I recrowned my barrel today. I know, I know, most of you will ask why. The answer is simple. I was starting to lose faith in my factory crown. It looked fine a while back, but I never really truly looked at it real close or from straight on. I always figured it was good because my groups were pretty good.
I shot some velocitors a while back and the POI was low and right. I did not like this and started to wonder about the crown. Well, back to today. I scrubbed my barrel squeaky clean and made sure to remove all the carbon from the crown. Sure enough when I looked at it real good, it was cut wrong from the factory.
I decided right there that it had to be fixed. I was going to order a reamer from dave manson for the recrown but I had a hard time parting with $125+shipping.
Some of you know I have a wood lathe and like to turn plastic and metal on it as well. I decided I might as well try recrowning my barrel and if it didn't work, I would have to get the reamer anyway and if it did work I wouldn't have to spent $150.
I have to say with a BIG grin that it was a smashing success! I removed the barrel and stuck it in the lathe. That 20 inches of barrel wanted to move around some when I spun it up so I put a rest under it and used a paper towel for a buffer and grabbed a couple of files and a parting tool and went to it.
I had to do it freehand because my rest was under the barrel. There was no chatter this way and the metal peeled off as if it was brass. I was very surprised.
The whole job took less than 10 minutes. The new crown looks WAY better than the old one and is perfect. No burrs at all. I polished it with some fine crocus cloth and put some oil on it until I can get more cold blue.
![url]](http://[IMG][url="http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af215/Ike-carlson/3-1.jpg"]http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af215/Ike-carlson/3-1.jpg[/url])
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The camera battery went dead so a phone pic will have to do for now....
![url]](http://[IMG][url="http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af215/Ike-carlson/2-1.jpg"]http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af215/Ike-carlson/2-1.jpg[/url])
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I fired 5 rounds after assembling the rifle just to test for function. There were no problems and the report sounded sharp and crisp instead of dull. I packed up and headed over to my dad's place to say hello. I would test the rifle there and see how my crown had turned out.
Remember, I had scrubbed the barrel clean before the work and had already fired 5 shots at home. Now it was a cold barrel again. I set up a target in the yard somewhere between 35 and 50 yards. My brother held a flashlight so I could see the target and I shot 6 quick 5 shot groups from a prone position on the cold deck. BRRRR. I was cold and shivering.
My brother retrieved the target and said the last two groups were ok but the first 4 were horrible. My heart sank. Until I saw the target. I wished I had shot more groups because they were still tightening up as the barrel re-seasoned. Here is the target he retrieved.
![url]](http://[IMG][url="http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af215/Ike-carlson/CameraZOOM-20121011245443201.jpg"]http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af215/Ike-carlson/CameraZOOM-20121011245443201.jpg[/url])
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I am very satisfied with the new crown and prefer this shape to the 11° crown the manson reamer would have given me. The best part is, I can cut any shape crown I want, free!!!
If you are wondering about a new crown, just do it. That is all I can say. It can't hurt anything and sure could help. happy shooting.
I shot some velocitors a while back and the POI was low and right. I did not like this and started to wonder about the crown. Well, back to today. I scrubbed my barrel squeaky clean and made sure to remove all the carbon from the crown. Sure enough when I looked at it real good, it was cut wrong from the factory.
I decided right there that it had to be fixed. I was going to order a reamer from dave manson for the recrown but I had a hard time parting with $125+shipping.
Some of you know I have a wood lathe and like to turn plastic and metal on it as well. I decided I might as well try recrowning my barrel and if it didn't work, I would have to get the reamer anyway and if it did work I wouldn't have to spent $150.
I have to say with a BIG grin that it was a smashing success! I removed the barrel and stuck it in the lathe. That 20 inches of barrel wanted to move around some when I spun it up so I put a rest under it and used a paper towel for a buffer and grabbed a couple of files and a parting tool and went to it.
I had to do it freehand because my rest was under the barrel. There was no chatter this way and the metal peeled off as if it was brass. I was very surprised.
The whole job took less than 10 minutes. The new crown looks WAY better than the old one and is perfect. No burrs at all. I polished it with some fine crocus cloth and put some oil on it until I can get more cold blue.
The camera battery went dead so a phone pic will have to do for now....
I fired 5 rounds after assembling the rifle just to test for function. There were no problems and the report sounded sharp and crisp instead of dull. I packed up and headed over to my dad's place to say hello. I would test the rifle there and see how my crown had turned out.
Remember, I had scrubbed the barrel clean before the work and had already fired 5 shots at home. Now it was a cold barrel again. I set up a target in the yard somewhere between 35 and 50 yards. My brother held a flashlight so I could see the target and I shot 6 quick 5 shot groups from a prone position on the cold deck. BRRRR. I was cold and shivering.
My brother retrieved the target and said the last two groups were ok but the first 4 were horrible. My heart sank. Until I saw the target. I wished I had shot more groups because they were still tightening up as the barrel re-seasoned. Here is the target he retrieved.
I am very satisfied with the new crown and prefer this shape to the 11° crown the manson reamer would have given me. The best part is, I can cut any shape crown I want, free!!!
If you are wondering about a new crown, just do it. That is all I can say. It can't hurt anything and sure could help. happy shooting.
