I use a 6 jaw Buck. Best thing sense sliced bread.
I also have a 6 jaw Buck...completely rebuilt, new screws, skim cut all faces square...yada, yada, but for the life of me the thing is more difficult for me to “dial” in that last .001 (let alone +/- .0001) without moving when I tighten up the thru face bolts.
How do you do it? I’m sure the issue lies with me....PM if possible since I don’t want to derail the OP’s thread further.
Set tru's are heavy. I have a 6 jaw bison that I'm tempted to sell every once in a while. They are extremely accurate but a properly fitted quality chuck is just as accurate and lighter to put on and take off.
the set tru also adds some overhang which is a problem if you lathe is stiffness challenged anyway like most hobbyist lathes are (I bet gappmast has a very nice heavy lathe behind his Buck).
Now to answer your original question. A set tru chuck would be useless for chambering since it is accurate on the outside diameter and you need to adjust on the inside diameter. You need a spider/cathead.
Perhaps you are thinking of the setup that uses a 4 jaw and a piece of copper wire. This will work on the inboard end but you'll need a spider on the other end. And you need to use a 4 jaw, not a set tru.
But your real question was "does anybody do it" and the answer is, yes, some of the mass producers probably do. thus the poor quality.
--Jerry
The thru face bolts should be tight enough to hold the two surfaces together but but still let you center the chuck. If it is set up right you shouldn't have to tighten the thru bolts
If you get a 6 id like to consider buying your 5My lathe is a 13X36 Birmingham. The buck chuck is a 5" six jaw adjust tru. I would like to have a 6" but this one fell of the back of a truck. It is still big enough for a 1.3" barrel