Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Chamber Finish Reamed by Hand

After the other thread with advice on chamber reaming, I mentioned that I was also getting ready to give it a try. Did it by hand with the extended T-handle. Should have just used my tap handle since there is no action to reach through on a Handi Rifle. Went through about 24oz of cutting fluid, just added more everytime it wasn't puddled up around the reamer. Clean the reamer and blow out the chamber frequently... Still ended up with 1 small tooling mark, only evidence is a very small shiny spot on the fired case. Any ways, went from 243 Win to 6mm Ackley Improved. Didn't take near as long as I figured it would considering the depth needed. Took about 4 hours from the time I started tearing down the rifle until I had it back together and bore sighted. You won't get a test group today. Freezing rain with wind chill of 20*. Pretty uneventful. I chose the Rossi (it's a Handi Rifle clone) because it was cheap and had a 1-8 twist with 23 inch barrel. Seems to be a good fit for the purpose. I say if you are thinking about giving it a try, do it.

Getting everything laid out. Thats not Dr. Pepper but cutting fluid.


Put back together.


Cases, 243, 6mm, 6mmAI, Primer looks good.


Sorry they are upside down, Phone doesn't like left handed people.

Thanks gentlemen. Lonnie

Yes a Tap Handle would have been a better choice as you may have induced wobble and created a slightly larger diameter than possible. You could try to polish out the tool mark but that is best done spun in a lathe with a slotted dowel rod and 320 if deep or 400 grit black paper.

ETA: The way I do it is put a little cuttin oil in the chamber, dip the reamer in cutting oil. Ream a bit, probably .030" - .050" (less than 1/16 inch for sure) remove the reamer and spray off with WD-40, Brake Cleaner etc followed by air, wipe the chamber with a clean paper towel. Make sure the reamer is clean; generally chips make marks more than tools. I may use 2 to 4 ounces of cutting oil.

This is kind of interesting. I've finish reamed about 2 dozen short chambered Mauser barrels by hand, drilling and tapping about half that many receivers, and I'm still on my first 4 ounces of Tap Magic.

My amounts are a pure guess. I have a pint bottle of pipe threading oil that I have had for 25 years and it has done all the pipe, drill and tap jobs, barrel threads, and chambers that I have done. I have a standard soup can with a brush as my applicator and dip. It is getting pretty low though now. I know I didn't use near the amount the other fellow used.

That particular cutting fluid I was using, we use at work on a constant flood that recirculates. I collected it in a bucket, might let it settle and re-use.. probably won't. Doesn't surprise me at all at the higher rate compared to tap magic. Then again after working in the shop we don't use tap magic at all anymore.

Nobody around had 6mm ammo for sale, so I bought that box off a friend. He has a case in the reloading room from the early 90's. Accuracy was about what I would expect out of that ammo, but I'm not Swampman700 either. I don't expect great results from the Rossi either, but it was cheap, scratched a few itches, and makes a good truck gun.


6mm-06, 6mmAI with 110 Sierra, 6mm, 243


Might have been better if I wasn't shooting fast to get out of the weather. Still about what I expected from the gun and ammo.

I would wrap steel wool around a brass brush chuck it in a drill and go after the chamber. Hard to do any damage with steel wool. The Rossi's I have shot were surprisingly accurate almost to the point of embarrassing my custom rifles. Please post up your loads as I am about to get started on load work for my 6AI as soon as the damn PTG magazine gets here. I didn't want to work up loads with the factory OAL and then do it again with the 3.1" mag.

Finish reaming by hand is akin to drilling a close tolerance hole spacing with a yankee drill,. IMHO

Especially with such a long extension.

I wouldnt say its yankee drill bad, maybe Miller Falls eggbeater. In no way would I expect results compared to a lathe. Not the spirit of the post. More to show acceptable results can be had. It's fully capable of killing deer amd coyote with the factory ammo. I expect improvement with handloads.
If a person wanted to try something with minimal investment and acceptable results. This may be an option.

Whats not an option is a dremel tool or whatever was used on the gun dropped off at the house yesterday. Guy told me if I could fix it I could have it. All he knew was a case was stuck in the chamber and he got it super cheap. He couldnt get the case out so he left it here. 223


Now it takes all types to make the world go round... But i dont know how some people live to be old.