high country
Member
I am hoping to get an opinion on the chamber of a barrel that I got from McGowan barrels (stainless Howage 6mm ARC). When I first got it, the machining on the chamber was horrible, there were remnant metal chips left in the neck and obvious chatter left when I removed the chips. I returned it to McGowen for inspection and repair. They "inspected and polished" the chamber, according to their paperwork.
On receiving it back today, I inspected the chamber and there is an obvious chip/chunk missing from the front edge of the neck where it goes to the leade. They definitely cleaned it up, and it is polished fairly nicely, but that chip definitely seems like a problem. I am going to reach out to them in the morning, but am frustrated to say the least. Their barrels are reasonably priced, but it seems to me that someone inspecting this and letting it pass, twice, is questionable.
I would appreciate any insights on whether you folks would be willing to run a barrel that looked like this (recreational, not competition, but I do plan to work up loads for accuracy and use it for target work), or if that blemish would be a non-starter. I am no expert on rifle chamber machining, but have done a decent amount of chamber work on revolvers. I know that if I cut a revolver throat or forcing cone and it looked like that I would have an issue with it.
Sorry for the not-great cell phone photo, I don't have a bore scope. Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this chamber.
On receiving it back today, I inspected the chamber and there is an obvious chip/chunk missing from the front edge of the neck where it goes to the leade. They definitely cleaned it up, and it is polished fairly nicely, but that chip definitely seems like a problem. I am going to reach out to them in the morning, but am frustrated to say the least. Their barrels are reasonably priced, but it seems to me that someone inspecting this and letting it pass, twice, is questionable.
I would appreciate any insights on whether you folks would be willing to run a barrel that looked like this (recreational, not competition, but I do plan to work up loads for accuracy and use it for target work), or if that blemish would be a non-starter. I am no expert on rifle chamber machining, but have done a decent amount of chamber work on revolvers. I know that if I cut a revolver throat or forcing cone and it looked like that I would have an issue with it.
Sorry for the not-great cell phone photo, I don't have a bore scope. Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this chamber.