different barrels, same brass?

D

ducksoup

Guest
I have 6PPC with a .268 chamber that I've recentally had two different barrels chambered with the same reamer at the same time. Can I interchange the same brass between the two barrels or do I need to run two seperate sets of brass? I realize that loads will vary but I'm just wondering about using the same brass. Thanks for any suggestions.
 
"ducksoup"...

...as long as you're having the SAME gunsmith chamber your barrels, and he's using the SAME reamer, you should have no problem whatsoever. Make certain that you tell him your plans, so that he can make certain that the headspace is within a .001" or .002" on every chamber...
 
Kent, yes that's what I did. I had the new and old barrel chambered by the same 'smith at the same time. I originally had the old barrel set back and rechambered in .268 neck and was going to use it as a fire form only barrel but my gunsmith said that he he ran a bore scope down it and it was in great shape. It shot good last year so my plan is to shoot it again this year. I just wasn't looking forward to keeping two seperate sets of brass if I didn't need to. Thanks for your help.
 
Duck

I do this all of the time, in fact, I take great pains to insure that all of my chambers will take the same cases.

I suppose the easiest way to find out is simply try the cases for one barrel in the other. Even If there is a minor headspace difference, that is no big deal, you can do a minor tweek on the die. If reamed properly, the body dimensions should be close enough to be of no consequence........jackie
 
Bad Idea

As a general rule, exchanging brass between barrels is NOT recommended…for a variety of reasons.

I don’t want to sound condescending, but I can get away with it with my barrels simply because I know what to look for with the tolerances necessary, but most shooters in my experience that try this fail miserably trying to get everything to function properly.

Symptoms of improper control of the tolerances necessary range from tearing bolt handles off of the bolts and case head separations.

So far, the experienced folks that responded to this thread know how to properly control excessive sizing and shoulder setback, but if one does not understand the fundamental principals involved with fitting brass to minimum dimensioned chambers…one will have more problems than it’s worth.

Greg Walley
Kelbly's Inc.
 
Depends on your smith

Do a search and see what the likes of Jackie Schmidt, Jerry Sharrett, Mike Bryant and others have posted on reamer handling such that the chamber diameter will be actual reamer size.

After you've digested and understand this, talk to your smith about his methods to see if you think he can match chambers.

I asked two well respected smiths about this---both were hunting and varmint gun practicioners who produce accurate rifles. Both of them were willing to try but couldn't guarantee a match and commented that matching headspace was no problem but matching diameters could be. This isn't a criticism of these gentlemen---they were honest about this and remarked that this wasn't something their customers ask for.

By following a combination of the methods posted here, I was able to chamber a pair of 223 varmint rifles so they could interchange fired and neck sized brass.

Good luck.

A. Weldy
 
Gregg Makes an Excellent Point

Many of us who do our own work, and have complete controle over every aspect of our operation, forget that there are those who do not. We tend to make assumptions that do not take into consideration many of the tolerances that can stack up.

Just be carefull..........jackie
 
Lots of people

are so particular about their brass they make it up in small lots and only use in one chamber at a time. I don't know if any of them use a full length re-sizing die but , assuming they do, every time they run those unique cases through that die, the cases become unique to the die and all that futzing then becomes all for naught. Chambers, Schmambers; be more concerned that your full length die is set up correctly. Pay more attention to your loading and what the flags are telling you and let your full length die do the rest for you. ;)
 
I chamber all my own barrels to .001 and often closer than that. This is not
something that I can do in a hour, but It is worth it to me, so I can use the same
die settings, Well pretty much as old brass doesn't bump the same as new.
It is very close and with 6 guns and extra barrels for each it can become
a big note book. One jig(bump guage) and a standard number and I'm good to go.I can switch brass easily, but thats a great way to loose track of
how many times cases have been fired and what rifle they were started in.
If headspace is not very close in different guns, you can shoot some with no bump, but others need much more. Think about it, with a headspace
tollerance of about .004, some case need a lot of bump. And some get
to stretch a lot. This is not good, and can bite you
 
What I do

Best way I’ve found to see if it’ll work for you is to fire a few rounds in each barrel and take mic readings at various places on the case body. Also use a dial caliber and headspace gauges to measure the headspace. Keep track of each barrel’s measurements before and after 3 or so firings and gradually set the sizing die so it doesn’t bump the shoulder or size the body more than .0015” or so on the longest &/or fattest chamber. This is where a Harrell’s or honed JLC body bushing die comes in handy. If the gunsmith did his job right they’ll all go back into either chamber nicely and not get overworked. If you work with a couple dozen or more cases at a time, you can use a Post It in each ammo box with load info that includes how many times the cases have been fired along with how it was sized, last trimmed, last sonic cleaned,…….. But I’d fire all the brass in an ammo box in the same chamber before sizing it and using it in the other barrel.

Assuming you can reload and clean where you shoot, this works out great if you’re a believer in barrel break-in as you can let the new barrel soak a little while you take and record case measurements and adjust the die between each shoot.
 
Greg Walley...

...you bring up something that I will readily admit to "assuming"...and that was that the job(s) was/were being completed by a "competent" gunsmith working to benchrest tolerances. I was also assuming that said gunsmith had explained to "ducksoup" how to properly set up his presses/dies...
As for the points you make, let me also remind those following this thread that your points apply to a single barrel/brass combination, as much as they would to sharing brass between barrels...
 
Several right answers/Final answer is Greg's quote

".................................
So far, the experienced folks that responded to this thread know how to properly control excessive sizing and shoulder setback, but if one does not understand the fundamental principals involved with fitting brass to minimum dimensioned chambers…one will have more problems than it’s worth.

Greg Walley
Kelbly's Inc.[/QUOTE]

Later
Dave
 
I checked with my 'smith and both barrels are withing .001. He did that because we had discussed using the older barrel for fireforming. I think I'll be fine. Thanks for all your help and suggestions.
 
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