08-23-2018, 11:00 PM
Double-Star, in my mind, has a solid reputation for a low- to mid-level barrel. At that level, consistency will be somewhat variable, but quality will be acceptable. I've never owned or shot one, however, that's just my gut-level feeling from the internet.
My opinion: If it were me, I'd (1) finish ream the barrel. You can do this by spinning the reamer in the chamber with firm, but not crazy firm, finger pressure. You don't want to make the overall chamber deeper, cuz then you're changing the headspace, but you want to "re-cut" the rifling in the throat if it's not SAAMI. (2) Then, both do some chambering tests with factory ammo as you have done previously, and make a new chamber cast to see if there's any difference. (3) Shoot it if the first angle of the lands seems shallower than your previous cast and if ammo is not sticking badly. Also remember that things loosen up and settle in after the weapon is fired and cycled a bunch of times.
Doing it this way saves you both the expense of a new barrel and gunsmith services. I don't know how a gunsmith could spin a reamer in there any better than you; it's got a magnetic floating pilot so it kinda just pops into place and centers itself. But hire one if you want.
And if it were me, first few firings I'd keep my face a safe distance away from the receiver and carefully inspect each and every brass until I was either confident or scared.
It's possible this barrel was reamed in an era (I think we're still in that era, to some extent) where a popular Pacific Northwest reamer maker would send Grendel reamers with his preferred "dimensions-of-the-day" to unsuspecting barrel makers. His attitude was: "The compound throat idea is stupid — except when I later tried to market a very similar concept — and so I'll give you what SAAMI should have been, because I know better than everybody else, particularly Bill Alexander. And you'll thank me later when your rifle shoots great and then — surprise! — it's not a real SAAMI chamber, but my own concoction, and now you've proved to yourself I was right all along!" Not saying that's the case here, but is a possibility.
My opinion: If it were me, I'd (1) finish ream the barrel. You can do this by spinning the reamer in the chamber with firm, but not crazy firm, finger pressure. You don't want to make the overall chamber deeper, cuz then you're changing the headspace, but you want to "re-cut" the rifling in the throat if it's not SAAMI. (2) Then, both do some chambering tests with factory ammo as you have done previously, and make a new chamber cast to see if there's any difference. (3) Shoot it if the first angle of the lands seems shallower than your previous cast and if ammo is not sticking badly. Also remember that things loosen up and settle in after the weapon is fired and cycled a bunch of times.
Doing it this way saves you both the expense of a new barrel and gunsmith services. I don't know how a gunsmith could spin a reamer in there any better than you; it's got a magnetic floating pilot so it kinda just pops into place and centers itself. But hire one if you want.
And if it were me, first few firings I'd keep my face a safe distance away from the receiver and carefully inspect each and every brass until I was either confident or scared.
It's possible this barrel was reamed in an era (I think we're still in that era, to some extent) where a popular Pacific Northwest reamer maker would send Grendel reamers with his preferred "dimensions-of-the-day" to unsuspecting barrel makers. His attitude was: "The compound throat idea is stupid — except when I later tried to market a very similar concept — and so I'll give you what SAAMI should have been, because I know better than everybody else, particularly Bill Alexander. And you'll thank me later when your rifle shoots great and then — surprise! — it's not a real SAAMI chamber, but my own concoction, and now you've proved to yourself I was right all along!" Not saying that's the case here, but is a possibility.
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