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Muzzle decorations

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woodsnwater

40 Cal
Joined
Jan 13, 2022
Messages
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Location
North Alabama
I'm finishing a .32 barrel for my SMR and was considering putting some dimples on the end of the muzzle. Would it be as simple as using a center punch?
Post up some pics of what y'all have done.
 
I thought it might deform the crown.
Great question and concern, but 'done right', you're well away from the crown. Yes a dimple is a displacement of metal, but that's only in the immediate area where the metal is raised/deformed.

I'm not at my home PC, but I have an extensive 'collection' of muzzle decorations that go far beyond dimples. Some examples have '0's put around the perimeter on octagonal barrels, where the flat is the widest (again, to protect against the concern raised above). Others combine the dimple with a scribed circle on the outside of the dimples.

I once made a DIY dimpling jig to do that line, plus even the dimples, so they look at the same height. I took a 6" dowel that had a flat filed onto it and I securely taped a 'prick' punch (a sharp 30 to 60-degree included angle tool) to it. Prior to peening, or dimpling, I did my best to mark with a fine point Sharpie, where I wanted the dimples to be. Using magnifying visors, I adjusted the 'flat' of the dowel so that the dimples appeared to be centered between the bore ID and the muzzle, about mid-point is fine. The dowel here helps you maintain that correct position, having some in the bore to support the punch and some above to help act like a handle. Make sure the striking end of the punch is above the dowel though ... LOL! Once peened with the 'prick' punch, I followed up manually (but wearing visors) with a 'center' punch (a wider 90-degree included angle tool) to make them bigger.

To scribe the circular line, I modified an older prick punch by carefully grinding an angled flat radially to the tip so that it would cut like a single point cutting tool when rotated into the work/muzzle. My dowel was a little more elaborate here this time, where the dowel started out a full bore size, then I slowly chiseled a groove (not a flat) to hold the punch securely (all sides securely against the dowel, if you can, i.e., bore size dependent, then positioned at the height I wanted the line to be off the bore. Go SLOWLY here ... but it works!

On coned barrels, I also LOVE the ones where the grooves are filed into a decorative almost 'flower' looking design at the muzzle end. And yes ... such barrels STILL shoot as well as they did before! I'll see if I can add a few of the common designs later ...
 
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Great question and concern, but 'done right', you're well away from the crown. Yes a dimple is a displacement of metal, but that's only in the immediate area where the metal is raised/deformed.

I'm not at my home PC, but I have an extensive 'collection' of muzzle decorations that go far beyond dimples. Some examples have '0's put around the perimeter on octagonal barrels, where the flat is the widest (again, to protect against the concern raised above). Others combine the dimple with a scribed circle on the outside of the dimples.

I once made a DIY dimpling jig to do that line, plus even the dimples, so they look at the same height. I took a 6" dowel that had a flat filed onto it and I securely taped a 'prick' punch (a sharp 30 to 60-degree included angle tool) to it. Prior to peening, or dimpling, I did my best to mark with a fine point Sharpie, where I wanted the dimples to be. Using magnifying visors, I adjusted the 'flat' of the dowel so that the dimples appeared to be centered between the bore ID and the muzzle, about mid-point is fine. The dowel here helps you maintain that correct position, having some in the bore to support the punch and some above to help act like a handle. Make sure the striking end of the punch is above the dowel though ... LOL! Once peened with the 'prick' punch, I followed up manually (but wearing visors) with a 'center' punch (a wider 90-degree included angle tool) to make them bigger.

To scribe the circular line, I modified an older prick punch by carefully grinding an angled flat radially to the tip so that it would cut like a single point cutting tool when rotated into the work/muzzle. My dowel was a little more elaborate here this time, where the dowel started out a full bore size, then I slowly chiseled a groove (not a flat) to hold the punch securely (all sides securely against the dowel, if you can, i.e., bore size dependent, then positioned at the height I wanted the line to be off the bore. Go SLOWLY here ... but it works!

On coned barrels, I also LOVE the ones where the grooves are filed into a decorative almost 'flower' looking design at the muzzle end. And yes ... such barrels STILL shoot as well as they did before! I'll see if I can add a few of the common designs later ...

I really like the flower cuts on the muzzle as well.
While I am no stranger to delicate file work, I am a little hesitant to tackle that project.
I worry about achieving uniformity all the way around the muzzle.
 
Yes, if you can find the time, pics of your tools and designs would be great.
... took me a bit, sorry, working 12-14 hour days, but ... youse asks, youse gets!

Muzzle-Decoration01.jpg
Muzzle-Decoration02.jpg
Muzzle-Decoration03.jpg
Muzzle-Decoration04.jpg
Muzzle-Decoration05.jpg
Muzzle-Decoration06.PNG
Muzzle-Decoration07 - Coned.jpg
 
Did a full rebuild/customization on my Pedersoli Frontier recently and finished it off by dimpling the muzzle. Really easy to do, just stay away from the outer edge and bore/crown because it CAN/WILL displace a lot of metal if struck really hard or very close to the edge. The trick for me was just (light, repeated) taps with a hammer, then file smooth, done.

Here’s a pic of the set up. Wrap tap evenly around your ram rod so it fits snug in the bore then shim and tape a center punch to it in the desired position. Simply strike it once and rotate, repeat, repeat, repeat until satisfied with the depth, diameter of the dimples. Be sure to strike the punch only once then rotate. Multiple strikes can cause the punch to jump and make an oblong dimple or double dimple. Then file the raised ridges smooth if desired. Be sure to post pics!

82EEF540-1837-4AA2-8351-5CD0249AC3B8.jpeg
E6DC398B-5967-4997-9FA7-AB3CFA452109.jpeg
 
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Lots of great pictures here, thanks to all. I wanted to put a couple of bands around the muzzle of my current build. Not on the muzzle face but back a quarter of an inch or so on the outside. I've done it before by pounding brass wire into a saw cut and filing it flush. This time I was going to use 95/5 solder in the cuts. This morning when I was admiring my nice browning job it hit me that "damn, I forgot the blasted bands!". I guess I'll leave them off and not do the whole barrel brown over. Another "Presidential Moment" to add to my growing list. :doh:
 
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