Steyr Scout Re-crowning help.

Fallow seeker

Well-Known Member
Hey folks

Anyone know of a suitably skilled gunsmith that can re-crown a Steyr Scout and clean up the mod thread at the same time. It seems leaving a mod on a rifle while storing is not a good idea and the thread and crown seem to have eroded slightly.

I know it takes a special tool to remove the barrel so I guess it take a suitably knowledgable craftsman to sort this out.

Any help would be appreciated - If anyone knows the approximate cost of this particular refurb I would be greatful.

Ta

Mike
 
But I assume you do to put a bigger/clean chamfer on the O/d front face of the thread though??

I used to be (well still am by qualification) an engineer so I assumed the easiest way and most accurate way would be to remove the barrel, clock it up in a lathe, face off, re-crown and chamfer the O/d of the thread all at the same time.


Mike
 
are you sure the crown has eroded as i left a mod on and it did pit the thread and the end of the barrel but the crown was fine just had it polished .
 
i would clean the face of the crown up with some carbon cleaner. and see how much damage has doen. if it has been left on for a bit.

it might need chopping back and re screw cut
 
For some reason a ball stone never crossed my mind - I was thinking conical and the implications of getting the angle wrong.... These forums are great for info!!

Re the above comments the front of the the thread (chamfer and first thread) is pretty pitted, the crown just appears to have one small pit in it but it deffo has a deviation from a nice clean crown. I'm gonna give it a good polish with some green nasty and then toy with the idea of a ball stone (havent got a dremel some would have to use a cordless drill - eeeeek). TBH I'm just a bit annoyed that I didnt realise that leaving the mod on would have such a negative effect.

Re choping more off the barrel - I dont think there is a lot more that could come off due to the style of the barrel its self.

Thanks for the info guys.

M
 
just go slow and easy with it and get 2 so the final finish can be perfect. you can get a cheap dremal copy from b and q or wickes for less than a tener, then you got one be suprised how many jobs are easer with one you will wonder how you managed without for so long
Richard
 
Last edited:
i recently bought a shot out 22-250 from a friend. some bloke that "shoots at bisley" had tidied the crown for him with a dremmel. the rifle wouldnt shoot better that 1.5" with anything i tried in it. i sent it to a "proper" gunsmith, who chopped the thread off, re-crowned it and re threaded it. first 3 shot group after the work measured 0.3".
dont go near it with a dremmel - please:cuckoo:
 
there is a diferance between using to just polish up the pitting and cutting a new crown with one if it is only done with the finest stone it will only polish up th end and take nothing off at all and it must be with a ball stone not a conical one that can be out of true, best would be a ball baring and valve grinding paste but to get a shaft on one to be true is not possable , the way it is usualy done is to weld a ball on a flat bar then put the barrel in a lathe and put the ball up to it with valve paste to polish it but with a fine ball stone and very little presure it will be fine and as true as any gunsmith can get so long as it is only a slight blemish and not pitting that is 1/8 deep
 
Ok folks

Had a go at it today with some green nasty (scourer pad) to clean off the crap and get a proper look at the pitting/damage. It does look like the crown as a very small area of pitting which does cross right in to the bore. The external chamfer on the first thread is pretty badly pitted as well. So it looks like I need to find someone local who can a. properly remove a styer scout barrel (in which case I can take it to a local machine shop and re machine the crown and thread myself) or b.re finish the thread and crown. Anyone no of anyone in the Watford area (or the Southport Area as I'm off up there this weekend.)

Mike
 
I don't understand why you would want to remove the barrel ?
If you have the use of a lathe, and the skill needed to index off the existing thread, you can I would
have thought make a simple mandrel to fit in the bolt raceway and hold it that way between centres ?

Neil. :)
 
If I'm holding it between centers how do I clean up the crown? I see what you are saying, or at least I think I do, but cant see how to clean up the whole lot if its between centres.

As I've never worked on a rifle, I'm gonna see if the trigger mech etc is removable and if so measure the diameter of the action+barrel and see if it would just fit in the chuck draw tube. If it does then bingo I can just chuck up the barrel end, clock it up and then face off, chamfer and re-crown. Anyone know what angle the crown would be on a steyr scout? and on that does replicating the exact angle matter?

M
 
It would be interesting to see a photo of the problem area so that we could get an idea of what's involved.

The importance of a crown is that it is the last thing that touches the projectile before it leaves the barrel, and then has a very high pressure wave expanding over it. If the crown is not central (and it does happen even on new rifles) or if it has significant asymetrical imperfections, then it can apply unbalanced forces to the projectile and therefore affect the accuracy.

A dead square and flat cut at the end of the barrel will work perfectly well. However, the 90 degree edges are more susceptible to cleaning or accidential damage, and some find them aesthetically unappealing. Chamfering or rounding off the outside edge is pretty universal and although lots of shapes have been (and will be) tried, many rifles are now shaped internally with either a step or an 11 degree target crown. I don't know the rifle in question but I would expect it to be one or the other.

If the damage warrants it, re-cutting in a lathe is the way to go. If the crown is basically ok but has minor damage (and a lathe is not available), there are hand reamers made to do the job - however (and despite what the manufacturs say) I would not want to use these to cut a crown from scratch. If you do want to have a go, get one that has a calibre specific (preferably brass) bush that remains stationary in the bore whilst the guide rotates in the bush (rather than directly in the bore) and take it steady.

Bearing in mind how little damage appears to have occured and that a re-crown is a relatively inexpensive process, I would strongly suggest that you get a decent smith to do it for you and ask to watch so that if you do want to have a go in the future, you'll know exactly how it's done.

Knots
 
Excellent reply thanks. I will try and get a close up photo on here so everyone can have a gander. Its really not 'that' bad but there is deffinitely some pitting on the crown and internal chamfer in the bore. I just looked up rifle crowning tools and found some really interesting stuff that I probably should have already known...

Ta for the info.

M
 
If I'm holding it between centers how do I clean up the crown? I see what you are saying, or at least I think I do, but cant see how to clean up the whole lot if its between centres.


M

My last couple were done by Mike Norris, he has a selection of mandrels which locate in the bolt race way, once pushed home a bolt or screw threaded into the madrel though the mag well cut out provides the drive.
The threading is performed between centres, then a threaded disc is screwed onto the new thread, the centre is re-fitted and the O/D of the disc is skimmed so it is true to the barrel, next set the fixed steady up and locate on the disc, once done the centre can be removed and the crown etc can be finished off.
Here is a link to U tube of him doing a rifle, much better to see it done than try and work out how to do it from my rubbish text, 3 vids in series.


Neil. :)
 
Last edited:
Back
Top