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Machine marks in chamber

TrapperBR549

I noticed some marks on the brass so I cleaned the chamber and looked with my borescope. There are 2 sets of marks on opposite sides of the chamber.
They are approximately 0.40 inches from the head.
Screenshot_20201005-122207_Gallery.jpg
 
If it shoots, and you aren’t having extraction problems, or actual damage to the brass, I wouldn’t worry about it.
 
I can't tell how bad they are from the pic. Can you post pics of the brass, showing the marks? It shouldn't be there but if it doesn't clearly show in the brass, it may well be good enough to shoot and cause no issues. I've seen some badly pitted chambers in poorly cared for hunting rifles that didn't have any problems, functionally.
If it shows clearly in the brass, it'll cause hard extraction. Otherwise, I'd consider just dedicating brass to that bbl and shoot it until its toast. This is assuming it shoots good.
 
You can clearly see the marks on the brass, that is why I started looking in the chamber. I will post pics of the brass later, not at home now.
I have had no extraction issue and the gun shoots decent for a sporter hunting rifle.
It is a FN Winchester Featherweight in .257 Roberts, made in U.S. I hunted with it some and the wife killed a decent mule deer a couple years ago so now it is hers. We just shot factory ammo out of it but I decided to work up a load and that is when I noticed the marks on the brass.
Do I need to be concerned about the integrity of the brass or is this more cosmetic?
 
TrapperBR549 said:
You can clearly see the marks on the brass, that is why I started looking in the chamber. I will post pics of the brass later, not at home now.
I have had no extraction issue and the gun shoots decent for a sporter hunting rifle.
It is a FN Winchester Featherweight in .257 Roberts, made in U.S. I hunted with it some and the wife killed a decent mule deer a couple years ago so now it is hers. We just shot factory ammo out of it but I decided to work up a load and that is when I noticed the marks on the brass.
Do I need to be concerned about the integrity of the brass or is this more cosmetic?
Click to expand...
Id just shoot it and see how it goes. If it starts rubbing off like an ejector swipe it may get thin so just keep an eye on it
 
I bought the gun new several years ago. It never had a dremel tool in it since then and I wouldn't think they would do it.
My Dad worked at Browning at the time and they chambered some in Roberts as a shot show special, it wasn't a catalog item.
He got me this one because I've always been partial to the caliber.
I only hunted deer with it and it shot factory accubonds under moa so I have always been tickled with it and never even noticed the brass marks.
Fast forward and now it is my wife's rifle. I have been hand loading for some other stuff and she enjoys shooting so I loaded some for her and noticed the marks.
I can't get rid of the rifle, Pop passed last year so I am emotionally invested.
Do you think the chamber could be polished enough to remove the metal that is sticking out, cutting into the brass?
 
If it isn't affecting extraction, you can probably leave it alone. A ball hone will work to remove a thou or so of material. and is what I would try if I wanted to minimize the divot. WH
 
Who ever chambered it should either rechamber or give you a new barrel and some of your money back and send it to someone on here.I am sure they would do a really sweet job.There is no way I would shoot a high pressure cartridge like that any day if it is gouging your brass that bad.
 
Had a friend who had a similar problem with an old rifle of some sort, can’t recall just this second what it was. He cleaned the chamber nice and dry, put a dab of JB weld in the spot and then ran a chambering reamer in it lightly cutting the JB weld out leaving the chamber wall smooth. He then used a fired case As a lap with some very fine grit (1,000?) Clover lapping compound and finished polishing it up. Worked like a charm. Of course his Uncle was an old time gunsmith so he had lots of stuff available to him to work with. One might consider making a lap with a fired case and some very fine grit Clover compound and see if you can get anywhere.
 
If the gun shoots well and extraction isn’t affected, it is the largely cosmetic. If you go with rechambering, you’ll need to setback and then hope for better. You might not get there. So you might do a lot of work ($$$) for very little gain. Sometimes it’s best just to let sleeping dogs lie.

A 257 has a useable barrel life of 2500-3500 rounds, maybe less if you shoot prairie dogs. So it won’t be forever,
 
If this FN Winchester Featherweight in .257 is all original and it is shooting with out any issues, I would leave it be. Reloading so that you can crank up the oressure
and velocity maybe a problem with extraction. Stay with the factory loads, stay away from +P and enjoy the rifle. Do what you can to remove that little nagging
concern and know that your Dad gave you a very nice rifle, and maybe a rare one at that.

Robert
 
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