barrel shortening

[vicvic]

i have a beat up yugo sks that shoots decently. i want to have all that extra length with the grenade launcher and sights cut off. ill have it cut at 18 in so the front sight wont have to be relocated. i cant find a gunsmith to do it. is there a way for me to do it by myself without a lathe or taking the barrel off?

[mtnboomer]

Yes, it's possible, but it's a real pain. First rap masking tape around the barrel where you want to cut. Draw a line around the barrel, on the masking tape, at the point of the cut - THIS LINE MUST BE PERFECTLY STRAIGHT AROUND THE BARREL! Mount the Yugo's action in a padded vice. Using a NEW bi-metal hacksaw blade and lots of cutting oil begin cutting about a 1/16th of an inch on the OUTSIDE of your mark. Watch your mark constantly as you cut and keep the cut straight as possible.

Once the end of the barrel has been off, you are ready to crown it - this is the reason for the extra 1/16th of an inch. This can be done by hand or with a crown cutter (with or without a lathe).

It sounds simple - but it's ain't!

[The British Soldier]

I would be loathe to shorten a rifle barrel without a lathe. It would be easy to remove the excess with a parting off tool and you would have a perfect barrel face to then crown.
To do it by hand might be inviting disaster of the highest magnitude!

[Trapp]

To make your line straight use a pipe/tubing cutter to score it. Use a Chop saw to cut it. That will get it straight.

[Harry Bonar]

Dear Shooter:
Of course you can do this.
Mark the length you want and cut it off with a hacksaw as straight as you can - don't worry if it isn't straight. Then in a vise, file the end square, using a square to check all around your barrel. Since the bbl is slightly tapered you'll see light under one edge of your square - get it square all around. Then, take a brass bar with about a 30 degree taper on the end and with grinding compound rotate the bar like you were starting a fire until you have broken the edge of the rifling - you're done! You can do this, before I got my lathe I've done it dozens of times.
Or, if you have a SHARP countersink take a piece of denim and fold it once or twice - put this inbetween it and the muzzle and run it slow with a drill - then do the laping. The pipe cutter idea is excellent since it will guide your hacksaw cut!

Harry B.

[Chris W]

I've followed Harry's suggestions to the T, when I cut down a Ruger 10/22 barrel, and it's just as accurate as before I started.

[dfaugh]

You may find that it no longer functions (cycles the action) due to different gas pressure...If so, you need to open up the hole for the gas system (I know someone who had to do this, although he cut barrel off back farther)...Just slowly open up the hole a little at a time, using different sized drill bits, until it functions properly.

Brownells sells re-crowning tools, and while there are alot of "home-made" ways to re-crown, I've found the tools to be the on;ly way to go, to get a nice square, concentric crown.

[STAGE 2]

vicvic, I'm considering doing the same thing. Will the bayonet still work despite the shortened barrel. From pics the 59/66 have a different attachment point than the earlier 59's and I'm wondering if this will affect the functioning of the bayonet.