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Thread: How to bulge a barrel

  1. #1
    Boolit Master



    NavyVet1959's Avatar
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    How to bulge a barrel

    I recently picked up a 24" .22LR barrel on eBay to use for some testing. The seller was honest and said that there was a bulge near the muzzle end of the barrel, but it still shot good. I was not concerned with this since I only needed it for velocity testing and as long as it did not hit the chrony, it was accurate enough for me.

    The question that I have is:

    How in the world do you manage to get a bulge in the barrel within the last 1.5" of the barrel?

    I've tried shooting a 0.225" cast bullet in a .22LR barrel that was cast from wheelweights and managed to get it stuck. Trying to dislodge it with .22 power load (blank cartridge) did not work, but it definitely did not cause a bulge in the barrel.

    You have to figure that the odds are that since it's .22LR, the person was not reloading, so he's shooting factory ammo. Will shooting another round in an obstructed barrel exceed the initial chamber pressure from shooting a non-obstructed round? I would *think* that shooting a round in an obstructed barrel would result in the bullet slowing down and stopping as the pressure between the two bullets got close to the initial chamber pressure, but I'm not sure. That sort of thing was not my specialty with respect to engineering.

    I repeat, I'm not complaining about the seller. He was entirely honest in his description and I figured it was longer than I needed anyway, so cutting a couple inches off of it was not an issue. I'm just curious how someone could manage to achieve this while using factory ammunition.

    And BTW, it's a bull barrel, so the barrel at the chamber is the same as the barrel at the muzzle.

    The seller picked up the barrel at a gun show and was not the original owner who somehow managed to bulge the barrel.

    It's not a large bulge, but if you run your fingers down the barrel, you do slightly notice it. I probably would not have noticed it if he hadn't put that in the item description.
    Last edited by NavyVet1959; 06-14-2017 at 11:33 PM.

  2. #2
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    shot it with the muzzle in water. You would not believe the number of Mossberg Mariner shotguns that had the barrel split into numerous pieces like a banana peel from shooting them in water. Yeah. Mariner = marine = water = wth hold my beer y'all... BOOM!! Huh????
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  3. #3
    Boolit Master



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    Quote Originally Posted by DougGuy View Post
    shot it with the muzzle in water. You would not believe the number of Mossberg Mariner shotguns that had the barrel split into numerous pieces like a banana peel from shooting them in water. Yeah. Mariner = marine = water = wth hold my beer y'all... BOOM!! Huh????
    But we're not talking about one of those thin shotgun barrels. We're talking about a barrel where the barrel is 0.555"+ for a 0.223"-ish bore.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master OptimusPanda's Avatar
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    Trying to shoot out a stuck jag and patch? Whatever happened it sounds like it took genuine skill.
    It's only hubris if I'm wrong.

  5. #5
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    packed a bunch of mud in it, and fired several shots into it.

  6. #6
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    Probably dirt (as in dauber) he didn't know was in there.
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  7. #7
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    stumbled while huntin' & didn't notice the barrel jab into the ground & get packed with dirt would be my guess.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master Drm50's Avatar
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    I once knocked 7, 22slugs out of a cheap Win 190. Semi auto. Kid said they didn't know 1st& 2nd
    shot stuck. When they found out - touched off 5 more to shoot them out. When they came out
    they were fused together in one piece. No barrel bulge. I figure being a semi auto the excess
    pressure blead off through action. The 190 isn't much of a rifle but the barrel would be good
    steel.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master



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    Supposedly, this is off a Mossberg 321K, so it's a single-shot bolt action.

  10. #10
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    Could it be that he thought that heating the barrel with a propane torch might make it easier to dislodge a stuck bullet?
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  11. #11
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    I can't begin to imagine how to bulge a .22 bull barrel. No way, no how.
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  12. #12
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    My vote would be a plug of mud. Still, that is some talent, like the kind of talent it takes to bend a pry bar in a sand box!
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  13. #13
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    I'm with NavyVet here - I know there are lots of ways to bulge a barrel, but can't imagine how the 22LR Bull barrel got bulged!

