Expert opinions wanted on chamber problem

[el matador]

So I have this .300 win mag that is a high-end factory gun. I noticed some weird marks on the fired casings but didn't think much of it. The gun was very accurate and extracted brass just fine. Well after I tried resizing some brass I realized there was an issue. Its almost impossible to resize, even with tons of case lube. Here is a pic of some fired casings (resized brass on the left):

I contacted the manufacturer and sent the gun in for inspection. I believe there was some tool chatter when chambering the barrel, and the only fix I could think of was to put a new barrel on. With the tool chatter extending into the neck I didn't think they would be able to set the barrel back. Anyway, they just sent me the gun back and told me it was fixed. They polished the chamber, test fired it, and found "no issues".

When I looked at it I could still see the tool marks in the chamber (with streaks of carbon fouling), and the same lengthwise marks on their fired brass. I have not fired the gun myself yet. I will probably go shoot it and see if things are any better. Here are pics after the repair:

So, I would like some opinions on this before I respond to the manufacturer. I can probably live with the crappy chamber and difficulty resizing the brass, but this is a $3000+ rifle and I kind of expect better.

 

[J E Custom]

It is definitely reamer chatter from a dull reamer or the wrong spindle speed. The reamer bushing could have been to small for the bore also.

It can be repaired by setting the chamber back, but more things could be wrong so I would recommend re barreling it to get a proper chamber and thread engagement.

This should have been caught and the problem fixed before the chamber was finished.

J E CUSTOM

 

[el matador]

Thank you for the reply, J E. Exactly the kind of professional analysis I'm looking for!

 

[eshorebwhntr]

****...that is a shame.

I hope you get the issue taken care of.

Good luck.

 

[Predator 22]

On a $3k rifle I wouldn't ask, I would demand a new barrel or completely new gun.

 

[LoneTraveler]

I am a grumpy old man.
If the gun crossed state lines in commercial carrier delivery. Contact your state Attorney General or State Attorney for consumer fraud. If that did not satisfy me.

Now spring is coming I would load that rifle and the wavy cases in my PRIUS and go for a road trip and end up in their parking lot on Monday morning at 8am, If within a 2 day drive. Now you are going to fix this and I am not leaving till you get it right.

As a last resort. If you must repair it yourself. If you have access to a lathe, Make a rod long enough to reach through the action with enough extra length to attach a variable speed drill, With a flat face, cartridge base diameter, With a 1/4 X 28 X 1/2"stud on the face. Then chuck some of those cases in a lathe and drill with a Number 3 drill and tap 1/4 X 28 thread. Chuck the rod in a drill, Screw a case on, Coat the shell with lapping compound and proceed slowly. Good Luck in a solution that suits you.

 

[J E Custom]

I am a grumpy old man.
If the gun crossed state lines in commercial carrier delivery. Contact your state Attorney General or State Attorney for consumer fraud. If that did not satisfy me.

Now spring is coming I would load that rifle and the wavy cases in my PRIUS and go for a road trip and end up in their parking lot on Monday morning at 8am, If within a 2 day drive. Now you are going to fix this and I am not leaving till you get it right.

As a last resort. If you must repair it yourself. If you have access to a lathe, Make a rod long enough to reach through the action with enough extra length to attach a variable speed drill, With a flat face, cartridge base diameter, With a 1/4 X 28 X 1/2"stud on the face. Then chuck some of those cases in a lathe and drill with a Number 3 drill and tap 1/4 X 28 thread. Chuck the rod in a drill, Screw a case on, Coat the shell with lapping compound and proceed slowly. Good Luck in a solution that suits you.

I can understand being upset with the builder, But there are right ways to solve problems and there are wrong ways.

Give the builder a chance to make it right. he has a reputation to maintain and should want to make everything right. Even the best gun makers have employees that may not be as good as others and
the maker needs to know what is leaving his shop.

If he does everything to make it good, then he is a good builder that made a mistake and let something leave his shop in less than an acceptable condition. If he give you the run around, Then he needs to know that others will see what kind of work and customer service he has.

