What I learned about dialing in a barrel

[Papa Charlie]

different people go different depths and diameters. Most people drill and then bore it with a boring bar to get the chamber as concentric as possible. i think most drill pretty close to the shoulder. Some people bore strait in-- some people taper bore. Seems to be the idea is the more you bore out the less wear on the reamer and the less time it takes.

Just thinking this out in my head. I would think the more time in the reeming process that the pilot is in the bore the better the alignment. I would think that you would only want the pilot unsupported for a very short period to ensure it is actually guided by the barrel bore.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

No reason to do any less than your own personal "perfect". Whether or not a shooter can make use of it or not doesnt matter. I 100% believe good work produces more good barrels than ok work. A hummer can make up for a lot, but you have to look at consistency over time.

 

[Stan Taylor]

Yes -- im loving it Stan cause I hoped for a long time Id be able to get away with boring the whole chamber with a finish reamer and thats what i did for awhile. I only use my reamers for my own stuff so they dont get used alot. I think I may be headed to the Dark Side soon though and begin to Bore. Mabie even set up a flush system-Yikes
Can I be Saved?? I wanna know why Dusty doesnt use a flush system anymore?? Thanks for that piece of Info

We'll if a specific chambering creates wearing a reamer out they make replacement reamers every day but most generally you wear one out the prime example is I wore out 3 reamers in the 6.5 creedmoor it's a hot item otherwise why in the world would you pre. bore.

 

[jkohler]

Youre tailstock and headstock center alignment must be good? You mean you push the reamer with a center that is in the tailstock with a wrench on the reamer? By a pusher you are talking about a floating reamer holder?
Thanks Jkohler u provide alot of good info on here.

My alignment is good and I check it often. I my pusher is a copy of none other than Mr tooley’s. Mine is made from a moris #4 taper to Jacobs chuck adapter that’s been faced and bored about .030 over the size of a reamer. I hold the reamer with a tap wrench I made that is nice and flat on the back.

 

[jkohler]

When you say "Pre Bore" how deep do you go before switching to the reamer? My first assumption would be half way down the case body length and 0.010"-0.015" under size the smallest diameter on the case body, or am I totally off base?

Also, do you use a boring bar?

The way I do it is this. I measure the go gauge and usually subtract .100 from what the gauge measures to the body shoulder. All drill .100 short of that and go in with the boring bar .050 short of drill depth.

 

[hoz53]

We'll if a specific chambering creates wearing a reamer out they make replacement reamers every day but most generally you wear on out the prime example is done wore out 3 reamers in the 6.5 creedmoor it's a hot item otherwise why in the world would you pre. bore.

how many chambers can you get out of a reamer

 

[hoz53]

My alignment is good and I check it often. I my pusher is a copy of none other than Mr tooley’s. Mine is made from a moris #4 taper to Jacobs chuck adapter that’s been faced and bored about .030 over the size of a reamer. I hold the reamer with a tap wrench I made that is nice and flat on the back.

thats great info--- Thank You

 

[Stan Taylor]

how many chambers can you get out of a reamer

I have reamers that probably are approaching at least 50 chamber's an the throat on bullet seating is still very close.

 

[hoz53]

I have reamers that probably are approaching at least 50 chamber's an the throat on bullet seating is still very close.

thanks for that info.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I wanna know why Dusty doesnt use a flush system anymore??

 

[hoz53]

View attachment 1184151

Lol -- I see youre in a good mood today-- thanks

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Lol -- I see youre in a good mood today-- thanks

Truthfully its just too messy on my lathe and with all thats involved i feel way less stress just oiling my reamer manually

 

[hoz53]

Truthfully its just too messy on my lathe and with all thats involved i feel way less stress just oiling my reamer manually

sounds reasonable to me. So far ive just used a pumper type oil can for everything i do on the lathe. thanks

 

[Dusty Stevens]

sounds reasonable to me. So far ive just used a pumper type oil can for everything i do on the lathe. thanks

Get a solvent bottle from sinclair. Those pumps get real old. You could even get one of those bags full of the bottles for putting shampoo in for travel.

 

[hoz53]

Get a solvent bottle from sinclair. Those pumps get real old. You could even get one of those bags full of the bottles for putting shampoo in for travel.

that solvent bottle sounds like a good idea-- thanks

 

[GenePoole]

Someday I'll get around to mounting this all somehow (and someday I'll sweep up all those chips), but for now, it all works great. This is all there is to it:

A dam made from a small chunk of oil-absorbing material handles the tramp-oil:

 

[DaveTooley]

how many chambers can you get out of a reamer

For me it varies but I get 60-80 chambers. I prebore with caliber specific JGS core drills to about .050" short. I take finish reamers out of service because of wear in the throat area, not the body. For many of the bread and butter calibers I've gone to carbide. Better finish and they last at 4 times longer which makes them very cost effective.

Regarding my comment above about seeing the light. 1. I can feel the amount of pressure required to feed the reamer increase and 2. I can see the cutting edge starting to break down.

 

[hoz53]

For me it varies but I get 60-80 chambers. I prebore with caliber specific JGS core drills to about .050" short. I take finish reamers out of service because of wear in the throat area, not the body. For many of the bread and butter calibers I've gone to carbide. Better finish and they last at 4 times longer which makes them very cost effective.

Regarding my comment above about seeing the light. 1. I can feel the amount of pressure required to feed the reamer increase and 2. I can see the cutting edge starting to break down.

Thanks Dave --thats alot of good info

 

[hoz53]

The freebore of a reamer is far more critical to wear than the body. Body wear is the last thing Id worry about.

just saw this thanks Alex

 

[hoz53]

Just thinking this out in my head. I would think the more time in the reeming process that the pilot is in the bore the better the alignment. I would think that you would only want the pilot unsupported for a very short period to ensure it is actually guided by the barrel bore.

i thought that way for awhile. there are so many excellent barrel fitters in the business that dont do it that way though that expanded my thinking on it. there are lots in the business that use the pilot all the way mode to. I sure havent done enough to form a concrete opinion on it. One thing Ive been thinking though is as youre finishing the chamber that bushing is in bore that wont get cut away. i had a reamer making a squeek last one i did and i couldnt figure it out. I dont think it would take much sideways pressure to damage the bore in that area. somethin to think about.