A funny story about barrel runout.

[BuffaloBill]

Alex,

Like others have said, I make a point to read your posts. Thanks for sharing your theories, practices, and findings.

I’ve only chambered a handful of barrels, but have been dialing them in at two points at the chamber end as you mentioned. The TIR at the far end has measured between 20 some thousandths to a max of .057” if I recall correctly. I’d been wondering if that .057” was severe or not. Now I know it wasn’t that bad!

Sunday I roughly dialed in a Krieger blank in the lathe, but other stuff has kept me from returning to finish that job. This is for a 6BRA using your #1 reamer from JGS, that you sold me a Micron sizing die for. I’d ordered a Borden Mountaineer last year that arrived just recently. I hope to get back to this today. The indicator readings when I left off, were hinting that this one is darn straight. Will see what TIR is after completing the dial-in.

 

[Tucker65]

I had a barrel from a well known barrel mfg. that was a 28' finish blank. I needed a 24" finish length so I was just going to chop off 4" and use this barrel instead of waiting for a new barrel. I chucked it up in the lathe and when I parted it off I was shocked to see how far off the hole was in the blank. Called the mfg. and he didn't think it was possible for it to be as far out as I was I was telling him it was. I chambered it anyway and that barrel shot bug holes.

New video · Tuesday, Apr 30, 2024

Tap to view!

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[SKWERLZ]

I remember the first barrel I did individually indicating each end and seeing the wobble and being worried.

 

[WayneShaw]

There was a fellow from Maryland that made barrels for a time years ago. When you dialed it in and looked down the bore they looked like a corkscrew. But they shot great and won many score matches.

 

[Steve Donlon]

Maybe a curved barrel in the abstract acts like gain twist

 

[LVLAaron]

You can actually straighten barrels that are that far out. You might run out of scope adjustment with that much run-out.

About 8 months ago a buddy came by and had gotten a call for a last minute muzzle loader mule deer hunt in Colorado on private land he was leaving in 3 days. The story goes back 20+ years, when 12 of us ordered Encore muzzle loaders at the same time. He had shot his 3 times with pyrodex and after having to clean with hot water, exclaimed that he'd never shoot a muzzle loader again. We live in Texas, so here they are no advantage as you'd have to use them during regular rifle season. We never applied for muzzle loader tags, so they sat unused, he tried to give his away several times.
So he'd asked if I had powder and bullets and I did but I haven't had mine out in 20 years either. He takes them out and proceeds to sight in the factory iron sights (no scopes in Colorado). Sight bottomed out and all the way to the left and still shooting 8" high and 6" right at 100 yards. He tries mine and it's actually worse. I told him he was cockeyed and had to be him. Another buddies was still in box and he gets it and at least gets within 4" and calls it good. They actually killed 2 nice mule deer.
When they returned from hunt, I'd read where the QLA (quick load adapter) was sometimes a problem and put barrel in lathe and dialed in the muzzle. With muzzle indicated in, the chamber end had 0.240" of run-out. I cut the QLA off and re-crowned but didn't change the sight alignment. Put barrel back in lathe between centers and every 4", found high spot and wrote the run-out on barrel. Made a delrin adapter for hydraulic press and put barrel on V-blocks and proceeded to straighten both barrels. Got sights back in center of adjustment. I can only assume every barrel we got in that order was somehow fouled up.
I recalled that when I got mine, I originally mounted a 4-12x scope, ran out of windage and elevation. Put on a 3-9x, same thing. Finally tried a 2-7 and it had enough adjustment. Just didn't make the connection at the time.

I actually tried the log first and it actually helped but afraid it would distort the relatively thin barrels.

That's why I don't let people watch me work on their stuff.

 

[J_idaho]

lol that’s awesome

 

[PWS]

I doubt I’ve fitted more than 200 total but I’ll bet a dollar to a doughnut that different loads will print along a stripe oriented in line with the bulk of the curve of a barrel.

First noticed it with a .338 Win Mag with I missed 12:00 and ended with the curve clocked roughly 1:30. You could reliably ballpark velocities depending upon where the group printed on a line from 7:30 to 1:30.

 

[1lessdog]

I still remember those gorilla handed trap shooters bending the 870 barrels over bags of shot out in the parking lot, trying to get a curved barrel to compensate for the rising targets.

Years ago, when I was going to Murray State College in Oklahoma for Gunsmithing. I had a guy bring in a Md 12 Trap md and wanted me to put a lighter sping in the trigger as he said trigger pull was to much. I said ok, will have it done in a day or two. The next day he came in to pick it up. I was in a different classroom and he thought it was done as it was setting on my bench. A few days later he came in and said it was the first time in his life that he shot a perfect 100/100. He gave me 50.00 and was so happy. I didn't have the heart to tell him I never did a thing to his shotgun. Shooters are a funny breed.

 

[rockhound78]

When I was in my early 20's, young and didn't know any better, I did the shotgun barrel in a vise thing. Had a nice pronounced "dogleg" to it. Went from shooting on at 30 yds or so, to on at 70 ish yards. Lots of crows fell to that bent barrel single shot. Wish I had kept it.