BROWNELLS - 5 Chamfer Cutter For .38 Caliber

I wanted to reach in and cut out the thread choke without touching the cone boundary. Success! 7 handguns completed so far and I found nick’s advice helpful. I will add that it helped me to remove the grips and secure the frame in a vise. The 45s cut like butter (shorter cut, larger bore & shorter rifling) both moly & stainless compared to the 44s regardless of steel type. Use cutting oil, keep the cutter from loading up, and you get a near perfect finish. More importantly, 6 out of 7 guns had dramatic accuracy improvement.

I have used different brands and versions of these cone cutters, 5, 11 and 18 degrees and this one worked pretty well. It did leave a ring that needs to be lapped out. The key to any of these in my opinion at least if you're starting with little or no cone is to start with very little pressure until you break down the rifling. If you just "force" it to cut it can easily damage either the rather small threaded rod or you can crack the tool at the threads. Once it starts cutting it should smooth out and begin a good smooth cut.

5* 44-45 revolver forcing cone cutter: This item was indispensable to my project however had some QC issues from the start. First the threads were galled making it hard to start on the rod. I was able to chase this out with a tap however it was not a bottoming tap and the threads were also galled about 2/3 of the way in. I was able to chase this out gently with a hardened screw and make it functional but being new I would have preferred spending my time elsewhere. Second, only one of the 3 flutes did the cutting as though the other 2 had been sharpened beyond the cutting cone of the one. All three were keenly sharp. With only one flute cutting, great care had to be exercised in use. When all 3 are cutting it tends to center the cutter in the hole (barrel). With one, the tendency is to force over to one side making a non-concentric cone, off center with the barrel/cylinder. If I kept the swarf to grit size instead of chip size I think it was making a pretty centered cone but this requires a tickling touch and takes literally hours longer than the 10 minutes this task typically takes. Can't really recommend it unless you don't mind fidgeting with stuff and can exercise great patience and care. Proceed with caution.

Brownells 11 chamfer cutter works great, but the 5 chamfer cutter is a round chunk of steel. The one I was using on a 45-Cal revolver did't cut worth anything. The 5 cutter was dull from the beginning, and apparently the tool grinder doesn't know how to back-relieve cutting flutes. Unless great improvements are made, I would never recommend this cutter.

Just as Keith Sharp said in his review, this cutter would not cut at all. It did, however, damage the barrel. I read some literature from a rental outfit that says that these are high speed steel and that this "may not" cut newer stainless steel barrels that can be ultra hard. Brownell's needs to look into this. If the cutters are defective, find another source. If the cutters will not cut modern stainless, the ad should say that. This issue cannot be left alone.