Hey everyone, happy friday. Last night went page through page through my new brownells catalog and was thinking when I saw the short chambered barrels that they sell, how good of results can a person get doing the final cutting with a hand reamer?

Anybody ever do it that way, buy a short chambered barrel and finish it off by hand? How was your headspace?

Red

Red,
I have finished chambers by hand that I had cut on a lathe just before so the process is the same. One problem though is the thread shank on a mauser has to match the distance to the C ring from the face of the action. If that needs changing it has to be done on a lathe. Head space is set by you when you do the final cut using head space gauges. You have to cut a bit at a time, install the action and check, etc.

I have the feeling you would be far better off to buy the barrel and take it to a smith to be installed.

I have never heard of a hand reamer.

I believe the method you are asking about is reaming a short chambered barrel to final depth by hand power.

It can be done, care must be taken so you do not push to one side and egg shape the chamber. You also have to go back and forth checking with the headspace gages.

Also if you go too deep then you still need a lathe to set it back. Better off doing the work on a lathe to start with.

Jim Wisner

I wonder if maybe they are talking about a pull-through hand reamer? You thread the barrel into the receiver, then pull/cut using the handle extended through the muzzle, and when the bolt closes - you're done!...?

(Edited to add) Here's Brownell's webpage on such:
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=5172

Just a thought,

Bill

[ 08-08-2003, 23:33: Message edited by: Bill M ]

I would never think about doing this kind of thing myself, definitely not a good idea. :-) I was just wondering if it was something that worked well cause it seemed like it might be popular, since I figured most gunsmiths would rarther get the barrel unthreaded and unchambered.

I think a lot of people that don't know a lot about guns don't appreciate how precise this kind of thing is. In my family we have 3 308 Normas, all three of them fortunately can share brass and reloaded ammo, but we were fortunate that all three chambers were cut with the same reamer by the same smith and he did as best he could to match them up. Seems to exacting a thing for somebody to try without proper tools and knowledge.

And the other thing, for the cost of the stuff to do it, unless you were in business you can pay to have it done by somebody else for less (not to mention feeding and extraction stuff).

Red

Red,

Just remember that it has only been rather recently that gunsmiths have been using lathes, like that last 100 years or so give or take. If an individual is so inclined tremendous work can be accomplished by hand, just keep in mind that there is a learning curve associated with that and considerable sweat will be expended. But it can be accomplished no doubt.

If I had to cut a chamber by hand I would clamp the barrel in a drill press directly below the quill, and put a center in the drill, then use downfeed pressure in the center of the reamer to apply cutting pressure while I turned it by hand. The drill is not used except as a way of centering and applying pressure, understand?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by MarkWhite:
[QB]Red,

If I had to cut a chamber by hand I would clamp the barrel in a drill press directly below the quill, and put a center in the drill, then use downfeed pressure in the center of the reamer to apply cutting pressure while I turned it by hand. The drill is not used except as a way of centering and applying pressure, understand?

Mark, forgive my double post. I"m not good at this forum stuff. But my question regards your suggestion to clamp the barrel in a drill press and use a center to guide the hand reamer. How would you assure that the bore was in line with the center?? RandyB.

I would use a FLOATING DRIVE. Mfr: COLONIAL ARMS

Minimizes The Chance Of Uneven Pressure & Off-Center Choke Tubes

Two different styles of adapters allow screw-in choke reamers or threading taps to float, so the pilot can properly center itself in the bore.

This is out of Brownells...

Or if I did not have a lathe, I would do it by hand. It has worked many times before. And even a lathe can result in a off center bore... Operator error factor you know...

I just fitted a Adams and Bennet to a Mark x in 243 caliber. It was short chambered. Beleive it or not , after taking the measurements, all that was needed to finish reaming was about 7 turns by hand with the reamer in a t handle and the barrel in a vise with the muzzle pointing down. It doesnt take a great deal of man power to get the reamer to cut. My friend tought me and he always finish's reaming by hand. He just finished barreling a Sako with a hart barrel in 308, 3 rounds touching at 100 yds looks good to me.

Half the fun is doing it by hand.. The Ackley Improves are a little more difficult, but just as fun.....