Bore issues?

[Sechrist2015]

The barrel in question was just chambered last year, and has 300-400 rds down it. Only 25 of those rounds were jacketed.

My local Smith is concerned that it is a heat treating issue from the manufacturer. And yes the manufacturer has these photos, just waiting on a response and seeing what everyone else thinks.

It also has a matching ring 1/3 of the way from the bore wall to the outer edge on both muzzle and chamber ends of the barrel that I have not gotten photos of yet.

P.S.A- yes I know there is still copper fouling in some of these photos. It was scrubbed 3 times prior to photos but I was running out of time today.

 

[Sechrist2015]

Also believe taking the photos with a tablet has hurt the resolution a bit.

 

[drumcorpschamp]

So ...how does it shoot?

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Dump the borescope. It has ruined way more barrels than it has helped

 

[tobnpr]

I'm assuming you're referring to the linear artifact running in the groove?
I don't see anything else of concern to me (and that's not a concern either).
It's running in the same groove. I'm no barrel manufacturer but I'd say that's caused by the rifling button- almost like a tiny chip got embedded and engraved itself all the way down.

 

[Sechrist2015]

So ...how does it shoot?

Minute of pie-plate

 

[Sechrist2015]

Dump the borescope. It has ruined way more barrels than it has helped

Borescope was not brought out until it was almost 500rds in and still not shooting worth a hoot.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Borescope was not brought out until it was almost 500rds in and still not shooting worth a hoot.

No matter what you do with a borescope you cant tell if a barrel is bad or good, itll only cause you heartache

 

[Sechrist2015]

No matter what you do with a borescope you cant tell if a barrel is bad or good, itll only cause you heartache

My issue right now is I've looked at better looking and way better shooting factory savage barrels. And this is a upper/top tier barrel manufacturer.

I've compared it a few of their other identical barrels we have and this one is by far the worst shooting and ugliest. Smith recommended we contact the manufacturer and we have.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Looks like some inclusions in the steel. Im sure theyll take care of you if they are a top mfr. youll still be on the hook for the 2 chambers though sadly. Let us know how it goes

 

[Sechrist2015]

Looks like some inclusions in the steel. Im sure theyll take care of you if they are a top mfr. youll still be on the hook for the 2 chambers though sadly. Let us know how it goes

Will do, if we didn't shoot cast lead this probably wouldn't be as much of an issue. But it seems that some of the rougher bores in these wildcat Chambers really don't like a barrel that's not almost perfect. Appreciate you taking a look Dusty. Smith also said if the manufacturer doesn't want it back or doesn't want to do anything with it and we're not going to use it, he would like to cut it in half and then cut some segments and see if the rings he noticed at the muzzle and chamber go full through the barrel stock itself. Like all good Smiths he is very thorough and OCD.

 

[Cbashooter]

My friend had a factory Savage Rifle he was shooting and it gave him fits. it would do great then "go wild" for some shots.He borrowed a Hawkeye bore scope and found a big inclusion halfway down the bore.(,the Mariana Trench he called it) Savage replaced the barrel.

 

[Ggmac]

rings at chamber and muzzle , did you cut them off prior to fitting ?
A lapped barrel requires you to remove material from each end .
Your pics look normal , the illusion of rings are usually just reflections from the light source . Try using a completely dry barrel and dim your light then lighten it on the computer or phone .
Slug the lightly oiled barrel , feel for tight spots , if hit dont push any further,stop and push out from other direction ,Mark outside of barrel.
Do it again with a new slug from other direction and stop at tight spot do the same ,then push a slug all the way through. Measure all and compare .

 

[Sechrist2015]

rings at chamber and muzzle , did you cut them off prior to fitting ?
A lapped barrel requires you to remove material from each end .
Your pics look normal , the illusion of rings are usually just reflections from the light source . Try using a completely dry barrel and dim your light then lighten it on the computer or phone .
Slug the lightly oiled barrel , feel for tight spots , if hit dont push any further,stop and push out from other direction ,Mark outside of barrel.
Do it again with a new slug from other direction and stop at tight spot do the same ,then push a slug all the way through. Measure all and compare .

Muzzle and chamber ends were both cut, yes. Thanks for input

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Id let some lead get ironed in there and polish it in then see how it shot after that. You may be cleaning too much for a cast bullet barrel. Also like gmac said you really need to slug it. If theres a tight spot in there itll size your bullet and lead doesnt expand back so it just rattles down the rest of the barrel. The only tight spot you should feel is at the crown. If not itll never shoot to its potential

 

[tobnpr]

Most manufacturers of "premium" barrel blanks air gauge them which would preclude "tight spots" in the bore.
If the manufacturer of yours does, you should be able to rule this out.

The main use I have for a scope (other than checking cleaning occasionally) is to check the throat for concentricity. Did you do this to rule out the chambering job itself as a potential source?

 

[Sechrist2015]

2 1/2 weeks in with no response from manufacturer after requesting bore scope photos. Not looking good. On the flip side, the new Pac-nor barrel we put on the action is a tack driver. Love it to death.

 

[citation7]

2 1/2 weeks in with no response from manufacturer after requesting bore scope photos. Not looking good. On the flip side, the new Pac-nor barrel we put on the action is a tack driver. Love it to death.

I've seen worse. Recently sent this blank back to one of our premium (presently unnamed) barrel makers that guarantees its barrels to be free from internal tool marks.

Scoped it right before sending out to be chambered and was floored -- reamer marks from breech to crown. Apparently it missed lapping before the button got pulled.

Had to have been a pretty off day in their shop for this train wreck to have made it through finish lapping, air gauging and scoping (obviously no one scoped this barrel). If you zoom in on the reamer cuts you can see where the surface of the stainless is already flaking off and eroding (from finish lapping). Any bets on how bad this one would foul?

On the brightside, at least you don't have to guess or use an air gauge to figure where this barrel chokes down and loosens up inside.

 

[shooterjon]

The barrel in question was just chambered last year, and has 300-400 rds down it. Only 25 of those rounds were jacketed.

My local Smith is concerned that it is a heat treating issue from the manufacturer. And yes the manufacturer has these photos, just waiting on a response and seeing what everyone else thinks.

It also has a matching ring 1/3 of the way from the bore wall to the outer edge on both muzzle and chamber ends of the barrel that I have not gotten photos of yet.

P.S.A- yes I know there is still copper fouling in some of these photos. It was scrubbed 3 times prior to photos but I was running out of time today.

well at worst if you can't get any satisfaction you may want to give Tubb's
FinalFinish® & FinalFinish® TMS Bullet Kits.
I have used it twice and it cleaned up the barrels to pretty much a mirror finish. I did have to reconfigure my loads as the powder and powder amounts did change BUT I can tell you after working up new load in BOTH of these factory barrels DID shoot much ,much better.
just me tryin to shoot straight

 

[Sechrist2015]

Still no response from manufacturer. I'll make some really nice chamber seaters out of it guess. Definitely the last Lilja Barrel that'll ever darken my door.