AlaFan92

Doble: Thanks for the information. I might look into doing the lathe bed extension if my wife will let me back in to the garage any time soon! It looks like a big project, so I'd better save up my brownie points. DJ: By "arbor" I assume you mean the mandrel for facing off the receiver. I did it, but it was a tough for my first project. As I recall, I cut a 1" cold rolled steel bar off to about 10 inches or so, which is about the bare minimum that would work with the length of the receiver. I chucked one end of the bar in a four-jaw chuck, set up a steady rest, dialed it in, and center drilled the far end. I then used a dead center in the tailstock and turned down the far end to about .700. Then I reversed the process and turned down the other end, leaving around .600 in length about 2/3rds of the way down the mandrel at the major diameter of the small ring threads. Finally, I threaded this area to screw in to the receiver. It looks like the Brownells receiver facing mandrel, just shorter. I'm sure this would have been much easier and more accurate on a larger lathe, but all I had available was the mini-lathe. The mandel seems to work ok, however, since I am able to get about 1" groups from the rifle I built (using the original Turk barrel cut down to 24" and crowned on the lathe). My next step is to build one for a large ring receiver. The only downside is that it takes a long time to reduce the diameter of the mandrel down to .700 or so on one of these small lathes. Hope that helps, AE

Doble: Like you, I also like my little mini-lathe. It was the only thing I could afford, and I have learned a lot with it. I just finished my first sporter, pictures of which I plan on posting soon. I recommend that anyone who has an interest should take the plunge. They are certainly capable of handling military and light sporter contour barrels for facing and rethreading. With that said, how did you go about adding the extended bed? It seems like I saw a post about doing that awhile back on some other site, but I can't remember where. It seems to me that it would be difficult to ensure that the ways are aligned properly, much less getting the leadscrew to work. I might be interested in taking on the project if it isn't too terribly difficult. Any thoughts? Also, have you made a milling attachment for it yet? I was thinking that might be an interesting project as well. AE Jerry: If you can afford one of the mini-lathes, go for it! Just be prepared to spend nearly as much again on tooling as you spent on the lathe. I bought the Cummins version since it was the only one available at the time, but I would have picked up the Homier version if it had been in stock. Like you, I knew nothing about lathes when I decided to purchase mine. I rented one of the Jose Rodriguez mini-lathe videos from smartflix (it was called technical video rentals at the time) and off I went. My first real project was turning a small ring mauser receiver facing mandrel from 1" bar. It turned out pretty well for a first timer. My next project was making a spider for the headstock to assist in truing up my barrels. It was a little more difficult since I had to turn internal metric threads, but it still turned out great. If you have a technical bent at all (which you probably do if you are interested in this site) you'll probably pick things up pretty quickly. I am certainly no expert, but it sure has been fun learning. AE

That's a great site you made. I've bookmarked it for future reference. Unfortunately, I don't yet have a mill so I don't know that I could make a reamer at this time. I plan on making a milling attachment for my mini-lathe (like the one shown on Varmint Al's website) but I don't know that it would have enough travel to mill out the flutes for a reamer. I'll probably build one anyway since I keep coming up with projects that require basic milling capability. I probably should have just gone ahead and bought a reamer for the co-op instead of renting one, but I had too many other things I wanted to buy to finish my rifle. My plan for my next project is to build a 6mm Remington for my son, so maybe I'll buy a 6mm reamer and contribute it to the group (assuming that caliber is needed -- I haven't checked). I think a 6mm should be a great round for the Mauser action since it was developed off the 7mm Mauser round, IIRC. Plus, there is some nostalgic value since my first rifle was a Remington 788 in 6mm. Thanks again for all your help.

Thanks, DT. I think I figured it out on my own last night laying in bed that the reamer must have been undersized -- that is the only logical reason I could come up with for the markings on the brass. I'm up in the air about whether or not to ream deeper. I think the chamber is probably ok as is, and I can always neck size as you suggested (the rounds shown above were reloads). However, I would prefer to have a "clean" chamber that leaves no marks on the brass. I just don't know how much deeper I need to ream to get rid of the mark. Unfortunately, the reamer is due back on Friday (its a renter) so even if I ream it deeper I probably won't have the opportunity to shoot the rifle again before the reamer is due to be returned. I guess I could always just keep it a little longer and pay the another rental fee. By the way, can you explain how you make your own reamers or direct me to a site where it is explained? I would like to learn how to do it myself. Thanks, AlabamaExile

Hey guys, just reamed my first barrel. It's a Turk 8mm that I cut to 23.5 inches and cleaned up on the lathe. Headspace seems to be perfect, and it shot great at the range yesterday. In looking at the brass this evening, however, I noticed that each cartridge had a ring just below the case neck. A picture of three of the cases is shown below -- these are pretty typical of the 20 I shot (this is all new, unfired brass). The picture actually makes it look worse than it really is due to the lighting in the photo. I assume this was caused by reaming the barrel, but can anyone confirm that for me? If so, is it dangerous as is, or should I not be concerned? Thanks!

The details of my life are quite inconsequential.... very well, where do i begin? My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. My mother was a fifteen year old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. My father would womanize, he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament. My childhood was typical. Summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring we'd make meat helmets. When I was insolent I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds- pretty standard really. At the age of twelve I received my first scribe. At the age of fourteen a Zoroastrian named Vilma ritualistically shaved my testicles. There really is nothing like a shorn scrotum... it's breathtaking- I highly suggest you try it. Really, I am 35 years old and live outside Athens, Georgia. I am a neophyte sporterizer who is originally from Tuscaloosa, AL (hence the screen name -- shout out to Clayton Faulkner!). I am a lawyer by trade but please don't hold it against me -- it just pays the bills. BTW, the first paragraph is Dr. Evil's soliliquy from Austin Powers, if you didn't recognize it.