[Mk23Bill]

I was able to procure a replacement factory barrel for my Mk23 and was thinking about having it shortened slightly - just enough to remove the threaded portion. I'm not aware of any competent gunsmiths in my local area and was looking for a recommendation for a 'smith who's earned a good reputation from the members of this board.

 

[TexasJim]

There's a list of HK gunsmith's in the HK Talk listing of this fourm.


Just out of curiousity why do you want to ruen a Mark 23 barrel? TJ

 

[F22_RaptoR]

Dont try it with an HK factory pistol barrel.... You'll almost GARAUNTEED destroy it.

The pistol barrels have a very inconsistant hardness, and it will destroy even carbide cutters. Hence why HK uses diamond honing to profile the barrels.

Many people have had barrels destroyed when the USP's were originally brought into the US, and people tried cutting O-ring grooves into them, and the carbide cutters chipped and gouged into the barrel...

If you want a flush fit barrel, your only real bet, is to see if you can find a CCF flush fit barrel, or the standard length, and have it cut to length... Since its standard rifled stainless barrel, it is workable, but don't try and mess with the factory HK barrel, it will not end well!

 

[Kost]

Most Professional 1911 gunsmiths offer the 'barrel crowning' option for around $75. I would use an after market barrel tho, not a factory HK one.
Cant stress enough that this needs to be done by a Professional, NOT a ding dong! This one has been re-crowned and recessed.

http://www.harrisoncustom.com/
http://www.yost-bonitz.com/

Dont know if either shop will work on an HK tho.

 

[230GrainRemedy]

I don't know. Maybe Robar or Cylinder & Slide. I also think Mag-Na-Port can do it for you also. Kost, that's a sweet 1911, I just got the Kimber Pro Tac. Haven't shot it yet. I had posted about whether to buy a HK USP 45, or the Kimber. I compromised and bought both~!

 

[Tecumseh]

Most Professional 1911 gunsmiths offer the 'barrel crowning' option for around $75. I would use an after market barrel tho, not a factory HK one.
Cant stress enough that this needs to be done by a Professional, NOT a ding dong! This one has been re-crowned and recessed.

http://www.harrisoncustom.com/
http://www.yost-bonitz.com/

Dont know if either shop will work on an HK tho.

Please tell me more about this 1911. Is it a Yost Bonitz custom? It looks like an amazing gun.

 

[Mk23Bill]

Just out of curiousity why do you want to ruen a Mark 23 barrel? TJ

Well, Jim, being as you're presumably from the great state of Texas, and now living in Iowa, you might not completely appreciate just how skittish the sheeple here in California truly are. As the Mk23 has officially held the designation of "assault weapon" in this state for some time now, I was merely looking for a way to voluntarily modify some of its more terrifying features - and nothing makes good California democrats piss themselves faster than the sight of a threaded barrel extending out the end of a slide. I suspect we're not far from the point where the democrats in Cali will vote to redesignate the Mk23 as a full blown WMD, but in the mean time, I'm just trying to ensure that I'm not named in any civil lawsuits for causing undue emotional distress and psychological trauma by displaying my Mk23 in public.

And BTW, thanks for the info on the 'smiths. Thanks also to Raptor and the others for your advice. I had no idea an H&K barrel couldn't be easily modified like every other barrel in existance today. But, then again, why should I be surprised? It only took me ten years of trying to get them to sell me a replacement barrel in the first place.

And FWIW, I did try to go the CCF route about 5 years ago. I bought the flush mount barrel, and meticulously hand fitted the hood to my pistol with a DMT diamond hone, only to find that the tolerances between pistol and barrel were minutely off in some other critical area. As I remember, the slide would cycle, but would catch near the end of its travel. I spoke with Larry on the phone and he very patiently went through the troubleshooting procedures, but he said that occasionally it's the case where those barrels just won't work in a particular Mk23. Anyway, it's probably a moot point as I don't think he's making Mk23 barrels any more even if I did want to give another one a try.

Thanks to all for trying to help.

 

[Kost]

Please tell me more about this 1911. Is it a Yost Bonitz custom? It looks like an amazing gun.

Vic Tibbets from Guncrafter Industries built that 1911 - its a Number One model .50GI, the hard chrome is done by Metaloy. http://www.guncrafterindustries.com/model1_50gi.shtml

Lew Bonitz left the company in May '07, he bought some land in Montana and moved out there. Ted Yost, Jason Burton, and Steve Bailey are the new 3 man company called Heirloom Precision. Each smith will start the given project and do all the work from start to finish, each has their own style, but will adhere to the strictest standard of quality and workman ship of Yost-Bonitz
http://www.heirloomprecision.com/

 

[Cadillac Johnson]

Try http://www.grayguns.com

Bruce Gray is THE smith for Sigs, and he and his staff are also very competant working with HK as well.

 

[F22_RaptoR]

im surprised BigBore or Scooter hasn't commented here yet... Scooter apparently knows quite a bit about the whole deal.

HK uses some sort of super secret french/belgian steel, that is very strong (tensile strength) and also very hard, so its hard to work with.

 

[Scooter]

Yes the barrels do have inconsistant hardness, but that's due to bad heat treating and/or poor QC.

Regardless, recrowning the barrel is something any gunsmith can do or ever a machinist. It's not rocket science.

Diamond honing isn't used to profile barrels. Honing is used to get the barrel to the final dimension because you can remove very minute amount of material on each pass. Regular tuning for production parts is +/- .003 in tolerance. With honing, you can get into the +/-.0005 or less in tolerance.

 

[F22_RaptoR]

hah, i have the Scooter Signal at my controll!!

interesting info, i suppose the P7's dont have the problem that the USP's did for O-ring cutting (not that the P7's had O-rings). Thanks for clearing that up

 

[AviatorDave]

Yes the barrels do have inconsistant hardness, but that's due to bad heat treating and/or poor QC.

Regardless, recrowning the barrel is something any gunsmith can do or ever a machinist. It's not rocket science.

Diamond honing isn't used to profile barrels. Honing is used to get the barrel to the final dimension because you can remove very minute amount of material on each pass. Regular tuning for production parts is +/- .003 in tolerance. With honing, you can get into the +/-.0005 or less in tolerance.

My thoughts exactly. I've cut square plates of hardened metal down to round disks on a lathe with carbide cutters, so inconsistent hardening won't destroy them. Recrowning a barrel is only a matter of holding the barrel centered when you turn it, the square lump at the back of the barrel may get in the way of a collet. That's a 10 minute job on a lathe.

 

[Robanna]

Very interesting post! Glad I'm not the only one considering this, but I live in NJ vs. CA.

On a whim, I contacted Bruce Gray to see if he would recommend doing this to the factory barrel of the Mark 23 and if he would take on the project. I'll post his response.

Update as of Tuesday at 8:15pm: I walked into Rays Sport Shop today after hitting the range and I saw a USP Tactical in the showcase. I asked the salesperson about it saying that I thought threaded barrels were illegal in NJ due to the AW classification. He said threaded barrel are not illegal in NJ as long as nothing is attached to it. So, that's that. I can buy it at will I guess--if I can find one.

I am still waiting for Bruce Gray to respond and will still post it for you CAers.

 

[Mk23Bill]

Very interesting post! Glad I'm not the only one considering this, but I live in NJ vs. CA.

On a whim, I contacted Bruce Gray to see if he would recommend doing this to the factory barrel of the Mark 23 and if he would take on the project. I'll post his response.

Thanks, Robanna. Please do keep us informed.