NIB Gun with damaged crown

[284winner]

Looking for some advice.

For xmas, my (incredible) wife gave me a brand new rifle in 6.5 prc. I've been shooting/reloading AR-15s but this is my first real bolt-action.

Upon borescoping it, the crown seems messed up...but I'm not sure how big a deal to make out of it. For transparency, all I've done with this gun is unboxed it (ie no hap-hazard cleaning). I just e-mailed the manufacturer today to see what they say. But was curious what I should be pushing them to do here (new rifle, recrown the barrel)?

Video https://drive.google.com/file/d/14tEOC0mso9rYzHLf02i_QYWbwEtfyY5T/view?usp=sharing

Shoot first. IMO the only time to be concerned with the rifling is when it shoots poorly or curious about copper or carbon fouling. Bore scopes sometimes cause concerns that don't even exist. I bought a teslong to see how well I actually clean my barrels. Glad I did. It made me realize I sucked at cleaning barrels.

 

[msalm]

Personally I’d look at the rest of the rifling/bore and if good I would just re-crown it. Hell, you could use a chamfer tool from your reloading setup and clean it up passably. The copper wouldn’t concern me, just clean to bare steel and do a break in (or not) and shoot it.

 

[Drop Port]

Looks like you got a good one minus the boogered crown, you should have seen my Mod 70 Safari Express! Took an hour to clean from the factory and after one shot had 10x's the copper of yours. I put away the bore scope and cleaning supplies and worked up a load for the dirty pig and it piled 260 Partitions into 5/8 - 3/4 consistently.

 

[SmokinJoe]

BRACO is pretty good about fixing problems. I had an Extreme Weather 308 M70 sporter a few years ago with a screwed up chamber, chip galled in the neck and difficult extraction. Called their CS and they had me send rifle back for inspection. New rifle turned up in a few weeks. Give them a try, I think you will be happy with the results. Please let us know how this plays out.

 

[thejamesd]

That is a copper mine. Id bet its within their tolerance. But hey at least its got rifling! Gotta send back a brand new lever action 22mag that cant launch a bullet straight with forgotten rifling. View attachment 1305111

Tough to measure those groups!

 

[Rockchuck]

I don't think the crown is damaged from rough handing or bad tooling. I think it is a bad spot in the barrel steel itself. Yes I would most definitely want it replaced. Should have been caught at the factory but somethings slip through the cracks. Most of the time I get that one hahaha.

 

[okie]

I bet my 11 y.o. could cut a better crown with a twist drill and an pair of vice grips to hold it.

 

[Dave M.]

At first I thought the same thing, but there is no way someone mounted a scope before I got it. I am assuming the copper there was from proofing/test-firing.

I think that barrel has a lot more than 3-4 rounds down it.

 

[Branch68]

I don't think the crown is damaged from rough handing or bad tooling. I think it is a bad spot in the barrel steel itself. Yes I would most definitely want it replaced. Should have been caught at the factory but somethings slip through the cracks. Most of the time I get that one hahaha.

I took some of the earlier advice and spent the five minutes to lightly clean it. Punchline is, I do believe it's only had a few test rounds. Most of the "black" appears to be finish.

I also leaning to thinking this being some localized bad metallurgy. It gets really clear with a the camera backlighting the crown, you can see (and feel) the pock marks. Also,.the few bad spots upstream of the crown appear very contained...like the metal was softer there.
Definitely sending it back.

 

[1bamashooter]

Don't assume anything. My thought is the it used. test firing a new undamaged barrel would never leave that much copper fouling. The mouth of the barrel is deformed. Is there copper anywhere else in the barrel? At the very least, it will have to be shortened at the muzzle and recrowned.

Another thing, This looks like the breach of the barrel to me. It also looks as if there is firecraking involved here. I have never seen anything like that on any rifle at the muzzle end. And after viewing the video, Way too much copper to have only been test fired. The rifling is very clean in some parts. Looks like it was hand lapped. Other places are horrible.

I thought that about test fires too until I cleaned my brand new bergara for the first time it had a lot of copper for just a few test rounds

 

[Stugots]

Video was very revealing

 

[DGP4]

It may be a long wait for repair if it has to go back to Portugal. Does anyone know if they have repair facilities in the USA?

 

[Branch68]

Just an update. I finally sent it back today. I did finally end up getting some ammo to test it (hence the delay given the scarcity of 6.5prc). Performance and groups were poor. The wrong side of 1.5 inches at 100ith, not counting the flyers it was sporadically producing.

 

[RegionRat]

Just an update. I finally sent it back today. I did finally end up getting some ammo to test it (hence the delay given the scarcity of 6.5prc). Performance and groups were poor. The wrong side of 1.5 inches at 100ith, not counting the flyers it was sporadically producing.

In for the report of their assessment and how they remedy this rig.

Can't say I am surprised, crown damage can be hit and miss in terms of the total effect on performance.

Bummer it has taken the fun out of it and has taken so much time, but you are now on the turnaround and should be better from here on. Good Luck!

 

[Bob3700]

I think you made a good decision to send the rifle back. A bad spot in the metal at the crown could be alerting you to the fact that the bbl has other issues that perhaps you , right now, cannot see.

 

[Link]

Educate me - this doesn't look like a crown to me. It looks like it has been cut off with a hacksaw lol

 

[joshb]

Educate me - this doesn't look like a crown to me. It looks like it has been cut off with a hacksaw lol
View attachment 1313106

Read the whole post:
“Here is the barrel I just chopped on my table saw. Over 900 rounds down it. The barrel has not been crowned or cleaned up in any way.”

 

[Link]

Read the whole post:
“Here is the barrel I just chopped on my table saw. Over 900 rounds down it. The barrel has not been crowned or cleaned up in any way.”

I did read it, I guess I'm losing my comprehension along with other things lol
Thanks.

 

[joshb]

I did read it, I guess I'm losing my comprehension along with other things lol
Thanks.

Hey! I had to read it three times and zoom in to see it! Don’t feel bad!

 

[Tommie]

Today I spoke with a manager at an outdoor chain store. I was told that firearm quality has taken a hit over the last year or so. They’re getting a lot of customers new bringing guns back with serious defects.