Threaded Barrel is fitted. I wouldn't wish this on anyone except those that are glutton for punishment. 2nd time around would probably go MUCH faster, now that I know what to look for and such.
Lockup seems tight. Tighter than the stock non threaded factory barrel anyway. Test Run at the range this afternoon.
I used this excellent video as a guide:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLJfaOJwlJMMy measurements were from the front edge of the barrel lug:
New Barrel:
left side (long side): 1.1085
right side (triangle): 1.1170
Old Barrel:
left side (long side): 1.1025
right side (triangle): 1.0995
I used a combination of three items, a small flat gunsmithing file, a large fine metal file and a fine diamond sharpening stone.
I started off facing up the sides and getting them square and the original coating off. Took measurement and about the same. then started applying some pressure with the small flat gunsmiting file and took another measurement and saw some change, I was wanting to get a feel for how much pressure, how many strokes equated to 1000th. Then I moved to the triangle side and did the same and was VERY surprised at how fast the material flew off that side. Then looking at it it all made sense, there is much less surface area on the triangle side(like about a 1/10th) and its actually kind of like a pyrimid that you are whacking the top off of, so yeah it goes fast, don't let the numbers fool you (I was thinking that the larger variance/oversized on the triangle meant I would be spending most of the time on that side when in fact that is just he opposite!) I tried to get good pics with the DSLR but I fubarred the settings.
I was pretty nervous about it , but once I got the feel of the files, its GTG (going slow). I ended up doing most of the work in a bench vise, and finished up an a lead bag at the kitchen table. It took me about 2.5 hours total. At the end I was was getting tired and cross eyed, but finally got it to start to lockup. It really helps to have a known barrel to go by. There is an angle in the slide that almost touches the barrel and the gap is 1 or 2 mm. I used that as a guide to how close I was getting to lockup and how much more I had to go once locked started to happen. Once you start the interference fit, you can tap the bottom lug on a piece of wood and get it to " stick", then it takes a bit of pressure pushing down on the barrel through the ejection port to get it to "un-stick"
and drop free. Once it starts doing that, make sure you are using sharpie or die and just hitting the high spots. I was actually using the sharpie well before that but not seeing much results. Just kept filing away, constantly measuring. Also keep in mind that on the long left side, you have to keep that surface flat as possible. I ended up using two filing methods I think worked fairly well to keep it flat. First was bench vise with the large fine metal file. The wider file (compared to the small gunsmithing file) made it easier to determine how flat and square you are. When using the small gunsmithing file, I had the barrel anchored, pushed the file with right hand and applied downward pressure with the first three fingertips of the left hand (hard to explain, but just think machine lathe and you'll get it). The small file was very short deliberate stroke, the large file was a longer smoother gliding stroke, the sharpening stone was a very fast honing stroke (using the flattest corner).
There was one spot on the left side face that kept showing. It seemed like a small protrusion on the breechface. I inspected the face and it looked Ok. I got the gunsmith file that looked like the front of a boat(kind of rounded and bowed at the point), and did very fine/small strokes on that particular high spot on the barrel. Then another round of stone polishing and sharpie and it got smaller, so repeated and did the same until it was done. I'm left sort of wondering if that high spot was a protrusion on the breech face, or me just not staying flat with the facing. I t could be that latter because it was pretty much in the middle of the long left side and was a longer oval that matched the proportion of the left side of you smoothed it out with an ellipse and shrunk it down about 1/5 th size.
Kept on with that and eventually it dropped in good and tight. I'm about to plunk all rounds through it. Testing this afternoon.
Some limited pics to come. Learned a TON being a literal the mid-night gunsmith!
Comp next!
