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Bulge In Barrel ; Cause & Comments

wedgy

Gold $$ Contributor
Took a work friend out to the range and worked on a few of their guns, I put a trigger and bedded the Model 70 and his brother shot just under 1 MOA at 100yds with factory Barnes ammo. (from this thread)
http://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/bedding-an-older-model-70.4013954/

Now my friends 700 in 7RM got the whole treatment, trigger, pillars, bedding, etc. because it was shooting erratically, had a piece of cardboard under the front of the barrel channel and the experts at Bass Pro mounted the VX-6HD 3-18x canted giving it ~3 MOA right when dialed to 650 yards. They also clamped the front ring partially on the objective instead of the parallel tube body. I scoped it and found a pretty good carbon ring in the throat and a tons of fowling, stripped it down( it drained blue Wipe Out for 5 days) and it didn't look too bad, some fire cracking for the 1st five inches, no chunks missing or anything near that bad. Only scoped the first ~12", I've got rifles that are much worse and shoot pretty good. I loaded up 20 rounds of CA lead free and we went to the range where he was all over the place, finally put 2 holes in the same area 4 o'clock low, I adjusted up 1 and left 4 and the next shot were a foot high and left, missing the target completely. While I suspect the is an issue with the scope(everything is tight, bedded, lapped, rail, rings, etc.) it seems to shift about 18" with any input, what I found in the barrel was a surprise. After just 20 rounds this thing is a copper mine and near the muzzle the bullet loses contact with the rifling, the copper stops and there is just carbon. I guess I thought it was the end of the barrel when pushing a patch or brush thru but the exterior measures 0.659" then flares to 0.671" further towards the muzzle then back down. I have not cleaned the barrel yet but I suspect it rusted midway to further down and possibly had some type of obstruction that caused the bulge ?? It really seems to tear bullets up. He has had this gun since he was 13 and is now 46 and was bragging to his brother he has taken 52 deer with it while we teased him about not being able to hit a target at 100 yards. Note how far the front sight is off, I suspect someone tried to remove but didn't get it figured out. b1.jpg b2.jpg b9.jpg b5.jpg b6.jpg
 
b3.jpg b8.jpg b4.jpg mid barrel pics
note; this is my first use of the teslong and had trouble getting the wifi to connect PIA but nice to have pictures, I have a hawkeye and appreciate the simplicity but not bending my head around is kind of nice.
 
Your friend should get ready to purchase a new barrel, if he expects any accuracy.

Nice of you to troubleshoot his rifle, but not much more you can do.
 
I wonder if the outside diameter was due to workpiece flex when they were contouring? It would be supported at the end so it couldnt flex away. It doesnt matter just a curiosity.
 
Outside diameter usually means the inside is bulged as well in my experience.. Been there. Mine was a Rem 22 pump. Squibbed a bullet and didn't know it. Fires another and both left the barrel. Later when cleaning I found a loose spot .. Felt the outside and .. Bulged. Figured the bullet thing out later. Sent it to Rem for a new barrel
 
Agree with the OtherZilla. Only saw it once, in a friends rifle that had been sitting a few years in a basement wooded gun cabinet. He fired the rifle without running a cleaning rod through the barrel or checking the barrel for obstructions.

Checking other rifles and shotgun in the cabinet, he found an obstruction in a shotgun barrel from an insect nest built about mid way in the barrel from the muzzle. There is no way to tell what truly caused the barrel bulge in his rifle but he suspected it was another insect nest. The firearms had laid dormant for a number years in the basement so I imagine it's possible.

Regardless, its always a prudent practice to check the barrel for obstructions before firing and to be alert for "squib" loads then checking before firing an another round.
 
Without a map of where the problems are in the barrel, it is difficult to make specific recommendations, however I would begin by cutting off enough of the muzzle to eliminate the bulge and recrowning it (within NFA rules). I would then see how it shoots. This may be a cheap fix to bring the rifle back into service.
The next step would be to polish the bore to eliminate any roughness causing the accumulation of copper, though the barrel may be beyond help and as Willie said, replacement may end up as the best choice.
 
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I installed a brand new barrel on a rifle. Took it to the range for break in. Long story short, I probably left part of a patch in the barrel while cleaning between rounds. Nice little bulge 2 inches from the end of the barrel. Just like the on in your photo. It happens and now after cleaning I always look down the barrel for an obstruction.
 
Measuring the outside of the barrel doesn't reliably tell you anything about inside. I see those differences all the time with factory barrels.
 
Cut the bulge out of it and re-crown after cleaning it then get some TUBB Lapping loads to smooth it up. I wouldn't worry about Tubb Final Finish doing any eroding on a barrel like this. Since it is scoped he doesn't need a front sight anyways. Providing this isn't already cut way down but if you lose say 3 inches it may spring to life but there had to be an obstruction he is too embarrassed to admit. I have seen it happen a bunch of times.
 
At some point I think I would say I got 35 good years out of a barrel and just put a new one on....if its just a huntin gun, there are economical options. I wouldnt waste another minute on that mess.
 
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