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SKP Model
Browning Gun Barrel
SKP Model 1:35 Set #SKP 044

Review by Terry Ashley

The Kit:

SKP Model join the long list of manufacturers producing replacement metal M1919A4 Cal.30 barrel with set that contains a single barrel/cooling jacket with finely turned perforated brass cooling jacket and the inner barrel with the muzzle cap.

Metal barrel parts and close up of the muzzle
SKP Model
SKP Model


Dimensionally the cooling jacket is the correct length and the holes visually match the actual jacket as well as the notched muzzle cap for a well proportioned barrel.

The inner barrel has the muzzle drilled out slightly and also includes the two small notches on the muzzle tip with the small lip with this matching one of the various muzzle caps seen on the cal.30 barrels. At the breech end there is a small raised lip that keeps the barrel tube aligned perfectly inside the cooling jacket as well as the pin for fitting to the target cal.30 receiver.

There was a little excess brass inside the cooling jacket holes but pushing the inner barrel through the jacket in a plunger action removed this without any trouble, if there is any remaining brass residue inside the holes a quick "poke" with the tip of a #11 blade will remove this without any further cleanup required.

The barrel and cooling jacket fit together precisely and you could use a small dab of cyanoacrylate (super glue) at either end to securely attach the parts together ready for adding to the donor Cal.30 receiver.

Fitting the assembled barrel/cooling jacket to any available Cal.30 MG is very easy and I have used here the gun from the recent Tasca Browning M1919A4 Machine Gun (Set #35-L26) and as this comes with a separate plastic barrel there is already a hole in the receiver for the barrel pin.

You will need to enlarge the receiver hole using a .85mm drill bit and I also reduced the length of the barrel pin by half to conform to the hole depth in the Tasca receiver, all very easy and you again secure the barrel with a small drop of cyanoacrylate.

The metal barrel fitted to the Tasca Cal.30 receiver from set #35-L26.
SKP Model

Conclusion:
This new Cal.30 barrel from SKP Model has with the correct dimensions, virtually no cleanup and simply assembly when fitting to any available Cal.30 MG. The barrel can also be used as a co-axial MG for vehicles such as the M3/M5 Stuart, M4 Sherman, M8 Greyhound, Staghound and any other vehicle armed with the Cal.30 and that list is almost endless.

The muzzle cap design is slightly different from others offered making this a good choice for a bit of variety.

Highly recommended

See the full comparison of available metal .30cal machine gun barrels.


Thanks to SKP Model for the review kit.




Page created October 25, 2009