Recrowning an SKS ? ?

[Chuckindenver]

if the OP lived in my town, id have him stop by and recut that crown the way it was supposed to look, and it might have cost him a lunch.
the crown on the left is mine, the one on the right is a standard Military 1903.Attachment 15323

[JBS]

[QUOTE=Edward Horton;134676]The difference is your hand is not a lathe, your hand does not spin as fast as a lathe and your hand is not as rock steady as a lathe. Also a trained Gunsmiths who attended Gunsmithing school would NEVER use a RCBS deburring tool to recrown the muzzle of ANY firearm.

The difference is quality of workmanship..........



Actually Ed’s crown is finish, just needs to have the terminus of the lands hand lapped with a brass ball.

Fine looking crown Ed, I use one very similar but with a 11 degree taper to the bore after the guard ring. Looks like you also know to cut from the bore ( center ) to the outside.

[Hylander]

if the OP lived in my town, id have him stop by and recut that crown the way it was supposed to look, and it might have cost him a lunch.
the crown on the left is mine, the one on the right is a standard Military 1903.Attachment 15323

Well I used to live in Denver, right across from the Mile High Stadium, that was in 1983
Later on I will probably get the crown down right, but for now I'm pleased with the results

[Hylander]

[QUOTE=JBS;134966]

The difference is your hand is not a lathe, your hand does not spin as fast as a lathe and your hand is not as rock steady as a lathe. Also a trained Gunsmiths who attended Gunsmithing school would NEVER use a RCBS deburring tool to recrown the muzzle of ANY firearm.

The difference is quality of workmanship..........



Actually Ed’s crown is finish, just needs to have the terminus of the lands hand lapped with a brass ball.

Fine looking crown Ed, I use one very similar but with a 11 degree taper to the bore after the guard ring. Looks like you also know to cut from the bore ( center ) to the outside.

I don't think that is Ed's work, that Pic is off of ar15barrels.com, they are located in Calif.
and Ed is in PA.

[jmoore]

Mmmm, High speed steel lathe tool bits. I remember using those way back in the pre-cable TV days. The're still good for the occaisional odd job, I reckon. Way more tool protrusion than I would like on the photo above, but if it works- whatever.

I don't even hardly use plain carbide any more, even on aluminum.

Just as an aside, w/ proper care, a flat muzzle w/ just the tiniest edge break is perfectly good for target work. Winchester used to use this method on their finest target rifles. I've had some that had such a sharp edge at the rifling that I don't think they broke the edges at all! Had a Mdl 52b that was like that and an early M70 HB .30 Gov't 06 . Both shot beautififully.

[Chuckindenver]

likely a staged photo..tool doesnt match the work, no matter who did the work...the ones i posted were taken, and done by me, and done in a haste, no debur or clean up was done.
i counter sink all crowns, 90% of muzzle damage is at that area,, including the one pictured in the OP.
counter sink, debur, then lap if needed.
i for one, would love to see some of Ed,s work.. with all the smack talking...its a put up or shut up time.. show us hows its done..

[jmoore]

As a staged photo, it makes more sense.

No steel swarf to be seen, just some nasty grit or oilite debris on the chuck. (Doesn't look like he cared much for the barrel either- Dirty serrated hard jaws directly clamping the barrel- that'll leave marks!)

I wonder if it's even an adjust-tru chuck (for minimizing run-out).


As far as the squareness of the muzzle affecting accuracy, it doesn't produce degradation in group sizes until about 7 degrees (or was it 14?) off square. It WILL change POI in a predictable manner, however. Fellow did some fairly extensive testing some time back and published the results in Precision Shooting magazine. 5-10 years ago?

BTW, the manuals often don't specify HOW you do the repair, just that results are to be w/in tolerance, even in aerospace applications. All the inspector know is that the end product passes or fails. How it got to that point, well...If it passes the function check and pleases the operator, and is in compliance for safety, etc.- it's dandy.

Have you ever tried to place an SKS barrel in a lathe? Let me know all the gory details!

