Cutting your own barrel down...

During the great Cabela's 12FV fire sale I picked up several calibers. With a .308 version I ended up cutting off 8" of the barrel with a hacksaw. Then I sanded it flat with a cheap harbor freight tabletop sander and finished it smooth with a palm sander.

Then I got a 1/2" 11 degree crown facer and made my own pilot from a bronze rod with layers of heat shrink till it fit the barrel. Chucked it up in a drill and slowly countersunk it down. And then I finished it off with a brass reamer to give it a smooth transition. Couple of coats of cold blue later and you would be hard pressed to tell it was ever cut down in the first place.

The results speak for themselves. Using factory Sierra 168 gr Gold Metal Match it shot a sub 1/2" 5 shot group. I am very happy with the results and am thinking about cutting down some other rifles I have. The 18oz I removed with that chuck of barrel really adds to the maneuverability of the rifle.

So if you have ever thought about doing this yourself and were wavering, go for it!


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It has a bipod - how maneuverable do you require it to be?

Nice group, though.

I don't find a barrel below 22" adds handling advantages that offset the loss of velocity (50 fps/inch) and energy from shorter lengths.

How much did all the tooling run?

$53 for the face cutter from Brownells, $20 for the case trimmer, $10 for assorted bronze rods.

Honestly, if you didn't care about a recessed crown you could just leave it flat and it would still come out fine.

I love the idea and have kicked it around before, but for $40 I can have my bbl chopped by a smith. I just don’t think I can warrant buying the tools, not like I’m chopping bbls all the time.

Good job job on what you did! So much more satisfying when you do your own work!

Who made the stock/cheek riser you are using. Wondering if they make a blind mag version.

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Originally Posted by mike21

Who made the stock/cheek riser you are using. Wondering if they make a blind mag version.

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This whole rifle was built in the spirit of going cheap, so the stock was a used find from the forums. It's nothing but a Boyd's thumbhole that was already painted. The riser was already there and seems to be made out of plastic. It screws down into the stock although I think the former owner also glued it as well.


Even with the barrel lopping a 12 is still not a light gun. But hand holding and swinging it around now shows a big difference. And I won't be shooting this thing past 500 yards anyway so the little loss of velocity is a moot point to me. And I only picked the 18" length just to see how it turned out...I may take it down to 16.5" later...ha

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Originally Posted by celltech

$53 for the face cutter from Brownells, $20 for the case trimmer, $10 for assorted bronze rods.

Honestly, if you didn't care about a recessed crown you could just leave it flat and it would still come out fine.

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Mine did! I cut a 6.5 Creedmoor down to 20" new years day. Sanded/filed it flat and barely touched it with one of those cone shaped stones in a Drexel.

Shoots 123s @ 2812, 130s @ 2715 & 140s @ 2610 other than the speed I don't think I hurt it.

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Originally Posted by RustyShackle

I love the idea and have kicked it around before, but for $40 I can have my bbl chopped by a smith. I just don’t think I can warrant buying the tools, not like I’m chopping bbls all the time.

Good job job on what you did! So much more satisfying when you do your own work!

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If you have a hacksaw, a file and cone shaped stone to put in a drill or a Dremel. You can do it!

I use my Grizzly to cut and crown mine. Only cost about 5 grand to get started.LOL

Next you might want to give a sporting rifle a try. I did myself a lefty before the introduction of the lightweight hunter and cut a model 11 in .308 down to 16". Also took the length of pull down to 12 1/2" by cutting the stock. The resulting 37" overall length powerful fast handling carbine quickly became one of my favorites. I did wind up threading and adding a brake which brought it up to 37"
I have cut down a couple and to finish used a Lee case cutter followed by a brass screw and some compound for a flat crown.

I can't cut a straight line with a hacksaw to save my life. That and I have a buddy with a lathe and mill in his basement so I'll just bring any barrels over to him. And he can cut threads on the end at the same time.