Chambering a barrel

[tobnpr]

I watched a highly regarded maker of custom rifles who chambered his barrels by simply grabbing it in the three jaw chuck and reaming the chamber. He counted on his Clymer reamer holder to follow the bore; it didn't. The thing that got me was, he was a good machinist and he knew better.
Anyway, when I first started gunsmithing, I was taught to set the barrel up between centers to true the shank, turn the tenon, and thread it. Then, the barrel was held in the three jaw, at the muzzle end, and the shank was supported in the steady rest. If the center cut at the breech end of the barrel was cut concentric, if one used a dead center in the tailstock, and if the barrel was pretty straight, this method could produce a good result. Many gunsmiths still use this technique, and it is still a viable method, most of the time. It is popular for guys who are turning out a lot of barrels, because it is fast. Doing it this way, I have fitted, chambered, polished, stamped, and beadblasted, 6 barrels on 6 different actions, in one eight hour day. This on an old South Bend lathe. I was helping out a barrel-maker friend of mine and this was his preferred method, so this is how I did it.
One gunsmith I knew would turn and thread the barrel between centers, then hold it in a four jaw to chamber. He dialed in on the outside, and assumed the shank was co-axial with the bore since he had turned it between centers.
Another made a steady rest which featured a pair of tapered roller bearings and 4 screws which allowed him to dial in the bore. The steady was adjustable so he could be sure it was aligned with the tailstock. It was quite an ingenious set-up and it worked pretty well for him.
In general, I think dialing in the throat area and the muzzle, then pre-boring, is one of the better ways to do a chamber. Every method works best when the barrel is perfectly straight (uncommon) and many methods have come about from having to deal with barrels which are not quite straight or, in some cases, damn crooked! WH

I started chambering barrels on my SB 9A, which has a 4-1/2' bed, between centers and they all shot well. Nothing "wrong" with between centers, that's how it was done back in the day before they started through the spindle on the Heavy 10. Unless you've got a "bad" barrel, where the throat area would deviate greatly from breech end in the center- it can't be anything but right.

 

[johnnyi]

Amazon.com: Chambering Rifles for Accuracy (3) (Gunsmithing Student Handbook): 9780983159858: Zeglin, Fred, Gritters, Gordy, Gonzalez, Speedy: Books

Amazon.com: Chambering Rifles for Accuracy (3) (Gunsmithing Student Handbook): 9780983159858: Zeglin, Fred, Gritters, Gordy, Gonzalez, Speedy: Books

smile.amazon.com

The grizzly video is good, but the book is better, IMO. I would read the book, and if there are things left to the imagination, get the grizzly DVD, or watch one of Ultimate Reloaders videos on chambering, so you have a high quality visual of what's going on. UR follows gordy's methods. He doesn't go in depth, but armed with the info from the book, his videos will make sense.

thanks. I have watched all of UR videos. While high quality. its a little infomercial and only shows a second or two seems like. His 300 PRC build is pretty good though i think for seeing a few things

 

[LVLAaron]

Grab the book. It's a good read

 

[ArtinNC]

Well I guess I had a lot to learn . But now that I don't have a lathe anymore and have to depend of someone else to chamber my barrel maybe I will be able to shoot better ? LOL I'm not a gunsmith just a tinker I do have a couple guns that will shoot in the .100' that I chambered that I'm happy with . And I'm not going to buy another lathe at 82 , I'll find someone to chamber and I spend my time left shooting and buying $120 primers . And thanks for all the comments .

 

[johnnyi]

Grab the book. It's a good read

“Chambering rifles for accuracy ?” This one? It’s in route.

 

[boltfluter]

Many who responded to this post can do "world class chambering ". Take your pic and spend your time shooting tiny groups.
Paul

 

[paperpuncher]

How about the Midway ad where smilin Larry quotes Townsend Whelen while inserting a taped up barrel shank into the lathe chuck. Later in the ad he starts to insert a reamer with a bald eagle pusher into the barrel while the lathe spindle is turning. Cant imagine it would turn out well in the real world