Creating Custom Length Freebore - How

[Phil3]

Just curious. if a Barrel maker of gun smith offers to chamber a rifle to fit dummy rounds, just how do they do this? Buy another reamer that will do the job? Ream it with a certain kind of reamer and then do a separate process to lengthen the throat to a desired length. In my case, I want a shorter freebore than often used, and given you can't put metal back, not sure how that would work. ???

Seems to me a reamer that is right sized all the way around is the best way to go, but I am no gunsmith.

Phil

 

[butchlambert]

Buy the reamer spec ed to your desires. Most smiths have throating reamers to cut a longer freebore if desired.

 

[XTR]

There are a couple of ways to get longer freebore (I'm very happy with my PT&G unithroater) but as you note, you can't put metal back. You can't cut a freebore shorter than the reamer is designed with. Best bet is to get your own reamer.

 

[Auto-X Fil]

Those manufacturers will have a zero-freebore reamer and then a throating reamer. High-volume shops almost certainly have standard FB reamers for most jobs, and only use the combination for custom freebore.

I saw a chamber recently that appeared to be a mistake by a 'smith using the two-reamer setup. The customer requested a 6.5 Creedmoor - no other details, so you would assume a SAAMI-spec chamber. They got 0.000" freebore instead of the standard 0.199". Whoops.