reline a .22 barrel - is a pilot drill necessary?

[Joe from the Bay State]

I hope to re-line a cheap Hamilton .22 single shot rifle with my son.  The instructions in the Dixie catalog say that the bore can be bored out to accept the liner with a regular drill, once the bit has been sodered onto an extension.  Will this work okay for a cheap job, to give acceptable short range (25 yd) accuracy?

Or will the drill "wander" and make an eccentric hole, that will not be usable?  Do I need to rent/buy a pilot drill bit, or can I get by with a regular bit?
 
Joe

[gunnut69]

I've not tried to do one without so really can't say if a regular drill will suffice.  I have however made my own piloted drill from a regular bit.  Kind of a pain but it worked OK..

[Shorty]

A non-piloted drill will certainly "wander".  An alternative to a piloted drill is to bore, true to center, the same size as the drill, for a short distance.  That will give the drill margins a bearing surface to ride on for a good straight start.

[Joe from the Bay State]

Gunnut69, thank you for your reply.  Was making your own piloted drill bit a tremendous amount of work?  What did it entail?

Shorty, thank you for your reply.  You make sense; if I start the drill out on a true hole, it should keep it (I'll keep my fingers crossed too).

[Double D]

Just pick-up a piloted counterbore, solder it onto an extension and go slow.

[Chuck from arkansaw]

A standard drill will follow the bore and will not wander.  Try it on a scrap barrel first, the bore will suck the drill through with no problem.  The only problem might be a little bellmouth at the start, but it is just extra room for the solder or epoxy....Used to build assembly jigs for fighter jets, drilled miles of holed with a hand drill.

[gunnut69]

Sorry I haven't replied to this but I simply missed it:(..  I simply ground a pilot on a drill of the correct size.  The pilot was sized to the bore and the drill was resharpened as normal but only on the cutting flutes.  A tip, grind slightly past the pilot diameter before the transition from the pilot to the cutting edges and grind those cutting edges to a bit steeper angle of attack.  The relief groove will make sharpening easier and cost nothing as there is little stress on the pilot.  Drill from both ends of the barrel, feed slowly and use plenty of lubricant.  A lathe works really well, mainly I believe because of the lack of vibration..  Stop and clean the bore out often and be very careful, a jammed bit will break readily..You may consider using a cobalt bit as their strength is greatly improved and they have a higher tempurature tolerance.