Hello All,
There has been some other threads about hand finishing a short chambered barrel by hand. I have had success in taking a short chambered 338-06 and doing the final head spacing by hand. The rifles, 3 now, all shoot well so I am keen to try this.

Midway has a Shilen Short Chambered in 280. I want to buy the Ackley finish reamer and make myself a 280 Ackley. I saw in a thread that we have to set it back .004? Why would it be any different than hand turning a normal finish reamer in a standard caliber, say 280 Rem? If you use the go and no go gauges, and it checks out, it would then be safe. Am I out in left field on this or would it work?

The other question is could I take a 6.5x55 short chambered and turn it into a 6.5-06 Ackley by the same theory above?

Like I said, it has worked on 338-06's and they do shoot real well. Maybe I have been lucky 3 times over but I have a vertical vise, good clamps, a steady hand, and luck I suppose.

I would love for someone to explain to me if it will or won't work and why.

Thanks as alwyas guys,
Jason

It really isn't any different. For my $$ I would simply rent the reamer if I wanted it. I will admit to hand finishing a couple chambers in AI not my first preference but they worked fine. I once took a 7x57 to gibbs by hand. It will work just not the best way to do it. By the time you buy it you might as well have a smith install it.

Worst case other than out of round is the chamber will be deep. If so treat it like a full wildcat and don't fire factory and adjust your die to just bump the shoulder.

Thanks Ramrod. I am going to build three total if it works. I have some buddies that pile in and spread the cost on the reamers and gauges. Look forward to more thoughts ya'll. Thanks.

With a "short chamber" barrel being somewheres around .050 shy of the mark, you would have no problem setting the headspace for the desired .004 crush with the improved chamber.

Hand finish reaming a standard short chambered barrel is a bit different than doing an improved chamber. For one thing the pilot of the reamer is in play with a standard reamer in a standard chamber. Not so when running an improved reamer in a standard chamber.

The shoulder of the improved reamer will make contact with the wall of the chamber before the pilot enters the bore making for a little bit of a wobbly start. And when doing the reaming by hand, you'll want to make certain that the reamer is running as straight as possible when the pilot engages the bore.