turned by hand and the barrel is running very true in the lathe, then everything is good.
When starting to machine it I use maybe betwen 50 RPM and up to 1000 depending on the tooling currently used, at those higher speeds it's possible that the muzzle will move a little bit out of the center. ( But I havent been able to see it yet)
If it does, doesent matter as the chamber will be in line with the non turning bore. (At least I have never seen a barrel where the barrel is turning while you are shooting......)
If I on the other hand had a chuck in the muzzle as well end and was able to fix both end then I would be able to get a 0,00001 tolerance on my indication, but with a forced barrel that was placed in the lathe with a high tension. And what good would it be if the barrel is forced in a weird way in the lathe?
What I feel is important that is that the chamber is centered and in line with the bore.
Technika
I totally agree with you. I think he has some really nice tools, but needs a lesson in chambering. I'm sure he would welcome it.
Butch