If he does not fix the problem, find a reputable smith( Preferably on this site) and have him repair or replace the barrel and chamber. I don't recommend performing any repairs on it your self
because that can lead to other problems. It will also make it harder on the next smith to trouble shoot.

Just my advice. Please Keep us posted on the outcome.

PS: I am a grumpy old man also and hate to see work like this, but it does happen and hopefully it will turn out ok for you.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Edd]

Based on the initial post, I think the builder has already given him the run around.

 

[EddieHarren]

WOW, LoneTravelor, from legal counsel to hack with a drill all in one post! I am impressed.


Remember, free legal advice is worth exactly what you paid for it!

Once you choose the drill and tapped case, along with lapping compound, the original supplier of the rifle is "off the hook".

 

[bigngreen]

Ya, it's definitely chattered up pretty good. The issue is that it functions and shoots fine which tends to be the factory standard. I would push them more that the brass is ruined after one firing from that chamber, don't be ignorant on the phone just very bummed that such an awesome rifle can't be reloaded with premium hand loads.
Do not under any circumstance try to polish it out, that is a bad way to go, you can not polish chatter marked out without making the chamber grossly over size, I you can get rid of chatter and have a correct chamber but it takes some work and barrel to do it.

 

[el matador]

I appreciate all the responses so far, thanks guys. I think my legal avenues are limited since I've owned this rifle for over a year and fired it about 100 times. The markings on the case don't really bother me, its the case sizing issues. Norma brass is over $1 apiece and I can't imagine I'll get many firings at this rate. I also want to feel good about a rifle that cost this much. Sizing each case takes so much force I'm afraid the rim will break off.

This company is not a 1-man operation. More of a small factory. I will divulge their name after this is all resolved (or when I give up). The worrysome part to me is that this defect got past the original gunsmith, and got past the guy that test fired it. And after I pointed out the problem to them they shipped it back with a half-assed repair. Its possible that the same guy chambered it and test fired it. And they may have given it back to him for repair.

I'm going to shoot it soon and find out if anything has changed. If not I will contact the manufacturer again and let you know what they say.

I feel better about the situation now that I have some professional opinions on it. Thanks again.

 

[Hired Gun]

What lube and dies are you using? For really hard brass I have found Imperial Case Sizing Wax will do things with ease that no other lube can touch. Your dies might need polished too. Those marks from the chamber should have zero affect on your sizing operation. More than a few factory firearms specify fluted chambers to ease extraction.

Now to waste some bandwidth to have to say it or some DW will think I'm endorsing that chamber. I do not believe this chamber was done this way on purpose. Most sporting and especially custom rifles have nice 320-400 grit polished chambers with no tool marks visible. That is an ugly chamber and terrible witness marks on the brass but I doubt this would ever cause you any trouble or shortened case life. (Not defending anyone but simply stating my opinion) To shorten case life the chamber would have to be grossly oversized or you pushing the shoulders too far back and this would lead to case head separations that all shouldered case brass are susceptible to when overworked.

 

[el matador]

Thanks for the input Hired Gun. To answer your question I'm using Hornady case sizing wax, which I've found to work very well. I reload for 5 different rifles in .300 Win Mag, and brass from the other 4 rifles sizes very easily. The stuff from this rifle was extremely hard to resize, even with extra case lube. I was using 10 times the force to size it, and pulling it back out I was worried about tearing the rim off the case. Strangely, when I measured the brass at various points, it wasn't significantly larger than brass from the other rifles. I'm using a Redding body die that's well polished.

To give you guys an update on the situation, I went and fired the gun after the "repair" had been made. The brass wasn't as badly marked in the middle, but the front 25% of the case still had marks that I could see and feel. When I tried resizing this brass it was significantly easier to size than it had previously been, but still about 3x harder than brass from my other rifles. At least now I don't worry about tearing the rims off.

I sent an email to the company telling them the repair was not satisfactory, but that I had no desire to spend more time and money sending it back for another chamber polishing job. I have not heard anything back from them yet. I'll let you know if they respond.

 

[rickiesrevenge]

I've seen a little chatter before but holy crap! Here is an article that Manson has on chatter.

Aaron

https://mansonreamers.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/chatter-i.pdf