[Chuckindenver]

Have you ever tried to place an SKS barrel in a lathe? Let me know all the gory details!

well, no i havent , iv had. about 100 or so other forms of lead throwers in my lathe, and if needed, i have a buddy with a modified Lathe that has a headstock hole large enough to get a Browning BLR all the way in. is bet id have to remove the front sight assembly..and make up a few swear words...
the last AK or SKS variants that i worked on were some of the 12 gauge shotguns, on the AK type action, all were too short for US laws, i added a nice weld on brake to make them over 18" long. never had to run one through the lathe, as they had to be weld on extentions.
i used to do a lot of muzzle brakes, and did a lot of weird stuff, then sold all my stuff to a buddy..{he has the modified lathe} he took off an ran with it, thats all he does, is make and install brakes..

on the counter sink of the muzzle, the only reason i do it, is to prevent damage to the rifling at the end of the muzzle, nothing really more then that, id like to think everyone will use that rifle in the field at some point or another, and that muzzle no matter how careful you are, can get dinked...and that ahhhh Shoot comes to mind.
if you go to your favorite gunstore, look at the new rifles, all those muzzles made now have a counter sink muzzle, no matter what the shape of the end..

[jmoore]

(1)"Have you ever tried to place an SKS barrel in a lathe? Let me know all the gory details!"


(2)...the last AK or SKS variants that i worked on were some of the 12 gauge shotguns, on the AK type action...

(3)i used to do a lot of muzzle brakes, and did a lot of weird stuff, then sold all my stuff to a buddy..{he has the modified lathe} he took off an ran with it, thats all he does, is make and install brakes..

(4)on the counter sink of the muzzle, the only reason i do it, is to prevent damage to the rifling at the end of the muzzle, nothing really more then that, id like to think everyone will use that rifle in the field at some point or another, and that muzzle no matter how careful you are, can get dinked...and that ahhhh Shoot comes to mind.


(5)if you go to your favorite gunstore, look at the new rifles, all those muzzles made now have a counter sink muzzle, no matter what the shape of the end..

(1)That was a rather lame attempt at humor... But....I'm guessing it'll need a lathe w/ a 3 1/2 - 4" through hole on the headstock if you don"t want to remove all the attached hardware- I think my biggest personal lathe (a Jones and Lamson turret lathe) has a 2 3/4" hole. Removing all that hardware ought to be fun and labor intensive (expensive). I've done a few AK's- in retrospect, it's probably best just to replace than repair or mod the existing unit!

(2)I shortened a Saiga 12 not long ago- and did a nice job w/ a proper crown and didn't mess up the chrome bore- all w/ hand tools. Good weapons if somewhat odd.

(3)2 friends of mine both do muzzle brakes- both charge MORE to remove them than install- mostly because folk get REALLY tired of having their ears bleed when hunting!

(4)I've crowned stuff every way from caveman to uber-precise (run-outs measured w/ a 0.0001" dial indicator) and all sorts of different configurations. Your style is one of the easier and more practical, but I'm no purist as long as it doesn't degrade accuracy or, many times, deviate from the original style.

(5)I let myself into my favorite gunstore this morning after work- the owner doesn't mind- but there's VERY few if any new weapons- which is why it's my favorite! We do build a few precision rigs along, but it's mostly M40 stuff (expensive hobby!). Not a huge M700 fan, myself (rather prefer the Model 70), but they will shoot, and it's what's in the field...

[Chuckindenver]

i dont do any customs anymore for customers, maybe now and then ill play with a SA 700 for my own use, i am a 700 Remington addict, pre 1999 anyway, and own more 700,s then 1903,s .
most of my work is pointed at military restorations, as shown in the round crown, i wanted to leave machine marks just as they did on the 1903,s however, i found it hard to replicate 65 years of use and handling, belive me, iv tride, im happy with how they look and so are the customers i deal with.
i like the M70 Winchesters, but lean towards the prewar variants when i get a chance at one that needs TLC.. always thought they were a classy copy of the 1903.
im not a Browning fan,,at least the new style rifles, wont even work on a BLR anymore unless i get 100.00 up front for the days loss of work, assembling the darn thing..