Chambering by Hand...

[IndianaJames]

Does it mean the same thing to all the gunsmith's who use it...and what DOES it mean? I've tried to figure it out by the context, and always came out lacking.

Is the barrel being rotated under power when hand reaming? Is the barrel stationary and the reamer rotated?

In my very limited machining experience, the best surface finish has always been obtained with a high sfpm/power feed ratio. Is hand reaming done to closely control the chips?

I understand the predrilling and preboring and the reasons for it, but I just can't picture the "hand reaming" and what it offers.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Cheechako]

Jim

When it comes to gunsmiths, both pro and am, nothing means the same thing to any two of them.

To me (I'm an am) it means fixing the barrel in a vise or some such, and turning the reamer by hand.

What it offers is a way to ream a chamber for the poor soul who doesn't have a lathe.

There is also the half-hand ream which, to me again, means finishing the final few thou by hand without power.

Ray

 

[jackie schmidt]

Jim

I am probably the major culprit who uses the term "chamber by hand", as that is exactly what I do.

After pre-boring the chamber, on the correct taper, to within about 3-4 thousanths of final diameter, I hand ream the chamber, using the reamer, (which will stick in about 1/3 the way), simply to establish the final finish and dimensions of the chamber. By hand reaming, I mean I turn the reamer with a 3/8 end wrench on the square on the end while supporting it with a center.

If you do a search, Gary Walters posted pictures of me doing an entire chambering job, it'sin the archives. It shows this quite plainly.

I do this for my own reasons, (owning a machine shop, I have a bunch of Lathes), and find that it gives me the best results.

If I were doing Gunsmithing for a living, I would probably not do chambers this way, as it is more time consuming. But if you ever do one like this, and see how nice it comes out, you would do all of your personal chambers using the same method.

Of course, I do a lot of things different. For instance, after roughing everything out, including the tenon, the first thing I finish is the chamber. That is backwards from the way most do the job. As a Machinist, I realize the most difficult procedure in chambering the barrel is estabishing a perfect chamber. I do this, then work all the other dimensions off of that chamber.........jackie