What the Hay I have to buy my own reamer?

mr.e moose

mr.e moose

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I know that gunsmithing in the fine province of Alberta has gone down the tubes ,but really I have to buy my own reamer?Contacted a few gunsmiths and they told me that I would have to purchase my own reamer for them to do a barrel change!!
Damn I thought that .303 reamers are apart of Canadian culture.Okay if I buy the reamer can I keep it?No that is part of the deal because it is a specialty tool.Okay so how much to do a barrel change?$400.00.Well bend me over a barrel,are you kidding?I myself thought that every Canadian gunsmith OWNED a set of .303 reamers.
 
Yes you will be able to keep your reamer lol ... plus you can order one that is min saami spec for a nice tight chamber, once you have that reamer you can shoot your barrel out and when you cut your next one with the same reamer all your brass from your last barrel will be fire formed for you new barrel :)
 
That's a new one on me. It isn't unusual for a gunsmith to charge a wear fee on top of his hourly or straight fee for chambering, threading and headspacing a new barrel install.

Some will quote you a final price, including the barrel/chamber/threading/headspacing and finishing as one price. They will break it down for you if needed.

If you supply the reamer, IMHO, it's your reamer and there shouldn't be any wear charge. Time for tooling up and chambering are a whole different matter and you should expect to be charged for that.

The price of a reamer, is a small price, compared to the overall cost to get a smith to do your custom work for you.

The fellow has to pay for his overhead as well as make a living. I don't know what they charge themselves out at now but you can consider their overhead is $25/hour or more. They need to charge another $35-$50 per hour on top of that to make a go of the business, especially if they aren't selling other merchandise. They can't stay in business otherwise. They would be better off going to work for someone else and let them worry about where the money for wages is coming from. That's why some custom shops are so slow with delivery.

They are a family business, don't keep stock, have to order it up etc. None of this comes cheap, for them or you, who it gets passed on to.
 
Well - Not too many folks are building custom barreled 303's these days. Chances are most gunsmiths havent run into this type of request in the last 30 years.
 
cosmic said:
Well - Not too many folks are building custom barreled 303's these days. Chances are most gunsmiths havent run into this type of request in the last 30 years.
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.303 Brit reamers never were that abundant given the fact that .303 military barrels are all fully chambered and proper headspace is established by changing boltheads. Elwood Epps used to do .303 custom work and built rifles for various wildcat ctgs bases on the .303 Brit. Who knows, his shop may still have .303 reamers on hand.
 
A CREDITABLE gunsmith will simply tell you, yes or no he can do the chambering, if he doesn't have the reamer it's up to you, buy a reamer or go to someone who has the reamer. If you buy a reamer it should be returned to you after the work is done. Matter of fact I would like to know the name of this genuine person.
Bill
 
Just thought that I would inquire about swapping a spare No1 barrel that I had onto a chopped sporter.I knew it would cost but I was not prepared for $400+ and the cost of the reamer.To be fair, the smith told me it wouldn't make sense to spend the money to do this.I wont name the shop because as pointed out in a previous post the guy has to factor in his time and overhead.
 
You shouldn't need a reamer to installed a No1 barrel on a No1 receiver. If your putting a No1 barrel on a No4 action then the barrels needs to be set back to line up the extractor cut then a reamer would be needed. Tells us what you are doing and may be somebody can help you through this.
 
a days labour is a days labour,sometimes it is not cost effective.You might be able to find a home shop machinist to do the job.But it is unlikley he will have said reamer.Good luck
 
rgg_7 said:
You shouldn't need a reamer to installed a No1 barrel on a No1 receiver. If your putting a No1 barrel on a No4 action then the barrels needs to be set back to line up the extractor cut then a reamer would be needed. Tells us what you are doing and may be somebody can help you through this.
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I bought a No 1 sporter as a parts gun for a couple projects I had on the go but the rifle is in fairly good shape except the barrel has been chopped.I have a spare No1 barrel and not having the tools or the expertise I thought that a gunsmith would be my best option to bring back this old warhorse.
 
