Bulged Barrel Fix TC Hawken

[hawkenhunter50]

I have a TC hawken 50 with a bulged barrel. You can feel the bulge on the outside of the barrel as well as when loading a PRB, it becomes very loose at the point of the bulge. Is there any fix for this or is the barrel trash? The bulge is just forward of the rear sight. Thanks for any input.

[Agrotom]

Cut it off? If you have room and still have enough barrel.

Agrotom

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

Depending where its at, you could always cut the barrel down. Or just leave it. Had a .22 with a bulged barrel and she shot just fine.

[waksupi]

A friend went to the anvil with a four pound hammer. Got rid of the bulge, still shoots good. If you can, find a blacksmith to do it, they have less chance of going too far.

[bubba.50]

you could also have it bored out & relined. if it was closer to the muzzle I'd say just carbine-ize it.

[725]

That's a lot to cut off and re-breach. I like the hammer / anvil idea and would go there first. If that doesn't work, Id consider Bob Hoyt and pick a new caliber. He can bore it out and give you rifling dedicated to either round ball or conical boolits use. I'm sure he could duplicate the middle of the road rifling if you switch from RB to conical and back. Having a proper twist rate for round ball is the best thing I've done for some of my ML's. Since it's buggered up, now is a good excuse to have a custom barrel made for it. Besides, Bob isn't prohibitively expensive.

[scattershot]

Bubba has a good idea, let Bob Hoyt reline it. Unless it really bothers you to look at it, I'd just try shooting it and see where you are first, before doing anything.

[bob208]

how does it shoot ? I have a brno .22 with two bulges one in front of the chamber the other about the end forearm. it will still shot the thumb tacks out at 50 yd.

I have seen the hammer work but you need a little heat to relieve stress. the final option is a rebore or a liner if you want to keep the same cal.

[hawkenhunter50]

thanks for the suggestions so far. shortening the barrel is out of the question due to where it is bulged, too far back. also havent hardly shot it, wasnt sure how safe it was to do. if its still safe to shoot, maybe i'll do some shooting and see if its even worth messing with. any ballpark ideas money wise what a rebore would cost? thanks again for the ideas.

[Sasquatch-1]

Check out Track Of The Wolf. They have prices for both liners and barrels.

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Category.aspx/632

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Yes, I would shoot it first, for it would take a really large bulge to impose any danger. Sometimes a bulge makes no discernible difference - it depends on things like how far back, how big a bulge and how lucky a person you are. What won't work with a grooved and lubed bullet may work with a cloth patched ball, or substantial wadding behind the bullet may make all the difference.

I don't know if enlarging the bore would leave uncomfortably thin metal over sight or stock key dovetails. Also the breech plug ought to abut on a reasonably wide shoulder to keep gases out of the threads. I don't think you could get a gas leak that way, but fouling there could cause corrosion. It could easily require a larger than .54 bore diameter, and I would want at least ⅝in. threads for that, with larger being better.

I've used those Track of the Wolf liners, and they are extremely good. With no chambering needed, it is within the capacity of the amateur, and you would feel better about that than just handing over cash to someone. They are made by Mike Sayers of TJ's, and good as Track are for most things, I don't grudge Mike the profit on buying direct via sayersms@fuse.net .

Take a look on eBay for rotabroach, and you would see the tool I would use, after amputating the larger diameter butt end with a cutting disc. You pull it through with a reversible drill, silver soldered to a guide rod with a bushing to centre it, and fix the liner with soft solder, epoxy or one of the bearing-fitting grades of Loctite.

[crappie-hunter]

PM sent

[Boz330]

I had a friend bulged a barrel on a 38-50 and couldn't tell any difference in accuracy. I have a 38-40 with a slight bulge, you can feel it when cleaning but can't see it and it shoots fine. I also bulged a barrel on a 45 auto and didn't even know it till I cleaned it and it had been shot in several matches that way with no noticeable loss of accuracy.
It seems as if you are looking for an excuse to line it or re-barrel it and there is nothing wrong with that either. Lord knows I have bought guns just because I had dies and brass picked up in a trade and that was a good enough excuse to warrant another safe queen.

Bob

[johnson1942]

that bulged spot will very slowly get worse and then one day let go. cut or reline, accuracy isnt the problem here. safety is.

[bob208]

how bad is the bulged spot? is it really blowed out or just a bump. just a bump it is not going to get worse. if it is that week then a rebore will not make it stronger. I have shot bulged barrels with no problems.

[OverMax]

Could have it bore up to a 54 cal or bored smooth and relined back to 50 cal or do nothing. The only time I would be concerned about a bulge would be if everything available to shot >is forever inaccurate or scattered about on target.
Just a thought. " If you can see over the bulge to aim and hit the mark intended. "Your good to go" _;-)

[pietro]

any ballpark ideas money wise what a rebore would cost ?




If shooting, or simply keeping, the bulged barrel doesn't work out for you, it would be much cheaper to just buy another .50cal T/C Hawken (or Renegade) barrel of the same size (some .50's had 15/16" thick barrels, others 1" thick), as they're about $70 (+/-) @ online auction websites.

There are several .50cal T/C Hawken barrels F/S on evil-bay right now for $70 (+/-): http://www.ebay.com/itm/Thompson-Center-Hawken-50-cal-Barrel-/251706574986



.

[bubba.50]

there's a Hawken barrel on gunbroker now for $125.00 that's about what it will cost to have yours re-bored and even after reborin' yours it will still have the bulge in it.

[Good Cheer]

I'd have a hard time not day dreaming about the barrel I wanted made.

[hawkenhunter50]

The bulge doesnt seem too bad to me, it is noticeable to the eye if you look closely, definitely noticeable by feel. I have no other experience with bulges to compare a minor one to a major one. It seems like the majority feel it would be safe so I believe I will test it to see if its still acceptable for accuracy. If it is not and I decide to try a rebore, does any one have Mr Hoyts contact info?

[Ballistics in Scotland]

The bulge doesnt seem too bad to me, it is noticeable to the eye if you look closely, definitely noticeable by feel. I have no other experience with bulges to compare a minor one to a major one. It seems like the majority feel it would be safe so I believe I will test it to see if its still acceptable for accuracy. If it is not and I decide to try a rebore, does any one have Mr Hoyts contact info?

There is very little chance of a bulge like that getting any worse. The Hawken barrel tapers little or not at all, so if it was caused by an excessive charge or an excessive projectile weight (both very unlikely to happen with black powder) it would be right at the rear of the barrel, where pressure is highest. It would also be more elongated than the classic short ring bulge. That is caused by the buildup of gases when the bullet decelerates on hitting an obstruction.That shouldn't get any worse unless you have another obstruction there.

[bubba.50]

Robert Hoyt's & Ed Rayl's info are both floatin' around here. if ya do a little search you should be able to dig'em up. if not I'll see if I can find the paper I have them wrote down on this evenin' when I get back from the gunshow.

[bob208]

another cause of the bulge could be the maxi ball moved forward while being carried. if ou are hunting with a maxi ball you have to carry the gun muzzle up at all times. I seen some worked back up to the muzzle. another good habit is after you walk a while to make shore the ball is still seated.

[10 ga]

Consider all the above. I bulged a barrel and it now has a very productive use, it holds up some of my tomato plants. Saving a few dollars is not worth any risk to your person or anyone near you should the damaged metal have a catastrophic failure. JMHO (just my humble opinion), yours may be different. If you are ever on a range with me I'd like to know you are shooting a barrel tested to the edge of failure. AND I shoot SML and SAFETY is always 1st!10

[starmac]

If it doesn't work as is, I am haqving a hard time wrapping my head around boring and or lining the bulged barrel. It is not like it will save you any money over another barrel and the bulge will still be there.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

If it doesn't work as is, I am haqving a hard time wrapping my head around boring and or lining the bulged barrel. It is not like it will save you any money over another barrel and the bulge will still be there.


I agree that for a mass-produced rifle reboring or lining offers no real practical advantage over a replacement barrel, as long as you don't fall foul of the 15/16 or 1in. thing. Only experimental inclination or plain cussedness, if applicable, make those processes really worthwhile. If someone has a hand-made modern muzzle loader the priorities might shift.

The outside bulge can easily be reamoved with a belt sander, even a hand-held one, if you are prepared to refinish the barrel.

[Good Cheer]

Hawkenhunter50,
I'd send it out to have the bore enlarged until it cleaned up, then rifled.

[bubba.50]

personally I would replace it but, the OP asked about possible fixes so I mentioned my second choice to have it bored out & relined as I think that would be the second safest way to deal with the problem.

[charlie b]

I'd replace it too. Too many 'inexpensive' barrels around to mess with relining/reboring, especially if you want to shoot PRB.