Gunsmith question for 300 wsm...

crazyhorse

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A couple years ago I built a 300wsm on a new 700 action. It has a Shilen select match bbl and HS Precision PSS stock. At the time the gunsmith talked me into using a reamer he had on hand from one of the BR shooters he builds rifles for. The reamer was designed for a "tight neck" at .336 diameter. I was just getting into LR shooting and thought this would be the way to go.

Fast forward a couple of years and I have seen enough guns without this feature shoot just as good and turning the necks is a royal pain in the butt!

My question is could I have the neck opened up on the current chambering without a great risk of affecting accuracy? I really don't want to set the barrel back as its only 24" now (told you I was new when I built it). The barrel only has about 50 rounds through it and shoots great. i would like to use it without a total rebuild, but do not want to turn necks anymore.

Thoughts?
 
yes you can have the neck opened up. amy smith with a standard neck reamer can do it, or a 300 wsm reamer with the neck you want, can be used but might slightly alter your freebore/lead if it was ground different than you original.
 
You only have to turn the necks once. If have 50 pieces of brass done it will last a very long time if you anneal to prevent the necks splitting. I would keep the way it is and get a bushing sizer and a body die. I think you are set up quite nicely. You may regret opening the neck and you already have brass fire formed to your chamber.
 
Thanks for the info!

I do have the redding competition series dies with the bushing, also the micrometer seater die.

.284 your probably right, I was just wondering if it was possible. Rather than take a chance on messing with a good thing, I will probably sell it to fund other project builds.
 
I am the same way, all info is appreciated.

I sure wish I had the time and money to tear up a few guns while teaching myself the trade!
 
My smith talked me into a tight body .308 and a tight neck 300WSM. Never again. I shoot straight SAMMI spec chambers. I am just as accurate w/o having to go the extra steps of small body sizing and neck turning. K.I.S.S is my motto!:cool:
 
I can agree on a no turn neck but going SAMMI spec is a turnoff for me. I prefer to specify the throat angle and how much freebore. I also supply a dummy round to the reamer maker, PT&G. Have been very happy with the results.
 
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