Bulge bent barrel question

[Twhessler]

Hi
I am looking at a gun it's a 22, the barrel has a bulge about half way down and it is bent at that point.
Can this be fixed or is it beyond ?
I can not get another barrel for it.

My thinking is straighten the barrel then reline it and file down the bulge even.
Would that be a quality job
Any thoughts on this or advice ?
Thank You, Tom

[DCM]

How long is the barrel?
What type of rifle?
I have a few other ways to skin the cat in mind but need more info.
Reline may be possible though, quality depends on your point of view and who does the work.

[Artful]

Somewhere in my memory bank I remember reading about some one who took a pipe cutting tool and changed out the cutter wheel for a flat press wheel to use in taking a bulge out of a barrel. As for barrel straightening
http://www.nij.gov/training/firearms-training/embed_swf.htm?link=images/videos.swf&flvLink=module04/images/fir_m04_t06_04.flv&slides=0

[Twhessler]

It's a Winchester 75 sporter, 24 inch tapered barrel.
I would do the work. I have never straightened a barrel, but have relined a few.

I guess my main concern would be getting rid of the bulge after straightening. If I filed the bulge would it be really thin in that area and ultimately end up with relined junk ?

Thanks, Tom

[Artful]

If your filing, your removing metal so good chance you are going to alter the harmonic's.
If you reform the metal back into the correct area you are not removing metal - look at this tool
http://www.harborfreight.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/i/m/image_17912.jpg
remove the cutter wheel and replace with a roller so that at you use it you force the bulge back into alignment.

[Twhessler]

Thanks artful
That is a good idea.
Tom

[leftiye]

Straightening the barrel is the critical issue. The drill will follow the bore, and could be a mess if the change of direction at mid barrel is too much. The bulge then becomes irrelevant as the inside is bored uniform, and the outside likewise is turned or filed to remove the bulge. In a .22 rimfire with a sleeve, there is probly little or no issue with harmonics. Stresses are what they are, what with the bulge having been made.

[Lead Fred]

Cut it off before the bulge, if its still legal length, drive on, if not replace.

I like my face, so I would never shoot it repaired.

[MBTcustom]

Very strange! Bulged and bent at the same point? Weird.
Regaurdless, I dont know how salty you are at judging straightness, but I have straightened a barrel or two and they turned out just fine. This is how I do it:
I have a heavy wood bench, and I screw a 1x4 to the surface.
Slide the barrel up agin the wood so the edge of the wood and the table top is right over the bend.
Slide another 1X4 up against the barrel from the right, and screw it down also.
Now, get on the receiver end of the barrel and pull.
Be careful becasue once it starts bending, it is easy to go too far.

The nice thing about this system, is that the two boards act like straight edges and it is very easy to see how straight you are.

I agree with you about filing out the bulge once the barrel is straight. I would think that the barrel has been damaged enough already, and a file is much gentler on it at this point, than a swaging tool. Especially since it's a .22 and a bulge in the barrel has very little effect on it, and barrel harmonics are going to be what they will be no matter what you do, and it's not a target gun anyway.
Just my 2 cents.
The barrels on these old Winchesters is very soft and easy to bend/manipulate whatever you decide to do.

[rmcc]

Go with GOODSTEEL"s idea. GO slow!! Some of those old Winchester 75's were really good shooters. I would straighten as much as possible then go shoot it to see where point of impact is. Another possibility is send to Shilen or PacNor, they have the old style wheel straighteners.

rmcc

[Twhessler]

Thanks for the good info guys.
I'll give it some thought and then get to it.
Tom

[elk hunter]

You might squeeze a bulge out of a shotgun barrel, but I seriously doubt you can do it on a 22 barrel with any kind of home shop tool. I tried to reduce one in a Remington model 24 barrel using a formed set of swaging blocks and a 20 ton press. The jack went to full pressure and stopped without moving the metal in the bulge even .001". I'm not sure how much pressure it would take, but it appears to be quite high.

[MtGun44]

The roller swage idea is a good one, will probably work. Us a pin gage on
a rod to avoid overtightening.

Bill

[leftiye]

"Very strange! Bulged and bent at the same point? Weird." Goodsteel

Swut happens when you bend the gun over a stump upon seeing that the barrel is bulged.

[gnoahhh]

I had a Winchester M67 that had the same issue, about halfway down the barrel. It was scary accurate as it was. I would say if it poses no safety issues, give it a whirl.

[KCSO]

I use V blocks and a press to straighten barrels and I use an etched line on the shop window and a good eyeball to make sure the BORE is straight. Then you reline and then you turn the barrel smooth. If you use a rolling mill to take out the bulge do that first then straighten. I would think a new barrel would be cheaper.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I have a question,,,,

How exactly did a barrel on a .22RF get "bulged?" :veryconfu

This seems virtually impossible to me, but I am open minded.

I can understand "bent,"

"bulged" is something that eludes me.

Please explain.

Randy

[John Taylor]

Bulged 22 barrels are more common than you think. Old ammo can get a bulge very quick if your not on to whats going on. Straiten it and file the outside to make it look good and then try it to see how it shoots. Some will surprise you, others need a liner. I have had some real winners come in with bulges, a Colt Bisly with 7 bullets stuck in the barrel, a S&W with 10 stuck in the bore and a camp 9 with at least 8 in the bore. Don't know what people are thinking, you can't shoot out a bore obstruction like a stuck bullet. The Colt got another barrel. The S&W had two small bulges but it still shot good. The camp 9 had a couple small bulges but it still went bang and that's all the customer wanted.

[MBTcustom]

Yep, like this,
Not a .22 but:
79385
79386
3 jacketed and 9 cast total of 12
This one was beyond saving IMHO, but I replaced the barrel and all was good.

Like I said, I have sometimes wondered what steel they used on the old winchester .22 barrels or if it was pure iron or something, because they are so very easy to bend/dent/bulge. I actually put dents in the barrel of one with the soft brass tips on my lathe spider! Now, I put copper or aluminum shims in there always, but that one shocked me. I hadn't even applied much pressure!
That gun also had a slightly bent barrel (but not bulged), and I blocked it up on the workbench as mentioned, and straitened it out. The client was complaining that his rear sight was out of adjustment and it was still shooting to the left. When I test fired it afterward, the sight was placed almost in the middle of it's adjustment.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I understand how it can happen with a larger caliber but a .22 doesn't seem like it has enough pressure to do it? It seems like it would be hard even with a brass barrel.

Randy

[mroliver77]

If a barrel bulged more on one side than the other would it not cause a bend?

Wow! I have never seen anything like the revolver barrel Tim posted!
J

[DCM]

Tim that is the worst case of leading I have ever seen.
And it can be blamed on those jaxted things. :lol:

[waksupi]

Tim, what finally made that guy get a clue?

[MBTcustom]

I'm not aware of all the details. All I know is that he realized that he made a big mistake, and he has learned a valuable lesson from it I would wager. He was good enough to allow me to keep the barrel for educational purposes.
I told him to go buy a lottery ticket, so I expect he is on a fine cruise ship right now, enjoying his winnings. LOL!

[M-Tecs]

I understand how it can happen with a larger caliber but a .22 doesn't seem like it has enough pressure to do it? It seems like it would be hard even with a brass barrel.

Randy

Randy

I agree that it seems like the 22 would not have enough horse power to bulge a barrel but I have rebarreled a couple that had bulged barrels. I only knew the history on one. It was a squib load. The barel was med weight and only a couple of years old.

[Jeff Michel]

Just had a Model 34 Remington in this past week, bulged about an inch behind the front dovetail. Owner said it happened when tried to clean "some mud" out of the barrel. Haven't seen many bulges over the years, certainly not to the extent Mr Malcolm shared. In my experience, .22's usually will ring, seldom bulge.

[dubber123]

My father has an old Western Field .22 auto that he got as a kid. It has 2 bulges in the barrel, both came from firing it fast and not hearing the squib loads go off. The following full power rounds put quite noticeable bulges in the barrel. It is still quite accurate, bulges and all.

[Patrick56]

I understand how it can happen with a larger caliber but a .22 doesn't seem like it has enough pressure to do it? It seems like it would be hard even with a brass barrel.

Randy

Exactly my opinion too! Straightening barrels was normal business in a rifle factory. Barrels were straightened in a special press made for that purpose. Need good eyes and a black and white "target" and lot of light. The second thing is, is it worth the money to repair that gun? A bulge in a .22LR seems a little bit strange. Must be very soft steel in that barrel? Or was it bad from the beginning?

[Cap'n Morgan]

Even a .22 LR can bulge a barrel when shooting a round on top of a squib load. The air trapped between the two bullets is compressed so fast that the "front" bullet cannot pick up speed before a ringing has occurred. Any powder left in the barrel from the squib load will also ignite due to the diesel effect from the compressed air.