I was looking at another post and someone mentioned Lothar Walther was making finished barrels for M98 Mausers. Well as I happen to have one that (really) needs a barrel I wandered over to the LW web site, sure enough they do. So I called about prices and Art 720/722 barrles are $199.

One thing led to another and the guy I was talking to mentioned they are long chambered and would need to be cut back on a lathe. I asked why not short chambered and He said you'll really screw up the chamber using a reamer and T-handle and that chambers should only be cut on a lathe to keep them true. Is this correct??? I just had a gun rebarreled and the gunsmith (who comes well recommended) did a final touch up using the T-handle method.

Did My current gunsmith (potentaily) screw up My new barrels chamber by doing this? I've only had the gun out once and it didn't seem as accurate as I though it should be, but that could have been Me or stock inletting, or load.

Sooo, what do the guys who build custom guns (for a living?) think is the correct (or acceptable) way to cut a chamber?

Was the guy at LW wrong? Was My gunsmith? Or?

Thanks for taking time to answer this for Me.

Roi

I'd far rather fit a long chambered barrel than a short chambered one. With the long chamber I don't have to have a reamer.

I have done it both ways and I believe it would be more accurate if if you use a lathe.
but to finish a chamber by hand and get it perfect takes real skill and first thing you learn is that it is hard to keep the reamer going streight..
in a lathe it takes a little time to set up and if your not careful you will end up with a long chamber.. tried it all one time.
Dave

The proper way to cut a chamber in a barrel is with the barrel zeroed in a lathe, ie 4 jaw with barrel running through headstock and supported on the other end with a spider, and the muzzle also zeroed, or zeroed at the muzzle and running in a steady rest over the chamber.
Anything short of that is a cluge, ie crank the barrel in a 3 jaw and call it good, or worse yet hand ream the chamber.

A perfectly safe chamber can be achieved with shortcut methods, but a concentric round chamber requires proper setup in a lathe.

There are lots of guys that call themselve gunsmiths, but damn few that I'd trust to properly chamber a barrel.

You more than likly talked with Woody & he certainly told you right.

My gunsmith prefers to work with a long chambered barrel. Chuck it up and trim to length.
He says it takes almost as long to finish a short chamber as it does to chamber a blank from scratch.

I think one reason that Woody told you was because of the steel in the L-W barrels. It is a bit tougher to ream than the US made barrels and he may have feared telling a neophyte to ream a short chambered one may screw it up.

I have talked with Woodie at Lothar Walther many times. Remember he has the CNC lathes from hell, multi-spindle, mega dollar. He has had issues with smiths fiddling with his chambers, and donking them up. His method right or wrong is he wants to cut his own chambers, knows how to do them and preferes to deliver them that way.

I thought about this, and discussed with both my smiths the pluses and minuses of his method. Neither saw an issue, both agreed it saves them the cost of the reamer, although a headspace quage is still required. THey also agreed that when these are done this way Lothar Walther assumes responsiblity for the chamber which is fine with them as long as they are done right and backed by service.

I have also heard that LW barrels are tough and Jim is not the only place I have heard this cautionary note.

A question for all you that know, are these pre-chambered barrels throated or do you do it as a separate operation. If you wanted something out of the norm can you buy these barrels chambered with a short or no throat?
Thanks.
C.G.B.

all of the prechambered barrels I've used are throated.

If you want a custom throat you must specify that in some manner or you'll get whatever the reamer was made to.

If you specify that there will likely be additional charges and only after specifying it will you know if it's even offered.