Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing How bad did i screw up this chamber?

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I just finished a .223ai and had an issue with reamer chatter. I have had this issue before but only when i prebored the chamber and not every time. In any case, its a sporter barrel and instead of setting it back and losing most of the shank i decided to just finish it out and see what happened. There were some light tooling marks but only on the very breech end of the chamber. I "polished" them out and now my fired brass is .004 larger ahead of the web than FL sized brass in the same area. The brass extracts easily so will this .004 oversized chamber be an issue with brass life? There doesnt appear to be a "bulge" or any other marks on the brass.

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If you full-length size every time, cases will stretch more than normal and you may see lengthwise splits, commencing about a third of the way up, after a few loadings. With neck sizing, there will be no issues. GD

Sizing dies reduce the brass more than is needed, that's why some guys use neck size dies. I don't see a problem, I would just shoot it if you built it for yourself and not a customer. Factory chambers are very liberal in that area anyway.

You will find a ton of information on reamer chatter and how to address it. I can tell you what works for me. If I feel it start I increase the rate of feed then back off and the chatter is gone.

Thanks for the tips. Shot the rifle yesterday evening after work and all appears well. Its shooting fine and FL sizing the brass is easy. I guess if i start to get splits ahead of the web, i will address the issue then. I tried increasing the feed rate and it did help but didnt stop the chatter. I think i need to leave more meat fir the reamer to cut. Have been leaving about .020 per side. I also think the 40* shoulder is more likely to induce chatter than others.

I don't think the small amount the reamer had to cut caused your chattering problem. Next time you get chatter wrap the reamer with a ply of wax paper.

I will try that. Thanks

Ole PaPa knows a lot about chattering reamers, LOL.

Actually I do not. I don't do enough to encounter chattering. Probably only do 6-10 barrels a year now. An old timer showed me the wax paper trick if I ran into that problem.

Heavy grease in the flutes, plasticene in the flutes, cloth wrap; all are effective means of eliminating chatter. Chatter is often the fault of the reamer geometry or final grind. GD

That, or masking tape.. But it's gotta be caught as early as possible - or else..

Seems the worst examples are rounds with more taper to the case - ala the .300 H&H..

Changing up your speed can help too. I've had a couple try to start and I bumped up the speed a bit and it worked through just fine.