Fixing a crown the “Funky Way”!

[Joshua]

This old rifle had some pretty good nicks in the crown. I’ve been thinking about cleaning the crown up for a few years. It always shot ok, but never great. So tonight I jumped in feet first. I had no proper tooling. If there is a will there is a way.

I started out with valve grinding compound on an old ball end coat hook. My routine was five twists of the wrist and then give the rifle a quarter turn. That cleaned up the center well enough.

I then wrapped some blue tape around a .270” insert on one of my the Lyman trimming heads. I used a dab of oil. I did five twists, followed by a quarter turn on the rifle, until I had removed as much material as I dare.

Lastly, I sharpened a piece of 30-06 brass and used it as a hole cutter to make a few sandpaper “washers” to fit on the Lyman trimmer. I used these to finish the crown.

I didn’t get a before picture. But here are a few after pictures. It’s better than when I started. It looks pretty even. There are still a few good nicks at the perimeter.

I hope that this will be an improvement. I’m gonna shoot it tomorrow, fingers crossed.

 

[Mitty38]

IF IT WAS BEAT UP TO START WITH YOU CAN NOT HURT IT.
I have done a few in similar fashion, with great success. Although I usually polish them out a little more and cold blue my work.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

I have "recut" dozens of crowns. I use a brass carriage bolt and valve grind compound but finer then what you have. What you have there is a corse grade. But should work the finer grades provide more of a polished finish.
Also as you probably know you dont need it as deep as you have gove it only takes a few thousandths as long as thats enough to remove issues.
Also osolating circles and slow speeds on the motor produce even crowns holding in one spot might seem the proper stance but its not. You probably abls know you can check things with a pulled cotton bal as well as good magnifier and brite light as long as you still have "young" eyes. (I like the. )

Looks fine. Look for ward to the results.

CW

 

[Joshua]

The rifle is my M1917 in 30-06. This is one of those situations where 97% of the original bluing is gone, Bubba soft soldered a Redding scope base to the action, and the after market stock needs refinishing. I literally cannot hurt this rifle anymore than bubba did. And in all honesty in it’s current form it is quite functional.

By recutting this crown my only goal is to increase accuracy. When shooting ten shot groups it has been at best a 2 1/2 MOA rifle up till now; when shot from prone, or off of a good solid stump or boulder. Now that may be the shooters fault, or that dinged up crown was messing with my group sizes.

A few months ago I found a good place to shoot 300 yards. When shooting at that distance it became clear to me that I didn’t have the accuracy with this gun to hunt at that range. I would like to reliably be able to keep all my hits on a paper plate at that range; when shooting off of a good stump.

 

[Ian]

If I had a Bubba'd M1917 that would put 10 into 2.5 MOA from field positions I'd be pretty happy, but I'd probably fix with the crown too.

 

[fiver]

you might help yourself out a bit by switching to a 311 diameter jacketed bullet.

 

[Joshua]

I haven’t seriously shot a whole bunch of factory ammo through this rifle. My best cast loads are giving me the 2 1/2” MOA that I’m referring to. Hornady 150gr .308” bullets gave me the big groups at 300 yards.

Today I’m gonna be shooting a ladder with the 180gr Partitions 56gr to 61gr of old sealed Norma MRP(original price sticker $9.99). These are .308 bullet. My barrel does measure a little over .310 so I might do better with some .311 jacketed bullets.

I feel embarrassed to admit that up until a few years ago I was really just a short range plinker. Even though I have owned this rifle since I was 15, I hadn’t shot it that much in most of the thirty plus years that I owned it. Hunting was a very small part of my shooting back then. I did a little bird hunting when I was younger. But there was never a big reason to get better than minute of soda can. When I started casting and reloading everything changed, accuracy has begun to matter so much more to me. I’m shooting much more than in the past. I’m actively deer and elk hunting now and accuracy is very important to me in this endeavor.

Ok, breakfast and coffee are finished, time to go. Have a great day everyone, I’ll report back tonight how it went.

 

[popper]

I've heard you drill a hole in a board, epoxy in a ball bearing. Coat it with compound and rotate rifle.

 

[Joshua]

When I write about jacketed bullets on this site I feel like I’m cheating or something.

I don’t think I hurt anything by recrowning this rifle. I think that it may have improved a bit. I need to shoot it more to really say that it is better. I was however excited by a few of the groups that I shot today.

I shot two five shot groups with tight four round centers, I pulled one shot on each of these groups. 60 and 61 grains of MRP did well for me today. I will load up another ten each and see how they do as at ten shot groups.

The 57.9 grain group was horrible!

My best group of the day was with some Winchester factory 180gr ammo. It was also my first group of the day from a cold rifle. I shot this group to get a base line.

All groups were shot from prone using a toolbox as my rest, at 100yards. I’m really the limiting factor when it comes to accuracy, I hate to see those fliers.

 

[Brad]

Most important thing to consider- do YOU feel the work helped? Was it worth the effort? Did it cause harm?

I have learned over the years that we need to ignore the Monday morning quarterbacks. If your efforts satisfied you then all is good.

I applaud you for working to make an old rifle more useful for your needs.

 

[fiver]

I used to feel a bit of remorse for not shooting 100% cast bullets too.
but those two deer racks on the wall were standing at ''it'll take about 2 minutes for a cast bullet to rainbow on in there'' range.
I feel not so bad since one of them WAS taken with a home made bullet that just happened to have a copper wrapper around the cast core I put In it.[shrug]

 

[Joshua]

I definitely didn’t hurt my accuracy. The factory load was 2 5/16”. That would be right around 7” at 300 yards, that will fit on a paper plate. If I can get my flinch under control I think that one of those hand loads would possibly do much better than that.