A couple years back, maybe less, I was looking for a barrel chambered in 9.3x62 to throw on a Savage or Marlin. One of the places I contacted pretty much told me the same thing, I'd need to buy the reamer/they would keep the reamer.....fark that idea!! I do understand the other costs involved, but that didn't seem right.
 
Most places I've heard about will split the cost of the reamer if they keep it but you pay the full deal if you want to keep it. This would be on odd ball stuff that they don't already have.

Might pay to negotiate a little. Keep the reamer and sell it here possibly... $400 seems a bit steep for just a barrel swap if you already have another for the same model though.
 
I cant believe that some of you guys actually think that buying tools for the job and then they get to keep it is kosher. Hell even if they give you the reamer.....what exactly am i paying them for? How would you like if a machine shop came to you and said, suuuure, we can do that, you provide the end mills, or we buy the end mills, do the work, then keep the end mills....ROFL!"

In the end, a mechanic/machinist is only as good as the tools....if hes not willing to invest in his tools, then you shouldnt have to invest into him.

I would just LOVE to see my customers faces when i come to fix their industrial machines "you guys gotta buy me the tools to fix it...no no, its cool, you get to keep the tools!!"
 
I think the 'smith has to consider the likelihood of being able to recoup the cost of his tooling based on frequency of use. A .303 Brit reamer would rarely be used while a .308 Win, for example, would be used a lot more often. If I wanted a .303 Brit chamber reamed badly enough, I'd be prepared to buy my own Clymer reamer from Brownells for $120(no import restrictions on tooling), have the 'smith use it and return it to me and only charge me his hourly shop rate to do the job. I'd then look to sell it on the EE at a discount.

Again, if you are only swapping a military Lee-Enfield barrel there is no need for a chamber reamer. You simply have the old one taken off, turn on a replacement to the proper dead center index, and change boltheads as nec to establish the proper headspace. All military Lee-Enfield barrels are fully chamber reamed at time of manufacture. Having a custom .303 barrel made from a blank is an entirely different proposition.
 
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Again, if you are only swapping a military Lee-Enfield barrel there is no need for a chamber reamer. You simply have the old one taken off, turn on a replacement to the proper dead center index, and change boltheads as nec to establish the proper headspace. All military Lee-Enfield barrels are fully chamber reamed at time of manufacture. Having a custom .303 barrel made from a blank is an entirely different proposition.[/QUOTE]

Please tell me more about this.The smith I was talking to said he would probably have to set it back a thread to index the barrel to the receiver and then ream the chamber to head space it.
 
Just to confirm;you are installing a military No1 MkIII barrel on a No1MkIII receiver,right? It is really not possible to identify just what your headspace condition is going to be with the new barrel until it has been installed. Has the 'smith actually trial fitted the new barrel to the receiver in order to determine whether or not it might be necessary to face off the rear of the barrel to get it to index properly? If the barrel can be installed without any shortening chances are that it will headspace OK with your existing bolt and bolthead, in which case there would be no need to consider adjusting headspace by either trial fitting a selection of different bolt heads or using a finishing reamer to deepen the chamber. Extending/deepening the chamber might well be necessary if he has to shorten the barrel. I think I'd look at this as a 2 step job. First, install the barrel and check headspace to verify if headspace is either insufficient or excessive. Second, if headspace is insufficient and cannot be remedied by locating a shorter bolthead, then a finishing reamer would need to be used to extend the chamber to establish proper headspace with your existing bolthead. I wouldn't pay the $$$ to get a finishing reamer until such time as you actually confirm that it is required. If this proves to be the solution I'd be inclined to buy the reamer myself, let the 'smith use it to complete the job, and then sell it to recover a portion of my investment. Hopefully both the receiver and the replacement barrel are in good enough condition to justify the expense of doing this job.
 
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