I finally found some time to start my sporter project. I've thought alot about what length of barrel I wanted to go with and decided to cut it down to
23 1/2 inches. I ordered an 11 degree crown cutter and a 303 Brit. pilot from
Brownells to recrown the barrel. I didn't like the cutter handle they sold so I made my own out of a piece of 1/2 inch aluminum bar stock I had left over from a project a while back.You will need to relieve the sharp edge on the inside of the bore to get the pilot to go in, I used a deburring tool for this, be careful not to mess up the rifling. Its a little tricky with out a lathe to get a square cut on the end of the barrel. Not a big problem though, a few turns with the cutter and you can see the low spots. Just remove the cutter and square it up with a file and your good to go. Brownells has 2 sizes of cutters 1/2 and 3/4 . I went with the 3/4 for more uses. The 1/2 inch would be better if you wanted a deep recessed crown as it is smaller than the barrel diameter when its cut down. Its a cool tool to have and will run about $60.00 with one pilot if you make your own handle.
__________________ Everybody's weird, they just hang out with like minded people to feel normal.
I didn't like the cutter handle they sold so I made my own out of a piece of 1/2 inch aluminum bar stock I had left over from a project a while back.You will need to relieve the sharp edge on the inside of the bore to get the pilot to go in, I used a deburring tool for this, be careful not to mess up the rifling. Its a little tricky with out a lathe to get a square cut on the end of the barrel. Not a big problem though, a few turns with the cutter and you can see the low spots. Just remove the cutter and square it up with a file and your good to go. Brownells has 2 sizes of cutters 1/2 and 3/4 . I went with the 3/4 for more uses. The 1/2 inch would be better if you wanted a deep recessed crown as it is smaller than the barrel diameter when its cut down. Its a cool tool to have and will run about $60.00 with one pilot if you make your own handle.
Which leaves me, with the mechanical aptitude of a rotten orange, just speechless.
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People think I'm paranoid because I own guns. If I own guns, what do I have to be paranoid about?
Which leaves me, with the mechanical aptitude of a rotten orange, just speechless.
LOL, Ganny, don't be so hard on yourself. If everyone could do this than what would all the gunsmiths do? Become plumbers? So in a way you should be proud as you are a vital part of supporting the firearms business.
Neophyte, I'm not sure if I'm going to try to reattach the front sight or not, I am going to scope this rifle along with several other custom mods as well.
I'll post some pics along the way as things progress.
__________________ Everybody's weird, they just hang out with like minded people to feel normal.
Looks good Jeff.
I want to do the same thing- but thought I'd need a 90 degree cutter to square up the muzzle before doing the target crown, and wasn't looking forward to buying a second cutter.
Rather than leave a flat spot, looks like you can (and did) just run the 11 degree crown all the way out- and squares up the muzzle in the process?
LOL, Ganny, don't be so hard on yourself. If everyone could do this than what would all the gunsmiths do? Become plumbers? So in a way you should be proud as you are a vital part of supporting the firearms business.
Well, I did get good enough to fully disassemble the bolt for a good cleaning. But it took me 1/2 an hour and a youtube video to figure out how to put it back together!
__________________
People think I'm paranoid because I own guns. If I own guns, what do I have to be paranoid about?
Looks good Jeff.
I want to do the same thing- but thought I'd need a 90 degree cutter to square up the muzzle before doing the target crown, and wasn't looking forward to buying a second cutter.
Rather than leave a flat spot, looks like you can (and did) just run the 11 degree crown all the way out- and squares up the muzzle in the process?
^ Sort of, Idealy you want to stop the 11 degree crown about 1/32-1/16 of an inch from the edge of the barrel,(its hard to see in the pic) this will help protect your crown. When you start cutting some you will notice the low areas around the edge that the cutter is not cutting, remove the cutter and file some of the area the cutter is in contact with,(near outside edge of barrel) repeat if necessary. Buy doing it this way you don't have to run the crown all the way out to the edge and you save on cutter wear as well.
The cutter cuts pretty fast at first and slows down as it comes in contact
with more barrel surface. Just make sure you remove the cutter and pilot
several times during the process to clean out any shavings that may have
gotten down into the lands,as the pilot turns in the bore with the cutter.
__________________ Everybody's weird, they just hang out with like minded people to feel normal.
jmeck: Sir, These few words speak volumes to your project. Thanks
quote :"^ Sort of, Idealy you want to stop the 11 degree crown about 1/32-1/16 of an inch from the edge of the barrel,(its hard to see in the pic) this will help protect your crown. When you start cutting some you will notice the low areas around the edge that the cutter is not cutting, remove the cutter and file some of the area the cutter is in contact with,(near outside edge of barrel) repeat if necessary. Buy doing it this way you don't have to run the crown all the way out to the edge and you save on cutter wear as well.
The cutter cuts pretty fast at first and slows down as it comes in contact
with more barrel surface. Just make sure you remove the cutter and pilot
several times during the process to clean out any shavings that may have
gotten down into the lands,as the pilot turns in the bore with the cutter.
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Craig
Who refreshes others will be refreshed. Proverbs 11:25
Sporter project 
Sporter 
Are you going to reuse the sights, How/what method will you use. Thanks for sharing
