Cutting and crowning a bulged barrel

[William]

Have a new to me .50 cal Lyman coming to me next week which includes two barrels, one of which is bulged near the muzzle.  I think I'll be able to have it cut it down to 24 inches, so what do I look for in a gun shop to do it for me?  What type of crown should be done to it?  It's a fast twist barrel, although I have all confidence in shooting round ball, it's nice to have the option of shooting conicals, even through a shorty barrel.

[Wyoming Mike]

I have had to recrown a few barrels over the years.  Those had very worn crowns and had lost some accuracy.  On those I cut off about an eighth of an inch and put shallow crowns on them.  All you need is a hacksaw, some files and a round stone.  Cut the barrel with the hacksaw where you need it.  Use a square and files to get the muzzle completely square.  I used a round grinding stone in a drill to crown it.  I put some cutting oil on the stone and worked it around to get the crown uniform.  I like shallow crowns so it didn't take much.  Hope it helps.

[William]

Just shallow crown should do it then, very good, that's what I'll do.  I can hardly wait to begin this new project, but it won't be until after next week that I get everything, but will keep it posted.

[barnsgunworks]

I'm kinda picky on crowns. they are the easyest place to lose consistency. a few of the gunsmiths that i know use that method of recrowning a rifle. it just depends on the kind of accuracy/consistency you would like to see out of your new rifle. i would give it a go and see if your happy with the results and if not THEN you can drop the money on paying someone to recrown it....

[William]

I'm kinda picky on crowns. they are the easyest place to lose consistency. a few of the gunsmiths that i know use that method of recrowning a rifle. it just depends on the kind of accuracy/consistency you would like to see out of your new rifle. i would give it a go and see if your happy with the results and if not THEN you can drop the money on paying someone to recrown it....

Well, I don't have the tools to cut a barrel, so I'm going to have to take it to a local smith.  The bad barrel is a freebie as it already has a good round ball shooter on the stock, I don't even know if it will stabilize conicals after having been cut down to 24 inches.