I, unfortunately, tend to be a little (ok...a lotta bit) neurotic and take the necessary precautions to have the correct tools for a job. I upgraded all of my cleaning supplies from the multi segmented cleaning rods and clean from breach to muzzle.

I've always read all the forum posts and secondhand accounts of (potential) damage to the crown from improper cleaning techniques...but how easy is it to actually damage a crown? Is it more of something that happens over time?

I'm sure anything can be hypothetically damaged from one good "oh shit" moment...but half of my brain is saying "that's 4150 chrome lined steel vs a brass slotted tip" and the other half is saying "well, why are so many people talking about it if it isn't a problem?"

Don't lose too much sleep over it.

It's something to be conscious of, ie.. So that you don't drag loose gi steel cleaning rod sections through the crown.

Your muzzle device will protect things from dinging it. Barrels without them, you don't want to lawn dart into the ground, for obvious reasons.

Keeping an eye on the copper fouling build up around the crown is just a maintenance thing.

YOU WOULD HAVE TO CHURN BUTTER WITH THE ROD FLEXING AGAINST THE CROWN TO CAUSE DAMAGE.

I had a M1 that the crown was oval and would print 8.5 to 11 moa  for 8 at 100 yards, most of the time.

Hello, my name is Jupiter Maximus and I have been cleaning with section cleaning rods for 30 years without degradation of accuracy. I do pull the rod from breech to muzzle only thought. I also like black follower magazines as well. I'm such a neanderthal.

It's about over time as oppose to one off situations. In general, it is best to pull from the breech to the muzzle end than it is to push either way. That way you never damage anything no matter what you use.

I recall a long time ago someone with a mosin nagant did a experiment where they were acting like they were cleaning pipes throwing it down the barrel and just going crazy. They did it for hours across multiple days and it still did not damage the crown.

The reason old Garands and old milsurp rifles have damaged crown is because the soldiers simply did not care about cleaning. Most of the issued cleaning kits were from the muzzle to the breech and doing this out in the field day after day is going to damage it and not only that they constantly dropped it on the muzzle, which wasn't protected with a device on it. In one off situations or using a muzzle guide, you will not damage the crown and I wouldn't really worry about it. Unless you are using some strange metal rod, the standard cleaning rod will be long shredded to pieces before you damage anything. I know this because once I got a patch stuck down the barrel and after hours and going through three rods, I finally got it nearly out and had to use a pliar to grab on one of the ends barely sticking out the barrel. No damage, no scratch, nothing.

John Krieger says don't even run a brush across the crown (go to 4:30).

"I don't like to see anything dragged across the crown.  The crown is one of the most critical parts of the barrel...A lot of times people think a barrel is shot out and all it needs is recrowning."

The barrel steel is soft (about 30 on the Rockwell C scale vs a bolt which is about 60).

Treat the crown with a tremendous amount of respect.  Don't do too much brushing.  If you brush, do not pull the brush back across the crown, only forward.  If you're using a boresnake, pull straight, not at an angle.  If you're using a cleaning rod it should be coated and you need to wipe down the cleaning rod itself periodically as you're cleaning.  Use a cleaning rod guide if it's not too much of a hassle (I use them on AR's because it's easy, on something like a Winchester 1894 I'll just send a coated rod in from the muzzle without a guide and am careful not to hit the crown).

You don't need a bore that clean.  If you need reliability clean the chamber well.