New crown on my .22rimfire?

If you're going to have a re-crown this has got to be worth ago first. It's just a more aggressive approach than my pencil and abrasive steel polishing compound fix.

K

I have found the problem I hope. After thoroughly cleaning, I can see a nasty carbon ring in the chamber at the point where the rifling starts. Having read a great deal about it, I am trying to remove it which is easier said than done. It has obviously been heat/fire baked on over many many rounds prior to my ownership. I won't go over the various things I have tried to shift it with but none have worked, much to my surprise. I am picking up some JB bore compound tomorrow and will be attacking it with that just in the chamber. I will win eventually even if I have to throw the thing out the window and buy a new rifle.
 
Anschutz back bore their muzzles and crown for good reason.This ensures that after threading the remaining barrel end portion of that the bore will retain its internal dimensions.If you cut/chop and thread an Annie barrel it will open up at the threaded section,,,,seen this so many times and actually performed the op myself on a few Annie cut off barrel portions.Poking an air rifle pellet up and through to the threaded section you will feel a very obvious loosening in the barrel dimensions.Even this will still allow reasonable accuracy ,,,strangely??,,,,Other than back boring,,,and this can be done very well by a competent machinist the other way is to make up a threaded barrel sleeve that will accept a moderator,,,but again this sleeve will have to be made to fit concentric to the bore for best results.I have two Annie Match 54,s that have been cut ,re crowned and fitted with close tolerance threaded sleeves for moderator use,,,extremely accurate given good sub sonic ammo,,,match ammo ,,awesome,,probably as good as when they were true match rifles.,,,,I guess their is a general rule of thumb that may be appropriate to nearly all barrels that its best to thread to the widest possible dimensions on any given barrel to avoid any easing of the near exiting internal bore dimensions.,,,O
 
I have found the problem I hope. After thoroughly cleaning, I can see a nasty carbon ring in the chamber at the point where the rifling starts. Having read a great deal about it, I am trying to remove it which is easier said than done. It has obviously been heat/fire baked on over many many rounds prior to my ownership. I won't go over the various things I have tried to shift it with but none have worked, much to my surprise. I am picking up some JB bore compound tomorrow and will be attacking it with that just in the chamber. I will win eventually even if I have to throw the thing out the window and buy a new rifle.

Have you tried inverting the barrel, plugging and then fill with an aggressive solvent to 'cook'?

Of course the ideal tool for this would be a matching chamber reamer. It might be worth Googling for a tool made specifically for cutting through this crud without damaging rifling or chamber.

K
 
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Have you tried inverting the barrel, plugging and then fill with an aggressive solvent to 'cook'?

Of course the ideal tool for this would be a matching chamber reamer. It might be worth Googling for a tool made specifically for cutting through this crud without damaging rifling or chamber.

K

I have soaked for a while in a few solvents (as long as I dare as they contain ammonia) but no effect. Some sort of penetrating oil is probably needed but from what I can gather, bore compound will work very quickly and I will make sure I don't go further than the chamber. Just a few short strokes on a patch around a jag should theoretically do the job.

I don't want to ruin the barrel but at the same time it was a fairly inexpensive second hand purchase, so I am prepared to try whatever it takes. After all, at present the accuracy is not fit for purpose for my needs. It is all a good learning experience I guess.

Out of interest, what would you use to plug the chamber end prior to inverting barrel and soaking? It has been mentioned elsewhere but people have also warned that the type of penetrating fluids required may well eat away at the inserted plug. That could get messy and foul my mood as much as the barrel.
 
Anschutz back bore their muzzles and crown for good reason.This ensures that after threading the remaining barrel end portion of that the bore will retain its internal dimensions.If you cut/chop and thread an Annie barrel it will open up at the threaded section,,,,seen this so many times and actually performed the op myself on a few Annie cut off barrel portions.<snip>

So only Anschutz gets it right, all other rifles are done wrongly ?
I have heard this excuse before, and in theory, in the worst case scenario it may have a grain of truth in it, but it still isn't a good way to proceed just because you cannot get a decent crown, no matter how good you are. Quite apart from anything else the size of the counter bore isn't big enough to provide a clean break for the bullet to separate from the expelled gas, which once clear of the barrel is a hinderance to accuracy, not a help.

