[Mosin]

Sorry if this has been answered before but I can't find any info on this anywhere. I have a Remington 597 that has some minor rust/pitting/dings on the barrel crown. Instead of re-crowning the barrel, I was wondering if I could get into polishing it myself to smooth out the irregularities. I don't see how it would be a bad thing, but I figured there were more knowledgeable people here than I. So if anyone has any feedback on this it's appreciated.

[Fisherking]

You could try polishing it by using a brass round head screw in a varable speed drill and some julers rouge made into a past with a cutting oil. put a patch about an inch down the barrel and go about 15 seconds one way then revers directions and go the other way . Do this four or five times and then check it out. Clean out the barrel well from the breach and see how it works. If no improvement than you can always recrown.
F.K.

[cpttango30]

What fisherking said. I didn't read his till I was done typing a nice long post on what he said.

[Mosin]

UPDATE:

So I finger polished the crown with 1000 grit sandpaper, moving down to 2000 grit sandpaper. Finally I finished off with a clean polishing cloth and Brasso. I wrapped the sandpaper around an emery board to keep it flat on the crown, but just pressed really hard into the crown to finish it off. I was watching a movie on TV, so I ended up just hand polishing it for about 2 hours. All the pits are removed and now it has mirror shine to it. I'm very impressed with how it turned out appearance wise, can't wait to shoot it this weekend.

[Fisherking]

The only problem with polishing it this way is keeping it even around the whole crown. I hope it worked for you.
F.K.