Throat Reamer advice, please?

[Canuck Bob]

I am considering some throat (edit) reaming on a couple of Winchesters.  This is the one site were I know amateurs ream their rifles.
 
I am wondering about things like solid pilots and fit.
 
As a Canadian I have to buy as rental outfits don't send products here.  Any advice on tooling, methods, and tricks?
 
Looking at a 32-20 and 32 Special for cast performance. 2 thou over groove for freebore and 1 1/2 degree taper for the leade to bore.  Currentlly rifles have sharp ramp to bore at the chambers end.
 
 

[Nobade]

What you are talking about is not reaming the necks, but rather cutting a throat. And both those cases are going to require custom throaters. You MAY be able to use an off the shelf 303 Brit throater for the 32-20, but I am not aware of anything existing that would work with the 32 spl. I think the bore size of that and a 8mm are different enough that it wouldn't work.

You could have Dave Manson make custom throaters for you, they are around $100 each, then it's just a matter of having a good gunsmith use them properly to do the job.

The actual cutting is not exactly an easy operation, because throat reamers like that have a nasty tendency to chatter. Unless you are extremely careful with your setup you can end up with a very odd looking throat when you're done.

Were they my guns, I would likely figure out a way to load around those throats, since both cartridges normally can be very accurate with cast bullets when fed the right bullets and loaded properly. Lyman #3118 in the 32-20 and the Ranch Dog 32 spl. bullet in that are a pretty good start and likely can be made to work well. Remember 30-30 has no real throat either and normally is extremely accurate with the right bullet and load.

[Antietamgw]

+1 on Dave Manson. He will grind anything you need and do it right.

I had (and have, on an ongoing basis) this same requirement.  I like cast bullets, 30-32 cal chamberings and gentle leades. When building some 32's using different size barrels (commercial Douglas, recycled P14 Enfields, etc) I knew I wanted to use the same chamber but wanted the reamer piloted properly in each different size barrel. I had a reamer ground for 32 H&R using floating pilots. It's been used on numerous chamberings from 32 S&W to the H&R Mag. as well as throating a couple .30-30 barrels. It's a very versatile reamer for cast bullets. If I had thought about it, I didn't need a rim on the reamer as I usually cut that seperately anyway. Guess if I had it to do again I'd order it as a .327 Federal or just order a neck/throat reamer using the body size of the 32 S&W L/.32 H&R/.327 Federal. I don't recall offhand what the body diameter is - .336 or .337 I think, but that's from memory. It didn't touch the neck of either of the .30-30 barrels, just cleaned up and changed the leade. It's a worthwhile tool to have and you can get or make pilots to fit whatever bore size you need.

[Canuck Bob]

Mountain molds has an article on throating levers.
 
http://www.mountainmolds.com/helpRifle.htm

[Antietamgw]

Mountain molds has an article on throating levers.

One of the .30-30's was an early Marlin . The chamber wasn't too awful long but no leade. It always handled 311291 OK and now shoots Saeco 316 and Ranchdog's bullet very well now and at most any velocity I want without alot of fussing and drama.  The other was a Savage 340 with an extremely long chamber and an abrupt taper from neck diameter to bore. It shot jacketed and long cast bullets with mild loads OK. I set the barrel back 2 threads on that one, rechambered with a .30-30 reamer and then throated it with the .32 reamer. Results with cast were much more predictable and it shot well - well enough that it took a friend to talk me out of it.

[Nobade]

Hey, that's a good idea! I hadn't thought about a 32 H&R reamer.

[Antietamgw]

Wish I could say I planned it that way...  Just worked out well.  I was thinking up a design to order a 30 cal throating reamer and the numbers seemed so familiar.  I checked the 32 H&R reamer print and a throat slug from a chamber cut with it. Close enough!

I'm thinking a rimless 357 Max reamer might work out the same way. I have a Rossi lever gun with a long chamber and toilet bowl throat. The barrel needs to set back and chamber recut. Also a Handi that wants to be a Maximum. I'm hoping it might be useful for throating other 35's like a couple .35 Rem barrels I have. It's a little easier for me to justify the cost if it has multiple uses. Just need to sit down and look at the reamer prints and check the size of existing chamber diameters before I order one.