Neil.
 
I agree hornet 6 ,,,,not a good way to proceed,,,,,must be something to do with how they manufacture and finish their barrels ,,,something gives a little when material is removed,,especially when cutting right down for a 1/2x20 threading procedure.I believe certain other ways of barrel making do not react as much if at all to this de stressing,,,not sure,,one for the Smithy,s to comment on I guess.As to the dimensions of the counter bore ,,,I don,t no what size the Annie is but my own machined and threaded sleeves I have a .3in hole and .6in depth to the crown ,,,I have no problems with accuracy as long as the counter bore is kept reasonably clean,,,unattended I would imagine a lot of crud to build up,,,dirty little things 22,s !!
 
Someone I know (who shall remain nameless) chopped his Anschutz from 22" to 13" with a hacksaw whilst holding it in a vice.
Cut angle was judged by mark one eyeball
Muzzle end looked like a piece of pipe, no crown to speak of, rough intersection between bore and crown, cut lines galore

Bloody thing still shot better than 2/3-2/4" at 50yds.

we put far too much value in a crown and bore condition
plenty of rifle out there that will still shoot with rusted, pitted bores and a crown that is held together with rust and carbon.
yet some that look in pristine condition shoot worse!

I am not convinced the carbon ring or the crown is the major reason your gun won't shoot or has suddenly decided to shoot worse than it did.
 
Someone I know (who shall remain nameless) chopped his Anschutz from 22" to 13" with a hacksaw whilst holding it in a vice.
Cut angle was judged by mark one eyeball
Muzzle end looked like a piece of pipe, no crown to speak of, rough intersection between bore and crown, cut lines galore

Bloody thing still shot better than 2/3-2/4" at 50yds.

we put far too much value in a crown and bore condition
plenty of rifle out there that will still shoot with rusted, pitted bores and a crown that is held together with rust and carbon.
yet some that look in pristine condition shoot worse!

I am not convinced the carbon ring or the crown is the major reason your gun won't shoot or has suddenly decided to shoot worse than it did.

I wont be convinced either until i see improvement but ive ruled out most things like me, ammo, scope, mod, freefloating etc etc. Im kinda left with investigating barrel type issues now.
 
ALL SORTED, phew.

I don't necessarily recommend this but I wrapped a .22 Nylon brush in 0000 fine grade wire wool and put it in the drill and "gently" gave the chamber a spin ha ha ha.

This resulted in quite a highly polished chamber with the lands looking good (albeit to the naked eye) and the ring being reduced back nicely to the original machining marks.

Then it was time for testing. Cattle had been moved to an adjacent field, so not wanting to risk loose richochets heading in their direction, I was forced to shoot with a full value wind and jeez it was blowing today. My staked out target card was moving side to side but I still put 20 shots inside an inch at 54yds. In calm conditions, I can imagine it being a proper shooter.

So, properly happy about that and I can also confirm that a completely clean (wool spung, solvent patched and bronze brushed) barrel shoots absolutely spot on from the first shot. I doubt I will scrub the barrel much but I will be paying close attention to the chamber and will not allow it to get in to the state that the previous owner did.

Good ole German engineering. The crown is obvs fine, the action is a beauty and the trigger is perfect.

Onwards. I can shoot rabbits quietly again now.
 
How many years have rifle manufacturers been producing recessed crowns and why?

No brainer really.

Glad you've sorted the problem to your satisfaction and c/o a little blue sky thinking.

K
 
I am particularly interested in this thread. Both myself and my son have Annies in .22lr and of late have been having big consistency issues with current batches of Eley subs. Old stock shoots well current stuff is awful.

I will have a close look at the chambers of both. Also agree the recessed crown is a pain to clean. A thought if you have access to an ultrasonic cleaner you could put the end of the barrel in a jar of cleaning fluid and ultra sonic clean.

