I've been thinking. I have a Remington M700 in 300 WM. It is an ADL Synthetic with a Nikon 4.5-14x40 AO on it. I also have a Harris 25C bipod on it too. Im thinking about getting the factory barrel recrowned to an 11* target crown. Im leaving it at 24", just want a new crown. Would this noticably help my accuracy? Im still putting the finishing touches on my handloads so I cant say what the accuracy is right now. Im using 180gr Nosler Partitions in front of 75.5 grs of RL22 and CCI 250 MR primers.

David you might consider waiting till you have those handloads tweeked to see how the rifle does like it is. Then you'll have a benchmark to compare too if you do go ahead with the recrown.

David, my vote is DO IT! I do all kinds of tinkering around on factory 700`s, I have been well coached by gunsmiths as to what is and isn`t going to help. Pillar bedding in a GOOD stock, 2 1/2 to 3# trigger, polish crown, clean bore, good glass. The out of box Remingtons need lots of help at the crown. Best regards Tim.

You might do it yourself. I have done a few and they all turned out very good. The last one I did was my M-52! It just did not group as well as I expected and now it does.

If you mess it up then take it to the gunsmith to turn on a new crown.

David----

All faccory barrels can benefit from recrowning but the 11 degree is not suitable *unless* the bore is dead center the outside of the barrel. That is nearly NEVER the case with factory barrels.

The eleven degree works well if the muzzle is held and indicated true to the bore in a four jaw, but that's extra work.

When the barrel is supported in a steady rest make the first cut 90 degrees to the bore and then start the eleven degree (or any angle you think looks good, there's absolutely no difference between them). That way the crown is square with the bore.

I've never seen a factory barrel that didn't need help with the crown but you can't always tell a difference in performance by doing it.

Dave, Last year I installed a muzzle brake on my .300 Ultra Mag. Rem 700 BDL. After I indicated in the barrel in a 4 jaw chuck ( I used a bore plug) you could see the factory crown was way off. Had to remove .040" off the end of the barrel to get rid of the origional crown and start over. Rifle was new with only 20 rounds thru it. Definitely didn't hurt the accuracy, but I didn't have a base line to work from to compare before/after.

[ 10-09-2002, 20:24: Message edited by: AJ300MAG ]

Thanx guys, Im pretty sure Im getting it recrowned. I dont have the tools or the money to get the tools so I will trust it to the gunsmith. But thanx for the insite and the help.

Well, if you're all hot-to-trot to try it, Brownells has a DIY kit. Fairly hard to screw it up -- unless you do NOT read the instructions first. Your call.

Russ

Get your loads down first.. then if it don't shoot,

1: fold a biz card in half and stick it under the barrel about 1"back

2: set you OAL back .005 and then .01 and see if it makes a diff

3: have it crowned.. can't really hurt

jeffe

I've rarely seen a factory rifle that did not benefit from having a good crown job. I don't call it re-crowning, because most of the jobs from the factory aren't worth calling a crown.

I use that nice tool from Brownells with a 11 deg cutter. The interchangeable pilots do a real nice job of centering the crown, even in off-center factory barrels.

Run it REAL - REAL slow, with normal cutting fluid.

Here is something I have heard of but not tried, and that is to remove the roller ball out of an old mouse and peel the coating off it, then use it with clover compound to recut the crown. Supposedly the radius of the ball gives an 11 degree angle. I remembered it because I think it might be an easy way to clean up a dinged muzzle, not necessarily for a target gun .

Personally, I'd get my loads tweaked as best I could first before looking at anything else. How does it shoot with factory ammo? Also, no offense but you might have one or two other people shoot it off the sandbags before you decide a load isn't working. Happens that way sometimes.

Recrowning a factory barrel never hurts. I agree with everyone else to shoot it first and see what it does before doing anything. Some of the Rem ADL's will shoot sub-MOA groups with no tweaking at all. Handloads are definately the way to go. I'm ambivalent on the 11 degree crown myself. I cant see any difference between this angle and any other. The most important thing to me is that the crown is square with the bore , concentric and has no burrs. After you shoot ten rounds or so and without cleaning first, look at the powder marks on the crown, are they even and consistent. If so, you might leave it alone. If not, definately recrown. In the end, this is what I use to judge a good crown. I never saw a gun that shot really well that didn't show an even, clean, consistent burn pattern on the crown. -Rob

Excellent advise Robgunbuilder, I will add that I use the ball end muzzle laps from Brownells with 400 grit , 600 grit, 800 grit, 1200 grit, compound. I use what I think is 240 grit if the new lapping ring is a long way from the actual bore to speed things up a bit, then work down in abrasive sizes, end up with a polish that friends say you can "comb your hair in". You`ll want to reshape the ball end quite often also as it is much softer than barrel steel. I do this on every rifle along with pillar bed, free float and reduce trigger pull.

It is said, that the worlds most deadly weapon, a Marine Corps Sniper and his rifle, no matter how disciplined or practiced, no matter how well maintained his weapon, or, how good the ammunition, "could not hit his ass with both hands" if his rifles crown has the slightest defect, for it is the muzzles crown that is the last to touch the bullet as it exits the bore en route to the target. This is not only true of rifles, it is true of ALL firearms.

The muzzle and throat of a weapon is "THE MOST ABUSED" and neglected part of the weapon system, yet it is the "MOST CRITICAL" to the overall accuracy of the weapon. First off, muzzles are rarely, if at all, correct when they come from the manufacturer. They are either off center, not square to the bore or they are nicked, causing an uneven or flawed release of the bullet. They are further damaged by improper or careless cleaning. Shooters will go to a great pains to protect the chamber end with the latest bore guides and such, but generally fail to protect the last area to touch the bullet, the crown.

If you look at a correctly cut muzzle crown, you will notice how perfectly visible each land and groove is and how sharp and cleanly they end. It is this sharp, clean edge that must be protected from damage.

For those who are inexperienced in the proper care of their weapons to maintain peak accuracy, you will more than likely have to modify your cleaning practice in order to protect the crown from future damage. The cleaning rod and accessories, must never make contact with the crown. The bronze bore brush or cleaning patch must carefully pass through the crown in a manner that keeps the cleaning rod, jag and brush base, from coming into direct contact with the crisp lands and grooves at the crown.

Do not allow anyone to place anything in the bore of your rifle, including bore sighting tools as this too can damage the crown. Depending on the design of your weapon, you may have to clean it from the muzzle. If so, obtain a proper muzzle guide to protect the muzzle from damage. One such muzzle guide can be obtained at <www.ucprecision.com>.

Protect the crown at all cost. Over time, it is inevitable that damage will occur, however, by being vigilant and regularly inspecting this part of the weapon, you will catch and correct any damage before it becomes a source of trouble.

Malm