Cleaning up existing chambers

[J E Custom]

Sometimes good intentions don't work Out. this chamber was supposed to be 0k and only needed cleaning up. the plan was to set the shoulder back one thread and clean everything up.

After setting the barrel up and centering it on both ends with range rods it apeared to be very good. As soon as I started to clean the chamber up it proved me wrong and wouldent clean up correctly . I decided to keep going until it did and once it exceeded .0625 (One thread) i realized that it was a bust.

Just to see how bad the chamber was off center i continued to go deeper and when I reached .092, This is still what it looked like. This is the worst example of an off center chamber I have ever seen. so it is now in the scrap bin.

Just thought I would show what a poor set up someone did at the factory.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Blancoalex]

asking to learn, what do you think what was wrong in the original setup to cause this?

 

[tobnpr]

How can you dial in both ends of the barrel with range rods, without forcing a bend in the barrel (absent getting really lucky)?
Or are you referring to indexing the muzzle end?

 

[imyourhuckleberry]

For the sake of education for all the novice shooters and those not experienced, would you be so kind to illustrate exactly what it is they should look at with this photo?

 

[26Reload]

I believe what he is trying to show in the chamber
....is his new cutting(which is the right side of the pic..
vs
..the old chamber being smooth on the left side of the pic....

 

[J E Custom]

The right side of the chamber is the new cut side and the left is the old chamber. the old side looks smooth only because it is blued. Actually If you look at the new cut, you will see where the reamer has knocked down the rings and they appear as sharp points on the new cut. This also tells you that with heavy loads the annular rings would have made extraction harder.

To answer the other question, the operator of the CNC did not program the center very well and with the reamer turning like a drill if it is not centered on the bore and will act like a drill and go off center. If the barrel were rotating the same offset would make the back of the chamber bigger than the reamer and the chamber would be larger at the back than it should be. If you look at some fired cases in this chamber condition, you will see a ridge at the back of a fired case larger than the case in the web.

Indexing doesn't tell you if the bore is straight. By using two range rods It can tell you how straight the bore is. If you cant get both to get within .0005 of each other, then the barrel bore is not straight and then the decision has to be made to use the barrel or not.

The main point I was trying to make was that even though I am an advocate of saving/freshening up a good barrel, some times it doesn't work out. Most only need one thread or less to clean up. so this was the worst I have ever seen and after looking at where I was in .090 +thousandths it would have never cleaned up without removing all of the thread tenon and starting from scratch.

J E CUSTOM

 

[BrentM]

This is the fear many of us have with any rifle or smith. Did they actually make a good product and how do you know. For example if the fp mark is not centered on a primer is it the action, the bolt, the barrel etc. If the rifle shoots will does it matter... these are all things people with OCD think about. Making perfect ammo for an imperfect chamber is aggravation.

 

[Savage 12BVSS]

Wish JE Custom was in the state I live in. After all these savages I've assembled I would have a custom rifle built and assembled just to enjoy. He's the easiest gunsmith to understand of any I've met online or in person.

 

[J E Custom]

This is the fear many of us have with any rifle or smith. Did they actually make a good product and how do you know. For example if the fp mark is not centered on a primer is it the action, the bolt, the barrel etc. If the rifle shoots will does it matter... these are all things people with OCD think about. Making perfect ammo for an imperfect chamber is aggravation.

This is the reason for checking everything before starting any major work. In this case the action was trued and many of the surfaces needed it. You have to have the action trued before starting any chambering and head spacing. Setting the barrel up correctly is also very important to find out where you are. In this case it ended up being well worth the time spent setting it up because the first thing I like to do is check the chamber and cut until it cleans up or reaches a good dimension to stop. then all of the other work can commence.

The owner now has a great action and knows that the old rifle would have never shot to his liking and all time and money was well spent. There were no charges for the barrel work because minimum work and time was done to discover this problem.

J E CUSTOM

 

[BrentM]

This is the reason for checking everything before starting any major work. In this case the action was trued and many of the surfaces needed it. You have to have the action trued before starting any chambering and head spacing. Setting the barrel up correctly is also very important to find out where you are. In this case it ended up being well worth the time spent setting it up because the first thing I like to do is check the chamber and cut until it cleans up or reaches a good dimension to stop. then all of the other work can commence.

The owner now has a great action and knows that the old rifle would have never shot to his liking and all time and money was well spent. There were no charges for the barrel work because minimum work and time was done to discover this problem.

J E CUSTOM

I understand that but what I am getting at....new off the shelf rifles, custom rifles by smiths that didn't do it right, etc. People don't know what they don't know. They spend a lot of time messing with a rifle to get it to shoot right but don't know what to look for. In my parts finding a good smith is not easy. It's frustrating, lots of chest beating, no follow up, and some real crappy work. Heck I even fret over a custom action not being "true".

 

[J E Custom]

I understand that but what I am getting at....new off the shelf rifles, custom rifles by smiths that didn't do it right, etc. People don't know what they don't know. They spend a lot of time messing with a rifle to get it to shoot right but don't know what to look for. In my parts finding a good smith is not easy. It's frustrating, lots of chest beating, no follow up, and some real crappy work. Heck I even fret over a custom action not being "true".

I totally agree. That is the reason I started doing my own. with questionable quality and schedules out the window, I had to take care of things, and with help and guidance was able to do the work and not depend on others.

There are some very good gunsmiths, but you have to get to know them and then decide if they are the ones to do your work.

J E CUSTOM

 

[MudMarine]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this chamber. Whether it cleans up within 62 thou is completely irrelevant and has no bearing on performance.

Leave it to a fancy "gunsmith" in Texas to tell us tomato farmers when the chamber of my tomato "stake" is drilled out of spec. My tomatoes can't tell the difference and neither will yours.

 

[bigngreen]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this chamber. Whether it cleans up within 62 thou is completely irrelevant and has no bearing on performance.

Leave it to a fancy "gunsmith" in Texas to tell us tomato farmers when the chamber of my tomato "stake" is drilled out of spec. My tomatoes can't tell the difference and neither will yours.

How do you guys find this forum??? Please reconsider staying!!

 

[MNbogboy]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this chamber. Whether it cleans up within 62 thou is completely irrelevant and has no bearing on performance.

Leave it to a fancy "gunsmith" in Texas to tell us tomato farmers when the chamber of my tomato "stake" is drilled out of spec. My tomatoes can't tell the difference and neither will yours.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this chamber. Whether it cleans up within 62 thou is completely irrelevant and has no bearing on performance.

Leave it to a fancy "gunsmith" in Texas to tell us tomato farmers when the chamber of my tomato "stake" is drilled out of spec. My tomatoes can't tell the difference and neither will yours.

This is exactly what a well known "smith" told me about this chamber!
He said to me over the phone; "There is nothing wrong with that chamber, it is perfect."........he may have been right but the angle it meets the bore seems like a problem to me!.......lol......he offered me a replacement at a higher cost...
I refused....would you trust his work?