I wonder if a .22 p/b brush would suffice in chamber cleaning?


D
 
I am particularly interested in this thread. Both myself and my son have Annies in .22lr and of late have been having big consistency issues with current batches of Eley subs. Old stock shoots well current stuff is awful.

I will have a close look at the chambers of both. Also agree the recessed crown is a pain to clean. A thought if you have access to an ultrasonic cleaner you could put the end of the barrel in a jar of cleaning fluid and ultra sonic clean.

I wonder if a .22 p/b brush would suffice in chamber cleaning?


D

If you think about what the crown is, what it is made of and what it is trying to achieve, I think K's suggestion of a pencil and the use of solvent or carbon cleaner on the pencil and then insert, some pressure and spin it right round baby, spin it right round ha ha, is a pretty good idea. I can say that it did not sort my issues but that is because it obs was not the crown. It however clearly did not harm and did get rid of the crud and let me see the metal of the crown rather than the crud built up on it.

Chamber wise, I don't know if your issue is a chamber ring and if so, how bad it is. For me personally, bronze brush did not work being short stroked in the chamber area with solvents. It was medium speed spinning of a very soft wire wool wrapped nylon brush that basically polished mine away. Maybe continually attacking it with the BB would have worked but it was taking far too long and I truly believe wire wool is a very gentle item but hugely effectively at gentle polishing as an almost mild abrasive. I clean my windscreens with them (watermarks) aluminium cooker tops, all types of things. I have a massive roll of the stuff and use it on all sorts. Yet to damage anything and with a barrel being steel, I doubted I could do much harm.

I didn't take a before picture but this is the after picture of my chamber that now produces brilliant accuracy.

.22LR Chamber.JPG
 
If you think about what the crown is, what it is made of and what it is trying to achieve, I think K's suggestion of a pencil and the use of solvent or carbon cleaner on the pencil and then insert, some pressure and spin it right round baby, spin it right round ha ha, is a pretty good idea. I can say that it did not sort my issues but that is because it obs was not the crown. It however clearly did not harm and did get rid of the crud and let me see the metal of the crown rather than the crud built up on it.

Chamber wise, I don't know if your issue is a chamber ring and if so, how bad it is. For me personally, bronze brush did not work being short stroked in the chamber area with solvents. It was medium speed spinning of a very soft wire wool wrapped nylon brush that basically polished mine away. Maybe continually attacking it with the BB would have worked but it was taking far too long and I truly believe wire wool is a very gentle item but hugely effectively at gentle polishing as an almost mild abrasive. I clean my windscreens with them (watermarks) aluminium cooker tops, all types of things. I have a massive roll of the stuff and use it on all sorts. Yet to damage anything and with a barrel being steel, I doubted I could do much harm.

I didn't take a before picture but this is the after picture of my chamber that now produces brilliant accuracy.

View attachment 85677

You did damn well to get that shot. Rifling looks very crisp too!


K
 
Can you confirm that everything is working tidy in the action? No shavings of lead anywhere?

Lead shavings? All i was left with was a fair bit of wool dust but a good blast from an air line and a thorough clean sorted that and since then I have shot 100's of rounds through it without issue. Not cleaned the barrel since and neither will I. I will give the chamber some attention from time to time. Only thing I need to do is either file the extractor claw slightly or buy a new one to cure slightly lazy extraction but its no biggie and common fault on Annies. I am happy now my little workhorse is back to normal
 
Well done for perseverance!..... it goes to show that the myth about 22 rimfire never needing to be cleaned is just that... a myth.
 
Well done for perseverance!..... it goes to show that the myth about 22 rimfire never needing to be cleaned is just that... a myth.
I haven't cleaned a .22 -unless it picked up dust or debris from the field- in a very long time. Actions cleaned scrupulously; barrels never. My Brno#2 hasn't been cleaned since Christmas, 2007 when it was dropped into the snow. It still shoots sub MOA at 100 when the wind gods leave me be.~Muir
 
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