Cylinder Reaming a DIY thing?

[Edward429451]

I have a 38 with undersized cylinder throats (352-354). It's in need of a reaming so I can get it to shoot (and not lead up).

Is this something I should be able to do myself? I reamed that GB mould really easy and fast. I've seen the reamers for sale. Just want to know if this is a horse of a different color and should be turned over to a gunsmith, or not a big deal like the mould was to do? Whats the pitfalls if I try it myself?

[Bass Ackward]

I have a 38 with undersized cylinder throats (352-354). It's in need of a reaming so I can get it to shoot (and not lead up).

Is this something I should be able to do myself? I reamed that GB mould really easy and fast. I've seen the reamers for sale. Just want to know if this is a horse of a different color and should be turned over to a gunsmith, or not a big deal like the mould was to do? Whats the pitfalls if I try it myself?


Ed,

Yes, you can do this yourself. The hole trick is to get a pilot kit with reamer. It may take a different size pilot for each chamber to get a good fit. The closer you can fit that pilot, the better the job you will have.

Whether or not you want to turn it over to a smith is a balance of cost, not capability. Reamer will follow the pilot no matter who is turning it. But check out the costs and don't forget to factor future use into the calculation if you think you may want another gun or have friends.

[boogerred]

reamers arent cheap. 80-100 bucks.you also need throats about .001" over bore size. chances are a reamer would only work well with one gun. if you only need to do one gun and a gunsmith is close,id let him do it. he would also be liable for any screw-ups.

[Edward429451]

Yeah, I found them in Brownells catalog for 90 bucks. I guess that settles that. The gunsmith is only about 40. Thanks anyway.