Gunsmithing Getting my own reamer?

[frost1235]

I am curious if it is worth the hassle to purchase my own reamers?

Until I have the space, I don't have a lathe, but I would like to have a consistent barrel for competition.

 

[FCS]

Definitely worth it to have your own reamer, go and no go gauges. Cheap insurance to get the same chamber, regardless of who chambers the barrel. You know exactly how many chambers have been cut, you know if reamer went back to be sharpened and with your own gauges you send with the reamer you can minimize tolerance stack.

Yes, it is worth it to have your own reamer and gauges.

 

[carlsbad]

If you are the type that shoots out barrels and rebarrels the same chamber, definitely buy your reamer. Probably don't need go/no go gauges for common calibers. Smith should have those. But the reamer will be fit to the neck, freebore, and hopefully dies that you use.

If you are the guy who says, "this barrel is getting toward the end of life, wonder what I should try next?" then don't bother buying your own reamer unless you are able to specify the reamer for the parameters you want and are willing to buy a reamer for one barrel.

The best option is to buy your reamer and your resizing die reamer at the same time so you end up with a die perfect for your chamber.

--Jerry

 

[FCS]

I strongly recommend go & no go gauges from same mfg’er as reamer.
Eliminate as many variables as possible.
If not eliminating as many variables as possible, why even buy reamer?
$80 for go & no go is really cheap insurance to minimize tolerance stack.

 

[cast1]

Don’t waste your money on a no go gauge. A go gauge with a piece of scotch or masking tape on the back is all I use. I have different types of tape to allow me to control headspace to .001”.

 

[ShtrRdy]

I can see what FCS is saying. To get as consistent headspace from one chamber to the next you should use the same GO/NOGO gauges.

 

[carlsbad]

Go and no-go gauges are .004" apart. This is a pretty wide window. If you are really concerned about where your chamber stands compared to saami, you need to tell your smith. for example, if you have more than one rifles with the same cartridge, it is very convenient to have the headspace within .001" of each other. Then you can set up your sizing die for perfect shoulder bump without having to oversize the long ones. If you want the headspace to match another rifle, take a few pieces of fired brass from that rifle--preferably 1st firing after annealing.

Coincidentally, I just had a guy come by this morning to have his headspace adjusted. He has multiple rifles in the same cartridge and the fired cases from this rifle were .002" longer than the other 2. We took .002" off the shoulder of the barrel to make all 3 rifles headspace the same. He was long in the band, afterwards, he was tight in the band. Go and no-go gauges showed good chamber before and after.

If you aren't shooting factory ammo, then headspace can actually be almost irrelevant since you will set up your die to match the brass after one firing. I do have a friend who is very serious about not overworking his brass. He likes to measure his new brass and make the headspace .002" longer than the new brass so that he doesn't overstretch it on the initial firing. This often results in a chamber slightly shorter than saami.

Bottom line is, go and no-go gauges from different manaufactures should be identical. If they are not, then at least one of them is wrong. I often make my own so I can make the diameter of the base larger and get a better fit in the chamber.

--Jerry

 

[FCS]

Okay, maybe skip no go gauge but a go gauge from same mfg’er as reamer.

I agree, “should” be the same. However, EVERYTHING has a tolerance, using the same gauge regardless of who cuts chamber with supplied reamer eliminates a variable.

 

[Dolomite_Supafly]

Don’t waste your money on a no go gauge. A go gauge with a piece of scotch or masking tape on the back is all I use. I have different types of tape to allow me to control headspace to .001”.

I don't even use a head space gauge. I use a piece of brass sized on my equipment. I normally set headspace at zero but may also use the sized brass with .002" added too it.

I took a hole punch and punched out a bunch of paper circles of varying thicknesses. I use resume paper as a No-Go gauge to check because it is ~.006" thick. Shotgun News is .002". I set a paper circle on the bolt face then set headspace using a sized piece of brass.

 

[carlsbad]

2 words of caution to those using brass for heaspace gauges (not for you Dolomite, but for novices who read this thread).

1. you can size your brass in the chamber so don't close the bolt on the brass if you encounter resistance, or you won't have brass the size you want any more.
2. If you are using live rounds, make sure the firing pin it out of the bolt. obvious but I had to say it.

--Jerry

 

[frost1235]

Agreed with the consistent measuring tools. I have individual calipers and Comporators for bullet seating/shoulder bump to avoid changing a process.


So the follow up to this question would be if I need a rough reamer and a finishing reamer?

 

[Supersubes]

I’ve never met a gunsmith that used a roughing reamer. I’m sure they exist, but not common. Maybe high volume CNC guys could benefit from that. Some smiths do the whole chamber with the finisher, some pre-bore the chamber (several methods), then use the finisher. I like to pre-bore personally.

I was once where you are, and began buying them. Then later I bought my mentors whole shop basically, and started doing the work myself. So it was a good investment for me, as now I have quite a collection for future jobs.

Not sure it’s worth it for the average shooter though. You have to be a pretty high volume shooter to make it worthwhile, or just stick with a cartridge for the long haul. That tooling isn’t cheap. Building a little rapport with the guy doing the work will go a long way in this area. Treated properly, most reamers will last a good long time.

 

[30338]

I bought my 6.5x47 reamer and go/no go gauges. Have 3 rigs done with it by good smiths and all seem remarkably close as you would expect but not assume. Actually have tested ammo from one to another and same loads shoot same in 2 of the rigs. Didn't try the third. If there was another round I wanted to shoot a lot, I'd buy my own again.

 

[Dolomite_Supafly]

I will say this. If you own your own reamer, in a common caliber, you could easily cover the cost of the reamer building barrels for friends. I have told people I would thread and chamber a barrel as long as I get to keep the reamer. They get a barrel completed for less than most charge and I get a reamer out of the deal, seems like a win-win for everyone.

All I have ever used has been a finishing reamer. As long as you take your time and clear chips regularly they will work just fine. I haven't done a lot of barrels but all I ever use is a finish reamer.

 

[frost1235]

Didn't even think of that, doing barrels for friends as well. Ton of bonuses there, along with the chance we'd be able to load the same ammo/loads.

 

[bohem]

Your own reamer is a good step and it's certainly not a waste of money. It doesn't guarantee you the same chamber every time no matter who chambers it though. Machine to machine and setup to setup can make small changes. It's not just "find a reputable smith and it won't be a problem". We make a die body to fix the base of brass because "reputable" smiths made the last barrel and the brass doesn't fit in our chamber. It was a difference of a guy doing his best, and still very good work, on a 1500lb manual machine with a floating reamer holder and an 11,500lb CNC turning center with a rigid block and a hydraulic workholding fixture. The brass was just enough different that the FL sizer couldn't close down the base of the brass.

If you're going to buy a reamer to do work for friends get one in carbide. The tool life is about 4x better than HSS for another 100 bucks.