I shot about 40 cast bullets today out of the Marlin 336. I have now loaded and shot thousands of cast bullets. Jacketed not so much. Less than three hundred jacketed and half of those have been in pistols. I like the economy of cast, I am attracted to the craftsmanship of it, so I started reloading and casting at the same time.

I would rather not shoot an elk or deer at 300 yards, or beyond, but if either I or someone that I’m hunting with makes a bad first shot I want to be able to have the ability to make that long shot.

I have some permanent disc damage in my mid back; because of this I am gonna stay away from the bigger magnums, that are great for putting bigger bullets way out there. I’ve been looking real hard at some type of 7mm with a premium 160 grain bullet. The 280 AI in a Savage 110 has me drooling. But if I run across a 7x57mm, 7mm-08, or a 7mm Rem Mag, with a good piece of glass it might just follow me home.

 

[RBHarter]

You don't need a mag for the long shots .

The 280/7mm Express is plenty . Funny thing happens with it . It will only run about 100 fps behind the 06' at the muzzle , just like the 270 , but right around 250 yd the BC in direct weights catches up in spite of it MV handicap it actually beats the 06' to 350 yd and the 270 gets there just ahead of it like feet maybe a few yards . Where it really shines is with the 175 class , it only gives up about 75 fps to the 180 06' and the gains start to show about 50yd sooner .

Nevada has an energy at range requirement . 1k ftlb@100yd .
To meet that at the muzzle ;
260-120 FP NOE 1900 fps .
270-140 FP NOE 1900 fps .
279-124 FP NOE 2150 fps .
312-155 SP Lee 2100 fps .
310-200 SP NOE 1900 fps .
325-175 2r Lee 2250 fps .
35-250 RCBS 1900 fps .
458193 1200 fps
45-500 FP and 458132 Postell I did Strelok on for 1100 fps and both haul way past 300 yd so I guess if you wanted a serious subsonic sledge hammer either of those would do it around 850 fps . They have a hold of -8"@100 and +8@200 with a 150 zero . The 535 and 405 are proofed out for that at 1100 and 1400 fps respectively .

We obviously can't get the jacketed speeds with a suitable alloy but the 1-10 25 cal 120 might get it into the 2200s , the 6.5 at 2100 in the traditional 1-9 is going to be in my experience reaching a little .
I saw a 1-11 7mm barrel once most are 8.5 or .9.5 . If only I had a 230 for that .... Mountain Molds program said 250 would stabilize in a 9.5 ........ The 1-11 in 270 lets me get 2200 easy with a useful alloy . At 35 cal an elk inside 225 yd with my 1-14 358 and the 200 at 2150-2200 MV would be a little sketchy in anything but open country . 45-70 , 45 Raptor/460 rifle if you can dope the drop there's no reason not to out to 350 .

 

[Joshua]

I really like the 280 AI numbers. The 270 with a 1 in 8 could also do all those things that you mention. I’ve considered a 270, many swear by the 150 Partition for elk. But the 280 AI does it better, and there are now decent low budget rifles chambered for it. It is almost a 7mm Rem Mag but uses about 1/8 less powder.

I’ve looked real hard at the 35 Whelen as a cast shooter for Elk. But it turns into a recoil and shot distance issue.

 

[Spindrift]

The 35 Whelen sure is a nice cartridge for hunting big game with cast bullets. But full-power loads with 250-300grs bullets deliver noticable recoil, even with a supressor. Shooting from sitting position is fine, but extended bench sessions can be a bit much. I’ve decided to never shoot more than 10 shots from the bench in one range trip with my 310grs Whelen «weapon of moose destruction», as it would be a «flinch-maker».

Considering factory bullets, we have so many good projectiles to choose from, these days. It has made all our cartridges more flexible.

Consider the numbers of a Barnes TTSX 150 grs bullet from a 30-06, for example. This bullet is extremely reliable, and has enough penetration for any game on the northern hemisphere. Recoil, muzzle velocity and practical hunting trajectory is practically identical to a .280 (AI) with similar weight bullets. You already have reloading dies, and moulds for .30- caliber.

My own cartrige musings, as I walk in the forest with my dog, tend to run in circles. In the end, I don’t even remember where my train-of-thought started, but it often ends with .30-06. It is so flexible!

 

[Joshua]

In real estate they have this term “A Forever Home”. Your last home, your perfect home, your last “This is were I want to die home”. I wonder if there is a “Forever Rifle” for any of us!

Maybe I should save my taco money a little longer, and pickup Tikka T3x in 30-06, with a good muzzle brake. The idea of a three pound lighter rifle that is still comfortable to shoot is enticing. Think of all the money I will save on dies, brass, and molds! You can’t go wrong with the 30-06.

 

[Ian]

I love my T3 with wood stock and 14-oz scope but even after threading the pencil barrel 14X1.0mm for a brake and installing a suppressor, it does recoil a bit. It's mostly a pack all day and shoot once affair.

 

[RicinYakima]

I have a forever 30/06 and it weights nine and a half ready to shoot. Since I can't walk more than a mile anyway, I can carry that amount of weight just fine.

Modern high tech hunting bullets reduce recoil and are accurate enough; it shoots flat enough for any hunter, but maybe not sniper; from plinking to hunting big bears it will work.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

So it worked for ya?

Here is one I just did a month or three back on my then new Ruger LCP II 22 LR. It had none!!! I file squared it, then cut the crown.

 

[oscarflytyer]

(have to admit) - haven't read all the posts in this thread, but... I was told awhile back a great way to polish a slightly dinged (or recut?) crown, was a glass marble and fine compound. Yet to try it, but I DID buy some nice glass marbles. It seems it would really be a very fine last step "dress" to polish a crown. Thoughts/experience?!?