reamers and stuff

[Frankr]

I want to have my own 6Br reamer done here soon..now if ya read or seen any of my post ya know i shoot short range target or out to 650 yard varmits..so i favor the slow twist 14 or so.Like them light fast moving bullets..I never have had my own reamer before..
so how do i go about getting the same chamber i have now?
contacted my smith and he said he has no idea where or what chamber he gave me..lol...
so im on my own,It is a .269NK and im going to tighten it up to a .268NK..
but how do i get the same case dimensions and correct freebore that i have now??
can i take some case measurments and compare them to some reamer prints??
can i measure from case mouth to bullet ogive and get a close idea of the freebore?
what about lead in angles and stuff like that??
I know nothing of stuff like this, this is the kind of stuff I'd rather not know but would
like for it to be the right stuff.
Look guy's this 6Br chamber shoots! and i cant tell you how happy i have been with it!
so how do i go about duplicateing it??

 

[duanepa]

A case that has been fired many times in your chamber will be very close to a casting of your chamber, esp. if you neck size and fire repeatedly. A reamer can be made using a machine called an optical compatator. Seat a bullet to the depth you want and have the reamer made and throated from dummy rounds sent to the manufacture. Dave Kiff is a treasure trove of info. on the kinds of questions you have. Call him at Pacific Tool & Gauge

 

[wapiti25]

As said, call Dave Kiff @ Pacific Tool & Gage

 

[Preacher]

Take a casting of the chamber and have the measurements dead on the money for your new reamer.........

 

[bozo699]

FJIM,
I would do as others have said, call PT&G and ask for Dave, he is very easy to talk to, very knowledgeable and very helpful. I told him what I wanted to do and what brass I was going to use and he told me what he thought,I am having him built me a reamer, should be here any day now I can't hardly wait.
Wayne.

 

[Frankr]

Thanks Guy's for the info, that is what im going to do call dave.
just ordered a new haverkamp action...im so excited this project is under way,may have that new haverkamp action next week.will be ordering barrel next month and stock the month after.and working on comming up with the reamer at the same time, but im poor and that is how i have to do it little bit at a time. then we will stir the pot (so to speak)
Who is going to do the chambering work??? I kind of know who i want to do it.
But once i have everything, time will be of the essence,dont mind waiting a few month's but when the smith says 3 months it more like 4-6 and when they say 6 months its more like a year.if you have had any guns built you know what im saying is true.dont mind waiting 3-4 months but 6 months to a year, im looking somewhere else,I heard a local guy that has a GREAT reputation with a 2 week turn around, But i am building a short range benchrest light varmit/sporter/heavy varmit switch barrel rig and i cant trust anyone but the very best shortrange benchrest smith with the chambering work. now if it was a long range rifle or a hunting rifle this local guy has a GREAT reputation, but they say am allready at a disadvantage shooting a 6BR at 100/200 group competition. maybe they are right and maybe im wrong(I dont think i am)but i hope this build will answer the question for me and i plan to shoot it in competition if it shoots as well as my last two 6BR have and i do believe it will, If it does i think i could win or place in the top ten at least. Its my goal in life to put my beloved 6BR back in the winner's circle at short range 100/200 yard
benchrest group shooting where it belongs or prove that it cant be done. one or the other and i wont rest untill i know for sure.lol Ha ha lol....O by the way i just got home from work and its been a stressfull day. I have had a few cocktails.lol..

Just so you guys know how i came up with the name FJIM
i worked on a cumputer system all day that the cap lock way alllways on
F is for my name frank the jim was my dad's name and alot of his friends
called me jim or little jim so when i had to come up with a name and
to me cap lock allway on and that is how FJIM came about.
cap letter thing was unknow to me as shouting. sorry!

 

[deadlyswift]

If you want the same chambering as your current chambering? Then do just what Preacher said. I will agree with what others are saying about Dave Kiff! Great guy, great reamers! New specs means new knowledge, but are just that.... new specs, or the unknown. As far as loading for a new chamber? Adjust your loads to what the chamber and barrel tells you what it wants! It will all come together and you will be shooting those little bug holes again in no time! Maybe even tighter than before! Further more you will have learned something new and advanced your knowledge! Either way you can't go wrong!
Mark

 

[k80skeet]

As Always the PREACHER ALWAYS HAS THE CORRECT ANSWER!!!!! He is The answer man. He is who I go when I need help.. Thanks Bruce!!

 

[holstil]

I find that if the Preacher man said it, it probably needs to heard. Not saying that's the only way, but he always makes a good point.

Jim

 

[eddief]

Do what Preacher said...

If starting from scratch, I would buy the sizing die first and send that to Dave and have him produce a reamer from the specs on the die. Then you have custom dies without the custom cost.

 

[Frankr]

Yes i will call dave and talk with him, he is who i was going to call to make the reamer anyway. Im kind of a mechanical kind of guy,use mic's to measure lots of things,im reasonably intelligent and would have to agree with preacher on a chamber cast but at the same time i have never done one and i wonder with 1,300 or so rounds through the barrel that the lead in angle and throat may have changed enough to not be able to get a accurate read on them.I have a few cases that have been fired 20 times or so and have only ever necked half of the neck and i know the throat has not moved out very much.But i will call dave and see what he thinks about lead in angles and things like that and if he says a chamber cast would be best than that is what i will do.
Thanks everyone for the input,appreciated as allway.
Now my other 6BR was a .262NK with kind of a long throat to start with and it shot very
well also,so maybe if we get real close with a case and freebore with a seated bullet and dave says standerd kind of lead in angle,nothing to get excited about i wont have to mess with a chamber cast because i dont think i'd be looking forward to doing one.Thanks Again.

 

[deadlyswift]

FJIM,
As far as choosing Freebore! It is as simple as seating your bullet of chocie to where you want it in the neck and sending a cpl of dummy rounds to Dave Kifff as well speify that you want the bullet to touch the lands at this depth. Things will then be set to just what you want and you will be able to dail in a load very quickly! You are building a 6br so it is easy to set up dummy rounds. Not so easy if you are doing a 6brx or dasher where a fire formed case would be needed for dummy rounds. My point is, seat your bullet of choice to where you want it in your neck and send that to Dave. This is what I like about having my own reame! You can start things out where you want them, and if you let the chamber and barrel tell you what it wants then it will shoot with the best. Just let the barrel tell you what it wants! Powder charge, seating depth, neck tension? What ever it may be? Pay more attention to what your barrel and chamber is telling you than what anyone else is telling you! More less choose your specs and let the barrel tell you the rest!
Mark

 

[Ackman]

I don't shoot heavy bullets-for-caliber in anything and my rifles have chambers with no freebore. The 6BR has a 14 twist and never shoots anything heavier than a 65gr bullet, mostly 55/58's. A 55BT has the highest BC of that weight bullet. With AA2230 powder, accuracy is from 3805-3970....most accurate load and the one I use is doing 3919. It shoots real flat and just demolishes varmints that dig. The barrel is a 24" Hart. Chamber has a .271"neck and NO freebore. The 6BR neck is long and that cartridge just doesn't need freebore shooting bullets appropriate to a 14" twist. To give you some idea.....

Touching the lands a 55 Ballistic Tip seats .160" from neck/shoulder junction, that's about exactly 1/2way down the neck.
A 65VMax is .065" up from base of neck.
The 70BalTip is .010" up.
To me this is perfect.
Base of a 75VMax is about .070" below the neck/shoulder junction....wouldn't really matter anyway, but it's of no importance because I don't care about shooting them is in this gun.

Measure your brass and order the reamer no more than .010" longer. My Lapua - 6BR, .223, .243, is very uniform in length.