Recently tried a gunsmith to help remove a stubborn front sight/bayo lug from my sks also had a cut and crown done. He butchered the cut and looks like a hand filed crown, now Im trying to source an actual 11º crown bit for a drill, Ive tried every local in the okanogan area is there somewhere online these can be had?
need a crowning bit!
- Thread starter BCrecce
- Start date
Canadian_Zuk
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Pickering, Ontario
Brownells has them
Edit: here is your 11 deg cutter. You will also need to order a pilot for your bore. .311 in the case of most SKSs
h ttp://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/barrel-blanks-tools/barrel-chamfering-cutters/79-muzzle-crowning-cutter-prod628.aspx
Edit: here is your 11 deg cutter. You will also need to order a pilot for your bore. .311 in the case of most SKSs
h ttp://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/barrel-blanks-tools/barrel-chamfering-cutters/79-muzzle-crowning-cutter-prod628.aspx
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This actually works great on an SKS
Brass round head screw / carriage bolt in a drill with some automotive valve grinding compound.
The Brownells bit is awesome though and worth the price, plus it would square off the barrel cut.
The Brownells tool is very good. I've also done the crowning with a brass ball and lapping compound BUT you will not have a recessed crown and is still open to getting a dinged crown again. The Brownells tool RECESSES the crown, problem solved. If you only ever will do 1 barrel, try the lapping ball method, it works well. Gunsmiths use this method for decades with success. Best of luck.
I bought a Manson "military rifle crowning kit" with a couple pilots from Big Horn Sales a month ago or so. The tool with a .30 cal and a .22 cal pilot after shipping and exchange (he brings them up) was just a tad over $200. Works real good. There are a few youtube videos of it.
I understand that some SKS do --- some do not. The OP may wish to see what he has - opinions vary widely on cutting and re-crowning chrome lined barrels....and then there are chrome lined barrels ... and there are chrome lined barrels ...
I think based on the info you provided about the current state of the crown - you have nothing to lose by trying. If it were my rifle, under these circumstances, I would give it a go - but go slow and check as you do. It might be possible that the original botched job was related to the chrome plating .. but IDK.
(I'd probably push a oiled cotton patch up into the bore and leave it about an inch below the muzzle to keep the material from entering the bore as you work on the muzzle)
edit to add .. you might want to use a "jewelers loupe" and have a careful look at the muzzle before AND while lapping - that might tell you how the chrome is reacting to the lapping compound.
Another comment - some folks will use the Brownell's facing cutter and their angled crown cutter to finish off a barrel muzzle. IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND that those tools have significantly different effects based on the barrel you are working on. Some Remington barrels will cut like butter and finish up very nicely (even when examined closely under a loupe) BUT on some barrels the cutter will CHATTER and leave chatter marks on the muzzle. I am not sure why but I am strongly suspicious that it is related to type of steel AND the hammer forging of some steel that causes this. I understand some folks have been able to minimize this chatter .. BUT the best way to face off and crown a muzzle is with a lathe operated by someone that knows how to use one - period - end of story!
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Yes a "real gunsmith" and a lathe is what I was originally expecting, not a lot of choices in my area good guys have waits In the months for little jobs. The guy I used destroyed my front sight, cut my barrel at the wrong length, left tooth marks across the barrel tip and installed what he called a "cosmetic sleeve" to the outside of my barrel tip. After a closer look and scraping paint off with my thumb nail it looks he glued a piece of copper water pipe on and bbq painted it, all this professional work for the bargain price of $50.
I am sorry to hear that! Sounds like a real screw up to a firearm - and its a shame! Hope you can straighten it out with the brass ball and lapping compound!
If its any consolation to you there are probably 20 guys on this site reading your note right now, scratching their chins and saying to themselves: "copper pipe, glue and black bbq/stove paint - not bad, not bad at all!! - gives me an idea!!"
As you learned ANYBODY can hang out a gunsmith sign. I have been a machinist for 30+ years and I would not call myself a gunsmith. If I run into something I don't feel comfortable doing I try and stay away from "gunsmiths" who also fix lawn mowers and sharpen skates. A barrel cut and recrown is not exactly the pinnacle of the gunsmith art.
