My rifle dropped, muzzle first, onto pavement. The crown has some dings in it.

I have very few gunsmithing skills, but I like to learn. I'm sure I've heard of a simple "crown fixing" tool before...

I have a drill press, but no lathe. Is this something I should even bother mucking with?

thanks

Muck away! First circumsize about 1/4" off the muzzle. True the muzzle using a square and a file. Make it as perfect as you are able. Break the wire edge at the muzzle with a round stone that is larger than the bore, about a 1/2 inch stone for a 30 cal barrel. Use the hand grinder stones driven in a variable speed drill. Go slow and press little. Rrotate the axis of the stone's shaft as you go. try to make it wear evenly. Do not shove it straight in. Lastly go around the outside of the muzzle and break the wire edge. Wipe the grit out and go shooting. It may shoot well now. Maybe not, depends on how carefull you were. If results are poor get a gunsmith to do it in a lathe. Brownells sells piloted crowning tools for manual use but, they are expensive. You have no use for a drill press on this job.

Before you do anything, shoot it to see if the damage actually effects accuracy. If the dings are cosmetic, don't mess with it. If not, Brownell's sells a simple lap with instructions, that will work in your drill press. Try recrowning without cutting anything off first. Only bob the barrel as a last resort.

Severe damage will require a bit of barrel shortening, but usually you do not have to. A bit of lapping will suffice to remove burrs ...

In most cases, you can use a brass rod with a rounded tip or a bullet of slightly larger calibre than your bore and a bit of lapping compound. Set your barrel vertical in a vise, then use a variable-speed drill with the brass rod or bullet (point facing into the bore) to smooth the edges of the hole. I've found it best to (slightly) move the drill in small orbits away from the vertical...

If it is a blued barrel, you can see the bright line of polished steel slowly showing up around the end of the bore. Stop when it gets to be about 0.5 mm in width or so. As I have used this technique, you are lapping away burrs which entend into the path of the bullet (all I've ever found necessary).

I'm sure the above technique is not recommended for a real benchrest rifle! However, I've used this technique on a handful of rifles which subsequently shot under 1 MOA (and one was close to 0.5 MOA) so it can't be that bad. Other rifles shot 1.5 to 2 MOA, but that was the best they ever did before they sustained their muzzle damage.

Use fine lapping compound and lapping will go slowly enough that you be totally in control of what you are doing. I forget the grit I use (container is at home and I'm not), but 400 grit is in the ballpark -- might have been 600. Slow, but safe anyway...

jpb

A hand job is a hand job any way you cut it!! never as good as the real thing...It doesn't cost much to have a barrel recrowned by a competent gunsmith on a lathe...

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com