Muzzle crowning on a lathe?

[StraightShooter]

I have always seen people use a crowning tool to crown a muzzle. It seems to me that you could just use a boring bit on a lathe at an angle to do it. What do you think? Also, do you typically face off the end when installing a muzzle brake or do you still crown it?

[Josh]

a lathe bit is the traditional way to do it if you have access to a lathe.

You always face off or "crown" the barrel so that it has a nice edge to the rifling where it transitions, this is important to accuracy.

The recess to the crown is there to protect the rifling. With the muzzle recessed it is less likely to become dinged.

[ar15barrels]

You need a lot more relief than a traditional boring bar to eliminate the burrs at the edge of the bore/rifling.

[Builder]

[ar15barrels]

I'm talking about cutter relief, not face angle.
Boots makes great barrels but I have never had the pleasure of using one to make an AR barrel.