After Christmas I bought a 6mm Mongoose barrel to put together a long range varmint AR-15. It was suppost to be a premium quality barrel.
Here's the chamber cast. The pictures are of opposite sides.
![Image](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-kkbqhwv/0/f0cc807f/L/i-kkbqhwv-L.jpg)
![Image](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-8z9pVJT/0/67688cb1/L/i-8z9pVJT-L.jpg)
I returned it for a refund and then bought a cheap no-name 6.5 Grendel barrel. Premium, ISO quality, blah, blah...
Here's the chamber cast. The pictures are of opposite sides.
![Image](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-qVwTsnq/0/55972286/L/i-qVwTsnq-L.jpg)
![Image](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-m7DM5XV/0/4ad0c8ef/L/i-m7DM5XV-L.jpg)
I returned that one for a refund and figured that the AR parts are a crap shoot and so I decided to just get one of those nice Howa Mini rifles in 6.5 Grendel. I have one in .223 and it's a jewel.
I shot one round tonight and had a tough time lifting the bolt. The neck cracked. Yea, it's a cheap steel case. It's what I had on hand after dialing in my brother's 6.5 Grendel AR. But he hasn't had a single problem in over 500 rounds.
Anyway, here's the Howa chamber cast. Again, the pictures are of opposite sides.
![Image](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-jKXmV7v/0/48d92a86/L/i-jKXmV7v-L.jpg)
![Image](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-WVCwspH/0/cb1b2567/L/i-WVCwspH-L.jpg)
![Image](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-Vw4Kk8Z/0/180ad833/L/i-Vw4Kk8Z-L.jpg)
In my work fitting cast bullets I've not encountered chambers like this. I've even rechambered several myself by hand and never cut anything like this.
So, is it me expecting too much? Has anyone run across anything like this before?