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would it be legal?

cruzie27
with this new law comming in on overseas barrels,. could i legaly make my own barrels here in the U.S. that would fit the weapons that are affected by this?

i mean they dont want use buying this stuff from overseas right? so i say flip'em,...build it here.

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7 comments

Date Votes
  • kingjoey
    It would be legal and lucrative. I thought about that idea too, the toughest part would be getting barrels made in .311 bore rather than .308

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  • nononsense
    kingjoey,

    Are you talking about it being difficult to get the barrels made here in the U.S. in the .311 groove diameter? If yes, what would make you think that?

    Depending on the number of barrels in the order, it would be reasonable to get either a button made for button rifling or a cutting head (box) and tooth for cut rifling. The number of barrels would determine whether or not the maker charged for the button or the box. If the numbers were big enough you might find several of the mass manufacturers that would be happy to take your order. And I'm not talking huge numbers but possibly as low as 200-250 units of the same design, maybe even less.

    Woody Woodall at Lothar Walther USA starts his numbers at 10 units.

    It might be worth looking into...

    Best.
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  • kingjoey
    Exactly, you'd have to pony up for the tooling rather than turning existing barrel blanks, for a small time producer the cost would be difficult to justify, for a manufacturer it could be lucrative. Just expensive getting the initial cutters and such made

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  • nononsense
    kingjoey,

    Let me re-phrase and ask a couple more questions to help me understand a bit more about the quantities.

    How many barrels would you expect to make to service this 'new' kit requirement? Or, how big is the total potential market and over what period of time? 10, 100, 1000 per year?

    What size batches could be ordered to keep it economical for both you and the barrel maker? 10 @ a time, 25 @ a time? That's hard to answer.

    I think that if you're supposing a potential market of 100 barrels a year, even 50 barrels a year, a maker could and would underwrite the cost of the tooling and just charge you on a barrel for barrel or batch basis. The tooling is just not that expensive when amortised over a good batch such as 50 or more.

    My guess would be that you wouldn't need the very best of the current barrel makers for this type of project. In essence, Wilson barrels would be sufficient as opposed to using Kriegers or Liljas. Personally, I would call Woody Woodall at Lothar Walther after you figure out some numbers and talk with him about this. He will already have most of the reamers for the bore, as will most makers, and only have to make a button.

    I guess what I'm trying to get at and not being as clear as I would like to be is, this sound perfectly doable to me and not all that expensive. What are you thinking?

    Best.

    Best.
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  • kingjoey
    I'm on the same page as ya, it'd be a good business investment, all I'm saying is that there'd be a bit more start-up cost. If I had the extra money right now I'd be looking into it. As with any machined part business your tooling setup time and loading the CNC program is going to be the same no matter how many units you build so building more units per run spreads that cost out proportionately. I would guess that doing 100 barrel minimum run would put the cost within reason, 1000 units would cut your setup expenses tenfold. It'd really depend on the market demand, if I knew I could move 500 units this year I'd talk the investors into fronting this. Someone ought to start looking into it now so that they can sieze the opportunity if it comes available.

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  • kingjoey
    On a side note, one would probably do better building barrel blanks with a .311 bore that they could turn down to fit an AK or an SKS so they could open their market up a little to increase volume of sales

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  • cruzie27
    so for the tooling how much would i need?

    i dont want to have some other barrel maker make them for me,..i want to make my own barrels for the popular AK,.FN,.HK,.and who everelse that gets affected by this ban.

    id like to open a shop,.that you can call and order any kind of barrel you want,..in any caliber.

    $#!+ how hard would it be to make the entire kit? or whole rifle?

    but im getting ahead of my self,..how much $$ would i need,..what tools?

    @#$% i wish i knew a banker. id love nothing more than to hang a sign out side of my shop that said "ban whatever overseas import you want,..i'll just make it in here."



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