Your Own Reamer

[michaelnel]

I have seen that many benchrest shooters have their own reamers, and I wonder why that is.

Is it because you want your chamber customized in a certain way?

Is it so every barrel you have chambered gets done with the same reamer for consistency?

Is it so some gunsmith doesn't use a worn or dull reamer on your barrel?

Or do you use them yourself some way? I have no experience with reamers and chambering, so I can't see how you could use one at home without access to a lathe.

Please forgive my dumb questions, but I have been wondering about this.

 

[artbosco]

Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
No. I send it to my gunsmith, he chambers my barrel and sends it back.

And, regardless of which barrel I'm using, all my brass has been fire formed in the exact/same chamber.

 

[walley2960]

My gun smith has done several excellent chambers for me. I have never questioned the quality of his reamers. However, the cost to buy a reamer is easily justified. If your smith doesn't have what you want, its great to be able to order a custom reamer and have it used to chamber multiple barrels for oneself. It definitely increases my confidence knowing that each barrel that I have machined is as close to the last as reasonable possible. Additionally it allows chambers to be machined per my spec(based on my needs).

 

[dmoran]

Yes - spec the reamer to your desired FB, trim-length, neck clearance, etc... etc...
Yes - one of the biggest advantages. And your next barrels load is typically very near the same
No
Yes - for making dies, "gizzy's", funnel openings, etc... etc...

 

[GSPV]

When you own your own reamer, it makes it possible to have dies that match it very well.

If you rely on others' reamers, getting a FL die to match is a crap shoot.

 

[wapiti25]

As dmoran pointed out you have control of what neck dia, freebore, and throat angle you will get. Some also request the body dia of the case to better fit your brass. If you let the gunsmith use what he has you will most of the time get the SAAMI spec. size (factory chamber for wal-mart ammo).