Was this barrel properly re-crowned?

**Chrazy-Chris** · 09-20-2014, 03:12 PM

Background: I picked up my barrel today from getting cut, threaded, and (supposedly) crowned. Does this barrel look properly re-crowned to you guys?

Additional Info: I am concerned because it went to a third party through the local gun store who I found out later on is a machinist first and (supposed) gunsmith second. There is no apparent recess anywhere on the muzzle. There were a few other red flags - the brand new brake I provided came back dinged up and installed with a crush washer rather than a shim kit and the one-piece scope mount was put on backwards. I'm going to shoot it tomorrow which should show if the crown (or lack thereof) is an issue. What do you guys think? Does this look right?

Thanks for your help.

**bootsmcguire** · 09-20-2014, 03:38 PM

In your last 2 pics you can see that the ends of the lands are chamfered so what you appear to have is a 90* crown. Now if you spec'ed out something different then there is an error. Many smiths will thread barrels and use a 90* crown. I know older custom target barrels (60's-70's) would use such a crown. My grandfather had several custom built target rifles that had them.

As for your brake, the dings are between you and him. If you spec'ed that he use a shim kit, and he used a crush washer then yes, it is not what you ordered. If you did not spec one way or the other, a crush washer is an accepted way to mount a brake in many circles.

**Chrazy-Chris** · 09-20-2014, 05:18 PM

Originally Posted by bootsmcguire

In your last 2 pics you can see that the ends of the lands are chamfered so what you appear to have is a 90* crown. Now if you spec'ed out something different then there is an error. Many smiths will thread barrels and use a 90* crown. I know older custom target barrels (60's-70's) would use such a crown. My grandfather had several custom built target rifles that had them.

As for your brake, the dings are between you and him. If you spec'ed that he use a shim kit, and he used a crush washer then yes, it is not what you ordered. If you did not spec one way or the other, a crush washer is an accepted way to mount a brake in many circles.

Thanks for the insight. I only mentioned the ding and crush washer since they are a few of the items that caused me to question him in the first place. I'm not worried about the crown getting damaged since it will be protected by the brake at all times. I just expected it to still have somewhat of a recess. I'll follow up with groups tomorrow.

**bootsmcguire** · 09-21-2014, 12:55 AM

Good luck and let us know.

LongRange · 09-21-2014, 09:10 AM

This is the crown on my factory 300wm barrel....pretty ugly but shot well

**Chrazy-Chris** · 09-21-2014, 02:23 PM

It seems to shoot okay. I didn't have time to put some reloads together and had trouble finding any match ammo so this was with Hornady Superformance 165gr SSTs:

100yrd

200yrd

Thanks

LongRange · 09-21-2014, 03:47 PM

A little fine tuning and it looks like it will shoot.

**FEENIX** · 09-27-2014, 07:42 AM

I agree with previous posts. Did you specify the crown type to the smith?

**jonbearman** · 09-27-2014, 08:04 AM

What distance did you fire the group at?

**FEENIX** · 09-27-2014, 09:51 AM

Originally Posted by jonbearman

What distance did you fire the group at?

Bottom left of his pix shows 100 and 200 yards ... almost missed it too!.

**Chrazy-Chris** · 09-28-2014, 03:36 AM

No, I did not specify the crown. I don't have a lot of experience with this stuff so I just let him do his thing, assuming he would set me up with whatever kind of crown he thought would work best. In my limited experience I know that the crown is usually recessed somewhat so when I saw this, in combination with the other red flags, I was just a little concerned and wanted to get a quick read from you guys on it. Thanks for your input.

Unfortunately I'm in the desert now so I won't see this rifle again for a year. You got it on the distances - 100 and 200yrds. When I get home I'm going to do some load development and hopefully get her shooting 1MOA consistently. This is an 11VT I had cut to 18". I plan to use it for hunting and steel. I got it threaded for a quick detach suppressor (my deployment present to myself since I'm gone for a year that way the ATF paperwork will be done by the time I get home). I'm excited to get her shooting. I also have an HS precision stock on order. I switched out the scope with a 3-10x40 mil/mil which is a lot lighter than the SWFA 16x on it before. It should balance nicely and be a nifty all around rifle that I won't be afraid to beat around a little bit.

Untitled by Chrazy-Chris, on Flickr

Thanks for your help guys.