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It would be nice to have one of these barrel straighteners 😯 😉
walt_in_hawaii,
of course, I’m familiar with the “light” method of straightening.
I’ve straightened some Mauser and Enfield barrels using an indicator; even used an indicator in the straightening of an action of a ’93 Mauser.
I’ve read many of your posts and was of the belief you were a great source of knowledge, experience and know-how…one that should be listened to and respected…however, in light of your ‘attitude’ of the last paragraph and closing comment… I’ll reconsider.
don’t bother to debate. i will not respond.
I bought a barrell off ebay a few weeks ago to replace the early shallow rifled barrel in my stealth. That had a slight bend at the breach end. It bent back easily,
Most gunsmiths will only use brute force to straighten barrells. You can usually hear them slightly creek and shudder when its back to true but agreed on such a small diameter it is abit scary
Also being at that end if it is only slightly out it wont effect accuracy to much, mine isnt quite perfect but I can still group within 10mm at 35 yards.
Look at it this way.
If bending works thats great.
If it does not, then it can always be cut.
But why cut if not needed?
Why not ship it to walt_in_hawaii and have the damage evaluated? Will the shipping exceed the value of a new barrel. If so replace or discard the barrel, if not walt will make repairs and return the barrel to you.
If the barrel is bent at the radius of the breech flair out to barrel or bend is on the breech part of the barrel, good luck, too thin to work with my opinion. Cut the bend off and machine a straight breech.
this will eliminate all metal stress/fatigue. Bending a barrel adds stress to the barrel, straightening adds more stress??????????? Remove the bent breech = new, stress free, straight breech.
My .02 cents duh
? “Are virgin gun barrels straightened before being installed to a virgin gun….? As in a crooked barrels being bent to a qc tolerance versus a straight barrel that requires no bending to pass a QC tolerance…?
Sam 🙂
IF the barrel was turned between centers then an indicator on the OD would do the trick just fine as it will be true to the bore….but IMO i would just cut the breach end off and turn down a new length and be happy with a shorter barrel… 🙄
A dial indicator on the outside of the barrel would indicate when it is straight so it would line up properly so the bolt could also be in proper position in relation to the top hat.
You want it nice and straight and have that O.D. of the barrel in line with the top hat.
It is easy to do. It has been done before not big deal.
Just lay the barrel on a glass plate or the flattest surface you have available and be sure to find where in the barrel the bend actually is occurring.
dwalk, how many barrels have you straightened this way? I have never heard of anyone doing it this way. I have never spoken to anyone who does it this way. I certainly don’t know of anyone using a dial indicator on the outside of a barrel to measure if it is straight or not. I know I never have. I never have, because with most barrels, literally nearly every barrel I’ve ever seen, cut, used, or measured, the bore is NEVER in the center of the barrel. It is always off by a little bit, give or take. Sometimes really bad. And, it’s not consistent, even within the same barrel. It could be centered in one section and off by a bit just a little farther down the bore. In fact, this is the case in the vast majority of barrels I have seen. This is why you can’t use a dial indicator to straighten a barrel… this is why NO ONE straightens a barrel this way. You straighten it, for your information, since you appear to know enough about the topic to give advice, by LOOKING down the bore, usually with a light source behind. The human eye is a wonderful tool and can detect minute changes in straightness.
Of course, maybe I’m just reading your post wrong and you meant that someone should put their dial indicator on the INSIDE of the barrel, the bore, to see if it is straight. Let me know how you do that without cutting the barrel up, I’d LOVE to know how to do that. I’ve often wanted to do so. In fact, I’ve done so. I’ve cut some barrels up, it’s called “destructive testing” just to measure the insides after doing an operation on the outside or along one end of the bore, to measure for differences that cannot be measured while the barrel is still in one piece because I don’t have the kind of measuring tools that can reach inside such a small hole and measure accurately. It is a costly, time consuming process. but you see, it is a necessary one in some cases in order to gather data that is absolutely correct and NOT SOMEONE’s GUESS.
Oh, and wipe your nose off, huh? Looks kinda brown from being up wok’s ass so much.
walt
sure, people bend barrels all the time. When the barrel is thick, or reasonably so, the stresses are distributed evenly throughout the metal and there’s lots of metal. also bends in the thick metal occur over a longer stretch of barrel normally, because it has a good deal of strength. so the bend is gentle and has a definite radius (normally). The barrel bore inside is also curved gently and won’t harm bullets or pellets.
What you are referring to, if I guess the location of your bend at the junction of thick and thin sections, is a different matter entirely. The thick section is strong and the thin section, much much MUCH weaker. The bend in such a section is probably confined to a small area, more like a kink than a gentle bend. I could be wrong, because I haven’t seen your bend and you haven’t posted a picture of it. But it’s likely right at the joint. So bending at this concentrated section with such a thin bit of metal to work with is a BAD IDEA. But hey, what do I know. It’s your barrel. Do whatever you feel best.
walt
with the set up WOK showed and a dial indicator you should be able to straighten it near perfectly…just use patience and restraint on the jack handle
People bend barrels all the time.
It is no big deal.
For God sake Airgunsmiths bend barrels to straighten them all the time.
If you want to straighten a barrel with droop and can not shim the scope or get droop mounts the cure is BENDING THE BARREL.
Just do it carefully and measure as you go. Do it a little bit at a time.
You can make up a jig and use a Vise like this
Don’t bend it back. Steel work hardens quickly, the harder the steel, the worse it gets. the metal is fatigued every time you bend it and micro cracks start. I’m guessing but the most likely place it was bent was where it joins the thick part of the barrel? If so, you can’t mess with that part. the other side, where you put pellets in, can be paper thin if you want and you can bend it all day long as long as it will still take pellets at the end of the day. It holds no pressure, the pressure is held from the point the forward O ring starts on the inside of your breech, which is much farther forward. everything from that point forward is subject to the full pressure of your tank when the valve is struck. If you have micro cracks there you are asking for trouble.
Just cut the bad section off and recut a fresh breech area. Your barrel will only be a couple inches shorter, no big deal. If you pay the shipping both ways I’ll do the work for you free of charge. contact me off list if you want my help.
aloha,
walt
How much?.
You can bend it back carefully.
😉
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walt
WTF?