Omega X7 - A QLA-Ectomy
 

Pillow bedding my Omega X7 improved groups slightly, giving me an average group of 2.5” for five shots at 100 yards instead of the 3 to 3.5” average I was getting prior to bedding. But I had hoped for greater improvement. So I got to wondering if removing the QLA would improve things.

How does one go about cutting off the tip? Now I’m not Jewish, and don’t know the religious persuasion of my Omega X, or how it would react to having its tip cut off. But I know what a brit (“briss”) is. And I know the cutting is traditionally performed by a trained mohel. Are there mohel gunsmiths? I checked the Yellow Pages under “mohel gunsmiths” and “gunsmiths-mohel” and didn’t find anything.

Anyway, good gunsmiths are becoming a rare breed. Besides that, gunsmith work is expensive. There’s no reason to go to a pro for something simple like cutting and crowning a barrel. So I tackled the job myself.

Here’s how I went about it.

The first step was to mark the barrel for the cut. I used a copper tubing cutter to do that. These things are about $8 from Ace Hardware.



It made a nice little shallow groove around the barrel perfectly square to the bore.



Then I used a fine cut six-inch three corner file to carefully deepen the grove., laying the barrel across my lap and rotating it slowly as I filed.



I wanted a groove deep enough to serve as a starting guide for a hack saw blade



Then I wrapped the barrel with tape to protect it from any slips when I went at it with the hack saw blade.

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With the barrel across my lap once again, I began the cut using a new 32 tooth per inch fine cut hack saw blade held in my hand. I could probably have mounted the blade in a handle, but figured I would have more control holding the blade. I started off with very light cuts, rotating the barrel as I went.



Here’s what it looked like after about ten minutes of careful work.



It was going slowly, but nice and even. I could probably have mounted the blade in a handle at this point and proceeded at a faster and easier rate. But I was in no hurry and stuck with the handheld blade. It took longer to get all the way through but I ended up with a nice even cut.



Then I began dressing the face of the muzzle with light strokes of the fine three corner file, making sure to keep the file flat and rotating the barrel as I progressed.



It didn’t take too long to remove all of the lines and scratches left by the saw blade.



I then used 240 grit emery paper backed by a flat piece of aluminum to continue dressing the muzzle flat and smooth, keeping it flat against the muzzle and using a circular motion. I followed the 240 grit paper with a final polish of 400 grit paper.



Once it was flat and smooth I used the 240 grit, then the 400 grit the to slightly chamfer the outside edge, removing the sharp corner.



Then used one-inch squares of 240 grit and 400 grit paper and my thumb to slightly chamfer the inside of the muzzle.



The final product was quite satisfactory. I don’t know how a smith could have done any better.



As you can see, I managed to keep everything flat and square.






By the way, I did all of the work sitting on a chair in my man cave. :s2:

Am I going to get better groups without the QLA? We shall see.

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Practacing surgery without a license can get you in big trouble in most of the U.S. but I guess in LA it is perfectly acceptable. I hope you disposed of the QLA in a sanitary manner.
BTW - You did a nice job. But I'm not too sure removing the QLA will improve things. But who knows.

Looks great!! Now you will have to try some conicals and see how it does, maybe those maxi balls even.

Are you going to put a crown on it?

How does it load now?

I'll be doing that Devil. I'm out of bees wax. Need to get some more and mix up a batch of my bees wax/Crisco/olive oil lube.
I don't think so TX. The way it is now I can easily thumb start .452/300 grain bullets in Harvester short black sabots. This thing seems to have an unusually large bore for an Omega. I wish it were a little tighter.

Quite easily Muley. That QLA was not needed at all. I can't see that it served any useful purpose.

I did get to shoot it today. Results were OK. At least it didn't do any harm. I didn't do any real load development but so far it looks as though the groups are a little better. I'll put the targets in another thread after I get a chance to scan them.

Now that is what appears to be a very very nice looking job. A job done with care, and respect.

Yeah, maybe muzzle protection, and a sales gimmick is all.

Nice job you did.

Very nice job. It will be interesting to see if that helps anything.

Semi

I am concerned about the lack of a crown in the field of accuracy...

I'm sure no expert on that Sabotloader. I've always thought the primary purpose of a crown was to protect the edge of the rifling. Does a particular angle and/or depth tend to improve accuracy? I know I've seen target rifles that looked pretty much like my final product with a plain flat face.

Here take a look at this - you already know Larry I am sure this will help...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OorpZlG28fI

Some additional reading....

http://www.ehow.com/how_8430497_diy-...-crowning.html

In my little world - crowning is a key to good consistent accuracy... Also maybe check with Lee - he is an retired gun smith...

I looked at the Potterfield video. I don't see that the final result is much different than what I got using fine emery paper and the ball of my thumb. But it sure won't hurt to pick up a large brass screw and dress it a little more the Potterfield way.

What say you Lee? Does it need more?

As I understand it... all of the crown must be equal all the way around to keep the pressure from pushing more in one direction than the other...

Are you saying the ball of my thumb is not perfectly symmetrical or that I could possibly have applied uneven pressure? I'm hurt! :s2:

Ya but... if you get it crowned correctly and the groups tighten will not the hurt go away?

Nice job Semi! Great patience to get it done right. I tend to fall in the camp that would put a bit of a crown on there.
Art

Here is my unprofessional opinion on muzzle crowns. Take it or leave it, but I also think the crown is there to recess the rifling a little into the bore in order to protect it from damage. I would certainly crown the barrel if I could. If unable to do it I think I would be fine without it crowned but I would be very careful not to bump the end of the barrel for fear of damaging the rifling. And I'm sure we all are careful not to do that anyway, yet it still happens. Once again, just an opinion that's not based on any known fact.
On a second note, why didn't you, Semi, contact Thompson Center and discuss your accuracy problems with them? Now that you have cut the barrel you may have voided the warranty.

Based on the range report, It looks plenty accurate to me. Sub 2", 5 shot groups at 100 yards is pretty good in my book.

How many of us can beat that on a consistent basis? I may get lucky and line'em now and again but always. Human error on my part is too great. Perhaps, if I had better glass but the cross hairs cover the the bull at 100 yards and even with bags I know I'm off a little from shot to shot.

Semi, I will say that's sure different than any way I have done it. i just cut them off and use an expanding rod square I made myself to square it to the inside of the bore with a file. The old German gunsmith that worked for me told me the important thing was that it end up square to the bore not to worry about the out side, we also used a one inch ball cutter by hand to put the chamfer on.
But I will say you did a lot of work and a nice looking job.

Yeah Lee. I went about it in my typical anal fashion that was maybe over cautious. But time is one thing I have available.

I'd be interested in seeing a picture of that homemade expanding rod square. I Googled "expanding rod square" and "rod square" and didn't get anything. Nor could I find such a creature searching machinists tool sites.

Nice work Semi. I've been thinking about cutting a few inches off my Pro Hunter barrel but haven't quite had the testicular fortitude to do it. I would also end up needing to re-install the front sight which has me the most concerned. But maybe with a few more of your DIY projects I just might try it.

You could re-matte the shine off that muzzle with a piece of fine Scotch-Brite pad. I would want at least a slight crown. A small grinding ball will work to do that (maybe a 3/4" diameter). I also used a small cone-shaped grinder to get just a bit more depth. You can then smooth it out with some JB patches under the ball... if you like.

Some of those groups you shot look like they want to break your 1" goal.