reamer rental

[kopperl]

Would some kind soul please tell me about renting a 17 Remington reamer. Is it better to buy? Can't find a local smith with that reamer. Had a 17 HMR barrel reamed to 17 Hornet. Came out sort of oval instead of round. Thought opening it to the larger cartridge might save it.
The guy that did the work is replacing the damaged barrel. Just to cheep to throw the barrel away.
T I A

Bill

[M-Tecs]

Unless I was 100% certain that that the 17 HMR barrel is 4140 I would be very leery of chambering one in 17 Rem.

Some 17 reamers for sale here http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?268299-Reamers-Gauges-for-Sale but you will need to single point the bad chamber in a lathe or the larger reamer will just follow the 17 Hornet problems.

What rifle is this barrel off of?

[leadman]

There are several sites that rent reamers. Elk Ridge Reamer Rental and 4D Rental Reamers I have used and had great service with good tools.

[kopperl]

Very early H&R 17 HMR.
And thanks for the input.

[paul h]

You can typically buy a new reamer, cut your chamber and sell it used for the same amount as it would cost to rent one. The up side of buying new is you start with a new reamer and can specify the dimensions of the reamer.

[dh2]

I am with paul H on this one if you rent it you have to worry with getting it used and sent back in a week, I am not by trade a gunsmith my last build took a year. I bought the reamer and gauges and sold them on swap and sell, rentals are not worth the trouble to me

[oldred]

If you do Ebay then buy a reamer from Midway, Brownells, etc and then sell the darn thing if you don't damage it, you will most likely get almost all of your money back. The three I did that way, a 223, a 45/70 and a 30-30 went for within $10 of what they cost new and the 45/70 went for $7 MORE than it cost new! Even with Ebay fees it was a lot cheaper than renting (the 45/70 worked out to be almost free) plus there was no hurry and I got to work with a new sharp reamer!

[FLHTC]

Would some kind soul please tell me about renting a 17 Remington reamer. Is it better to buy? Can't find a local smith with that reamer. Had a 17 HMR barrel reamed to 17 Hornet. Came out sort of oval instead of round. Thought opening it to the larger cartridge might save it.
The guy that did the work is replacing the damaged barrel. Just to cheep to throw the barrel away.
T I A

Bill

Sounds like he did it by hand. The barrel should be chucked in a lathe and the reamer backed with a live center. For what you want to do, you'll need a rough and finish reamer to do it right. It's one thing to cut a straight walled chamber deeper by hand but when it comes to a totally different profile, you really should have a lathe.

[kopperl]

It was done in a lathe. Said he hand turned it with a dead center.

[FLHTC]

Seems difficult to do in a lathe, unless it was a 4 jaw chuck that was set up by eye.