30-284?

[Tac-O]

And the crown has burrs. It's a recessed flat crown. I pushed a patch through last night and there was cotton stuck to it.

Anyway, I gave him a call this morning. He said he's never deburred the crown and always does them flat. He said the first couple shots will knock the burrs off. Hmm...

When I mentioned the rough appearance of the throat and leade he didn't disagree on it being rough but said there's nothing he can do about that because it's from the reamer (which is a clymer reamer - said as though that's usual for clymers?) and it will smooth out during the break in and shouldn't pick up copper fouling. He said he forgot to give me the Accuracy Oil he uses for break-in, which is from modern Spartan systems, and it would help alot.

Mentioning the delicate nature of the bb finish, he said oh yea that will happen because it's not very durable and he can just blast it again when needed. He did say sand blast though, which is odd. I didn't know anyone used sand for bb finishes.

Anyway, he assured me it would shoot and break in just fine.

So we'll see what happens tomorrow!

 

[Roughrice]

Well... I hope he's right and shoots tiny groups!
Keep us posted!

 

[Tac-O]

Well it does have great accuracy potential. But...

it picks up copper like hell even though I cleaned every shot for 8 shots

It has zero freebore. It does look like it has a low angle leade though. Anyway, seating a 180gr Hornady interlock right at the lands puts the base of the bullet at the body shoulder junction, eating up a ton of case capacity. I did explicitly say I wanted to shoot 180 and 200gr bullets and be able to utilize the extra mag length in a Tikka action. This seems to be throated for a 150gr flat base to be seated on the lands.

It is a minimum chamber size, even though I was told it was a normal hunting tolerance reamer. My Peterson cases are 284 Winchester, virgin. I FL sized them with an rcbs 30-284 die and it put them about 0.001 under saami max cartridge size (in the body) for a 284win. Since there's no saami for max chamber neck for a 30-284, I looked at the 300win mag neck spec. It's something like 0.342ish. mine, with a bullet seated, is 0.339 max. Ok, cases on the large end of saami. Well, every one of my cartridges was hard to chamber and a couple of them I could barely chamber. Then, I had hard primary extractions. A very hard 2nd phase if primary extraction, the 2nd camming that is felt on lifting the bolt. The chamber scratches my cases, leaves a couple small gouges in certain spots, and actually presses the turned surface finish into my cases. First time I've seen that.

So, while the burrs did actually get knocked off and it seems to be accurate, I'm not happy about the chamber sizing and roughness. I didn't exactly say I want 0.200 freebore and a middle of the road specd chamber, but I did say I wanted to shoot 200gr bullets in it and it's for hunting and precision shooting for fun and I don't want a minimum match type chamber.

Anyway, awesome, it seems to shoot well. It's useless to me as a hunting rifle. I left a message, hopefully he'll work with me to make it right and what I want, rather than what he thinks I need.

For a resolution, I think I'll just have to have him ream it again with a different reamer, because I don't want a minimum spec chamber. I know that sounds silly, because there is no soec for 30-284. But, I would think that the case body specs would at least fit the saami 284win. Does anyone know of a reamer that I could hopefully rent (I'll buy if I have to and resell) and have it match what I'm looking for?

 

[Tac-O]

Also, if it sounds like I'm an idiot and am in the wrong somehow, please lay it out for me!

I've not had a great week as far as services I've paid for goes

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

Sorry to hear that you are having issues with your new build. I am sure that you GS will fix/makes necessary accommodations for any issues. It's really hard to accept waiting on a build and then not having it up to your expectations. We use JGS reamers and another quality reamer is PT&G. If you still have issues with your 30x284 there will be help from this forum. We started building a straight 284 for "F" class and have had some real great shooters/barrel makers give us advice. Then we went to the 6.5 X284 as the build. We are real fans of the 6.5. Shooting the .260 for many years and now a 6.5X284 only gives some more fps, but decide to give it a go. You sir went the opposite direction and necked up. We will be waiting to see the different performance form the 284 to 308 in that case. Good luck and can't wait to see the end results.

Len & Jill

 

[FEENIX]

For a resolution, I think I'll just have to have him ream it again with a different reamer, because I don't want a minimum spec chamber. I know that sounds silly, because there is no soec for 30-284. But, I would think that the case body specs would at least fit the saami 284win. Does anyone know of a reamer that I could hopefully rent (I'll buy if I have to and resell) and have it match what I'm looking for?

I provided you a link on #20.

 

[FEENIX]

In my area I can have a barrel fitted chambered and threaded for a brake for about 350 or less

Same here!

 

[Tac-O]

I provided you a link on #20.

Yes! The one from 4d rentals. I wasn't sure about the size on that since they only state the neck and it's 0.340

 

[Roughrice]

Not a smith... but pretty sure a high quality 284 Win chamber reamer should get the chamber smack on the money and using a .30 cal throat reamer should cut desired depth to the neck-freebore area.
Again... I'm not a gunsmith.

 

[FEENIX]

Yes! The one from 4d rentals. I wasn't sure about the size on that since they only state the neck and it's 0.340

When in doubt, call and get clarification directly from the source.

 

[yorke-1]

Sorry to hear about the problems with the finished build. I've had lots of bad smith work done over the years and it's always frustrating.

Just for fun, do you have an unmodified 284 case you can try chambering? Then compare that to a necked-up case without a bullet seated. Let us know if those chamber better than one with a bullet seated.

You may have pushed the donut (the portion of the old case shoulder that becomes part of the new case neck) to the outside of the case neck when you necked the case up to .308 and the necks just need to be turned down. Taking a skim pass over the case necks and slightly into the neck/shoulder junction may solve your problem.

Fixing the short throat is a simple job with a Uni-throater from PTG. It's a very simple job to do yourself even if you're only moderately handy with a tool. This could also clean up the rough finish in the chamber throat.

 

[Tac-O]

Sorry to hear about the problems with the finished build. I've had lots of bad smith work done over the years and it's always frustrating.

Just for fun, do you have an unmodified 284 case you can try chambering? Then compare that to a necked-up case without a bullet seated. Let us know if those chamber better than one with a bullet seated.

You may have pushed the donut (the portion of the old case shoulder that becomes part of the new case neck) to the outside of the case neck when you necked the case up to .308 and the necks just need to be turned down. Taking a skim pass over the case necks and slightly into the neck/shoulder junction may solve your problem.

Fixing the short throat is a simple job with a Uni-throater from PTG. It's a very simple job to do yourself even if you're only moderately handy with a tool. This could also clean up the rough finish in the chamber throat.

Thanks for the tips on the throat reamer. Is that possible without a lathe? I thought all work on barrels had to be done with them. I am handy with tools, but don't have many gunsmithing specific or any machining tools.

I measured both my fired cases and unfired cases this evening. My unfired cases, that I FL sized, are about 1 thou less than saami max cartridge for the body for 284win. They also provide about 1 thou headspace. When I chamber the unfired cases, it feels hard as though my headspace is at max (but it's not) and leaves marks around the body.

So, while turning the necks may help with the neck size problem (which is something I don't currently do and wanted to avoid) the body is still an issue.

I'll ask him about different reamers he has and it is is possible to ream it in 2 steps, like you suggest.

 

[yorke-1]

Thanks for the tips on the throat reamer. Is that possible without a lathe? I thought all work on barrels had to be done with them. I am handy with tools, but don't have many gunsmithing specific or any machining tools.

I measured both my fired cases and unfired cases this evening. My unfired cases, that I FL sized, are about 1 thou less than saami max cartridge for the body for 284win. They also provide about 1 thou headspace. When I chamber the unfired cases, it feels hard as though my headspace is at max (but it's not) and leaves marks around the body.

So, while turning the necks may help with the neck size problem (which is something I don't currently do and wanted to avoid) the body is still an issue.

I'll ask him about different reamers he has and it is is possible to ream it in 2 steps, like you suggest.

Yes, you can hand ream the throat without a lathe; you just need an appropriate T handle. I have a 338 throat reamer that I use quite a bit and it's very easy to use. You have to be careful though, it removes metal pretty fast if you're not paying attention. They have an adjustable collar on them so you can adjust your depth of cut.

Turning the necks will also help your chambering issues. The donut is forming right at the neck/shoulder junction and making the case thicker there. When you try to chamber the round, the donut is hitting the neck/shoulder junction of the chamber and basically creating a false shoulder that you're actually headspacing on. Turning the necks and going slightly into the shoulder will remove the donut and let you headspace properly off of the actual case shoulder instead of the "false" shoulder created by the donut.

I saw the same thing when working with the 338/284 Winchester.

 

[Tac-O]

Yes, you can hand ream the throat without a lathe; you just need an appropriate T handle. I have a 338 throat reamer that I use quite a bit and it's very easy to use. You have to be careful though, it removes metal pretty fast if you're not paying attention. They have an adjustable collar on them so you can adjust your depth of cut.

Turning the necks will also help your chambering issues. The donut is forming right at the neck/shoulder junction and making the case thicker there. When you try to chamber the round, the donut is hitting the neck/shoulder junction of the chamber and basically creating a false shoulder that you're actually headspacing on. Turning the necks and going slightly into the shoulder will remove the donut and let you headspace properly off of the actual case shoulder instead of the "false" shoulder created by the donut.

I saw the same thing when working with the 338/284 Winchester.

Can you provide a link to the T handle you use?

And is the donut in the neck visible? I didn't think I had one