receiver wrench until within 316 to 1/8” of lining up. If going by the index marks on the barrel and the
receiver.
It should then tighten until the marks line up. A 30” length of pipe for a cheater handle can be used to
bring the shoulder of the barrel against the receiver ring tightly. The shoulder should seat firmly against
the receiver all the way around. This is important in .22 rim-fire match rifles, or any target arm. It can be
spotted by painting the shoulder with layout fluid, or shoe polish and turning in until the shoulder bears
against the receiver lightly. Then removed for inspection, the spots showing wear being reduced slightly.
The barrel shoulders will be more accurately machined than the front of the receivers, on large caliber
rifles, so clean the front of the action good before fitting the barrel.
SHOTGUN BARRELS
Shotgun barrels usually unscrew easier than rifle barrels do and, as they are round, the same method is
used as for round rifle barrels. A hardwood block is bored out to fit the shotgun barrel, and then split.
Before clamping a barrel in one of these clamps, coat the surface of the sleeve that is to be against the
barrel with powdered rosin. This gives it a much better grip and protects the surface of the barrel, not
even marring the bluing. This rosin may afterwards be cleaned from the surface of a barrel with high-test
gasoline or turpentine.
Be careful not to set the clamp up too tightly on a shotgun barrel if it is a new barrel, or a barrel you are
going to use again, as you may crush it. When setting it up on a high-power rifle barrel, oil the threads on
the bolts holding the two parts of the clamp together, and pull the nuts up tightly with a long-handled
socket wrench.
A shotgun barrel has a fairly straight taper from the breech, so the clamp can be fitted back close to the
receiver.
After the old barrel has been removed, clean out the threads in the receiver with an old toothbrush,
dipped in solvent. Also, clean the threads on the new barrel with brush and solvent, to remove the heavy
oil and any dirt that may have collected upon them. Oil the threads of the new barrel with a light oil, and
screw the barrel into the receiver as far as it will go by hand. Place the shotgun barrel in the barrel vise
and screw the receiver up to place with the crescent wrench. If you cannot make the receiver screw quite
up to the mark on the barrel, unscrew it from the barrel and, using a large, flat, dead smooth file or a
large Carborundum stone, dress off the barrel, and, after cleaning it, screw it onto the barrel again.
Repeat this process until you can screw the receiver up to its proper position. If the receiver screws up
too far on the new barrel, peen it slightly. The correct procedure is to place the barrel in the lathe,
face-off the end of the barrel and the barrel shoulder far enough so that the barrel can make another
complete turn. This is less the amount required to make the marks on receiver and barrel meet.
Knowing how many threads to the inch are on the barrel, it is easy to figure just how many thousands of
an inch the barrel will move in the receiver in making one complete revolution in the threads. After the
barrel is chucked in the lathe, bring the facing tool lightly against the end of the barrel, or against the