22 BR Reamer Selection

[MDHOGGER]

I want to rebarrel a Savage rifle in a 22 BR to shoot bullets in the 50 to 60 grain weight range for groundhogs. I of course want to use Lapua brass and make sure the reamer used will work with this brass. I contacted Pac Nor for a copy of their reamer print and they sent five different prints. Most of the reamers were for short necks which is not a big concern for me as long as there is not too much lead to allow reaching the lands. I contacted Pac Nor for their recommendation and they sugessted their 22 BR Lapua Norma with a long neck and what appears to be a no-turn neck. As I said I will be shooting 50 to 60 grain varmint bullets and it looks like to me that their 22 BR PacNor reamer is a better choice with less lead so I can reach the lands with the bullets I intend to use. I don't mind turning necks for the 100 cases I will need. What do you guys think is better reamer to use for my situation.

 

[NorCalMikie]

Get a reamer with the shortest freebore. Better yet, make up a dummy round with the lightest bullet you plan to shoot seated at the shoulder neck junction. Tell them you want a chamber with the bullet on that dummy round jammed into the lands. The freebore can and will get longer.
And make it a no turn neck chamber. You want to be pulling the trigger and not spending time messing with brass. JMHO.

 

[expiper]

Listen to Mike....go NO TURN....254" ND and no more than .040" FB....keep chamber length at 1.580" so that you dont have to trim much....keep the bak end at the .200 line no bigger than .471,,,It will work smoothly with Redding type S full length die,and .248 bushing,,,get it from Dave Kiff at PT&G,!!!!...Roger

 

[NorCalMikie]

I just noticed that on one of my 22BR rig, I use to be able to seat 50s at a jam into the lands and still have a "bunch" of bullet (boat tails) in the neck. Now the 50s are only about 1/3rd into the neck. Might have to go to a flat base now to get more neck contact.
Get your reamer set up the way "you want it". Like I said, the throat will only get longer.
You can't have a long and short throat in the same barrel. Get two barrels. They're small. ;D

 

[MDHOGGER]

Thanks for the replies. I was told on another message board that if you send in a dummy round to Pac-Nor that they can adjust the lead for the dummy round to reach the lands. I have sent another email to Pac-Nor to confirm this can be done for this chambering. I would then go to the reamer for the print called '22 BR PACNOR' as its has the long neck and appears to be a no turn neck at .252" By the way the bullet that I wanted to use is the new Hornady 53 grain V-Max. Has anyone been able to purchase this bullet. All the suppliers have it as a backorder but due in early April. If anyone have any I would appreciate one to make up my dummy round.

 

[Preacher]

You might want to check for sure on the no turn .252, the new lapua brass when necked down to 22BR will measure .251.5 on a loaded round, and thats to tight in a .252 chamber...

 

[MDHOGGER]

Preacher I order my brass, dies and bullets yesterday. I will make up a dummy round and take the appropriate measurements. I will be going for .002 to .003" neck clearance. If that means I have to do a little neck turning that is okay by me as I will only be turning a 100 pieces of brass. In fact a little turning to cleanup of the necks sounds somewhat desirable to me. Thanks for the the first hand information.

 

[Ackman]

No freebore. The BR case has a long neck. This one you don't need a dummy round. Even without any freebore a 60VMax seats to about .040" or so above the neck/shoulder junction when touching the lands. With no freebore, 50/55's seated to the neck base are nowhere even close to the lands......at the lands a 50 or 55 will seat well above the neck/shoulder to varying degree depending on the bullet.

 

[MDHOGGER]

I have exchanged a couple of emails with Chris at Pac Nor regarding being able to modify to chamber to allow me to reach the lands with my chosen bullet. Basically the amount or lack of lead/freebore. My second email asked if I send a dummy round if they could set up the lead/freebore in order to reach the lands. He said we could adjust it a little. That did not sound like it would be meeting my needs. At this point I have left a phone message so we can talk on the phone one on one to get my questions answered.

 

[RJinTexas]

I agree with Ackman, unless your planning on shooting bullets heavier and longer the a 60gr Vmax's you don't want any freebore.

RJ

 

[MDHOGGER]

I am no expert in reading reamer prints and like suggested zero lead would probably enable me to reach the lands with 50 to 60 grain varmint bullets. I must confirm Pac Nor will be able to do this for me with the selected reamer. I do however think there is more than just lead/freebore to consider looking at these two reamer prints. When looking at the two throats the PacNor print throat is .0973" long with a throat TPI of 1.04816". The Lapua Norma reamer throat is .1947" long with a throat TPI of.5237". What does TPI stand for 'taper per inch' ? It would still make sense to me to send them the dummy round to insure both lead and throat are taken into account to set-up the chamber. I hope Pac Nor will call me back so I can settle this issue and proceed.

 

[Ackman]

I am no expert in reading reamer prints and like suggested zero lead would probably enable me to reach the lands with 50 to 60 grain varmint bullets. I must confirm Pac Nor will be able to do this for me with the selected reamer. I do however think there is more than just lead/freebore to consider looking at these two reamer prints. When looking at the two throats the PacNor print throat is .0973" long with a throat TPI of 1.04816". The Lapua Norma reamer throat is .1947" long with a throat TPI of.5237". What does TPI stand for 'taper per inch' ? It would still make sense to me to send them the dummy round to insure both lead and throat are taken into account to set-up the chamber. I hope Pac Nor will call me back so I can settle this issue and proceed.

You're overthinking this and making it unnecessarily complicated. You don't need to send them anything. Don't screw with a RemBR chamber unless you're using Rem brass, which you don't want to do. What you do want is a 22BR Lapua Norma with NO freebore, and neck diameter for unturned brass....my reamer has .253" neck. Repeat, NO freebore. That's all there is to it. If pacnor can't do one like that, buy your own reamer from Dave Kiff and get the right chamber. Better yet, do a 6BR which will handily outperform the 22BR. Even better, follow the advice I gave you before and just use your 6mmAI for chucks. Much better than a 22BR on those things, it's in a whole different league. Put it this way.....I have a couple 22BR's and like 'em fine but don't even take them along when going to shoot chucks.