I contacted Mr. Ted Torres of Ritten Precision about a build I would like to have done. He stated that he would be happy to do so but did not have a reamer in the caliber I wanted to build in. I let him know that we had a few months to work with as this was going to be a hunting gun for Colorado and that I was not going until November. So we agreed to find out what we would need and get the parts ordered.
We both did a little research and agreed on the dimensions of a reamer we would use. I wanted to ensure that I would have proper freebore length for the Berger 168 and 180 VLD’s and the proper neck diameter so I would not have to neck turn my brass. We settled on a .3185” neck and .180” freebore reamer from PTG and after a few months it came in so we could begin the build.
The caliber I chose is 7SAUM and my parts are as follows: Surgeon 1086 action (I went LA so that I would have plenty of room to seat the VLD’s out long and not restrict case capacity as well as reliable feeding), Krieger SS 1:9 RV contour barrel with a JEC Muzzle Brake, McMillan Game Scout stock molded in McMillan Camo, Badger Aluminum M4 bottom metal and a Jewell trigger.
Ted contacted me last week stating that the reamer had come in and we agreed to meet over the weekend to put it together. I have known him for a few years now and I asked if it would be possible to witness the build. I tried to say in the background and keep my mouth shut as much as possible as I realize he was doing this for me as a favor. I did not want to break his concentration and I know I do not like people watching me work so I tried to not ask too many questions or interrupt him while he worked.
When I arrived he had already taken the measurements of my action and had them listed on a nice diagram that included a drawing of the action and barrel as well as the dimensions of the action he acquired using his various micrometers and calipers. So when I arrived we were ready to begin the cutting operations.
He began by putting the chamber end of the barrel in the lathe and dialing the barrel in with a Grizzly rod and a proper bushing. You select the proper bushing by feel as there will be slight resistance when the proper size is installed. The bushings come in .0002” (2 ten thousands) increments and I was amazed how that little change was very noticeable. With the proper bushing installed on the Grizzly rod we were able to indicate the barrel in fairly quickly. Ted started by indicating in to within one thousandth with one dial indicator then swapped to a finer one that is accurate to one ten thousandth. He dialed the barrel in to within one ten thousandth of an inch at two points 2” apart. The Grizzly rod was held in place with a drill chuck in the tail stock. We would move the Grizzly rod in and out of the barrel 2”, dialing in the chuck with the rod at one position, then dial in the rear support with the rod in the other position. Going back and forth checking the runout with the rod in both places until the reading was within one ten thousandths.
Next step is to turn down the portion of the barrel that will become the tenon to the proper OD. Using the diagram Ted already filled out we had the desired dimensions in front of us the entire time. After the OD was turned the next step was to cut the tenon threads for which the Surgeon 1086 calls for 16 TPI. He swapped cutting tools to a thread cutter and after making several passes and taking smaller and smaller bites Ted was able to get a very nice and snug barrel to action fit. The next step was to cut the tenon to length and time the action. He put a micrometer on the muzzle end of the barrel that was sticking out the opposite side of the lathe and found the highest point of the muzzle. When the barrel torqued to the action you want the high spot to be at the 12 o’clock position. To do this he screwed the action on and determined how far off the timing was. He then determined how much we would need to set the shoulder back allowing the action to screw on further to time correctly. Once the action was properly timed he cut the excess tenon off the back to have proper length.
Next operation is to cut the bolt nose recess. This will allow for the proper clearance between the barrel and bolt nose once installed. Before this step and actually between every step we would reinstall the Grizzly Rod and check to insure that the barrel was still running true. This was the only time I would jump in and help was by dialing the rod back and forth the 2” inches in the tail stock while Ted was turning the head stock and checking the dials.
Next was to cut the actual chamber. We checked alignment again then swapped out the fixture in the tailstock to one that would support the reamer. The reamer was brand new and made a very nice clean cut of the chamber. He would cut his desired depth then retract the reamer to clean off the chips and shavings, blow out any debris in the barrel and reapply more cutting oil to the reamer. Ted took ever smaller bites as we neared the final dimension of the chamber. He continually would screw the action on to the barrel and check the chamber dimension with Go / No-Go gauges measuring the gap between the action face and the shoulder of the barrel tenon. This told us how much we lacked before we got really close to the final dimension. He would then apply fresh cutting oil to the reamer and make another cut. Once we got really close Ted was taking very small bites between checks, 0.001” and less at a time. He was cleaning out the chamber with patches and a pistol rod to ensure no debris or cutting oil was affecting the measurements. Once he got the bolt to barely close on a Go gauge he put a piece of scotch tape on the back of the gauge which increased the length by about 0.002”. This was going to be the take up that the action would see once we torqued the action on to the barrel with the required 100 lb-ft. He then made one final cut and now the bolt would barely close on the Go gauge with tape but would close freely on the Go gauge without tape. He swapped cutting tools again and made a few slight chamfers to the tenon, bolt recess and chamber then took the barrel out of the lathe and torqued on the action. Ted was right on and now the bolt would not close on the Go gauge with tape but would close on the Go gauge without any tape. He also checked to make sure that the bolt would not close on a No-Go gauge. These checks and attention to detail assured us we had a nice tightly fit chamber. I also had made a few dummy rounds that I brought and we chambered one of those as well to ensure that the bolt would close freely.
