Advice on freebore

[chino1969]

To those who have been there.

I'm going to have a 22BR barrel chambered. It is going to be for informal bench and live varmint hunting. The max. bullet weight will be 69 grns but I would also like to shoot 50 & 55 grn. bullets. I'm thinking about a 1-9" twist.

Here are my reamer choices:
1) .247 n.d. .019 freebore
2) .243 n.d. .040 freebore

Opinions and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanx,
Chino69

 

[Pbike]

Best choice you can make is to figure what you want your chamber to be, then call David Kiff at pacific tool & gauge. then order a reamer for about $150 shipped. After you are done you will always be able to duplicate the last chamber and in the meantime the chamber you have is what you had wanted.

Thats what I do.

Paul

 

[Cheechako]

chino

Pbike gives good advice. There is nothing like having your own reamer ground to your own specs.

But I infer from your post that you have the option of using one of two reamers that belong to someone else. What I would do is get the longest and the shortest bullets that you may use, load up one of each to the seating depth you think you would want, and then actually measure the freebore needed for each. If you are really lucky, they will be close to the same. If not you'll have to decide what compromises can be made.

As far as neck diameter, that should be a secondary factor because you can neck turn as needed.

Good Luck

Ray

 

[smackumdown]

id also be interested in freebore for the 22br i want to shoot 40 to 55 gr bullets with .254nk 1/14 twist what would be best freebore

any help will be appreciated
sorry about the jack
thanks again smackum

 

[chino1969]

chino

Pbike gives good advice. There is nothing like having your own reamer ground to your own specs.

But I infer from your post that you have the option of using one of two reamers that belong to someone else. What I would do is get the longest and the shortest bullets that you may use, load up one of each to the seating depth you think you would want, and then actually measure the freebore needed for each. If you are really lucky, they will be close to the same. If not you'll have to decide what compromises can be made.

As far as neck diameter, that should be a secondary factor because you can neck turn as needed.

Good Luck

Ray

Yeah,
You inferred correctly that a smith I know has the above two reamers. I do own several reamers and that is the way to go, however, I was hoping to save a little money. Thanx to all who replied.
Chino69

 

[NorCalMikie]

Seems like there lots of questions on "freebore"!! And it's real hard to decide what to choose. I ran into the same problem trying to decide what measurement to get. What I finally did was load up some dummy rounds with the shortest bullets that I would be working with set just above the shoulder neck junction. That way as the throat wears I'll still be able to move them out and still touch the lands. That dummy round can also be used as a pattern for the reamer maker! Sure cuts down on the confusion!

 

[Forum Boss]

Seems like there lots of questions on "freebore"!! And it's real hard to decide what to choose. I ran into the same problem trying to decide what measurement to get. What I finally did was load up some dummy rounds with the shortest bullets that I would be working with set just above the shoulder neck junction. That way as the throat wears I'll still be able to move them out and still touch the lands. That dummy round can also be used as a pattern for the reamer maker! Sure cuts down on the confusion!

Normally, you'd want it the other way 'round. Meaning you'd take the LONGEST bullets you want to shoot and put them so the bottom of the bearing surface is .040" or so above the neck-shoulder junction,to avoid the doughnut). If you took really short bullets and placed them just above the neck-shoulder junction you'd be restricting your case capacity with the bigger pills. I have about an .085" Freebore,measure Kiff style) and I can reach the lands with everything from a 70-grainer to a 107grainer. If I was shooting exclusively 105-107gr bullets I'd want more freebore so that you get a little more effective case capacity.

 

[NorCalMikie]

Paul: Got one rifle with a Shilen barrel that I can't shoot short bullets because I can't get to the lands so I figured I would get a barrel set up for the short bullets. And with every shot the throat gets longer. Nothing wrong with having two rifles. One for long and one for short. Can't have too many rifles can you?