Rethreading A K.kale Receiver

[carzngunz]

OK, it's almost Christmas and there have been very few controversial topics lately, with the exception of Kyle's barrel bushing question so here goes.

 

Has anyone rethreaded a K.Kale receiver to the Remington 700 thread size or even considered doing this? The main reason for considering this would be to use inexpensive Remington barrels chambered in magnum calibers.

 

Inexpensive switch barrel project, etc.. Possibilities, Possibilities.

 

I will say up front that it is possible to set up a receiver in a lathe accurately enough to rethread it. You may have to make up a jig to hold it but it can be done.

 

I will also say up front that I really don't have any use for most magnum calibers right now but I have given this some consideration and I thought that I would throw the idea out here for discussion.

 

So what about it?

 

[montea6b]

Come on Carzngunz, ya gotta do better than that if you want us to take the bait!

[gun nutty]

Nothing is impossible...

 

I despise turning internal threads. You're working blind, can't see what you're doing. Someone asked this within the past week and there was a reply about not having a thread relief in front of the "C" ring. That would be a . I'd be a little concerned about cutting into various hardnesses within the reciver as well. Good threads benefit from uniform metalurgy. Threading into case-hardening and heat-treatment worries me. You're more apt to tear chunks rather than cut threads. Perhaps with a full annealing...

 

I currently don't have lathe or mill access... If I did, with all the necessary auto-stop trips and features, I still wouldn't attempt this. You screw-up threading a barrel, you can cut-off the bad stub and start again. You screw the receiver, it's done.

 

But along with the "thread bushing" post, the answer is... Why? The thread bushing I can actually live with. The mod you're describing is un-necessary.

 

With pre-threaded and rough-chambered Mauser barrels going for $80 (on sale) and actions/rifles going for about the same, why do all of the work? Save the Turk for a nice '06 case-head cartridge, and get a regular '98 for the Magnums. I don't have an issue with a small ring thread/Magnum/Turk combo, but others do.

 

The closest I have heard to this was the conversion of one of the Italian auto shotguns to a slugster. Some company was internal threading the (aluminium) receiver and turning in a threaded barrel.

[tinkerfive]

Ok, I've wondered if this could be done with a piloted tap this gets around the thread relief issue, maybe.

 

Fabricate a pilot guide the OD+ of a bolt for a snug fit in the bolt way.

 

I've wondered as GN suggest about cutting thru hardened areas, secondly.

 

Firstly I've wondered how you could best remove the existing threads out to

a smooth .98 cylinder since the Turks existing small ring thread OD becomes

the new Remington thread ID.

 

Carzngunz, You aren't the only one.

Tinker

[gun nutty]

Cutting 1"+ threads with a tap? That's a helluva tap-handle! Heh.

 

I'd want to single-point it to at least 85-90% before the tap... I wonder how much torque you can put on a Mauser action without breaking something?

[ken98k]

Brownells sells piloted taps for Rem threads for $275.00

 

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/Pro...R+TAP+%26+ARBOR

[tinkerfive]

Cutting 1"+ threads with a tap? That's a helluva tap-handle! Heh.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Do you think that 40" would do it?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I'd want to single-point it to at least 85-90% before the tap... I wonder how much torque you can put on a Mauser action without breaking something?

 

I was thinking that cutting threads would be less torque than breaking free some barrels that have been stuck

on for 60+ years.

[carzngunz]

I don't think that I would want to try to cut the threads with a tap. Just fabricating a piloted tap in the correct size would be a major undertaking not to mention trying to bore the receiver ring straight and true.

 

I think it would be best to do this in a lathe. Now I know that not everyone has a lathe at home, and I do believe that if it came down to it I could probably bore the front ring in a drill press, but the tap idea has me stumped, a little. I can't see an easy way to do this without having at least 2 taps unless you wanted to grind the tapered part off of one to make a bottom tap, after using it first.

