Cost to rebarrel a P08?

[raygun]

yeah sure is a pity we can't change the barrel on a Luger as easily as you can on a 1911 or most browning pattern autos! LOL

[G.T.]

Hi XTR, yes, there are a sprinkling of as new original barrels on the market.. and they are made very well as you would expect.. So, barrel availability is really not yet an issue..
The real problem with Luger barrel replacement is usually encountered with the very nice units.. where a mark or scratch is a definite bad deal... The tapered barrels are sometimes hard to hold, and the receivers are victim to even the slightest miss-step or ill fitting wrench... I enjoy the challenge.. but even I have some reservations when all is on the line... ... but curiosity and ignorance drive me forward... and, I'll get it figured out, if there is indeed, a way to do so..... ... best to you, til...lat'r....GT

[Green57]

XTR, I had the barrel for my Navy style shooter replaced by G.T. with a Navy barrel from the Luger man, AKA Eugene. I bought the barrel as a set along with his reproduction rear toggle.

The barrel was made by Green Mountain for Eugene, so I am sure it is made from quality steel. There are two features on the barrel that Green Mountain did not get correct however.

The flange on the barrel is to thin and had a rounded profile which I have had to file to the proper shape. after some file work it has the sharp edge again but it is still to thin, and that can not be fixed. The other incorrect feature is the contour of the muzzle. It has a flat profile instead of the shallow convex radius a normal P08 barrel should have. I think this can be fixed with some more careful file work, but again, its something I would rather not do if I didn't have to.

I thought about a Lothar barrel but it was 100 dollars more than the barrel from Eugene, and did not have the chamber cut. I'm not sure what it costs to have a 9mm chamber cut, but it was an expense I didn't want to pay and a job that I didn't have the ability to do. A good thing about the Green Mountain barrel was it was already short cambered. I finished reamed the chamber in my M1A so I figured I could do this one also. There is a company that rents finish reamers so this is my next step for the project. If you guys are interested I can start a new thread on this project, I've taken a few pictures along the way.

Hope this information helps.

G57

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Green57

I'm not sure what it costs to have a 9mm chamber cut, but it was an expense I didn't want to pay and a job that I didn't have the ability to do.

I think most who work on these charge by the hour. Clymer used to have detailed instructions on their site, but not anymore (corporate takeover). Basically, you run your lathe as slow as possible, feed the reamer in 1/32" at a time, lube with sulphur based cutting oil every cut, and blow out the chips every cut. I use a free-floating reamer holder, and my reamers are solid pilot finish chambering reamers.

There is a company that rents finish reamers so this is my next step for the project. If you guys are interested I can start a new thread on this project, I've taken a few pictures along the way.

There are at least two companies who rent reamers; they're linked in other threads on this forum.

I'd enjoy reading another thread on chambering, thread cutting, tapering, crowning, pretty much anything you do on a Luger/Mauser/Lahti/Nambu barrel. I just enjoy machining.

[ithacaartist]

For the project of spiffing up my lesser '06 AE 7.65, I bought the 6" barrel for it from another (very appreciated) forum member for a C-note. Its chamber end was appropriate to the pistol's new model, short frame, and was an unmarked P.08 style taper/configuration, made in the 70s(?). I had it modified by a local machinist, finished it up myself, then let G.T. use it to "cut his teeth on"--one of the first few, in the days before head-space gauges in .30 Luger were part of his tooling. Clocking and head-space worked out just fine, so no chamber or other work to do, and when the upper returned from Az., the pistol was assembled into what is now my favorite shooter, which functions and feels great!

Anyway, it can be done, theoretically, for around $200. As I see it, the variables include the initial price of the barrel, whether you have the old barrel to offset cost by trading it in, old barrel already removed or needing removal, and some luck, though in many cases not so much. In addition, if building or working on a shooter, it's all in the LOVE, anyway--well, I might stop short if confronted by the specteres of starvation or homelessness.... And you're going to wind up with a really cool pistol!

[sheepherder]

I got my monthly issue of 'Shotgun News' today, took a quick look through it...Their resident gunsmith, Reid Coffield, has an ongoing article on converting a No 5 Enfield carbine to .223 Remington caliber. I got a chuckle out of a pic, showing Coffield's barrel vise in the background...

I'm not criticizing...It beats what I've used in the past...