A friend's shop plans on cutting, threading and crowning barrels. They are looking for lathe recommendations. The budget is $5,000 max. They'd prefer a DRO and tooling. What do you suggest? Thank you

I can't help with a lathe recommendation...

But when Your friends shop does purchase one... Send Me a message...

I would mail him some barrels to cut down for Me.

Thanks.

Keep business in emails and IM's, not in the forum.  AeroE

My gunsmith has one of these, and is very happy with it.

Grizzly

This. I know that in my soul I feel like I should recommend a used US made or British made lathe, but all of the Grizzly gunsmith lathes I've used have been amazing. With your budget, you really can't go wrong with one plus it'll be new.

5k will net you a very nice piece of American iron, Monarch/L&S/Hendey/South Bend.  A South Bend Heavy 10 is what I'd want for barrel work if I didn't have the Monarch.  Its narrow headstock makes it easy to work through and the plain bearings last forever if oiled.  It will have all the threads you want for NC/NF/NEF threads and sticking a 127tooth gear in the train nets metrics.  They're fairly light so transportation is easy and the motors are small so a $200 vfd will drive them from 220v service.  Documentation and parts are readily available at reasonable prices.  (Monarch wants $1600 for a new crossfeed screw/nut combo. Ouch) D1-3 spindle and a 5c collet adapter, MT-2 tailstock.  Look for one with hard ways, and preferably the taper attachment.

Caveats- They're not a heavy lathe, you won't be peeling .200 doc in 4142.  Kinda low spindle speeds, but that's not terrible.  Short tailstock travel, prepare to trip tools in/out like you're drilling a well.  Biggest issue- their sizes are overall bed length, not C-C capacity.  You'll want the 48" bed.


5k will go a long ways.

Just to add, and not sure if I should say it, but I will anyway.

My GS has built guns for big name professional shooters, and his guns have won the Bianchi Cup numerous times.

He also was an engineer for some Indy Car teams as well as the lead engineer for a race car part maker.

If he calls a piece of equipment GTG, I listen.

That said, I am not a machinist, but I do get what some of the more experienced machinist say when they recommend US made equipment.

If, and I mean if your Smith knows what to look for there are some great deals to be had in the used market.
I would never drop $5K into a Grizzly machine and associated tooling. I would much rather hold out for a Clausing, South Bend or other QUALITY machine.
You get what you pay for.
My background is as a machinist, I can pick up the nuances of a decent machine and a junk machine. We have a Grizzly at my work and it is horrible compared to the Clausing we have and the Grizzly is only 2 years old and seen light use. I will not trust it for accuracy and repeatability, the bed is not Meehanite and the entire machine is about as flexible as a wet noodle IMHO.
I picked up an Atrump 1340 machine for $2k on CL with a good pile of tooling. I have turned hundreds of barrels and have yet to be disappointed with any aspect of it.
The Grizzly is OK for a garage hobbyist but if you are wanting to make money with it invest in a quality lathe that is rigid and a proven machine.
I look at Grizzly like I look at a Taurus firearm:

Inexpensive machine that will do the job with a great warranty and customer service.
But it is also a frequently used warranty and the customer service is decent because it is needed to deal with the product issues.


Think about this- how many 5, 10, 15 year old Grizzlies are out there that still turn with the accuracy, rigidity and smoothness of a 40 year old South Bend, Clausing, Casanueve, Summit, Sharp, MoriSeiki and the like?


Buy once, cry once.

That's my plan for my 6913 but the damn Hydospeed adjust just wont Die

Clausing 5900 series.

I love my Grizzly G4003G.  I wanted American iron but all that I could find were machines requiring a rebuild.  I wanted to hit the ground running instead of fooling around with a rebuild so went with an import.  It's built some darned accurate rifles and a truckload of other projects.

I'm happy with mine as well, but I'm one of those garage hobbyists the guy above was talking about.
I have a day job
The Grizzly does everything I've asked of it
There are no used tools around here. Buying one from halfway across the country would eat any savings in shipping and be an unknown quantity
I went for the new machine with the warranty and customer service, (neither of which I've used), rather than buy a pig in a poke.