Question about inspecting the barrel crown on a used lever gun

[God's Country]

So as the thread implies I've been searching for a couple of used lever guns, which are prone to having a damaged barrel crown. How obvious should this condition be to the naked eye? Looking at my Marlin 336 for reference, which was also purchased used, I see no discernable wear. The rifling on these are not terribly defined to start, but the edges look fairly uniform where they break out of the barrel. Should a damaged crown be rather obvious or only on severely worn barrels?

[bac0nfat]

I don't have an answer, but why would a lever gun be more prone to damage on the muzzle crown? Just curious.

[Tim Ault]

I don't have an answer, but why would a lever gun be more prone to damage on the muzzle crown? Just curious.

most all lever actions are not accessible with a cleaning rod from the breach end and must be cleaned from the muzzle. The owner may or may not have used a bore guide and if He used a steel rod damage may have occurred

[God's Country]

^^^^What he said, although I think the issue tends to be over blown, especially with lever guns, they're not 300' tack drivers (at least not in my hands), but still I would like any advise how to spot such an issue.

[bac0nfat]

Can't you stick a bullet down the muzzle of the barrel and see how tight it fits? Then shine a bore light down the barrel and see if any light passes through the muzzle while the bullet is in there?

[God's Country]

Can't you stick a bullet down the muzzle of the barrel and see how tight it fits? Then shine a bore light down the barrel and see if any light passes through the muzzle while the bullet is in there?

I'll give you some time to think about what you just posted before I respond.

[normanvin]

I'll give you some time to think about what you just posted before I respond.

I see another punishment pic in his future.

[bac0nfat]

Doesn't the CMP recommend checking the muzzle of an M1 Garand by inserting a bullet into the muzzle?



Of course, you would make sure it is unloaded first.

Link:

http://www.memorableplaces.com/m1gar...pprogram6.html

I've thought about it, and I'm not sure what's wrong with what I posted.













Seems to be a standard test to me.

[God's Country]

It’s the way you worded your post that I found amusing/funny.

Regardless I’m not so sure this method would work without a known standard for comparison. I agree if the crown were severely worn this method would show that, but I’m fairly certain that condition would be visibly obvious, perhaps not.

What I’m most curious about is at what point does this become an accuracy issue?
Whether it takes severe wear to be noticeable, or just very minor wear.
Again I’ not concerned about long distance marksmanship issues.

[knight0334]

Take some Q-Tips with you when you inspect the gun. Swab around the muzzle then look for snagged cotton. A poor muzzle and crown that otherwise looks good will snag cotton off the Q-Tip.