I have a rifle that seems to have a very tight neck...and chamber... when brand new cases are chambered, they still have a fair amount of resistance...using a body die on them to bump them back a hair more seems to help...

as far as the neck, if I size them in an F/L sizing die, without the decapping spindle in the die, they chamber easily, being a hair undersized...

I am also thinking tho, that there may also be a head space problem...

after even the very mildest loads are shot, the case can not be rechambered, until full length resized... neck sizing alone does not help...

if any of our gunsmith forum members have any clue or suggestions of what to check out or what may be causing this, I sure would appreciate your input..

best regards
seafire

That's a strange problem.
At first it seems as though you have a tight chamber. Then the fired cases will not re-chamber That sounds like bad (long) head space.????
How do the fired cases compare to the unfired? Any obvious differences??

I've known a rifle that behaved the same because of an oval chamber. You can check this by turning the case around and see if it will chamber OK in a certain position. BTW, if an oval chamber is confirmed, there's no other solution than reaming a new chamber.

First thing I would do is cast the chamber and mike it, then I would roll a fired case over a flat surface to see if there was any wobble. Is this a factory rifle, chamber? What caliber is it?

As Malm says, if you suspect the chamber the only way to tell is with a chamber cast. You can try marking a case but that just shows you where it is sticking, not why it is sticking.

Have you tried a small base sizer die? It will not solve a chamber problem but may make it 'liveable'?

Took several shot cases this morning and rotated them until they chambered...

as Andre suspected, the chamber must evidently be out of round or egg shapped...

Going to call the gunsmith and see what he is going to do about it..

really don't want to rechamber it again, as I wanted the barrel the 24 inches it is now....

this is a fast twist barrel in 22 caliber and is a Pac Nor Stainless Steel barrel done by a gunsmith...

If you can live with the thought () of an egg shaped chamber, Buckeyeshooter's suggestion deserves some consideration... But, as we all know, it's all in the head

new barrel, bad chamber? well, if the gunny insists that less than 24" is GOOD ENOUGH, explain to him, that since he feels that strongly about it, then he won' tmind at all buying your barrel, at full price for himself, and you can then replace the ruined one for a new one.

quote:

Originally posted by seafire2:
Took several shot cases this morning and rotated them until they chambered...

as Andre suspected, the chamber must evidently be out of round or egg shapped...

Going to call the gunsmith and see what he is going to do about it..

really don't want to rechamber it again, as I wanted the barrel the 24 inches it is now....

this is a fast twist barrel in 22 caliber and is a Pac Nor Stainless Steel barrel done by a gunsmith...

Seafire,

Malm suggested you do a chamber cast for some very good reasons. You could have have gotten some sulfur from the local pharmacy, and then made a cast in sulfur for close to how much time it took to fiddle with the empties, it really is not a big deal unless you get ambitious like I've done and let the sulfur get into the lugs and have to clean it all out.

And I'd definately do a cast before dropping it off at the gunsmith, so you can figure out what was done to fix your rifle.

How do you get a oval chamber? When boring, reaming or drilling when the barrel is spinning, the best you will get is a oversize chamber. Even if a reamer was ground ovally, which they arent, a spinning barrel in the lathe would still be oversize, not oval.
Sorry just my 2 cents worth!

I am waiting to hear back from the gunsmith first of all....

then see what he plans to do about it..

how it happened? well I am not a machinist or gunsmith, so I am sort of thinking I don't really need to know, it is the smith's problem first..as he should back up his work...

he is an upstanding guy..

if he doesn't back it up, then I have to figure out what to do next with the barrel...

I have a good friend who is a gunsmith, that works strictly with Contenders, but is a good source of advice..

secondly, I know several more that I can take it to, if the original won't back it up...

then that will involve deciding on having the barrel shorter than I want, or consider chambering it into something like a 22/243 instead... or shortening it up a little and have it chambered to a 22 BR instead of the current 22.250 it is chambered into now..

it is an excellent shooter, just have to decide what to do...

quote:

Originally posted by blagg:
How do you get a oval chamber? When boring, reaming or drilling when the barrel is spinning, the best you will get is a oversize chamber. Even if a reamer was ground ovally, which they arent, a spinning barrel in the lathe would still be oversize, not oval.
Sorry just my 2 cents worth!

Yes, unless you inject lands, grooves and an ill fitted pilot into the mix. They're out there.

I don't really know how you get an oval chamber, but I have encountered it twice previously. I suspect that a barrel not properly centered in the lathe could wobble and create an oval chamber. One oval chamber a friend had came from a gunsmith's shop whose skill was proven and well known. Then we found out that the barrel had been chambered by a newly hired apprentice. Oval chambers definitely do occur.

quote:

Originally posted by blagg:
How do you get a oval chamber? When boring, reaming or drilling when the barrel is spinning, the best you will get is a oversize chamber. Even if a reamer was ground ovally, which they arent, a spinning barrel in the lathe would still be oversize, not oval.
Sorry just my 2 cents worth!

Incorrect
If the reamer has been sharpened incorrectly or if it wore asymmetrically it will ream an oblong hole. It will most likely chatter first but it does happen on occasion.

What is more likely though is the gun smith got a bit carried away when he was polishing the chamber and oblonged it that way

I've seen guys that ream the final few thou. by hand. Not carefully done this method can creat an oval chamber.

quote:

Originally posted by Scrollcutter:
I've seen guys that ream the final few thou. by hand. Not carefully done this method can creat an oval chamber.

I've seen it happen when finished by hand carelessly. The last few thousands can still be finished by hand between centers with the reamer turned by hand. Most likely it was finished by hand in a vise. JMO.

quote:

Originally posted by blagg:
How do you get a oval chamber? When boring, reaming or drilling when the barrel is spinning, the best you will get is a oversize chamber. Even if a reamer was ground ovally, which they arent, a spinning barrel in the lathe would still be oversize, not oval.
Sorry just my 2 cents worth!

In theory, true. But in real-world industry out of round holes occur fairly frequently.

Any rythmic oscillation in the machine or cutting tool which could cause ever-deepening chatter marks can also create an out of round hole...whether a chamber or some other kind of hole.

I have a different suspicion though, Seafire. I think it rather obvious you are not placing enough goat curds and Retsina at the feet of your Gun-God!! Without blind faith and regular appropriately large offerings, mere science is never enough.......

Hope you get it worked out, bud.

AC

well another development...

in the same caliber I have 3 other rifles..

spent cases from the one with the problem here, will chamber in any of the other 3 rifles with no resistance..

maybe this chamber can be cleaned up...without having to cut the threads and rechamber...

Could it be that the original chamber was cut with a tight match reamer? Has anyone checked the head space? Could be that a standard reamer would clean up the chamber and bring it up to SAAMI standards eliminating the problem!