chamber in 303 damage?

[adrians]

hi ,
i have just seen these small dents or whatever they are (not lead) in my #4.
it looks to me like sometime in the past somebody had a case separate and tried knocking it out with a very long and thin chisel:veryconfu'
anyway the cases chamber o.k and no issue with the bolt closing but,,, i have not shot it yet and if these are dents( i know they are!) will the case come out? or will it conform to the chamber and "stick in the dents".?
and what can i do to make it all better again:bigsmyl2:?
will it cause problems?:groner:

[gnoahhh]

Probably ok. One way to find out!

If they do pose a problem, the first thing I would try would be a high strength epoxy with a high density filler. Smear it into the dents, squeegee the excess, polish flush when cured.

[adrians]

thanks gnoahhh ,i feel alot better now.
i never thought about the epoxy fix, will it stand up to the heat produced by shooting alot in one session? ( i know ziltch about epoxy)

[skeet1]

Just by looking at the photo I think that the dents are in the area of the chamber that is taken up by the solid brass portion of the case. If that is what I'm seeing you shouldn't have any problem. The best way to find out is shoot it, if it extracts ok, I wouldn't worry about it.

Ken

[adrians]

yes ,it's just about 1/4" in the chamber ,,,max.
just a side note ,,,, now i know why my chamber cast was difficult to push out, thats when i saw the spots:twisted::coffee::twisted:

[Multigunner]

Look for signs of a concentric ring indentation iin the chamber wall an inch or so in. Some No.4 drill rifles were sold of as parts guns here many years ago.
These had a chamber plug driven into the chamber an lightly tack welded in place.
A friend bought one for parts to restore a bubba'ed No.4. He was curious aout how far the chamber plug extended. When he dropped a steel cleaning rod down the bore the chamber plug popped out.
The bore and chamber were perfect except for the indentation I mentioned. He later found that the action body was out of spec and no combination of barrels and bolt heads would give safe headspace even by the most generous military specs.
The drill rifles from that batch that I saw looked nearly unused. These rifles probably failed gauging after proof firing or developed excessive headspace quickly and were set aside for conversion to DP rifles.

[adrians]

multigunner i see no sighns of a ring in the chamber, but i'm no smith either so to my untrained eye i don't see one.
#9 on the list is the aproximate chamber cast for the rifle( not very scientific but it gives me an idea when i'm sizing and seating)
i'm gonna shoot the darn thing this weekend and see what happens[smilie=1:

[Ragnarok]

I would take a small length of wooden dowel rod..cut a slot an inch or so long in one end...cut off a small piece of really fine sandpaper(like 600 grit)..and polish the chamber buy folding the sandpaper and inserting in the slotted dowel and wrapping it around the dowel..turning the dowel at modest speed with a cordless drill.

Work it like a hone..and change the paper often..I bet the chamber will clean right up.

A chamber doesn't have to 100% smooth the work well...and the case head/base area doesn't usually cause much issue with expanding and sticking..especially with a somewhat lower pressure cartridge like the .303 British.

[adrians]

Ragnarok,,,
you must be a mind reader i was just considering doing that ,so now i will.
thanks,:twisted::Bright idea::evil:

[bob208]

i have a o3 that has a dent like your rifle only a little father up. when i first got it cases would stick. i polished the chamber. the mark is still there but the cases do not stick could have been a burr sticking up.

it mite work for you.

[adrians]

thanks rag&bob will try your fixes, and i'm confident it'll be all o.k.

[leftiye]

I have seen dings in several chambers, some of which resulted in burrs being puled up. Sanding and lapping solved all of these. Getting rid of the protrusions and burrs is most of the importance. So long as the dents or depressions aren't big enough that the case extrudes into them, there should be no problem. Smooth does matter though, after a certain degree of roughness exists extraction gets harder.

[John 242]

Does the rifle have DP stamped on it?
IF the burrs are from a plug that was removed and the rifle is DP marked, I would be very leery about firing it.

[adrians]

Does the rifle have DP stamped on it?
IF the burrs are from a plug that was removed and the rifle is DP marked, I would be very leery about firing it.

DP ,no ,before i bought it i made darn sure i didn't see any "drill purpose" markings on it ,,,, anywhere.
i don't know how they got there but with a little fine grit paper around a dowel and a turn or two will smooth them out.
gonna shoot some this weekend and see if they come out as easy as they go in:p

[OnHoPr]

May I make a suggestion. Take the bolt out. Put a .45 or .50 cal brush on just the tip end of a cleaning rod. Take a layer of scotchbrite (red) and put it around the brush. Impregnate the scotchbrite with JB, lapping, or fine grinding compound. You could also put a cleaning patch on the brush before scotchbrite to support the scotchbrite. Put this assembly in a cordless drill and polish the section of the chamber. The brush assembly will conform to the chambers dimensions and should be slightly less aggressive than the sandpaper and dowel.

[adrians]

onhopr now thats a great tip ,
gonna try that .
thanks. :twisted::2_high5::evil: