grizzly 4003G VS PM 1236??

Bobby

Great looking rifle.

On rifles of this type, how do you order your reamers ?
Do you use a standard reamer or do you spec it to suit your needs ?
Something like a reamer ground to minimum specs, with the neck .003 over loaded ammo neck diameter ?
Hal
 
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For tactical style or long range hunting rifles, I specify minimum SAMMI spec on everything except the neck, I usually go a little less there. Also note that min SAMMI is still more than .003 over the other critical case dimensions. I want rifles that chamber rounds with ease, rather the customer is hand loading or feeding Fed GMM. It also helps when a die is slightly out of spec. I once had a Redding .260Rem die that wouldn't bump the shoulder back on fired rounds that had less than .002" headspace. I had to turn a little off the bottom of the die to get it to bump the shoulder back enough to chamber resized rounds.
 
For what it is worth, i do know for a fact that my smith Jon Beanland has built several 7mm that will print one hole at 100 yards 3 shot groups. I have seen the targets and jon is as honest as the day is long. I think he uses a Jet lathe. I have no doubt that mans rifle will shoot that well. Now i just wish my shilen 6 dasher would. LOL!! Nice job!! By the way, I talked with some real fine folks yesterday about the grizzly lathe, and i am more than sure it will be our choice. The machine shop/ range building will be complete by july, so it wont be long and i will have my very own machine shop with two concrete shooting benches with a 200 yard view of a big old pile of dirt!! I cant hardly wait!! Lee
 
Lee, that is a 5 shot group, not 3 that I posted above.
Let me also warn you that building rifles can be VERY dangerous. I appreciate your enthusiasm, but go slow, and have an experienced gunsmith watch over your shoulder for the first few. Enroll in the local tech school and start taking some machining classes. Have you applied for an FFL yet?
 
I received a Grizzly flier this week and the 4003g is on sale. I've been swinging back and forth on the same two lathes but I'm going with the PM lathe. I know of a couple 4003g's that were in use and the owners would never own one again, multiple bearing and bushing failures and thread chatter also the one would not cut the correct thread pitch at 20TPI for Savages. I've talked two a couple guys that have had both and they prefer the PM. I think you can find it both ways, any lathe at this dollar level and size will likely be equal in people who like them and who hate them. I also like that I can have a DRO installed when it gets of the boat. Hopefully we'll see by fall.
 
I bought the PM1236 and its been good so far, I had a couple little issues but they ere easy fixes. The backplate on the four jaw chuck ran out .020 (easy fix) and I had some issues with the steady coming loose(I tapped bigger set screws and put set screws on the back as well, once the brass inserts rounded out I havnt had an issue since) It came with all the tools to put it together and work on it, coolant system, light, quick change tool post and holders, and a lot more. You do have to change some gears to do certain threads(not ones Ive need yet) and you have to move the belts to different pullies to use some of gears(havent needed to yet). As far as dealing with the people I bought from they have been nice and always respond but I havent had any big issues yet. I have heard good and bad about both, and far as buying a cheaper Chinese machine its kinda like rolling the dice IMO.
Jonathan Kuykendall
 
bigngreen said:
........also the one would not cut the correct thread pitch at 20TPI for Savages.
I don't know which lathe the person you spoke with has, but all three of our gunsmithing models can cut the 20 T.P.I thread. See attachment:
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Click to expand...
 

Attachments

  • GS Lathe Thread Charts C20.pdf
    714.3 KB · Views: 447
Shiraz,

I'm a little confused about the chart for the G4003G. Some of the thread pitches call for "N", some for "ANY", and some for "ALL". What indicator dial numbers should a person use for 18TPI? Assuming that the "N" stands for "non numbered position" what is the difference between "ANY" and "ALL"?

Scott Roeder
 
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Bobby,

How many barrels have you chambered now? From the target it looks like you're doing a good job. Gordy's a great teacher!
 
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SGS said:
Shiraz,

I'm a little confused about the chart for the G4003G. Some of the thread pitches call for "N", some for "ANY", and some for "ALL". What indicator dial numbers should a person use for 18TPI? Assuming that the "N" stands for "non numbered position" what is the difference between "ANY" and "ALL"?

Scott Roeder
Click to expand...

Scott - from our instruction manual:
 

Attachments

  • G4003G Thread Dial Chart.pdf
    654.6 KB · Views: 478
bigngreen said:
The particular lathe mechanically would not cut 20 tpi when set correctly, the same as another one in fact, it was a 4003g.
Click to expand...

Bigngreen - could you PM me the names of these two individuals so I can look into the notes in our system to see if this was a reported problem. A quick discussion with a couple of our engineers here, who would deal with these types of problems, indicated that they were not aware of an issue such as this. Thanks.
 
Shiraz Balolia said:
Scott - from our instruction manual:
Click to expand...

A common practice is to always engage on the number 1 on the thread dial as it is the universal number good for any of the threads. Always use #1 and you should be good to go.
 
eddief said:
Bobby,

How many barrels have you chambered now? From the target it looks like you're doing a good job. Gordy's a great teacher!
Click to expand...

Hiya Eddie! You giving Karl a run for his money with those 6mm's yet?
How many barrels...hmmmm... do pistol barrels count too? If so, a blue bazillion. Just rifle barrels, not enough to claim to be an expert.
That 7WSM I built for Clark did in fact prove to be a performer this passed weekend at the Allegheny Sniper Challenge. He bested some excellent alumni to bring in the winning score.

This is a little OT, but here is my thoughts on machines. You'll often hear it's the operator, not the machine. Now I don't claim to be a master machinist, but I've learned on these machines and I'm holding myself to a pretty high standard. I don't know if this is going to make much sense, but I never knew I couldn't do quality work on my 12x36 ShopFox machine, so that's all I've done. Momma always told me there wasn't nothing I couldn't do, and she has always been right thus far, got no reason to doubt her. So when I got my little lathe set up and broken in, I started making chips. Fortunately I have some pretty accomplished machinists in the next big town over so I have someone to check my work. I did install a DRO on my machine and I think it offers a considerable amount of aid. So not knowing I couldn't do good work on my machine, I've just been doing it. If I'd spent much time reading what the naysayers have said I'd probably be doing some crappy machining and would have quit long ago. My friend that's been building rifles full time for about 8 years now said I just have a knack for it. I can say this much, building a rifle is much more enjoyable, and IMO much easier than the full blown custom pistol builds I've been doing.
 
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