I am about to rebarrel a rifle in 6.5-06 and need to get a reamer. Please advise me of whether to go for a removable pilot or not and whose reamers you find the best

Removable pilot is preferred. Oil grooves too. Dave Manson (Manson Precision Reamers) or Dave Kiff (Pacific T&G) are both great.

You might find Manson's Web Site below:

www.mansonreamers.com

If you drill and taper bore before reaming you do not need a bushing. A lot of guys will use too tight of a bushing and cause problems.
Butch

That is the point of a removable pilot. The "bushing" is tried and if not perfect then another "bushing" is ordered to fit, from the reamer maker. Not all barrels are created equal nor identical. They do not all fit the same fixed pilot built integral to the reamer.

If you have the removable pilot, you can do a series of larger caliber wildcats with the same reamer and different throat&neck reamers.

quote:

Originally posted by butchlambert:
If you drill and taper bore before reaming you do not need a bushing. A lot of guys will use too tight of a bushing and cause problems.
Butch

What exactly do you mean by "drill and taper bore"?

Is that drill a hole, and then clean it up with a boring bar with the compound set for under 90 degrees?

The method Butch refers to has been discussed at length here and on Benchrest Central. Do a search and it will show up.

For me, using a piloted or non-piloted reamer is a choice for the owner of the barrel to be reamed. If it is a one time deal for the owner, let his pocket book be his guide.

quote:

Originally posted by tnekkcc:

quote:

Originally posted by butchlambert:
If you drill and taper bore before reaming you do not need a bushing. A lot of guys will use too tight of a bushing and cause problems.
Butch

What exactly do you mean by "drill and taper bore"?

Is that drill a hole, and then clean it up with a boring bar with the compound set for under 90 degrees?

That's basically the way I do it. Except I rarely do a taper anymore. I use a drill to remove the majority of material and then true the hole with a boring bar holding slightly under the diameter of the reamers shoulder. Then I finish ream.

DJM, my collection of reamers are a mix of both solid and removable pilot reamers, and all of them work very well.

With regards to your question, there are several cartridges that share the '06 body, so if it were me, I would get the removeable pilot reamer in 25-06 with a 6.5 pilot and a separate 6.5 neck and throat reamer to finish it. Start your collection of reamers on the right foot, then add pilots, neck and throat reamers as you go. Of course if this is a one time deal, then you would be fine with a solid pilot reamer.

As far as which manufacturer to go with, Dave Manson, Dave Kiff and JGS are hard to beat. I also have a bunch of Clymers as well. I end up modifying the reamers when I get them anyway so it really doesn't matter too me one way or the other.

I understand tight and loose bushings. With some brands of barrels, you need several to find the right size. I only have one solid pilot reamer. I do work for myself only. If the case has 1 1/2deg. taper, I swing the compound to that setting and hand feed the taper. I leave about .010 to ream. That aligns the reamer to the bore. We are probably a little too anal in our setups, but whatever makes you feel good. Remember the reamer makers leave .0002 between the bushing and reamer. I don't think that I would want a bushing any tighter than .0002 in the bore . Remember that this is all my opinion, but I think that doing it my way without a pilot will give just as good if not a straighter chamber.
That being said, I was at Shilens about 12 years ago and we were discussing this. Ed took a barrel out of the rack and put it in a 3 jaw chuck. He indicated nothing and cut the tenon and reamed the chamber. Took about 30 minutes. We went to the range and it was a wonderful shooter. Go figure.
Butch

Just FYI: Some years ago, Clymer used what they called a "Universal leed angle"...just like it sounds...universal! Some leeds were way long, others short...the 270 Win turned out too long. For a time, I could not make an accurate 270 if my life depended on it.

Found the problem...got a JGS reamer and all accuracy problems disappeared...Just check out old Clymer's before using