Crown cutter

[Skipper]

I'm going to buy an 11 degree crown cutter pretty quick. I'm looking at the PTG:



And Brownells:

Attachment 133640

Anyone have any experience with these? Any suggestions?

Thanks

[DougGuy]

Make sure the pilot is really snug fitting in the bore. Use some Tap Magic when cutting.

[wallenba]

I have used the Brownells cutter. Use a facing cutter first to get it flat. Then the crown cutter. Use a good quality cutting oil. Finish with a cuff cutter, or it will leave a very sharp edge around the barrel. I use the brass pilots and the adapter for drill chuck. Use a cordless drill, go slow, don't push it. I stand the barrel vertically and let gravity do the work. clear the cuttings frequently, and stuff the barrel with a patch to keep cuttings from getting deeper into barrel. It makes a fantastic crown. It has stayed sharp. I have done six so far, tool is still good. Brownells will recondition it for a fee.

[Blue2]

I have both the PTG and the Brownells, They work quite well on CM steel but not as nice a finish on stainless. I will single point tool the 11 degree on stainless barrels quite often. I usually try the cutter tool first but if I am getting any chatter I can get a perfect job on the lath with a single point ground tool.

[Pirate69]

A stupid question but I will ask. What keeps the Bownell cutter centered?

[rbertalotto]

I've tried to use the ones you show a number of times by hand. I always get chattering. In the lathe they work great.

The best muzzle crowning tool is the one made by Dave Manson......Never chatters. Expensive, but you could easily earn the cost setting up shop at the range and charging $10-$20 to fix the crowns on all the members guns.

[DougGuy]

The Brownell's cutter you have to order the corresponding pilot for whatever bore you are doing. And the threaded chamfer tool handle to turn it with. Notice how they threaded the end of it where you couldn't use a tap handle to turn it with, you have to buy their proprietary little handle.

I use a Manson expanding mandrel, but I use a Neway cutter with 20° made into it, I make a custom bushing and press it into the Neway cutter so it rides tight on the mandrel. I found out that turning most all these cutters by hand makes them chatter. Even the Manson cutter or Neway cutter with carbide inserts will chatter. Dave sells (and Neway does too) a spring loaded handle to turn them with but to be honest the weight of a Dewalt 3/8" VSR drill works better than any spring or rubber dampener.

I use the lathe to face the barrel with and to chamfer the outside.

[detox]

I crowned the barrel of my Remington 308 using PTG's 11 degree tool chucked in cordless drill. A fair amount of pressure was needed along with cutting fluid to get cutting started. Next I lapped the sharp inner edge using a round head brass screw, 400 grit lapping compound and cordless drill. Later I cold blued crown to prevent glare (CM steel). Stainless cannot be cold blued.

[Tackleberry41]

I doubt you will find one of the PTG cutters, I just went thru this not long ago, nobody has them in stock, and a 4-6 week wait from PTG.

There is also CNC warrior, they dont make their bore guides out of gold like brownells, brownells gets $25 of a guide, CNC gets $5. Their handle also isnt $100.

[Brett Ross]

I just purchased the Dave Manson Military crowning tool, 0 and 11 degree for a Arisaka i'm shorting, I will let you know how it works.

[firebrick43]

I third the manson crowning tool. Better than a lathe. Does an equal job but much faster setup!

[Skipper]

I third the manson crowning tool. Better than a lathe. Does an equal job but much faster setup!

I just bought and received the Brownells tool. I made my own pilot and put it to use. Easy as pie and sharp as hell!

[johnson1942]

ive used the brownell set up for years and this is how you use them. i have the 45 degree, the flat and the 79 and 1/2 degree cutters. cut by hand and not with a drill motor. if the pilot is a tad under sized shim with paper. you wont get a perfectly smooth cut by hand or drill motor. thats ok get to as close to one you can get. the take 250 grit emery paper and cut about 3 squares about 1 and 1/2 inches in diam. punch a hole in the middle of each square for the pilot to go through. put the three squares abrasive side towards the bore and not towards the cutter one on top of another. this gives thickness strength to the emery paper. now by hand holding the barrel, working the crown smooth and perfect. now do the same thing again with 600 grit and then 1500 to 2000 grit. the end result is a perfect high gloss crown. the back side of the emrey paper wont hurt the cutter and ive done dozens like this and it is always perfect every time.

[detox]

With hand crowning tools, a barrel that is coated with Cerakote will be more difficult to get cutting started (Cerakote is some tuff stuff).

I am not saying the PTG cutter is the best, but it will leave a chatter free cut when using cordless drill. A lathe is the most accurate method and makes closer copying factory original crowns easier...such as Remingtons "concave oval" bull barrel crowns.

[Geezer in NH]

Cheaper than a lathe. I use my lathe many options there for Free

[DougGuy]

Actually, a lathe is no longer the most accurate way. Lathes chuck up on the outside of the barrel, which may or may not be concentric with the actual bore. Yes you can indicate the barrel in the lathe to be concentric with the bore, which is what you are -supposed- to do, but Dave Manson makes a double expanding mandrel that serves as a pilot for his style cutter, it expands on each end and centers in two locations in the bore, which is one better than you can do with even the best lathe.

I have used the Manson pilot and to check it for accuracy and center, you can start a light cut on a barrel, loosen and reposition the mandrel, start the cut again, and once more loosen and reposition the mandrel, and all three times when you pick up that cut, it picks it up in the same place every time, it's a 100% sure fire fact that A. The pilot is in the center of the rifling, and B. The pilot is NOT bent.

THIS is what I want when I crown a barrel. I have a good lathe, I use it to face the barrel square on the end and chamfer and smooth the outside of the barrel. The Manson pilot and Neway cutter are without a doubt the most accurate muzzle facing and crown tooling I have seen to date.

[M-Tecs]

Daves video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xpzv1Spsnk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b23lfzpZrJ4

[Brett Ross]

OK, I used the Dave Manson tool this weekend. I cut the barrel off with a hacksaw using the dixie gun works dovetail fixture as a guide. I then filed as flat as I could by eye which is not very flat, need to pick up a machinist square. I used the 0 degree cutter to square the barrel and the 11 degree for the crown, works slick. I wish I had a better camera then my cell but here are the Pics




The rifle roughed in



Shot it this weekend just to hear it go bang for the first time. The bedding is repaired. The in-letting was so bad the recoil lug was hanging in thin air and bent the trigger plate bolts, as they were taking the recoil. I still have much to do but getting closer.
Tony