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I shot zero groups with both the flat base and the boat tail bullets with all of the crown configurations. I honestly couldn't tell if there was a difference between the two bullets with the 11° or 90° sharp crowns. But both styles of bullets were seemingly more sensitive to wind changes with...

Take A Cut! There is no need to taper bore. Dial in your barrel bore and predrill. Get one of the long carbide-shanked boring bars (they sometimes come as a kit in 1/4” and 3/16” size that take the CDCD-505-CG6 inserts with a 0.007” or smaller radius. Bore the rifling away about 0.010 to...

Crown Experiments In my experience (BR gunsmithing fifteen years), I have found that rifles shoot more precisely with the standard 90° sharp target crown. If one expects gilt-edged accuracy (<0.2 minute for a full twenty-five shot aggregate), not only does the 90° crown produce the best...

About thirty years ago, I saw a tool for removing lead from barrels that looked like a stylists round hair brush with the bristles cut off so they were only sticking out about 0.025 - 0.050" from the body. This "brush" was made of hard plastic and screwed onto the end of a cleaning rod. The...

Mike, Be careful with using only a 1" diameter ball on any cone less than a 30°. For example, a BAT with a 25° cone, the 1" ball will not sit tangent on the cone chamfer if you are cutting the cone after reaming the chamber, unless it is a small diameter case (222 head). If the edge of the...

Great shooting Tim!

Stolle Panda 338 Lapua Mag. A little "plug" for our own product: We make a Panda action large enough for the 338 Lapua Magnum. We recently had a customer use one of our actions with a 7mm/338 Lapua. He mistakenly loaded a charge WAY over the maximum (estimated pressure was 120,000+ PSI)...

I haven't used the carbide on the CNC, only on the manual machine. I haven't been confident using the carbide with low pressure water-soluble coolant, I don't like the way the carbide reamer performs with water-soluble coolant, even though it cools more efficiently than cutting oil. I've only...

Dave, I also use a carbide 308 reamer. I think I've reamed over a hundred chambers with it in the last year, yet it still leaves a finish as if it were new and is spot on dimensionally (verified with gage balls and a Triebel throat gage)...although I'm quite sure I don't really take advantage...

It would be an interesting experiment. If you want to verify your theory, I'll see if I can locate a 5R 7mm scrap end of a barrel that's long enough to do the test and I'll send it to you. We have a few Elliot reamers, but they are all six flute. We also have Eliot roughers to go with the...

One can eliminate the chatter in the 5R or canted rifling barrels by boring 0.010 to 0.015 undersize the neck diameter for the length of the chamber - stopping 0.020 short of the chamber length. This will provide enough support to the cutting edges on the body of the reamer to keep it from...

I have some experience with the -.100 22 SPPC. I quit using it because I hate making the brass. You will need to obtain an inline neck reaming die (I believe Jim Carstensen makes one - mentioned above) so you can ream the neck/shoulder junction. This is necessary if you want easy case...

"One-Shot" neck turning No need to turn in multiple steps if one has the proper turning tool and properly matched expander. I can reduce neck wall thickness over 0.005” in one turning and get 0.0001” or less TIR for a batch of fifty cases in a little over a half-hour. I wouldn't bother buying...

Not worth the trouble IMO. As it has been said…YMMV, but my experience of this practice never paid off for me. I remember when I took up the gunsmithing trade almost fifteen years ago, I eagerly anticipated the practice of “setting back” my “worn out” barrels to extend their useful life...

We've built rifles on our Panda/bolt in rigs for F-Class competition with 32" 1.250" unlimited contour barrels with the barrel completely free-floating. These rifles have set world records. Bedding the bottom of the barrel on a target rifle is undesirable. As the barrel heats up it will...

The lube simply keeps the brass from sticking to the chamber walls, thereby allowing the case head to square up with the bolt face. In my experience, the brass usually sticks to the chamber if the surface finish of the chamber is rough. If the chamber is smooth, there won't be much noticeable...

Polish, then heat treat A proper full-length sizing die must be heat treated, or gas or salt-bath nitrided. A soft die will continually gall and tear material off of the brass. If it's a 416 stainless steel blank from Newlon Precision, it can be vacuum heat treated to about 40 Rc. Greg...

You might have the “Silhouette” stock specifically made for off-hand shooting. They had an off-center cast in the rear of the stock with a high cheekpiece. It would be a pretty involved job trying to build it up and get it straight for sandbag shooting. You might be better off buying a new...

Don't overthink design +1 on Dave's comments. Furthermore, tightening up dimensions - especially in the throat can be detrimental to overall accuracy depending on the circumstances. Freebore diameter is an especially critical dimension, in that if it is reduced to a dimension that is too...

It's not a good idea to bed the barrel, especially if the rifle is to be shot multiple times in a string. As the barrel increases in temperature it expands. It shouldn't be partially constricted in the stock with bedding compound, but fully free floating with a large gap between the stock and...