Tight bore chambered with normal diameter solid pilot?

[ImBIllT]

I bought a used 6mm barrel. It was in great condition and the seller is competent shooter who got EXCELLENT results from it. My dad was a machinist for a time, and has chambered his share of barrels, all of which have shot great. Today he calls me and tells me that he’ll have my rifle ready by the time I get off work. He’s roughly .350” from finishing the chamber and is taking a break(his shop is not ventilated and it was over 100 outside). He mentioned that he’s having an issue he’s never had and is confused. The reamer doesn’t want to come out of the barrel. He asked if I gave him a dull reamer. I didn’t have an answer. When I got off work he informed me that he figured out what was up. The pilot is too big.


Turns out, the solid pilot is .2365”. That seems about right for a .237” lands diameter. Sounds like it was probably a .236” lands diameter barrel(or perhaps tighter. It’s a Brux. I don’t know what Brux does it’s tight barrels at) There is a visible difference on the lands between where the pilot was rubbing and where it was not. The question is, is the barrel totally screwed or not? I was really hoping for a rifle that would shoot in the .3’s or better. Now I’m concerned that I have an action and a tomato stake.

There’s not enough barrel left to set it back far enough to cut through the area where the pilot rubbed.

 

[hoz53]

I bought a used 6mm barrel. It was in great condition and the seller is competent shooter who got EXCELLENT results from it. My dad was a machinist for a time, and has chambered his share of barrels, all of which have shot great. Today he calls me and tells me that he’ll have my rifle ready by the time I get off work. He’s roughly .350” from finishing the chamber and is taking a break(his shop is not ventilated and it was over 100 outside). He mentioned that he’s having an issue he’s never had and is confused. The reamer doesn’t want to come out of the barrel. He asked if I gave him a dull reamer. I didn’t have an answer. When I got off work he informed me that he figured out what was up. The pilot is too big.


Turns out, the solid pilot is .2365”. That seems about right for a .237” lands diameter. Sounds like it was probably a .236” lands diameter barrel(or perhaps tighter. It’s a Brux. I don’t know what Brux does it’s tight barrels at) There is a visible difference on the lands between where the pilot was rubbing and where it was not. The question is, is the barrel totally screwed or not? I was really hoping for a rifle that would shoot in the .3’s or better. Now I’m concerned that I have an action and a tomato stake.

There’s not enough barrel left to set it back far enough to cut through the area where the pilot rubbed.

you know ive been wondering about this very thing for awhile as i wondered if i could buy solid pilot reamers instead of bushing ones since i dont want to depend on pilot anyhow. Sure am sorry this happened to you and i hope this works out for you. I dont have an answer but i guess i would just go shoot it and see how it does. you could cast the bore if you really wanna know dimensions.

 

[ImBIllT]

you know ive been wondering about this very thing for awhile as i wondered if i could buy solid pilot reamers instead of bushing ones since i dont want to depend on pilot anyhow. Sure am sorry this happened to you and i hope this works out for you. I dont have an answer but i guess i would just go shoot it and see how it does. you could cast the bore if you really wanna know dimensions.

Yeah, my dad has never had any trouble with solid pilot reamers, and actually prefers them BUT, he’s never chambered a barrel with a bore that was under normal diameter. Being used, I was unaware that the bore was undersized.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Brux are .236, usually right on that number.

 

[clowdis]

Shoot it and see, it might be fine. If the pilot goes in at all it's probably the same size as the bore which is actually a press fit. Maybe all you're going to get is polished lands.

 

[ImBIllT]

Shoot it and see, it might be fine. If the pilot goes in at all it's probably the same size as the bore which is actually a press fit. Maybe all you're going to get is polished lands.

Im thinking some throat erosion is what let it in initially, and after that it was always pushing things around enough to get back in. It won’t go in at all on the muzzle end.


Yeah, I’m gonna shoot it before I stake any tomato plants with it, but if it won’t shoot well right outta the gate, I don’t want to waste any time and effort looking for other possible reasons if it’s well known that what has been done is a disaster. It’s just a dang shame there isn’t another 1” of tenon.

 

[Will Henry]

This is one instance where I think fire-lapping might be appropriate. WH

 

[STOMP442]

If you don't get the results you want right off the bat you may try some of Tubbs final finish bore lapping and see what happens. Or the other option is to save the barrel and rechamber to a larger cartridge to clean up the entire chamber. I hate to see a good barrel just get thrown away.

 

[butchlambert]

I'm not sure how far he is into the barrel. If some of the body has been cut, take the bushing off and continue chambering.

 

[GenePoole]

Recheck the title of the thread, Butch.

 

[butchlambert]

Recheck the title of the thread, Butch.

Forget the title, read the text. He said he was .350 from finishing the chambering.

 

[GenePoole]

Maybe 400 grit wet-or-dry with some WD-40 would take 0.0005 off the pilot.

 

[sdean]

Forget the title, read the text. He said he was .350 from finishing the chambering.

And finish after his break. I think it's a done deal.

 

[AckleymanII]

Pilot on the reamer is not needed now as the reamer will follow the hole...so......

Lesson learned: pilots should be fitted to the bore dia. When in doubt, try the muzzle end, gently. Face off that part of the muzzle if a super tight fit.

 

[GenePoole]

Am I missing something here? I re-read the entire thread. It is a SOLID pilot reamer, right?

 

[ImBIllT]

If you don't get the results you want right off the bat you may try some of Tubbs final finish bore lapping and see what happens. Or the other option is to save the barrel and rechamber to a larger cartridge to clean up the entire chamber. I hate to see a good barrel just get thrown away.

I agree, and already considered that, but the it just went from a 6BRX on a Remington to a 6mm Rem on a Mauser. The pilot is almost .700” past the throat. A 6mm-06 wouldn’t completely clean it up. My dad says he can’t get a steady rest on it for a re-chamber the tenon gets any shorter. Also, he ended up cutting a relief cut after the threads to get the barrel to screw all the way onto the action, so setting it back very far is loosing threads.

It’s kind of a did everything wrong situation. There are definitely some steps that could be taken with the action if it doesn’t shoot well straight off, but I don’t care to do that if the issue is the dang chambering mistake.

 

[ImBIllT]

Am I missing something here? I re-read the entire thread. It is a SOLID pilot reamer, right?

Yes. Measures .2365”. Apparently it started fine, probably due to throat erosion, but by the time it was nearly finished, It became difficult to remove. It takes a close look, but there is a visible difference between where the tight pilot was rubbing and the lands beyond the pilot.

 

[ImBIllT]

Pilot on the reamer is not needed now as the reamer will follow the hole...so......

Lesson learned: pilots should be fitted to the bore dia. When in doubt, try the muzzle end, gently. Face off that part of the muzzle if a super tight fit.

Definitely lesson learned. The issue is, it’s a solid pilot reamer, the chamber is finished, there isn’t really room to re-chamber to fix the problem. If it won’t shoot, I don’t want to chase other rabbit holes if chambering with an excessively tight solid pilot is known make a barrel shoot like crap.

 

[ImBIllT]

And finish after his break. I think it's a done deal.

Correct.

 

[ImBIllT]

Maybe 400 grit wet-or-dry with some WD-40 would take 0.0005 off the pilot.

If only the chamber hadn’t been finished.