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broommaster2000 · Moderator

You can get Lothar-Walther barrels in any caliber for about a 100 bucks. Neutral

Alstone · Moderator & Site Supporter

It's not worth the hassel trying to make one at that price Anton.

Al

dogon1013 · Member

Here is a great overview of how to make a firearm barrel...same would apply to an airgun.

http://www.firearmsid.com/Feature%20Articles/RifledBarrelManuf/BarrelManufacture.htm

I work for a firearms company and we have several gun-drills that turn the drill, not the stock. you can still get very straight holes like this (easilly to 10 inches, .22 caliber). We also rifle our barrels but we button rifle them and the custom carbide buttons are rather expensive so I would not suggest that for the hobbiest.

cut rifling can be done with a home-built machine, and I have a great links to several here: http://www.network54.com/Forum/576299/thread/1202627982/A++Few++Boring+and+Rifling++Machine+Designs
Surprisingly, it's mostly made of wood.

jlwilliams · Veteran Member

If you live in a country where barrels are regulated, then I could see making one from scratch. I live in the USA where gun barrels and barrel blanks are fairly cheap and easy to get. I'm having a little trouble finding air gun barrel blanks, but I have all kinds of pistol cal barrel blanks in the garage for my powder burning projects. 22 rimfire barrels are ridiculously easy to get, but 22lr and 22 (5.5mm) air are not the same. I see that as I get back ionto airguns that barrels may be a bit tricky, but I know that making a barrel from scratch doesn't make sense for the money they will cost when I find them.

As for making an airgun in an odd or custom caliber, I think it would be easier to make projectiles than to make barrels. You could use cast balls for projectiles. I did breifly have a .30 cal CO2 gun built on a 2250 with a Crooked Barn breach and a barrel from who knows what. I had a handfull of pellets, but didn't know where to get more. I got a .308 ball mould from Lee and it worked fine. Not too many shots per CO2 tube, but they ripped soda cans right up. It was a neat gun but I didn't really love it so I peddled it out on gunbroker. Point is, the balls worked OK with the rifled barrel. Swedging pellets looks promising to me though I have never tried it. Again, it's really easy to get all the pellets I have ever wanted. As I get into odd sizes, the need to make pellets may well come.

dogon1013 · Member

Is there any industry standard for the bore and groove diameter of airgun barrels like there is for firearms? Firearms has SAAMI for standards, is there an airgun standard?

Anyone know what the bore and groove dimensions for a .22 cal airgun barrel should be?

Jaxom · Senior Member

.22 is 5.5mm for the bore. Not sure what you mean by size of the groves/lans?

kanyon · Silver Status Member

Jaxom · Senior Member

Research I had done up to this point showed that most barrels are first bored to one size, then reamed to the proper size, then rifled later. Unless it's press rifled, which is a totally different process.

Of note, those lothar-walther barrels are $100 each for air guns. Which I don't concider all that expensive. Saves having to buy extra machinery and other issues as have been discussed in this thread.

Alstone · Moderator & Site Supporter