Is this a tooling mark?

[Wookie316]

This is a picture of the muzzle of a 22-250 (not a new rifle) I just got last Friday. I tried to get the rifling to show as best as possible. It does not show in the photo as well as I wanted it to, but it looks to me as if approx 3/8 inch back from the crown there is a noticeable mark which could be a tooling mark?

The mark goes in a perfect circle around the inside of the barrel, I can't see anything deeper than that mark & the crown appears to be OK.

So far the 2 trips to the range I have made have not been spectacular, but not terrible either. Here are a couple targets.

I am sure the groups can tighten up with some more work as I haven't played that much yet.

The barrel seems to clean nice & is not fouling all that bad.

Basically I am wondering opinions on this ring vs accuracy being it is so close to the muzzle?

My though is chopping it & recrowning it, it is 24" right now & a 1/2 would still leave me at 23.5"?

What would cause a mark like that?

Thanks.

 

[KDB]

Can you tell if it is a high spot, low spot or just a ring? I have seen people fire lap a barrel that did not shoot well, but on a barrel burner like the 22-250 I don't know if that would be a solution. The advantage of doing that over just chopping off the barrel would be that it would help uniform the entire barrel of any tight spots rather than the one you can see. It might help tighten your groups with no loss in velocity. Just a thought.

 

[NesikaChad]

It appears to me to be a reamer mark.

Not uncommon on production grade barrels.

If the gun shoots well, don't pay it a second thought.

 

[Wookie316]

I'm going to try & get a better photo. On closer inspection the ring only goes about 1/2 way around the bore & not all the way, so I am not sure if that changes anyone's opinion?

Also I found I needed about 6 shots at the range for the groups to really start to tighten up at the range?

 

[Coyboy]

My first thought was it may be left by a 60 degree piloted crowning tool, but that would leave marks on top of the lands, and not in the groove.

My second thought is that if this barrel is a custom or was recrowned by a smith, is that the smith dialed in the muzzle with the indicator tip that far in the barrel. The indicator tips are harder than barrel steel and will leave a ring around the bore. The best way to avoid that is indicate in near the very edge where the ring will be cut out during crowning. If that is what I am seeing I doubt it is a cause of any severe accuracy loss, but cosmetically sucks. It would go 360 degrees if thats was the case.

I did see some winchester barrels 2 actually that had a similar mark half way around the barrels both were 22-250 coyote model, and I asumed it was from a set-up used in the factory, both shot like crap. and the bore scope revealed land deformation.

 

[Wookie316]

Well after a trip to the gunsmith today, we put a new crown on the barrel. Upon his inspection he figures they are marks from when the barrel was forged. After he cut the crown we could see that there were more marks just like it down the barrel farther.

The crown was rough anyways, & he said this may help. A trip to the range tomorrow will tell the tale.

Like I said the barrel doesn't foul bad, so if this smartens it up, I think we are set.

Here are a couple photos of the new crown.

 

[J E Custom]

Well after a trip to the gunsmith today, we put a new crown on the barrel. Upon his inspection he figures they are marks from when the barrel was forged. After he cut the crown we could see that there were more marks just like it down the barrel farther.

The crown was rough anyways, & he said this may help. A trip to the range tomorrow will tell the tale.

Like I said the barrel doesn't foul bad, so if this smartens it up, I think we are set.

Here are a couple photos of the new crown.

That looks more like the way it should.

I think your problem is solved.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Wookie316]

Well after this mornings range trip it seems to not be throwing as many fliers now that the crown has been re-done.

It even shot the 60gr Nosler Partitions under an inch. Took a couple rounds to settle it down, the cluster is the last 3 shots.

The 50gr Nosler BT need a bit of work yet but show promise.

I think we are getting in the ballpark now.