I have a old rommanian kit. If you have the barrel cut down to a short length can you have it recrowned and it still be a useable barrel?  What about the chrome lining?

Thanks,
Shawn

Yes, if youre careful it will be fine, lots of folks have done it. If its a rifle it needs at least a 16" bbl, though. For a pistol, go as short as you want...

in what ways would you have to be careful? Any special procedures you have to do? Is it something you can do at home or is it best left to a gunsmith?

Thanks,
Shawn

Really only by cutting it true and taking your time on the re-crown. This is where your accuracy lies. Myself, id have a gunsmith do the cut and crown if I were unsure. h.gif

Considering that AKs aren't target rifles to begin with, you would probably be alright doing it yourself.  The crowns on factory Romanians arent anything special.  I have seen horrible crowns on Mak-90s.  

You could hack it off as straight as you can, file it flat and square and then break the edge with a ball shaped grinding stone in a hand drill (on slow speed).  If you want to make it a little better you could lap it in with a ball bearing and valve grinding abrasive available at an auto parts store.  

If you do it yourself and it doesnt shoot to your satisfaction (that is, you can tell the difference), you can always take it to a gunsmith and have him clean it up.  But keep in mind that by far the best time  is when the barrel is out of the trunnion so that it can be done in a lathe.   You shouldnt have to remove the sight or port blocks.  He should be able to mount the barrel shank in the chuck and use a steady rest near the front sight base.  (But dont try to tell him how to do it. )

All in all, my advice would be to pull the barrel and take it to a gunsmith who has a lathe.  Getting it right yourself would take all evening, if you are lucky.  I guess it depends on which you have more of, time or money.