Going to be a Lightweight Half Octagon on a Highwall.  I'm thinking the weight of the Chips is equal to the weight of the Barrel.  Thankful for Power Feed on an old South Bend Lathe.  If I get distracted and it gets to the end of the cut the Drive Belt jumps.  Warning: Not OSHA certified!  David

It's tedious turning down a barrel.  Make sure you stop every pass or two, and let it cool, or at least adjust the tailstock.  Otherwise, you'll end up with an off-center turning, as it heats up, expands, and bows.

The belt slipping/jumping is a questionable benefit on a lathe, forgiving but irritating.  I turned an aluminum disc on my small (10") Logan last week, and it kept grabbing and jumping the belt.  Made the job 3 times as long as it should have been.  My vee belt lathes never had that problem.   

I just got a small south bend this week, (think it's a 9" x 42") with quick change gear box, taper attachment, and collet set with closer.  No wear or lash on the machine, must have been used very little.  Would have been my dream to own 30 years ago when I had a non quick change atlas 10".  But, it's flat belt and I'm having a hard time convincing myself to keep it.

In fact, am contemplating buying a new Grizzly 13x40 gear head with DRO on both axis'.  I have 4 lathes in my shop at the moment, could sell all 4, keep the tooling from all 4 that's to my advantage, and cash out the new Grizzly on the proceeds.  I already have a 13x40 gear head in the shop, but it's an older enco and the upgrade in features would be nice.  Alternatively, am contemplating keeping the south bend as a small lathe, but turn a new headstock pulley to overlay the flat belt cone, and convert to 3 phase, vfd, and ribbed serpentine belt drive.  That would up the power, smooth out the vibration, and reduce the footprint of the machine.

Chuck.  Two factors I use: A Sharp HSS Tool Bit  with the Cutting Edge Perpendicular to the Bore.  Slowest Back Gear with a Fairly Course Feed.  This is the 3rd Barrel I've done from a Rough Blank.  All were larger in Diameter in the Middle, Barrel Shape.  So I take some time to even the Blank out before starting.  Basically take a short cut, 6" or so and start using the Steady Rest following the cut.  A bit of a bother but I get about .002 total run-out using an Indicator.  The Barrel gets about 20° warmer if I can trust my fingers.  So no heat warping that I can tell.  I also use Ball Bearings for Center Pivots when I start turning the Tapers.  Go make some chips 😊  David

Herr Davis: How big of a radius do you have on the tip of your tool?

Remington had a hell of a time with the original M24 barrels. Mike Rock had the contract and was turning out a lot of scrap. His process was to bore the tubes, profile, then ream and rifle. In the end this caused Remington to develop the process they use now to hammer-forge the 5R. When they changed to their own barrel they were forced to put the rifles back through first article testing but it certainly paid off in the end.

My point is I don't think there is a better way of completing a barrel than to contour after it has been rifled.

I like the chip tray/baking dish idea.  I'm gonna use that!