12FV .223 throat reaming

[joeb33050]

New 12 FV .223, for cast bullets. Throat is so short only bullet nose is out of the case.
Gun Digest article about 5.56 vs 223 shows short throat for 223, longer for 5.56.
Can anyone tell me of a gunsmith who can throat a 223 Sav barrel, for cast bullets-sorta like a 5.56 throat??
Thanks;
joe b.

[ellobo]

Any competant gunsmith in your area should be able to give you any length throut you want.

El Lobo

[redman]

Yes. I have researched this a little lately as I was wondering about lengthening the throat on my 260 AI to shoot the high bc long bullets.

What I have determined is that it is easier for a smith to make a custom length throat at the same time as he chambers your rifle as the reamer would chamber and throat with the same tool and would assure perfect alignment. So if you want a custom throat this would be the best but you and I already have our barrels chambered so we need to go a different route.

They do make reamers just for this purpose but it takes great care to do it perfectly. You may want to contact some local smiths to see if they have one of these throat only reamers in your caliber. 4D rents these out but I am not sure if they are diy friendly.

As far as using the 5.56 reamer I would say this may solve your problem but possibly at the cost of accuracy. I am not sure but I do believe the 5.56 reamer you speak of not only extends the throat but pretty much changes the chamber from 223 to 5.56. If you plan on shooting 223 ammo you could see decreased accuracy in a 5.56 chamber.

[joeb33050]

No luck so far finding a local gunsmith to ream the throat. Can anyone suggest a gunsmith to do this work?
Thanks;
joe b.

[scope eye]

Joe I hope you don't intend on launching those cast bullets much more than 2000 FPS, cause if you do they will only make it a couple of feet past the muzzle before vaporizing, just a heads up

Tanks Dean

[handirifle]

Yea if it were me, I'd buy a take off 223 barrel and do the work on it, and not mess with the factory FV barrel. Is this barrel accurate with jacketed loads?

Even at 2000fps without a gas check, you are still very likely to get a lot of leading in the bore. What are your target velocities?

[ellobo]

With hard cast bullets (those containning tin)with a gas check in my 30-06 I never saw leading and I got a velocity at 2400 FPS. But that was with a Winchester model 70 with a cut rifled barrel. A button broached barrel may be a different breed as those load up with copper pretty regularly until they are smoothed out by shooting.

El Lobo

[bigedp51]

Your problem might be the bullet you are trying to use and not the throat, have you tried a more pointed bullet.

Also having help a friend load and shoot cast bullets for a .222 I can tell you it can be very frustrating. We even got into wrapping the bullets with plumbers teflon tape in lieu of bullet lube, but it was hard to cast perfect uniform bullets that small and accuracy suffered.