Stevens Model 44 Rebarreling Project, Part 1

Stevens Model 44 Rifle

My friend Jack has an old Stevens Model 44 Rifle in 25-20. 25-20 cartridges are a little hard to come by and the bore on this old gun was not in good shape, so he decided to change it to 17 caliber. This involves drilling out the old barrel and stuffing a barrel liner in the new bore. He bought the barrel liner. It doesn't look like much, just a piece of 3/8 diameter steel rod, except it has a 17 caliber rifled bore down the center.

17 caliber cartridge

Paul Brong Machine Works where Jack had the tip of the drill bit ground down so it would accurately follow the old bore in the rifle barrel.

Rifle barrel chucked up in the lathe

3/8 inch diameter drill bit. The first half inch or so has been ground down to 1/4 inch diameter. The back end has been welded to a bit of drill rod and the welds have been ground down.

Here's the muzzle end of the barrel protruding from the back of the lathe. Jack made the centering device that is supporting the barrel.