We both did a little research and agreed on the dimensions of a reamer we would use. I wanted to ensure that I would have proper freebore length for the Berger 168 and 180 VLD’s and the proper neck diameter so I would not have to neck turn my brass. We settled on a .3185” neck and .180” freebore reamer from PTG and after a few months it came in so we could begin the build.
The caliber I chose is 7SAUM and my parts are as follows: Surgeon 1086 action (I went LA so that I would have plenty of room to seat the VLD’s out long and not restrict case capacity as well as reliable feeding), Krieger SS 1:9 RV contour barrel with a JEC Muzzle Brake, McMillan Game Scout stock molded in McMillan Camo, Badger Aluminum M4 bottom metal and a Jewell trigger.
Ted contacted me last week stating that the reamer had come in and we agreed to meet over the weekend to put it together. I have known him for a few years now and I asked if it would be possible to witness the build. I tried to say in the background and keep my mouth shut as much as possible as I realize he was doing this for me as a favor. I did not want to break his concentration and I know I do not like people watching me work so I tried to not ask too many questions or interrupt him while he worked.
When I arrived he had already taken the measurements of my action and had them listed on a nice diagram that included a drawing of the action and barrel as well as the dimensions of the action he acquired using his various micrometers and calipers. So when I arrived we were ready to begin the cutting operations.
He began by putting the chamber end of the barrel in the lathe and dialing the barrel in with a Grizzly rod and a proper bushing. You select the proper bushing by feel as there will be slight resistance when the proper size is installed. The bushings come in .0002” (2 ten thousands) increments and I was amazed how that little change was very noticeable. With the proper bushing installed on the Grizzly rod we were able to indicate the barrel in fairly quickly. Ted started by indicating in to within one thousandth with one dial indicator then swapped to a finer one that is accurate to one ten thousandth. He dialed the barrel in to within one ten thousandth of an inch at two points 2” apart. The Grizzly rod was held in place with a drill chuck in the tail stock. We would move the Grizzly rod in and out of the barrel 2”, dialing in the chuck with the rod at one position, then dial in the rear support with the rod in the other position. Going back and forth checking the runout with the rod in both places until the reading was within one ten thousandths.
Next step is to turn down the portion of the barrel that will become the tenon to the proper OD. Using the diagram Ted already filled out we had the desired dimensions in front of us the entire time. After the OD was turned the next step was to cut the tenon threads for which the Surgeon 1086 calls for 16 TPI. He swapped cutting tools to a thread cutter and after making several passes and taking smaller and smaller bites Ted was able to get a very nice and snug barrel to action fit. The next step was to cut the tenon to length and time the action. He put a micrometer on the muzzle end of the barrel that was sticking out the opposite side of the lathe and found the highest point of the muzzle. When the barrel torqued to the action you want the high spot to be at the 12 o’clock position. To do this he screwed the action on and determined how far off the timing was. He then determined how much we would need to set the shoulder back allowing the action to screw on further to time correctly. Once the action was properly timed he cut the excess tenon off the back to have proper length.
Next operation is to cut the bolt nose recess. This will allow for the proper clearance between the barrel and bolt nose once installed. Before this step and actually between every step we would reinstall the Grizzly Rod and check to insure that the barrel was still running true. This was the only time I would jump in and help was by dialing the rod back and forth the 2” inches in the tail stock while Ted was turning the head stock and checking the dials.
Next was to cut the actual chamber. We checked alignment again then swapped out the fixture in the tailstock to one that would support the reamer. The reamer was brand new and made a very nice clean cut of the chamber. He would cut his desired depth then retract the reamer to clean off the chips and shavings, blow out any debris in the barrel and reapply more cutting oil to the reamer. Ted took ever smaller bites as we neared the final dimension of the chamber. He continually would screw the action on to the barrel and check the chamber dimension with Go / No-Go gauges measuring the gap between the action face and the shoulder of the barrel tenon. This told us how much we lacked before we got really close to the final dimension. He would then apply fresh cutting oil to the reamer and make another cut. Once we got really close Ted was taking very small bites between checks, 0.001” and less at a time. He was cleaning out the chamber with patches and a pistol rod to ensure no debris or cutting oil was affecting the measurements. Once he got the bolt to barely close on a Go gauge he put a piece of scotch tape on the back of the gauge which increased the length by about 0.002”. This was going to be the take up that the action would see once we torqued the action on to the barrel with the required 100 lb-ft. He then made one final cut and now the bolt would barely close on the Go gauge with tape but would close freely on the Go gauge without tape. He swapped cutting tools again and made a few slight chamfers to the tenon, bolt recess and chamber then took the barrel out of the lathe and torqued on the action. Ted was right on and now the bolt would not close on the Go gauge with tape but would close on the Go gauge without any tape. He also checked to make sure that the bolt would not close on a No-Go gauge. These checks and attention to detail assured us we had a nice tightly fit chamber. I also had made a few dummy rounds that I brought and we chambered one of those as well to ensure that the bolt would close freely.
