polish a chamber?

[Link]

My Bud has a chamber that needs a lil extra clearance, maybe a half thou. or a lil more. What's the best way to do this?

ty Don.

 

[WSnyder]

Barrel on? Barrel off? By hand? In a lathe?

Slotted mandrel with a strip of abrasive paper in a die grinder if by hand.

 

[Walt Krafft]

Why? You could be opening a real can of worms.

 

[Link]

Why? You could be opening a real can of worms.

Because I don't know the answer. A friend chambered a action and it has hard extraction. The chamber is to small, the die doesn't work. He thinks it's at the .2 line.

 

[Link]

Barrel on? Barrel off? By hand? In a lathe?

Slotted mandrel with a strip of abrasive paper in a die grinder if by hand.
View attachment 1521225

He has a lathe. Barrel off.

 

[jackieschmidt]

It is simple enough to polish a chamber, but how do you get a reamer to cut too small?

 

[Link]

It is simple enough to polish a chamber, but how do you get a reamer to cut too small?

Ordered wrong specks. It's a learning curve. He thought tight was right. ;{

 

[WSnyder]

He has a lathe. Barrel off.

I’d still use a slotted mandrel held by hand with it in the lathe. It’s easy to do and that’s what I use. I use a 1/4” slotted wooden dowel when doing it by hand in the lathe. I use a bit of oil when doing it. I have a 95 Palma 308 reamer that has to be opened up at the back by .001” to work right with a Redding size die and it’s not a problem to do that. Blend a bit forward as you are taking material off the back and stop to measure often. It doesn’t take much or very long to do.

 

[Olde Man]

Small base circle die?

 

[WSnyder]

Small base circle die?

It’s so easy to do in the lathe there’s no need for the expense of a small base die. If he successfully reamed the chamber he can certainly open up the back end .0005-.001” without much trouble.

 

[Tim Singleton]

Buy a $10 gauge pin the size you want at the 200 line to eliminate the guess on how much

 

[Link]

Just to add - I called him and it's a 30 Rem AR case. He will use it for bench rest. Not what I would chose but I don't know. ;}

 

[Tim Singleton]

It’s so easy to do in the lathe there’s no need for the expense of a small base die. If he successfully reamed the chamber he can certainly open up the back end .0005-.001” without much trouble.

yep as I was working toward my final reamer dimensions I started with one a little tight and polished it out progressively using gauge pins shot that dimension for a while then went bigger until i got to where I wanted, then ordered my final reamer

if you do not have a lathe, more of a pain for sure to have someone else do this, but still the easiest route
be easy a half a thousand happens quick

 

[Will Henry]

Ball Hone. Some technique required. WH

 

[DaveTooley]

I polish out every chamber, some. 240 grit on a slotted piece of aluminum followed by a piece of a Scotch Brite pad on a slotted wooden dowel. I have quite a few reamers from the 80's and 90's when we thought a tight chamber would extend the life of primer pockets. Nope, just caused clickers. I still use those reamers but polish out the chamber. It takes more work than you think to open up a chamber a few thousandths. I start with 180 and make the dust boil. Starting at the breech end and then working in lengthening strokes to the shoulder to maintain the taper. Followed with 240 and then the Scotch Brite pad. I have never had an issue doing this.

 

[swd]

I’ve been using masking tape around a piece of music wire for 20 years. Need it bigger or smaller and or take some tape off.. 320 wet/dry with WD or Rem oil. Then when you’re done clean the chamber and flip the paper around so the backing is out and burnish the chamber. Works like a champ.

 

[AlNyhus]

A 5/16" wooden dowel rod and cut a slot in one end deep enough to hold a strip of emery cloth or a cut a piece of wet/dry paper. A bit of light oil and chuck the dowel in a cordless drill. Barrel can be on or off.

Works for the inside of a Wilson seating die and the sliding sleeves in threaded style dies.

Good shootin' -Al

 

[Cz457]

Ordered wrong specks. It's a learning curve. He thought tight was right. ;{

He wasn’t wrong!

 

[Ledd Slinger]

If the round chambers fine with re-sized brass, but extracts hard, there could also be a problem with extraction timing on the bolt or loads are hot. Please don't tell me it's a Savage action. Lol.