What Would You Do...?

[Nitroman]

If you had ordered a reamer made to spec, spent lots of time waiting for the rifle, and when you finally received said rifle, after shooting it measured your brass to find it was much larger than it should be? Sound like a nightmare?

My first ZKK-602 in .375 H&H wasn't unique enough, so I mailed it off to a fellow in Prescott AZ to be rechambered to .375 Weatherby about 4 months before Weatherby actually brought the chambering back. So I get the rifle after waiting four months (a record), and when I pulled out the first fired case, it had two shoulders; guy didn't shove the reamer in far enough. Mailed it back, got it back after another four months (yeah I know), and it wouldn't shoot worth a ****. Sent it off to another fellow who told me the the receiver was "twisted 0.060". I am guessing it is torqued between the bridges. Okay, I set that one aside.

I found another unfired ZKK-602 so I order a finish reamer, because I want a tight chamber, and a 0.401" neck plus making the freebore 0.135" instead of over an inch in the original Weatherby. Takes three months to get the reamer, and another 13 months for the rifle. I shot it last week. Hmmm...the fired necks on my Weatherby cases measure 0.405". That isn't all, measuring the base above the belt and the shoulder show my rifle may have been chambered with a standard reamer.

I need to get to my storage to get the reamer that is in the guncase, and make a chamber cast of this thing to be sure.

To say I am sitting here feeling disappointed is a monumental understatement. If it is the reamer, I know I will be getting the reamer I originally ordered, and I'll get it damned fast too. If the 'smith used a standard reamer nothing I can do there, gunsmiths don't have any money. But as to the rifle, who'll be paying for another rechamber, can it even be done? Man I am bummed. It seems someone doesn't want me to have a ZKK-602 in this cartridge.

 

[Nitroman]

I made a cast of the chamber and an inch of the rifling.

The changes I ordered for the freebore/throat have been incorporated into the reamer. The rest of the reamer is a standard Weatherby .375 chambering. This was supposed to be a finish reamer with a 0.401" neck.

So what should I say when I call the reamer manufacturer in the morning? My money back? New reamer? New barrel and chamber?

 

[bigngreen]

I would first very calmly go back over the reamer print that you would have sent to confirm reamer changes and make dang sure things are as they should be on it first, if not then something needs done but someone should have measured the reamer before crashing it into a barrel I would think.

 

[TOM H]

I made a cast of the chamber and an inch of the rifling.

The changes I ordered for the freebore/throat have been incorporated into the reamer. The rest of the reamer is a standard Weatherby .375 chambering. This was supposed to be a finish reamer with a 0.401" neck.

So what should I say when I call the reamer manufacturer in the morning? My money back? New reamer? New barrel and chamber?

Unless the gunsmith was involved in the process of ordering the reamer he may of not known what you wanted even if the reamer was send to him direct from who made it along with reamer print.

My gunsmith send Dave Manson some dummy rd for the 270Wby reamer because we changed freebore/throat etc but no tight neck.

The person you ordered the reamer from is who you should be talking too but 16 mos ago lot could be forgotten if not in writing.


Wish you luck

 

[Nitroman]

The lady who answered the telephone found the copy of the print I sent them when I ordered the reamer. They messed up, the print showing I had marked out the .405 and written .401". She told me they'd regrind the reamer, but now that the barrel has been rechambered, to get exactly what I want, I'd have to rebarrel. So that would conservatively run $400 for a barrel, $100 shipping, plus whatever the 'smith would charge to chamber, thread, add sights and blue, say $500.00. So $1k total.

Still bummed. I have to load some more shells and go shoot it 10-12 times to see if it is going to be as accurate as I had expected. If not....crap.

 

[bigngreen]

Depending on how the smith cut the threads you should just need to set it back the length of the neck and rock on. Or cut all the threads of and set it back that amount.

 

[Nitroman]

I'll call a gunsmith to see if there is enough shank left to do that.