 

As far as the pilot goes you could probably solder a piece of stock to the tap but it would still need to be trued up afterwards. My whole train of thought keeps leading me back to machine tools and if that's the case the whole job can be done on a lathe. My thinking on this is to keep the cash outlay to a bare minimum using what you have or can borrow or trade out, so the project is still reasonable.

 

As for the hardness of the receiver, I haven't seen one of these Turks yet that was so hard that it would be difficult to machine. The threaded area should be a fairly even hardness after cutting the threads away. I wouldn't worry about the cost too much if it doesn't work out. The receivers are generally cheaper than the Remington take off barrels. I have bought several at gunshows for about $15.

 

Lastly I've got a tip for turning the internal threads that makes it a little easier in tight places. Turn the receiver backwards and cut the threads from left to right. That way you start the cut at the end of the blind hole and you can run the threading tool all the way out of the workpiece. This way sure is easier in a small blind hole.

[gun nutty]

You know that z1r is gonna see this and scold us for even talking about it.

 

Reversing the feed and spindle (you'll need to reverse the boring bit to the opposite side as well) might work. Still will need a thread relief though.

 

Sounds like an ambitious and noble endeavour. Using a lathe is the only way to do this properly and accurately.

[carzngunz]

I've been waiting on z1r. He always makes these discussions much more interesting.

 

As for the thread relief, you can cut a very narrow one just to the depth of the minor diameter of the threads. By threading it "backwards" you don't have to worry about trying to stop the cut in that short space. You will still have at least as much material in the ring than if it were threaded for large ring threads. You also shouldn't lose too much thread contact area, especially with the finer threads. It's just an idea anyway!

[z1r]

I've been waiting on z1r. He always makes these discussions much more interesting.

 

As for the thread relief, you can cut a very narrow one just to the depth of the minor diameter of the threads. By threading it "backwards" you don't have to worry about trying to stop the cut in that short space. You will still have at least as much material in the ring than if it were threaded for large ring threads. You also shouldn't lose too much thread contact area, especially with the finer threads. It's just an idea anyway!

 

 

Oh, I'll try to make this as interesting as possible. Why in the hell would you want to do this? $250 for the tooling? To use on a K.Kale receiver??????? That's like putting 22" wheels on a Pinto. Even single pointing which would be the prefered method, at least by me, requires a fixture to hold the receiver in.

 

Ok, enough of that. Carzngunz is right about threading backward. That way you start the bit right up against the shoulder and work out. First thing to do is the math to see if the 60 degree Rem 700 thread for example will work once you've cleaned up the threads on the .980"x 12tpi 55 degree whitworth receiver. Remember the receiver threads will be deeper than the .980" the barrel measures. Once cleaned up is there enough metal left to meet the minor diameter requirements? If so, all is a go. Of course, remember that since you are making your own threads,you can use whatever threading you want. Instead of 1.06"x16 you can go to 1.06x20, etc. The clearance cut is of not importance here because you are not thinning the receiver thickness from outside to in. So, the clearance cut depth will never change.

 

the only practical application I can see for doing this is to use a prethreaded magnum caliber barrel in a K.Kale to avoid the thin chamber walls that occur when chambering a magnum cartridge in the .980"x12 tpi shank that the actions comes with. That's a helluva lot of work and money for the tooling when you can still buy good large ring receivers for not much more.

 

Will it work, yes. Is it worth it, only you can say.

 

How's that? Controversial enough? Lol.

[donmarkey]

Oh, I'll try to make this as interesting as possible. Why in the hell would you want to do this? $250 for the tooling? To use on a K.Kale receiver??????? That's like putting 22" wheels on a Pinto. Even single pointing which would be the prefered method, at least by me, requires a fixture to hold the receiver in.

I haven't seen 22 wheels, but I do know of a Ford engineer that put a 460 in one an it would outrun a Roush mustang. But I do agree with Z, why would anyone go throgh all that work to save less than $50. Unless you just want to be able to say you did it.

-Don