Cutting a crown?

[cottonmouth]

My 7 year old son has a Handi Rifle in .357 magnum and I want to cut the barrel down to 16-1/2” to make it easier for him to handle. My smith wants around $100 to cut and crown it so I decided to hold off. If I knew what to order I would do it myself, any experts on cutting one by hand?

J.B.

 

[MattTheHat]

A hack saw and some cutting oil. Then...

Brownell's sells a the rest of the stuff you'll need. You'll need a crown cutter, a .357 pilot, and a handle. And of course, you'll need some kind of cold bluing solution to color the bare metal.


-Matt

 

[jimmyraythomason]

If I knew what to order I would do it myself

The proper tools could easily cost more than having it done. The upside is that you have the tools if you want to cut more barrels. I use (1) hacksaw w/32 tooth blade,(2)machinist square to true the cut,(3) #2 mill file to dress cut and chamfer muzzle,(4) a fine round grind rock wet with oil in a hand held drill motor to cut crown(used in a circular motion). This does an acceptable recrown after cutting the barrel.

 

[rcmodel]

+1
You can do it with the hand tools jimmyraythomason mentioned if you are careful to get the end of the barrel square with the file to start with.

I used to use a big round head brass wood screw & valve grinding compound in a drill to lap the final crown.
Just keep rotating in all directions and the round head screw will grind a perfect crown.

They will shoot just as well as one done with $200 bucks worth of crowning tools if you are careful, and square to start with.

rc

 

[W.E.G.]

Who remembers the AWB?

Commence to dremelin'!


Progress.


Voila!


True it with a file.


Crown it with some sandpaper using the booger-pickin' method, and splash with cold-blue.


Range trip (close range offhand-firing test here - I'll "accuracy test" it someday).


Woo-hoo!

 

[stork]

Ditto to jimmyraythomason. I've done several with just that list. Important to remember to keep the ball rotating and swiveling when recessing the crown.
FWIW

 

[cottonmouth]

Thanks for the info guys!

J.B.