Guys,

Am curious ... in doing a chamber for a hunting rifle is it adequate to do the chamber in the headstock with a 6 jaw set true chuck and a spider on the backside of the headstock thrubore using a floating reamer holder?

Thanks!

Mike

It should work.

There is a thread over on the Benchrest.com forum ,talking about this right now. The best thing is it has pictures.

Also Jackie on the same gunsmithing forum just did a thread where he went step by step on the way he chambered, with about 40 pictures.

Worth checking out.

Good luck

Hal

Hal,

Found Jackie's thread with pictures. Where do I look for the first one?

Thanks VERY much for the reference. Makes me think the Set True and spider will work

(I knew I bought that chuck years ago for a good reason!)

mike
Should be at the top of the pile in gunsmithing.
Look at "help cut and thread a new barrel plz".

I don't know if you noticed, but in Jackie's pictures he was using a three jaw and he adj the set tru part.

That would be easier also on your chuck, 4 points @90* than 6 points@60*.

Hal

Mike

I think I know what you are asking and it will work.
I have seen a lot of supposedly custom shops that have very poor chambering methods. Your basis chambering method (headstock and spider) is the method that I use. E-mail me if you have questions.

James

Mike,
Just remember to put something between the jaws and the barrel. If not you will bend the barrel when you move the spider. I would recommend either copper or aluminum wire.
Butch

James and Butch,

Thank you for continuing my education. I have an Bownell's H&K barrel centering bar from wealthier days that I'll use to locate the bore in the headstock.

Thought I'd like to play with a 300-221 (aka Whisper) on a Savage 110 as it would be an "easy" place to start. Will make a spider and save my pennies.

Then I'll see if I can locate a .308 caliber take-off barrel that can be shortened and still have enough left to fit to the Savage.

Will be fun to play with.

Thanks again Guys!

If you are going to play with the whisper, look for the fastest twist you can find, for those heavy 308 bullets.

Got a link for that thread on benchrest.com? I'm not seeing it. I'm curious about how some people chamber the WSM/RUM. Do they cut the whole chamber with the reamer, or do they use something else to remove most of the chamber. The WSM/RUM are big enough that you could single point cut some of it. Then the question is, do the reamers have really long pilots to keep things centered with some portion of the chamber already cut before the chamber reamer is used?

JPL,
After indicating I drill and taper bore to within .100 of the shoulder. I don't really care about the pilot, I use a loose one. My reamer follows the taper bored hole. I do not want the bushing fighting the taper bore that I just machined.
Butch