Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Which Reamer?

I'm looking to buy a 6X45 reamer, where should I look? Mason, Clymer, and PT&G all list them but is there anyone else I should look at? My local smith doesn't have the reamer and I'm looking at possibly building more than one of these rifles. My smith also suggested possibly renting the reamer, but if I went that route who should I go through for this service?

If you're planning to build more than one, renting one is CRAZY, with a capital C.

GTC

Like barrel selection, you really can't go wrong with any of them. Buy from the guy that has what you want in stock. These days I lean toward Manson. PT&G's customer service is SEVERELY lacking, and has been for some time IMHO. I've had a couple of tooling items on order from them for quite some time. When I ordered them I was told they were in stock. To date I have yet to receive them, and get the same story each time I call. On the other hand, every item I've ordered from Manson has showed up in a matter of a couple days.

I'd have to agree,....Dave's customer service has slipped a bit.

What's pizzing me off is that reamer drawings, custom made years ago, and numbered, named, have apparently been lost, or worse yet DELETED from their files.

I'm not a computer geek,....but know damned well that a reamer drawing takes up VERY little space, in todays GB realm.

I am a loyal customer (or was) that wants his reamer ground / re-ground PER my original drawing.

Something ODD about that ?

GTC

I have over 100 reamers: Most are PTG because I have a large collection of PTG pilot bushings. I also have a few Clymer, Manson, JGS and Hartford.

When I order a reamer, I make a copy from the PTG book of chamber reamer drawings. Mark it up with my changes. Keep a file copy and send the drawing to PTG. This way I always have a copy of each reamer in my files.

Latest reamer ordered was a 450 Ackley Magnum. Ordered on 16 Feb 2016 and received on 29 Feb 2016.

I never had any type of problem with PTG ordering. Good product and fast service.



Decide what you want in the chamber: Tight neck? Special throating? Tight base? Then obtain the reamer drawing (a phone call to the maker will have one on the way) and mark it up to your specs. Send a copy to the maker and file a copy. This way you will always have a drawing.

If you are building an accuracy rifle you need the drawing in order to properly prep brass (neck turning).

PS if you are chambering barrels a must have is the PTG book of reamer drawings.

Well my plan is to do a Stevens 200 and M700 as I already have the barrels then possibly an AR upper in 6X45, and I'd like them to have the same chamber. Then my buddy is looking at either a Savage or AR in this cartridge, and he's willing to split the costs of the reamer. We don't want any special features, as we don't want any special case prep such as neck turning.

My next question can this all be handled by just a finish reamer? We're looking at a minimum of three barrels and up to five in the next few months. Neither one of us have ever purchased a reamer before, and neither of us are gunsmiths.

Thanks!

Best is a pumped coolant system, but this takes a while to build and costs a few bucks.

The old "brush & wipe" chambering method takes a long time and wears out reamers, but it may be your only choice.

In this case I would order both a finisher and a rougher. The rougher does most of the work leaving little for the finisher to remove: Hence the finisher stays sharp longer.

Rough with a drill and/or boring bar and a finish reamer should cut at least a couple dozen chambers with no problems. I know I have reamers which have cut more than that. GD

Cabriolet you have a PM

Talked with both PT&G and Manson yesterday, wound up ordering a removable pilot reamer from Manson. Even though PT&G said they had the reamer in stock, they only had solid pilot reamers and id have to wait 14-16 weeks for one with a removable pilot. Manson said they would install the pilot and ship Mon or Tue. The lady that sold it to me told me I'd need a .2365 pilot since the nominal diameter on my barrels bore is stamped .237.

I didn't order a roughing reamer, but may still do so. I'm not quite ready to go to the gunsmith with the rifles yet as I'm still waiting on a few other parts. When it gets closer to time for the work I'll talk more to my gunsmith.

I ExpectYou did well ordering from Manson. I have heard fewer complaints on Manson than any other reamer MFG. Another guy and I had a Grendel Project in the works for a CZ 527. Gun smith Suposedly had the reamer on order for 5 months from a well known vendor other than Manson.

I ended up ordering a drop in barrel that happened to headspace great from the get go. Between being happy with the Drop in barrel and frustrated w the wait for the reamer the gun smithing project was canceled before the reamer had been delivered.

Kicking around ordering a 6.5 Creedmoor reamer for that barrel now.

Hope Your gunsmith drills dials in the bore, rough bores and finish reams the chamber for a very concentric to the bore chamber.

Well this new gunsmith I've chosen to do the work is untested by me for barrel installation. Small shop but he seems to keep it immaculate, as I've been to his shop a couple of times and had him do some simple work for me. I don't know if he has the equipment to pump coolant through the bore, but I think he's equipped to chamber and install a barrel. I pulled a few shots from his simple web page he keeps.

You don't need a roughing reamer for even 20 chambers. If you use good cutting oil and take small cuts a reamer will last a LONG time. That said, I typically rough first with a drill, then use a boring bar to get it real close. Reamer takes a very small cut. I have a lot of PTG reamers but they are a train wreck now. I couldn't even buy anything the last time I tried. I bought my most recent reamers from JGS and they are awesome. I bought a 30-06 reamer from Manson and they got it right out too. Don't overthink this stuff.

I'm not trying to, I simply don't know what's involved in cutting a chamber. Thanks for the help though, you and gd have basically stated the same thing. Sorry to hear PT&G has went downhill, all I've ever used them for is bottom metal in the past.

Curious about this reamer stuff. Want to eventually build two 6.5x47 rigs. Midway has the 6.5x47 solid pilot finish reamer by PT&G in stock. If I buy that one, how many reamer jobs could it do before needing sharpening or other attn?

Never thought of buying a reamer but this thread has me curious. Have action, recoil lug, and barrel sitting on my desk waiting...

You can probably cut 20 chambers with no problems if you clear chips good and frequently- use good oil and lots of it.

Used to be the majority of reamers sold were solid pilot. There is nothing wrong with them. The only real advantage to the removable pilots is that you can fit each bore a little better. If you are going to do a lot of barrels and use a flush system, you need to have oiling grooves in the pilot. I have them in the removable ones but have never seen them in the solid but there is no reason you couldn't do it. If you put enough helix in the grooves they would ride over the lands fine.

Over the last dozen years or so, I have purchased at least fifty reamers from PTG. The service was excellent and the product was fine. Recently, I was sent the wrong reamer, sent it back, got another (also wrong)which I altered myself. Last order, I got two of three items and was waiting for the third (no big deal). I called to order another and could not reach them by phone so I e-mailed and asked them to call me. After two days, I had heard nothing so I ordered from another maker, cancelled the outstanding order (by e-mail, still unable to reach them by phone)and ordered that elsewhere as well. While I'm no whale, by any means, I have sent them thousands of dollars and expect a little bit of service. GD

Greydog- your story is becoming very common. I haven't purchased 50 reamers from them but maybe 10 or 12. In the past year I quit existing as far as they are concerned. I can't get a call back nor even an order shipped. I have taken my reamer business elsewhere.

Manson delivered my reamer in less than two weeks. So I'm very satisfied with their service. I probably would have been happy with PT&G as well, but I don't wait 14+ weeks if it's in stock elsewhere.

A week and a half ago (4/20) I emailed Dave Manson with a question regarding a specific reamer grind. On 4/21 I had a response to my email. On morning of 4/22 I called and spoke to Dave as he had suggested in his email reply. I ordered a reamer and gages at the end of our conversation. I also asked if I could purchase half a dozen reamer storage tubes, as some of mine have seen better days. On 4/26, the reamer, gages, and replacement tubes (no charge) were on my doorstep.