Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Buffing out a nick in the crown?

As the title says - would it be advantageous (as far as rifle accuracy goes) to buff out a small ding in the rifle crown. The nick is not on the lands but right on the edge of the barrel crown. Do any nicks on the edge affect the rifle potential accuracy?

If so, should I just use fine grit sand paper on that area??

Maybe I should just leave it alone and get used to it - what do you guys (or girls) think?? The rifle in question is a Tikka 6.5X55 stainless.

....The OUTER edge ?

GTC

yes - right on the outer edge.

You mean it is on the outer edge of the barrel, not the edge of bore?

Exactly right!

If it isn't touching the bore then having it there won't cause any issues at all. It is up to you.

This but if that isn't the case, the best way to fix a crown, ANY crown, is to find a smith that has a Manson Crowning tool. It is literally a five minute job with one of those.

Thanks to CZ and TAK for the advice. I am relieved.

I may just buff it out anyway for the asthetics of it more than anything practical. I was thinking of using fine grit sandpaper with a chaser of JB bore paste. What do you think?

I will try to stay well clear of the rifle bore while doing this.

I have buffed out the actual crown on some guns using a crocus cloth.

I can see it now. "Hold my beer and watch this."

Good time to get the rifle re-crowned. If done well no loss in accuracy and sometimes significant improvements are seen.

Anything that removes material on the muzzle face or near the bore could affect accuracy.

Keep in mind that you want the most even gas pattern you can get at the muzzle as the bullet comes uncorked. Anything that disrupts that gas pattern will push unevenly on the bullet, causing instability. A nick or dent on the outside of the crown is unlikely to change the gas pattern, but a nick or dent on the inside of the crown most certainly will. Also, if you grind or buff out an imperfection, it's possible to get one side of the crown "lower" then the other. For the same reason stated above, you need the crown absolutely perpendicular to the bore. The special crowning tools are a great aid to making sure the crown is both uniform and perpendicular.

It really depends on how you go about the work. If you're planning on holding the sandpaper by hand I'd suggest you leave it alone. If you're using a good quality wet/dry paper on a flat metal or glass plate and carefully lapping the end of the muzzle you could end up doing a good job.

It may seem like a fairly simple job, but it's a job that is fairly easy to bugger up. I've shortened and recrowned quite a few barrels over the years and I was never satisfied with the job until I started doing it in a lathe.

If it shoots OK I would not mess with it.
If not, what the hell.

+1.

This is another one of those "I can't believe it" threads. So far there are several pieces of advice why somebody should recrown a muzzle that has a nick somewhere else than the bore, and two pieces of advice on the one and only way perfect to recrown a barrel--neither of which agree.

Here's a third: I've used a Brownells facing tool to recrown several dozen barrels, one on what turned out to be the most accurate factory rifle I've ever owned.

But neither the Brownells tool or either of the others needs to be used on this rifle.

Sounds like leaving it alone is the best option

So, are you saying the Manson tool IS NOT the absolute best way to crown a barrel? For those not familiar with it:


http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-t...-muzzle-crown-refacing-kit-prod7718.aspx

Any proof the Manson tool is the best? Such as several groups shot with the same rifle, barrel and load, using wind flags, by some competent shooter?

Or whatever other means your imagination desires?

Interesting reading on this subject here:

http://www.longrangehunting.com/articles/rifle-crown-1.php

Well, what else is there?

Edited to add: LMFAO.