Reaming/Choke tapping a shotgun

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yankytrash

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Got ramblin on another thread and reminded myself I wanted to ream and tap my Rem Express for a Remchoke.

Anybody bought any of the Brownell's kits and had any successes/failures to share? Any advice on which kit to get? Is going Remchoke my best option, or is Truchoke the way to go, in regards to ease of tapping? I'd certainly rather go Remchoke for choke availability.

I figure it's one of those jobs I can screw around with, since my Express is really just one of the "extra" shotguns I have laying around the house. Barrels are cheaper for it than any of the others, so it seems like a good candidate. Not to mention, with it being a magnum, the walls are ~ 1/8" thick (haven't mic'ed it yet).
 
Brownells sells a set of adjustable reamers for opening chokes. They also sell a two-stone cylinder hone that works fine for chokes. You first ream and then hone a thousandth or two to finish the job. I was not able to use the X-tool that they sell for measuring the choke. It is not nearly ridgid enough to get an accurate measurement. Instead, I use a dial bore gauge that measures from 3/8" to 1 3/8 inches.

As far as threading the barrel for chokes, if you only have one to do, I would think seriously about renting the taps. White Rock, among others, will rent the tooling for a lot less than you will shuck out if you buy it. In fact, for one choke, I think I would send it to Mike Orlen with $85 and get it threaded and returned with three tubes.
 
I was just thinking of buying the set so I could customize a few of the other shotguns I have lying around here.

Plus, well, even if I only do the one and decide it's not worth it, I like to piddle around with stuff like this. :scrutiny:

It's a sickness of mine. :barf: :D
 
yankytrash,
I've used both Colonial and Clymer tooling. I have reamed and threaded several barrels at gunsmithing school(PCC in Roxboro,NC). I think the Clymer tooling is cheaper. Both are good so I would buy the cheaper of the two. Most of the barrels I've done were tru-choke because the minimum OD of the barrel is .825"(12ga) . For Remchoke (and Winchoke) the minimum OD is .845. Most of the barrels I've checked made the .825 but not the .845, thus I had to use tru-choke. I have rented the tru-choke thin-wall tooling. I don't remember the minimum OD, but I think it was .805. There is a max ID but I don't remember the exact number. I've only had one barrel that did't meet the ID requirement; that one was jug choked.
The Remchoke and Winchoke take the same tap but use different reamers. The first time I used a brace and reamed by hand. That was a job. Every one since I've done in the lathe. Much easier and faster.
George
 
Well thank you GWN. Glad to hear you compare hand turnin vs using a lathe, because that aspect of the job has been a toss-up for me. One of my drill presses doubles as a lathe, but not without quite an ordeal of pullling this off, turning this over, twistin this around, clamping this, squaring that, etc...

Sounds like it might be worth it for this project.

Have you rented the tools locally in VA before? Where from?
 
yankytrash,
The only tool I've rented was the thinwall set. This I rented from another student at school. The school has the Rem, Win and Tru choke tooling but not thinwall. Recently I ran across a site online that rents tooling. http://4-dproducts.com
George
 
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