  14. #14
    Boolit Buddy Sur-shot's Avatar
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    Just another "Fool Proof" gadget that met the right fool. I have seen a bunch of shallow wells "shot" before without bulging a barrel on a 22 rifle, never saw it actually work, so it started pumping more water, either. Unless the barrel is gone at the bulge, it was not a dirt dobber, their "glue" is acidic and will rust a barrel down past the grooves in no time, bought a Remington 500 series with a dobbed mud block at the muzzle one time. That muzzle is a perfect home for a dobber to build a small egg hatchery. A stuck and wadded up cloth patch would probably not move. Perhaps, just perhaps, someone got hold of an Aguila SSS 60gr round and shot it in that blocked barrel, that 60gr might have enough energy to bulge that barrel, not very likely but possible.
    Ed
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  15. #15
    Boolit Grand Master Harter66's Avatar
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    Seems like there's a thread here about the dumbest thing I ever lived through . Seems like a story went something like I pulled the bullet out of the LR and chambered the case then pulled 4 more and poured the powder down the bbl and pushed the bullet in ala muzzleloader ...........

    No it wasn't me but I had to smile because the idea had occurred to me at some point .....I think it involved a single shot LR and a 22 mag or WRF .

    Mud dabbers or leaf cutters are a bain to be sure .

    Sounds like a short squib followed by an LR then a guy thinking a double charge in a pulled case should get them out ......
    It would take a supreme effort to bulge a full bullet dia bbl wall with even a 25kpsi load .
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  16. #16
    Boolit Master



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    Quote Originally Posted by Harter66 View Post
    Seems like there's a thread here about the dumbest thing I ever lived through . Seems like a story went something like I pulled the bullet out of the LR and chambered the case then pulled 4 more and poured the powder down the bbl and pushed the bullet in ala muzzleloader ...........

    No it wasn't me but I had to smile because the idea had occurred to me at some point .....I think it involved a single shot LR and a 22 mag or WRF .

    Mud dabbers or leaf cutters are a bain to be sure .

    Sounds like a short squib followed by an LR then a guy thinking a double charge in a pulled case should get them out ......
    It would take a supreme effort to bulge a full bullet dia bbl wall with even a 25kpsi load .
    Interestingly, the .22 mag has the same SAAMI max pressure specification as the .22 LR (i.e. 24,000 psi). Obviously, they must put more powder in it since the case is longer, but I guess it is a slower powder so that it can build more velocity in a rifle barrel.

  17. #17
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Maybe a patch left in the barrel or even grease used for preservative might cause enough obstruction. It would be interesting to find out " how much the barrel is actually bulged in reality. On that heavy a barrel and the pressures 22 operate at along with the small bore limiting square inches of surface area it cant be very much. Mat be just a few thousandths.

  18. #18
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    Kid trying to shoot fish. Put the muzzle below the surface to keep from getting splashed ,this time. Yes, I was there, 2 brothers sharing half a brain. Buldged the barrel on the REM 121 about 3 inches back. 3 inches of water in the barrel surrounded by water is a pretty good plug! Their stupidity probably saved me from the same. Amazing what seems a good idea to a kid. Interestingly enough ,I bought the rifle from one about 5 years ago. He said it still shot well, even with the buldged barrel. Happened about 1972. I cut the barrel back to 20 inches and reset the sight. It shot OK before but will hold 3/8 inch at 25yards now, about 3/4 before I cut it back. 121 carbine
    Those rimfire barrels are soft and the air compressing only pushes the water partially before the bullet hits it. I also have a Browning SA22 with a buldged, it's about 12 inches from the breech, and it shoots very well. Got it really cheap due to the buldge.
    Last edited by rking22; 06-15-2017 at 06:09 PM.
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  19. #19
    Boolit Grand Master popper's Avatar
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    Gator hunting.
    Whatever!

  20. #20
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    While I have never rung or bulged a barrel I have replaced a couple. In both cases the owners fired a round after a mild report. Slight ring/bulge. Hard to see but easy to feel with a patched rod. One had a heavy target barrel.
    Last edited by M-Tecs; 06-16-2017 at 02:07 PM.

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