Bent barrel on sporter Enfield?

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PSE

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I have a very nice sporterized Lee Enfield made by Globe Firearms (Mod 202). Since I can't seem to get a good solid top rail for mounting that will give me the eye relief and height I need for scope mounting, I'm going to take off the POS rail on there now and go back to the irons as it has an excellent set of irons (standard peep on back and a nice fine sharp front sight in a dovetail on front). The front sight is covered by a slide on metal hood to prevent snagging.

The trouble is that when I was still using the irons for this rifle I had to tap over the front sight to the far right edge of the front dovetail to get it on target at 100 yd which leads me to strongly suspect that this rifle in former military configuration may have been abused as in used as a pry bar to open supply crates.

This may have resulted in a permanently bent barrel necessitating the extreme positioning of the front sight to adjust for the gross error in windage. Not only does it look weird but the right side of the front hood somewhat intrudes into the sight picture.

I'm wondering if I can stick the front 4 inches of barrel in a padded vise and bend it back to the point where I can reposition the front sight in the dovetail for a more normal sight picture? In other words rebend the barrel somewhere back to its former shape so it's not so far out of wack.

Has anyone ever done this type of extreme gunsmithing before and did it turn out well or is this just something I'll have to live with?

I was thinking of taking it out of the stock and applying heat (using a propane torch) along the barrel before attempting to bend it. A millimeter or two permanent deflection should be adequate, I'm thinking.
 
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Straightening a bent barrel can be done - I have gunsmith books showing how to check barrel for straightness - it is done visually, through the bore, using shadow lines - even has pictures of the presses / levers being used at Remington and Anschutz factories to straighten bores after drilling. No assurance at all that exterior of barrel is concentric with the bore - it is the bore that you want to check. Corlane's in Dawson Creek straightened a 300 Win Mag barrel for my brother after he dumped his snow mobile.

Another possibility to check first - that front sight base, it may not have been mounted at Top Dead Centre. You pull the action from the stock and mount it by the barrel in a padded vise. Then adjust so that the bottom flats of the action are perfectly level (with a level). Then use that same level to verify that the front sight base is also level.
 
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A fella I knew bent his LE barrel by whacking a tree on the trail with his atv, it was noticably bent. He put it in a vice and straightened it himself, the rifle shoots as well as it did before. Whether or not he just got lucky, I don't know, but it worked for him.
 
I had a bent barrel on an enfield once. Took it to a gunsmith and got it fixed right up, no issues after that.

It can be done, but, make sure you take it slow, check often and don't get impatient.
 
Mk lll I'll bet. Pretty flimsy barrels on those , I've got a bent one as well. Interesting piece, so i'ts been relegated to a wall hanger.

Grizz
 
Grizzly Adams said:
Mk lll I'll bet. Pretty flimsy barrels on those , I've got a bent one as well. Interesting piece, so i'ts been relegated to a wall hanger.

Grizz
Click to expand...

Good guess - You win the prize!

I unfortunately cannot abide wall hangers - if I can't fix it, it goes.
 
I have seen it done by jamming the barrel in the crotch of a tree and leaning on the butt.

Drastic measures but it got buddy back into the hunt. Rifle still shooting fine years later.


My Grandmother in law (if there is such a title) used to work at the Long Branch plant in the 1940s, her job was checking and straightening barrels.
She would do it all by eyeball looking through the bore at the rings of reflection. If the barrel was straight, all the rings would be concentric.
If not, a quick yoink in V blocks on a screw press until it was.

It doesn't have to move much at all for your sighting, so I would be tempted to give it a pull in the vice and see how the POI moves.
Gives you an excuse to fire off lots of rounds (if you need an excuse) to dial it in. :)
 
I took a tour of the Cooey factory in Ontario in the 70s. The .22 rifles were clamped in a vice at the muzzle end and were tweeked till on target with the sights center
 
In the old west, pistols had the sights zeroed by giving the barrels a gentle rap with a lead bar until the gun shot to point of aim.

Auggie D.
 
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