A Well Executed Bad Idea:
In recent months we have set out to do something out of both of our comfort zones, BIG reveal, barrel threading. Now, to a lot of people, that might not sound like that daunting of a task, hell, even to me it didn’t sound all that crazy. Let me tell you, it was a lot more of a crash course (literally) than either of us expected.
Fools Hope:
Well, for most, the hardest part would be acquiring the machinery to do such a task. We were in luck, after our new shiny rifle company was ours we picked up our heavy lathe in Mesa, Arizona, along with everything you can imagine to get a gun business running. After loading our plunder, I turned our freshly rented Uhaul box truck facing North and took off. Twenty seven hours and many states later I pulled up to our lathes brand new home! Exciting, right? Excitement turned to bewilderment and then dread when we both realized we didnt have a clue what in gods name we were doing on a lathe. After many phone calls and promises of cash and cold beer, help arrived.
Saved by the Vern:
Our highly anticipated and appreciated teacher arrived, Levern, on loan from the local machine shop. With surprising enthusiasm he came to show us how it was done. He made sure we knew what we were missing and what needed some work before we could even begin. With a new list of parts and pieces we set out to gather what we needed. A few uneventful weeks pass and finally the day arrives, with new tools, gauges and misguided illusions of grandeur. After about 20 minutes with Vern, we knew this would not be a short process. One word he repeated many times stuck out to me, practice. Thats exactly what we did.
To Wobble or Not to Wobble:
Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months and it seemed like we were finally making some headway, honing our craft and actually making some solid progress on what we set out to do. After about three, four foot chunks of 5/8 and 1/2 rod, we had it down. Time to thread an actual barrel, simple right? But who would be dumb enought to let us practice on their barrel? Oh, thats right, us. With my favorite .308 barrel off the rifle I built in 2019, I bit my tongue and got to work. After many careful cuts and dare I say deadly precision, the thread protector went on straight! End of story, right? Nope. In my haste to thread this beautiful masterpiece I failed to account for a crucial part, a shoulder. Great. Alignment rod says were good, but the over screwing onto the barrel says we are FAR from it. Well, the lesson was learned, after re-threading down to 9/16×24 life was good. All was right with the world. For now.
Oh Shit, For Real?:
With the foolish pride of a bull field mouse we advertised our new threading capabilities and the excitement to offer this new service to our local customers. Our happy mood was short lived, we got the call, “I have a barrel for you to thread”. Shit, shit, SHIT. Its real now, no take backs, this ones for all the marbles. The day comes and this gentleman drops off his gorgeous Remington 22-250. Staring at it for what felt like hours, we finally said screw it, lets give it a shot. Hoping we wont be purchasing a barrel with this new found skill, it gets torn down. After some careful alignment and centering it was time. The voices in my head are telling me im gonna screw this rifle up and im gonna end up buying this guy a new barrel. After some words of encouragement from Blake, I got to work. Thirty minutes later, holy shit, it turned out like it was supposed to, the thread adaptor fits, the alignment rod is perfect and there is even a shoulder. We did it! Crisis averted. This time, for real.
We All Start Somewhere:
From the onset of this journey into business ownership, we knew we had a lot to learn. This process was no exception. Having done many barrels since, looking back to that fateful day still gives me the sweats. Everyone starts somewhere, we appreciate the help we got along the way, it would have been a much different outcome trying it ourselves. We hope that this story can shed some light on who we are, and what we give to every person and challenge we come across. 110% dedication, no compromise. We strive to learn and grow to be the best we can, but like all things, there was a beginning, thanks for being with us!
-Mason Knutson