Muzzle crown damage

[Gordo79]

Hello, Three months ago I picked up a brand-new S&W 686+ with 4 inch barrel. And for the first time this weekend I took it out to the range. I mostly shot 38 special, when I came home to clean It I noticed the barrel muzzle crown had some dings. The weapon has never been dropped or anything. Is it crown damage or the muzzle exit hole is not right? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. New gun owner

 

[Bullet Bob]

It looks fine to me, maybe some sharper-eyed member will chime in.

Welcome to the forum; how'd it shoot?

 

[Lou_the_welder]

Hello Gordo!

And welcome. The picture on my end seems a little fuzzy. But it looks fine. The factory usually wants you to shoot 2-300 jacketed for the crown part to smooth out a bit. And the more you shoot, the rifling will be more pronounced . If you don't notice any accuracy issues; I'd leave it. Shoot it, clean, repeat the process.

You want to bring it up to the customer service's attention if you see any huge metal interference and accuracy issues .

I'll show you an ugly crown that shot amazingly well....

If you feel that your crown and accuracy have issues. Contact smith and wesson. They'll send you a fed ex slip to return ship your gun for the warranty.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[Gordo79]

Thanks guys, I was shooting steel at 35 yards and was able to hit. And at 7 yards I was able to hit bull's-eye. So I guess the accuracy is fine. So the More I shoot it The Crown will smooth out?

 

[Bullet Bob]

I think so. I'm no expert, but I think there's a lot of crown complaints on the internet because it's something that people can easily notice, and a bad crown is one of those things that every internet expert knows is critical, whether that's true or not.

There used to be a wonderful magazine called Precision Shooting, and I still have the issue where a gentleman took a good barrel with a good benchrest crown, and gradually cut off and damaged the crown more and more in increments. There was no real change in accuracy. One barrel doesn't prove anything, and it certainly wasn't going to change the crown habits of benchrest shooters - many of whom like machining as much as shooting.

But I think a lot of the people who rant about crowns are going to rant about something, maybe anything, and are just repeating what they've read without doing actual testing.

 

[Lou_the_welder]

Gordo, it sounds to me like you have a good shooter!

I like brass brushing my barrels and think it may also help smooth out edges a bit. Although brass won't do anything to steel.
The more you shoot it, the more it will smooth out. So for that , hard plated or jacketed bullets are the best. If you have good accuracy at 35 yards, I don't think you have a bad crown then.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[Gordo79]

I want to thank everyone for their input. Like I said I'm a new gun owner so I just wasn't sure if those dings were normal for a brand-new gun that only has about 250 rounds through it. That's why am on here to get advice from more experienced gun users.

 

[Gunhacker]

To people used to the seeing the nice "finished" crowns that older gun have, the new stuff doesn't look right... and I'm one of those "old school" folks that has been shooting for over 40 years that feels that way.

When I look at the crown on my 625-8 JM, I cringe... everything I've read previously says it shouldn't shoot worth a damn, but it does, looking like it does.

Brownells sells a brass crown lapping tool, I'm going to look into getting one as my 986 can stand some TLC to the crown as well... and even though they shoot ok, I want mine not to look like Elmer Fudd assembled them at the factory.

 

[BLUEDOT37]

Brownells sells a brass crown lapping tool, I'm going to look into getting one as my 986 can stand some TLC to the crown as well... and even though they shoot ok, I want mine not to look like Elmer Fudd assembled them at the factory.

I agree. At a minimum the uncrowned, or poorly crowned, muzzle just don't look as expected to me too.

I had a couple revolvers that I didn't especially like their crown's either & ended up buying what I needed from Brownell's to "fix" them.

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627-5 PC, barrel crown, before

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627-5 PC, barrel crown, after

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625-8 PC, barrel crown, before

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625-8 PC, barrel crown, after

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686-6 TALO, barrel crown, before

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686-6 Talo, barrel crown, after

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Brownells Chamfering Tools (-01a)

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Brownells Chamfering Tools (-02a)

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[chief38]

PERSONALLY - the PROOF is in the shooting! If it ain't broke, leave it alone! From your picture Gordo your Crown isn;t all that terrible. As long as it is accurate and consistent, I'd leave well enough alone. I see no reason to alter a Factory barrel for no good reason - but that's just me.

 

[Dave Lively]

It is hard to tell from the photo but it looks like your barrel has some metal pushed out at the crown that will not grab a bullet as it exits. My 69 was like that. When I sent it back to S&W for shooting high they recrowned the gun. It shot fine before and shot fine after. My advise would be to leave it alone.

If you look at post 22 on the following thread you can see pictures of what the crown on my 69 looked like. http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-revolvers-1980-present/508196-crown-looks-like.html

 

[Mumbly-Peg]

Is that hand-lapped, Bluedot? Or do you have to chuck up your gun in a drill press?

 

[Tom S.]

I can remember my dad using a steel ball bearing and valve lapping compound to do the muzzle of a rifle.

 

[BLUEDOT37]

Is that hand-lapped, Bluedot? Or do you have to chuck up your gun in a drill press?

With the cylinder removed I secured the frame in a padded vise for this work.

The chamfer cutter screws into the cutter handle & is turned by hand along with a dose of cutting oil on the cutter's teeth. (The appropriate size brass muzzle pilot secures into the nose of the cutter (with an allen screw) to center it on the bore.)

After you finalize your cutting the brass lap is chucked in a portable drill & run at low speed, along with some abrasive compound on the tip, to polish the chamfer cut.

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[sw282]

Blue--Do you have any "before & after" targets

displaying the fruits of your labor??