[ctrout]

Hi all,

Just wanted to share the work that you have all
motivated me to do to my Mini-30. I've never been
satisfied with it's accuracy so after lurking here for
a few weeks, I finally decided "what the heck?" and
chopped my barrel. I got the hacksaw out and, using
the rear of the front sight as a guide, removed roughly
2". I drove the pin out prior to cutting and afterwards,
I stood the piece up on an appropriately sized deep well
socket and hammered the piece of barrel out of the
front sight sleeve. I drove it back onto the Mini's
barrel and then used the front of the sleeve as a guide
to clean up and square the muzzle. I then drove the
sight back roughly 1/2 inch. When this was finished, I
took my RCBS deburring tool and used it to gently recrown
the barrel by hand. The whole process took no more than
an hour. I haven't shot it yet but it sure looks great!









Thanks to everybody for all the great tips and ideas.
(P.S. Been trying for an hour to get the thumbnails to show up but no luck. The links work though if you click on the little red Xs.)

 

[bushwack]

ctrout---Let us know how it shoots

Bushwack

 

[Geno]

Keep trying on the pics! Putting a muzzle brake on the end would increase accuracy as well.

 

[cajungeo]

Welcome to the forum ctrout. That looks like a professional job. heating the sight in boiling water, and freezing the barrel will make it easier if its good-n-tight. Are you going to drill out a flat spot, and repin the sight? or are you going to shoot it a little first to see if you need to adjust it some? You might want to mark it, and the barrel in a couple of places to see if it moves when shooting.

We would like to have those pictures in our gallery. The key is to use a photo program, and reduce file size to less than 75 kbytes "jpeg" per post.

 

[ctrout]

Thanks cajungeo. I'll work on getting the file sizes reduced. How do I post them in your gallery? The same way I post them here?

 

[cajungeo]

How do I post them in your gallery? The same way I post them here?

Yep!

 

[Supertrunk]

You can see the pictures by right clicking on one of the red X place holders, left clicking PROPERTIES in the pop up menu, COPY or CUT (Ctrl C) the address string (httpwww...............), PASTE (Ctrl V) it in the Address bar at the top of your web browser, and click GO. It takes you right to the sight that is hosting his pictures. Nice job on the cut and crown job. Please let us know how it goes. You gotta' be pulling for the home 'smith!

 

[PPosey]

Nice looking job,,,hope it works well for ya

 

[GREYBEAR]

Ctrout,What exactly is a RCBS deburring tool, Where can it be bought?

 

[ctrout]

The RCBS tool is a deburring tool that those of us who reload would use to remove the rough edge left on our brass cases after trimming them to length. I took the mini out today for the first time since cutting it and it did not look promising. I lost around 80 fps (but it was much colder today than when I originally clocked these loads) and accuracy did not appear to have changed at all. I had very little ammo left and am currently out of powder for this gun so I will hopefully have a better idea of how it shoots after I get some more Reloder 7.

 

[ctrout]

Finally got it to the range. I was mainly going to shoot the 270 But I ran out and got some Reloder 7 and cranked out 20 rounds real quick. I made 5 135gr Hornady SSP to check for velocity. Looks pretty good. I really don't seem to have lost much at all, maybe 50-75 fps. I also made 15 150gr Hornady SSTs. By the time I got the scope dialed in, I only had 10 rounds left to assess accuracy. All shots were fired in succession from 100 yards with no time to allow for the barrel to cool. They all went into a group that measured 3/4" wide by 1.7" high with 3 fliers that landed within 3/4" of that grouping. Unfortunately, if this proves to be my best accuracy load, I can't use it again because it was quite warm and I didn't realize just how warm it was until I went and picked up my brass (in the next county) and saw the signs. Looks pretty promising though because before, I was lucky to see anything that resembled a consistent group. I used to get 5-7" groups with all factory and handloads that I tried. I imagine bedding will help with the fliers and a muzzle brake may tighten things up even more. :ar15:

 

[aarocker1]

Very nice job ctrout.

Did you have to open up the barrel hole through the front site in order to mount it after cutting? I thought the mini-30 barrel increases in diameter like the mini-14 towards the reciever.

 

[ctrout]

I haven't re-pinned the sight yet because I haven't had the chance yet to check the point of impact yet. It went back on very tightly. I guess the barrel may have some slight taper to it. Just banged it on with a soft mallet.