Left shooting Mauser

[lreed]

Hello; I've been tinkering with a Chilean Mauser, sort of a freebie that I bought with some actions. The barrel looked good, no pits,shiney,strong rifling, blueing still good and the head space was passable. I installed sights, stock, all the military hardware,everything looked good to go,until time to sight the thing in. This ole mauser would be a Lib Democrats dream, shot left with every cast load I tried,even some of the storebought kind. I started with the easy stuff,bedding,checked the crown,still shot left with the front sight hanging way off to the side. Installed the action in a different stock, shot left, made a fixture for action, fired clamped in a heavy benchvise, still left. Named the thing lots of new names that I remembered from long ago,didn't change the leftness of the shooting but seemed to help myself!
I finally discovered that even though the bore seemed straight from the breach end, when you looked at it from the muzzle end, you could see a nice curve. Now I have come to the end of this sad tale with a bunch of questions.... is there a reasonable method of bending the long mauser barrels in a case such as this? maybe some heat then cooling outside curve? Any suggestions ???? Thanks lreed

[DLCTEX]

A press with blocks, go slow. Your eye will be a good guage for straightness, hold it away and look down the barrel. DALE

[thewanderingmind]

Ensure the breech and muzzle ends are up against solid surfaces, then apply pressure against the center of the right side of the barrel. You could do it with a vise, provided you offset the blocks the breech and muzzle are against enough so only the screw-down side of the vise applies pressure. Or, you could lie it on its left side on the garage floor and roll your car over it. Or stick it in the barn door and lean against it to the right. Or block it up and get a fire department buddy to apply the Jaws of Life... Or.... Ingenuity will find a way...

Simply, somebody fell with it or sat on it. You've got to do the reverse action - carefully. Cured a right-bent .22LR by bracing it on two chairs, then gingerly sat on the middle of the barrel. Wound up shooting 1/2" left at 100 yards, so left it alone after that.

[beemer]

I have straightened a 22 barrel that had a long bend in it. The barrel was laid on a heavy table top and the ends supported by grooved blocks. The bend was turned up and another block grooved block was attached to a bar clamp and used to apply pressure. You can control the pressure this way, go slow and check. Measure how much you bend it so you can keep up with the progress.

beemer