Crowning a barrel at home

[peterf225]

Has anyone had decent success cutting, squaring, and crowning a barrel at home with hand tools available from Brownells?

Have a few barrels i would like to shorten and re-crown. These are hunting barrels not competition barrels.

 

[jackieschmidt]

We have a local craftsmen, a retired Harris County Deputy Constable, who uses the Brownell Crowning tools.

The crowns he does look look pretty darned nice.

If properly used, there is no reason you can’t cut a bur free crown that is reasonably square with the bore.

 

[JasonT]

Manson makes an excellent kit for home crowning…makes crowns 99% of a true lathe-cut crown.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I think if you take your time and use good oil you can do a good job on them. Id run it by hand with a tap handle not a drill

 

[tobnpr]

DM's kit is nice, as it allows "float" so you don't inadvertently influence the cutter with side pressure- but it ain't cheap because of this.
Even the single piloted cutters will do an decent job, as long as the brass pilot fits the bore snug/correctly.

For multiple barrels you say that need to be crowned, probably worth the investment for you.

 

[peterf225]

Thanks for the info. I will look around at the different offerings for tools. If I do take this on, I will post a few pictures.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

By the time you buy a crowning tool and a pilot set you may be money ahead to have it cut by a gunsmith in the lathe, if youll only be doing one

 

[Walt Krafft]

I was practicing offhand with a rifle and didnt like the balance. Cut the barrel with the bandsaw and crowned it with a Dewalt drill and countersink. As long as it is a clean cut it will work fine for most applications. If there is a small fine burr, the first bullet will push it out.

 

[peterf225]

By the time you buy a crowning tool and a pilot set you may be money ahead to have it cut by a gunsmith in the lathe, if youll only be doing one

If I go down this rabbit hole I’ll be doing more than one barrel. I prefer shorter barrels for my hunting rifles. They just seem to balance better for me with around 20” barrels (depending on contour of course).

 

[Larry Koch]

I used Brownells kit a lot on Revolvers. Worked great. Now I use a lathe, or mill. If you enjoy doing your own work, and the satisfaction of your work showing up on target. It’s money well spent. Plus the tools hold some value if you trade up.

 

[DR_2297]

I have the Manson kit. If does a nice job once you get a few under your belt and get the tool figured out. It isn’t super fast but it does a good job.

 

[MNbogboy]

I use the Brownell 11° tool, I cut the barrels off with a saws all or hacksaw
File them square and then use the crowning tool. I mounted a barrel vise so I could stand the barrels vertically and use the tool with the tee handle from above while standing on a stool
I have used a battery operated drill to finish the cuts and always use tap magic oil
Good luck you will be road of your work and the final reduction