Draw Filing The Entire Barrel On Lyman Plains Pistol Kit?

[Blackpowdershooter44]

Hi all,
I have been building a Lyman GPP kit, and I am now draw filing the barrel. The machine marks aren't too bad, but all the writing on one of the flats was ridiculous. So I draw filed the flat, and now it looks great without all the writing on it. But now my question is, should I draw file the rest of the barrel to match the flat I did draw file?
Thanks.

 

[AJumbo]

I have a .54 GPP kit on the coffee table right now, and yes, the dot-matrix billboard MUST DIE. I intend to leave the serial number and proof marks, and correct the rest. Not sure when I can get cracking on the build, but the GPP has ben a "fetish" item since I shot one in high school, and now...... I haz The Precioussss!

Yes, make the flats match or your bluing/browning will look odd.

 

[Oohrah!]

I have no idea what you guys are talking about. I was thinking about doing the Traditions pistol kit from Cabelas, guess I have a lot to learn.

 

[perldog007]

I have no idea what you guys are talking about. I was thinking about doing the Traditions pistol kit from Cabelas, guess I have a lot to learn.

The Barrels on these kits are 'unfinished' but often blued to prevent rust. The finish is removed and the polished. Folks seem to start the process with a draw file from what I've read. That learning curve is running me over as we speak and I sit here waiting on the mail man.

 

[BCRider]

How much material did you need to remove to ban the billboard? Even if it's a relatively small thickness it will have widened that flat compared to the rest. So I'd say you need to draw file at least the adjacent two flats and very likely the whole barrel to make the flats all the same width.

If the inletting of the stock is already fitted to the supplied size you'll need to get creative by only taking down the exposed portions of the faces so you do not change the fit in the stock. The key will be that the muzzle crown area in particular MUST have all the flats the same width and cleanly at 45° to each other otherwise it'll look wonky. And if it's one of the styles without the full length stock then the exposed faces in front of the nose of the stock will also need to be sized by draw filing.

 

[Dog Soldier]

Just make sure you file the side flats even. You can end up with a serious bedding problem with a barrel alignment problem in the stock channel. If this happens glass bed the barrel.

 

[Panzerschwein]

The Barrels on these kits are 'unfinished' but often blued to prevent rust. The finish is removed and the polished. Folks seem to start the process with a draw file from what I've read.

Not really. They mostly come "in the white" on almost all the kits I've seen, that means absolutely no finish has been applied to the steel. People draw file barrels to remove tooling marks and dings etc. to make the flats even and smooth, then they either blue or brown the barrel etc.

OP: I would file the other flats on the top of the barrel, but might leave the lower ones alone to prevent bedding problems. Good on you for doing this. Lyman (or rather, Investarms) puts a terrible amount of literature on their barrels. It's all to appease the lawyers. IMHO the ONLY things that need to be on the visible portions of the barrel are a discrete serial number, "black powder only", the caliber, and the maker's name... not their entire damn address, several paragraphs about reading the owners manual, and a ton of proof marks (those can be put on the bottom of the barrel).

 

[JeffG]

I would draw file all flats evenly. Dykem blue or a black magic marker will help you progress evenly.

 

[Blackpowdershooter44]

Thanks for all the help! What I am confused about now is that if I draw file the other flats, all writing will be taken off.

 

[Dog Soldier]

The originals were browned not blued and no makers name. It sounds like you are doing OK.

 

[Blackpowdershooter44]

The originals were browned not blued and no makers name. It sounds like you are doing OK.

True. Guess I'll go ahead and do that.

 

[WestKentucky]

No photos? I have looked at the kits but just can't take that plunge yet. I will buy mine built and then correct its issues. Then I will buy another and go all out on it.

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

You might use a hammer to depress the raised portion of the stampings back to the original position so you don't have to file as much, OR you could buy a Pedersoli kit and not worry about it........

 

[Blackpowdershooter44]

Okay, so I went ahead and draw filed the three exposed flats, and sanded the others with 400 and 800 grit sandpaper. I'm happy with the results.

 

[Noz]

I admire your persistence. Draw filing is not on my list of things I like to do.

 

[perldog007]

Is there an accepted less aggressive method other than the draw file? I recently experienced a minor hiccup with my uber aggressive file work