Re-Barreling a Walther KK500?

[Montana]

I’ve been looking at lighter weight SMB guns for my daughter & haven’t seen any KK500 light weight rifles available for sale used. If one bought a standard weight KK500 could the barrel be changed for the lighter weight barrel? If so what kinda costs might be involved & would it be worth it?

[Tim S]

A gunsmith could fit a slimmer, or fluted, barrel for you to reduce the weight. That barrel could be a Walther, or from any of the usual custom makers (assuming you're in the US).

An alternative would be to have the standard barrel shortened, and find a longer tube for the muzzle. Cutting from the muzzle would be cheaper, but some folks are leery due to thoughts of chokes at the muzzle. That may not apply to the KK500. Cutting from the breech end would cost more, but much less than for fitting a new barrel. You only pay for labour (and a new proof test here in the UK)

Are there many used KK500 for sale?

[svensta]

If you are going to buy new get a KK500-M Ultra Light

Unlike older / traditional target rifles that have their barrels pinned, clamped or screwed into the action
KK500's are glued in with epoxy and a very tight fit. The action needs to be heated up significantly for barrel removal/insertion.
Not sure if most gunsmiths do those kinds of barrel changes on a regular basis.

https://www.carl-walther.com/products/s ... 23764.html

[Tim S]

[quote="svensta"]Unlike older / traditional target rifles that have their barrels pinned, clamped or screwed into the action
KK500's are glued in with epoxy and a very tight fit. The action needs to be heated up significantly for barrel removal/insertion.
Not sure if most gunsmiths do those kinds of barrel changes on a regular basis.

[quote]

Not sure many gunsmiths will be familiar with the KK500, but more because it has been on the market for only two years. Not many owners will have knackered the barrel in that time.

Wasn't the KK300 glued also?

I agree that if buying new the ultra light would be sensible. Are nearly new prices going to be cheap enough to make re-barreling cost effective?

[Rover]

It might be cheaper to start your daughter on a weight training program. It might help her scores, too.

[Montana]

I agree, weight training is important & much to my surprise she has had a 6:45am weight training class every day this semester at school. Her strength (core especially) has easily doubled & she hasn’t been late or missed a day the entire time. I can’t tell you how impressed I am with her drive & commitment and I never in my wildest dreams would think she’d like getting up early to lift weights. A great side effect of improving self confidence has also been seen.

While lifting has been great and it definitely has helped her strength & endurance, I do believe having a balanced gun vs a nose heavy gun is even more important with the increase in the number of shots in all events for women. Fatigue will play a role if she cannot become relaxed over the increased number of shots in a stressful national level competition like Nationals in Georgia next month.

Last night she shot outside at our local club with the old 2007/2013 small bore and while she was NOT pleased doing so, she shot well. That was the first time she’d held her small bore in over 3 months because of her dislike for the gun’s balance. I believe her weight lifting did have an impact on her ability to manage the gun’s nose heavy balance.

Looking at other top shooters from photos of USA Shooting events, it’s hard to completely tell but it looks as though all but one or two female shooters are using the light weight version. Even with that model being used, a few have added even more weight to the back of the rifle to balance it, (Rachael Martin is one of those who’s done this to her lightweight KK500). I was hoping it could be a simple barrel change on a regular kk500 650mm barreled rifle but I t’s looking as though it isn’t worth taking the risk & then jacking around with a barrel change, either financial or time wise.

[Tim S]

Regarding barrel change, I suppose there is always a risk that a replacement barrel will be duff. All you can do is pick a barrel from a reputable maker, and then pick a reputable gunsmith. I'd find the 'Smith first, and ask them about cost, waiting time, and accuracy requirements.

Buying a new lw rifle is easier in some ways, as you get some form of accuracy guarantee in the test firing. Certainly Walther seem to be selling well, and I've seen no reports on this forum(or others) of accuracy problems. Against that you have cost, and possibly waiting time.

[ShootWithStyle]

Unlike older / traditional target rifles that have their barrels pinned, clamped or screwed into the action
KK500's are glued in with epoxy and a very tight fit. The action needs to be heated up significantly for barrel removal/insertion.
Not sure if most gunsmiths do those kinds of barrel changes on a regular basis.

Not sure many gunsmiths will be familiar with the KK500, but more because it has been on the market for only two years. Not many owners will have knackered the barrel in that time.

Wasn't the KK300 glued also?

I agree that if buying new the ultra light would be sensible. Are nearly new prices going to be cheap enough to make re-barreling cost effective?

Howard Pitts has re-barrelled KK500s for Ed Foley. I believe he's located somewhere in Tennessee. Contact info can be provided if you need it.

J

[Tim S]

Howard Pitts has re-barrelled KK500s for Ed Foley. I believe he's located somewhere in Tennessee. Contact info can be provided if you need it.

J

Jober,

Is he the Howard Pitts who shot on the US Roberts team last year? So he's a good shot, and a good gunplumber.

[Montana]

If you can connect me with Howard, that would be helpful as I don’t know if a gun smith near me. Feel free to PM me his number. The used kk I know of could be had for a little over $4K & depending on the cost of re barreling it might be a possiblility vs buying a new one.

[jhmartin]

I believe that Mark Penrod either chopped or replaced the barrel on Hannah Virga's rifle and added a sight extension tube to make up the sight distance.
It was shortened to the min (16-1/2"??) allowed. He also chepped the front end of the stock. Lost a lot of weight doing that.

I'll text you pics & her dad's contact info.....

Joel

[ShootWithStyle]

Howard Pitts has re-barrelled KK500s for Ed Foley. I believe he's located somewhere in Tennessee. Contact info can be provided if you need it.

J

Jober,

Is he the Howard Pitts who shot on the US Roberts team last year? So he's a good shot, and a good gunplumber.

yes I believe that is the same Howard Pitts.

[ShootWithStyle]

If you can connect me with Howard, that would be helpful as I don’t know if a gun smith near me. Feel free to PM me his number. The used kk I know of could be had for a little over $4K & depending on the cost of re barreling it might be a possiblility vs buying a new one.

Montana - i've sent you a PM

[rfwhatley]

Placing your location in your profile might help us help you.

[casadehusker]

I have a former Ed Foley KK500 barreled action.

20" ( 17.5" from action going forward) Benchmark barrel, work done by Jeff Madison.

Contact and services information at the link below.

http://www.mwerksllc.com/