Re chambered barrels

[FarmallSM]

Been shooting F Class and have a barrel with 1300 rounds on it. Still shoots good. 7x6.5PRCW. New barrel blanks seem to be hard to come by. I’m considering cutting the eroded part out, about an 1”, and re chambering. Know it can be done but I can seem to find any reports on how good it’ll shoot. Seems to me the only down side would be loss of velocity. That and the gun smithing expense.

I welcome y’all’s opinions.

 

[steve210]

I don't think it's worth it, if you did your own chambering, yes. If it was mine I would shoot it like it is and order a new blank

 

[ELR LVR]

Been shooting F Class and have a barrel with 1300 rounds on it. Still shoots good. 7x6.5PRCW. New barrel blanks seem to be hard to come by. I’m considering cutting the eroded part out, about an 1”, and re chambering. Know it can be done but I can seem to find any reports on how good it’ll shoot. Seems to me the only down side would be loss of velocity. That and the gun smithing expense.

I welcome y’all’s opinions.

I do that, but I have a lathe and do my own chambering so, it's just a time factor
The main advantage is you cut away the eroded part of the throat and set seating depth back to its original first chambering (or can re-throat to desired depth)
When considering cost if it's worth it vs a new blank, I would look at the depth of your lands to grooves
The smith can tell you this depth when dialing in the barrel (10-15 minutes max. for me)
and then indicate the depth of grooves
if it still has .003" groove depth there is still plenty of life left on the bore
---
If .002" or less - you may get 400 rounds out of it
With SS barrels I find the lands wear down and is a good indicator of barrel life
---
I have cut back and rechambered bores with only .0015" left on the lands and have it shoot excellent
(depends on cartridge of course and how fast or hard you're pushing it, for it to still spin the bullet
(PPC vs 7 Mag for example)
but again, I can do my own chambers any time I want so its not a loss and only a benefit.
I count such rifles as fun projects or practice rifles not expecting much barrel life but good while it lasts.
I also like to use such barrels for Wildcat projects so I dont have to fork out a good chunk for an experiment
if an experiment works on a worn bore, then it will work even better with a new barrel.
---
better than using it as a Tomato stake anyway, especially if it was a shooter to begin with
Pic 1 is from a worn bore I rechambered to something else just for fun, and thats just testing seating depth and working up a charge. Final load shoots even tighter.
(Pic 2, 5 shots, using it in a Postal Match still working up load development)
Bore had .0015" of lands left, shoots great still
---
So yeah, it can be worth it if you feel the barrel is a hummer to begin with
---
BTW, Ebay can be a source for some good barrel blanks I see Krieger, Bartleins and Brux pop up there)

 

[DR_2297]

When I do this I cut the whole tenon and chamber body off, which can be a significant length and recut a tenon and cut an entirely fresh chamber. It’s hard on a reamers leade, throat and neck. Make sure you clean that barrel to bright steel first.

This is why I order longer tenon blanks if a customer intends to do this type of thing - I ask for customer supplied reamer too.

 

[ELR LVR]

When I do this I cut the whole tenon and chamber body off, which can be a significant length and recut a tenon and cut an entirely fresh chamber. It’s hard on a reamers leade, throat and neck. Make sure you clean that barrel to bright steel first.

This is why I order longer tenon blanks if a customer intends to do this type of thing - I ask for customer supplied reamer too.

Re: Hard on reamers:
Do you find it works hardens the 416 SS after awhile?
or more so with Chromoly barrels?
I use Manson reamers mostly and havent experienced any more difficulty in recutting a chamber deeper yet
Do you feel it could be the reamer make or geometry?
Or more how hot a guy got his barrel at some point in the heat of the moment?
I also dont let my barrels get hot any more these days - so I figure that may have a lot to do with it.
---
I also dont usually cut much more than 1/2" off the back, then pick up the threads and finish the tenon
Just enough to recut the throat fresh again

 

[jackieschmidt]

I am known for setting back my own barrels, and yes, if you do your own work, it is definitely worth it. Especially if it is an exceptional barrel.

By the way I do my barrels, it is very easy for me to set them back up in the lathe just like it came out the first time.

Is it a good idea or even practical to send it to a Gunsmith and ask him to do the same thing.? Most say no.

 

[msalm]

I recently cut back a 6.5 creed barrel for a friend. Was surprised he had as many rounds through it (4500 or so). It was a heavy varmint taper and I ended up taking just over 3” off due to fire cracking/visible erosion. He reports that accuracy came back as good as ever, but we’ll see how long it lasts, I’m wouldn’t expect another 4000 rounds, but we’ll see.

 

[Kings X]

I have done 7/6.5 PRC, 6 Dasher and 30 BR setbacks for customers lately. They ALL report as good as or even better than before results.
These barrels are for F-Class and short range benchrest.
I think it is worth the expense.

 

[Bob3700]

For MR and LR prone shooting, the best advice I have received (aka setback/rechambering) is to do it at 1/2 bbl life. Like others, I do my own work so it is only an investment in time.
The entire bore of the bbl wears, not just the throat area so waiting until the bbl stops shooting to rechamber is , in my view, a waste of time/money.
Don't know if I would rechamber if I was paying someone to perform the service. It might not be cost effective.

 

[DaveTooley]

I'll spend as much time or more doing a major rechamber job. If the barrel is well worn you'll get about 40-50% life span from rechambering.

 

[ELR LVR]

The entire bore of the bbl wears, not just the throat area so waiting until the bbl stops shooting to rechamber is , in my view, a waste of time/money.

This ^^^
rechambering earlier so as to cut less tenon off I feel is better than waiting until accuracy falls off

 

[tclaunch]

A guy I was doing barrels for bought a used rifle that came with an extra barrel. He got to testing the extra 284 barrel and got frustrated checking seating depth. Could not get consistent readings. He gave it to me and told me to do what I thought it needed. One look thru borescope and I made executive decision to cut 2" off breech and start over fresh. The rest they say is history.