New Douglas 1-14 .338 barrel--.3349 groove dia.?--

[Cbashooter]

I just got a barrel back from my single shot gun Smith chambered for a cartridge called 33-40. I'm having struggles with the chamber but the weirdest part is my bullet wasn't fitting. I slugged it and I got .3348- .335 and then underneath the barrel my gunmith had marked.3449 . I called Douglas and they said that probably would not have left the shop with those dimensions. Has anybody else run into a Douglas 338 barrel this tight?

 

[cuznguido]

I was under the (possibly mistaken) impression that Douglas did not even do 338. Are you sure it is a Douglas?

 

[Cbashooter]

I was under the (possibly mistaken) impression that Douglas did not even do 338. Are you sure it is a Douglas?

They absolutely make 338 barrels they are still on their website

 

[Kurz]

I just got a barrel back from my single shot gun Smith chambered for a cartridge called 33-40. I'm having struggles with the chamber but the weirdest part is my bullet wasn't fitting. I slugged it and I got .3348- .335 and then underneath the barrel my gunmith had marked.3449 . I called Douglas and they said that probably would not have left the shop with those dimensions. Has anybody else run into a Douglas 338 barrel this tight?

Something or someone is confused:

'my single shot gun Smith chambered for a cartridge called 33-40.'

Did you request the chamber .33-40?

Harry Pope created this chamber around 1900. The case was made by necking up the .32-40 Ballard case to accept .338" groove diameter bullets. This is a breech seated cartridge where the case is filled with a powder charge and covered by an over powder card. The bullet is seated from the muzzle end of the barrel to just in front of the cartridge case. This was an established Schuetzen cartridge used by Pope and many other shooters at the time.

Did you order this barrel or did 'your gunsmith'?

If either of you ordered this barrel, what was specified at the time of the order?

If the gunsmith received this barrel, how did he chamber it with a .33-40 reamer. Bore size for the .338 is 0.330", groove size is 0.338".

You state that the one of the interior diameters is 0.3349" as stamped by the gunsmith on the barrel. Which diameter is this?

If he didn't question the diameter measurement, why not?

If you're questioning the chamber, why aren't you discussing this with 'your gunsmith'?

If the barrel was made incorrectly, another discussion needs to take place with Douglas.

 

[Cbashooter]

All the information you have given me I know about. My gunsmith has already taken care of it. The gunsmith had barrel direct from Douglas . It actually was from a special run of "true" .33 caliber barrels run a number of years ago.There's a misunderstanding ,Harry Pope developed the 33-47 ,33-40 completely different thing.
I learned that long ago gunsmiths would rebore worn 32-40's to 33 caliber and not touch the chamber,that is the "33-40"
I had not known about this before I had the rifle sent off to get this barrel fit if I had known I would have specified 33-47 chamber. And if it was throated properly the tight bore would have worked just fine for my 338 diameter baseband design.

It's been a learning curve but since all this has happened I found a complete rifle set up in 33-47 so I'm letting the barrel go to somebody who wants a traditional bore and groove dimension.

 

[Kurz]

Gosh, thank you for the update! Day late and a dollar short but here it is anyway.

 

[Cbashooter]

Kurz you have been blocked for the silly private message you randomly sent me.

To quote you-- "What you really know wouldn't fill a thimble but you probably don't know what a thimble is anyway"

I have no time for keyboard ninjas.

 

[Cbashooter]

I decided to modify one of my 8mm molds to a tapered. 335 caliber mold.it fits the throat wonderfully but only shooting will tell if what I did worked!