Thought I would share a few photos of a barrel under construction for the general amusement of the group.

I'm starting with a 308, 1-8 twist, chrome moly barrel blank from Green Mountain. I went with a cheap blank since this is a new experience for me. I typically use a pre-threaded & contoured barrel from a commercial maker, since my lathe is pretty old, small, and beat up (bought it second hand and use it mostly on aluminum small parts.)

Layout markings on the barrel.... 18" Long, 0.750" at the muzzle, straight sides with a radius near the breach, and a 5/8th thread at the muzzle.



On the lathe, blank is cut to length, muzzle roughed out, and starting the contour cuts.



Contour complete. Outside of the barrel has been filed and sanded down to about 220 grit, then given a quick coat of cold blue to see how bad the surface is. Still have lots of sanding left to do, but that will wait for a few weeks. It might be a month or two before I can do the breech end & chamber the barrel.