can this be turned into a barrel?

[Tigerstripe]

this was cut from the front of a 9mm AR barrel.

im thinking it needs the chamber and throat cut, and it needs to be a larger diameter to fit an upper, and a pin.

if a chamber can be cut then what would be best?

weld up the large end and machine it smooth, drill for a pin or

thread the larger end and get an extension, cut off the 556 bolt locking part and thread together. on a 9mm the bolt face goes directly to the but of the bbl.

or can a 9mm extension be found?

OOORR am i wasting time?

 

[PapaBear]

Probably cheaper to buy what you need than pay machining time, right?

 

[Tigerstripe]

well, i do have a neighbor with a lathe. should have mentioned that.

think thats enough chamber support?

 

[HarperJt]

Barrels are fairly cheap compared to the time it would take to rechanbe that barrel

 

[Tigerstripe]

hell, knives cost less than barrels but we have a thread about people making them.

so i am wasting my time.

edit, i dont have the money to spend on a 4 inch 9mm bbl but i do have access to a lathe and time too waste.

i see it as the same thing as knife making, im taking a piece of scrap metal and want to make something of it.

nobody has an actual helpfull comment other than "buy a bbl"?

 

[Midnight Raver]

hell, knives cost less than barrels but we have a thread about people making them.

Then again, knives don't have the potential to blow up in your face either...

food for thought.

 

[Tigerstripe]

[/quote} potential to blow up in your face either....[/quote]

at least thats acknowledging my quest and not a suggestion to give up.

 

[Midnight Raver]

I understand where you're coming from. However, the most critical component would be the barrel- followed by the bolt of course. You need to have someone that is experienced in working barrels and understands what loads it will need to be able to handle. aside from that, it is already a heat treated element. Cutting too fast on a lathe can heat up said barrel and potentially weaken it as much as making it too thin.

Just want to give you an idea as to what is possibly in store for you. It could be feasable, but not something to have a novice try and do.

 

[Midnight Raver]

Tell you what though...

My niece's fiance left Sig and now works in the custom shop at Colt. He is also an avid AR fan and has done a lot on them besides his #1 favorite- 1911 frames. I will most likely get to see him this sunday on Fathers Day at my sister's house. What I will do is print this out and let him take a look at it, at least maybe you will get another opinion from someone who works on such things. In the meantime, maybe someone else will provide more insight to this possible project of yours.

P.S.: He has also just opened up his own shop recently. It is a retail store like any other but will have its own mill shop to boot. He's been working on firearms for years and plans to sell custom 1911s that he loves to build so much. Other stuff too, I am certain- wish Moscowchusetts wasn't so anal about all things firearm related...

 

[PapaBear]

I never said don't do it, I simply asked a question. With the tools necessary to create the chamber and throat, the money is the biggest issue, and makes it not feasible IMHO.

But hell, if you wanna go for it, no one here said not to, just advised against it for various reasons (money, time, danger, tools).

I'm all for doing things myself, but that's just one thing I would be leery of.....

 

[Dave29461]

If you trust your buddy and practice double or triple safety precautions when you finish and proof it with a double load. The worst that would happen is the barrel fails and you wasted time. Read up on the metallurgy involved and build a cage for the test so you don't take out the neighbors and stand very far away...behind something solid when you light it off. Then measure for deformation and magnify it to search for cracks. Yeah, sounds fun and dangerous..but fun. Play safe.

 

[HarperJt]

If I remember I will bring a colt 9mm upper to Saturdays shoot for you to examine. It's been a long time since I've played with it and I hate to rain on your plans but I think you are wasting your time.

 

[rotarymike]

What's the diameter of the receiver end of the stub?

Now go look at a 9mm pistol and see how big the chamber area is. It doesn't take too big a hunk of steel.

IMHO, I'd lathe it straight (parallel) at that end, thread it, and make a collar that threads on but is the OD of an AR barrel extension. Then you should be able to drill & press in an index pin and fit it into the upper pretty easily (I'd only have the index pin through the collar). We're not talking huge pressure levels here; IIRC pistol caliber ARs are blowback and not gas. You might need a relief cut in the back of the barrel for the extractor; depends on your bolt.

As with any firearm project, I'd fire the first round from behind cover via a string, and check the casing VERY carefully. Then load a proof round (I'm not sure a double *charge* would ever be a good idea, but I'm betting Jeff at P1 could give load data for a good proof round. Same setup - fire with string or such.

Honestly, I've seen single-shot centerfire pistols made from sketchier sources, and I really don't think STENs and Sterlings had a whole lot of quality control or steel hardening done and they're very reliable.

My question is WHY would you want a 4" barrel AR pistol? Wouldn't that be a lot of weight and cost behind the breech, with no real gain over a cheap 9mm pistol? I'd guess $300 for lower, upper, LPK, and 9mm bolt, and there are some OK pistols in that price range. If it's because you want to slap it on a registered lower as a fungun, then by all means.

 

[Tigerstripe]

i have a 10.5 in colt 9mm upper. thanks for the offer. bring it and we will shoot it though.

i just put it back together without looking at it close. i hate to take the f sight off again but i can.

 

[Tigerstripe]

mike, yeah the fun gun thing. :lol:

 

[rotarymike]

you're concerned about the gas port? Just run it upside down with a steel block or lathe a steel sleeve and press-fit it over the gas port. Although, I'd have thought a 9mm AR barrel wouldn't have a gas port.

 

[rotarymike]

So - time to find out if your buddy can do interior and exterior threads

Remember that 9mm headspaces on the mouth of the case, so I'd not cut the chamber until I had it assembled into the upper. I'm not sure I'd do anything like a feed ramp unless you're talking a shallow angle in the breech end of the barrel like a 1911.

I'll have a similar chunk left when I finish my Sterling - I'm making a pistol so I'll be cutting the 16" barrel down.

 

[Tigerstripe]

my 10.5 inch has no gas system.

except for the depth of the case, everything else is in the bolt. meaning the bolt face and the bbl face meet flush.

 

[urbancommandox]

What would gou be using it for? I dont think there would be a blow up in your face problem as 9mm ars are blowback no gas tube ect. I think the cost point to you would be how much would the barrel extenions with feed ramps cost and cost to pin on after you did the machine work