Rifle Bulge vs Accuracy?

woodlotowner

woodlotowner

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
GunNutz
Rating - 99.7%
585   2   2
Location
Haliburton County, Central Ontario
I recently acquired a nice old rifle only to discover a slight bulge in the barrel about 6" out from the chamber. There is not a lot of information on line regarding a bulge's effect on accuracy. Anyone have personal experience with this phenomenon?
 
I wouldn’t worry about it on a rimfire. But on a centerfire rifle you may lose accuracy and have some high pressure events. I’d be careful. But some can be used without problems.
 
I've always been a bit concerned about the strength of a bulged barrel in that location. Seems like the metal would have to be stretched for it to bulge and therefore weakened? Maybe I'm wrong but I wouldn't be shooting it especially that close to the chamber where pressures are still high. That's just me personally and I could be wrong on this.
 
My cousin has a Remington 700 with a swell approximately 4" from the muzzle and it still shoots great groups.I would not have believed it if I didn't see it.
 
Shoot it see what happens or doesn't happen and go from there. What type of rifle is it. Barrel replacement might be worth several times what it's worth .
 
Bulges in rifle barrels and accuracy... the closer to the muzzle the bulge is, the worse the accuracy becomes... it has to do with the bullet leaving solid rifling and engaging solid rifling again before exiting.

Be careful when cleaning it, make sure you end up dry patching it thoroughly through the bulge and out.
 
woodlotowner said:
Looks like a candidate for Trail Boss and cast boolits...
Click to expand...

Actually, shooting cast slugs through a barrel bulge could be the worst thing you could do. While traveling through the bulge area, bullet-bore engagement can become very loose, allowing extreme gas cutting to the lead slug while going through the bulge area resulting in leading the barrel quit easily.
 
Thanks to everyone who chimed in here. The 1900 DOM Winchester 1894 slugs at groove diameter. 381". No longer worried about the very minor bulge based on the feedback. Working on sourcing a suitable mold and addressing other issues associated with this scenario, in another thread. So many willing to help and such a wealth of knowledge and experience here on CGN.
 
guntech said:
Bulges in rifle barrels and accuracy... the closer to the muzzle the bulge is, the worse the accuracy becomes... it has to do with the bullet leaving solid rifling and engaging solid rifling again before exiting.

Be careful when cleaning it, make sure you end up dry patching it thoroughly through the bulge and out.
Click to expand...

This is solid information that I concur with. I had an older M17 30-06 with a bulge just back of the muzzle about 2" It shot 5" groups.
Had a smith lop off 4" and recrown....voila! now a 1.25 moa rifle. Was given a Mossberg 22 with a bulge right in the middle of a 20"
barrel, and it shot just fine. Dave
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom