Shtotgun barrel dent removing slug

you want to be sure of the internal diameter of the bore; there is bound to be some variation between guns. Also when I have removed dents, it was necessary to also hammer on the outside of the barrel to remove the last portion. What is important is that you do not simply use a hammer as that leaves small flat sports; I use a piece of brass with a concave end of roughly the same radius as the barrel and strike that with my hammer.

You could try using Cerrosafe to remove the dent; might work might not. Essentially cast the cerrosafe clear of the dent and then drive the cerrosafe plug past the dent with a 1/2" brass rod. I have never tried that and don't know if the cerrosafe is hard enough to remove a dent. I have always used opposing wedges

cheers mooncoon
 
I would never have thought a dent could be fixed by hammering on the concave side: I read a blackpowder gunsmith doing this to a civil war muzzleloader that was dented a few inches from the muzzle. A smooth steel rod was turned down just a thousandth under bore diameter (so it will reach an inch past the dent) and the tip of the rod turned to a half sphere or half egg? This was shoved in while simultaneously tapping the dent tapped with a hammer, advancing the rod until it would slide freely past the dent. The metal would spring back off the rod (Newton's law working in series on three objects and back)

You can get hot rolled rod at Brafasco, but it will need to be turned to fit the bore. A shotgun bore also has the added complication of having a choke...
 
New Camper said:
I would never have thought a dent could be fixed by hammering on the concave side: ...
Click to expand...

The hard part with using the opposing wedges is getting them lined up so that they are expanding against the dent. They have a tendency to rotate as I slide / push them down the barrel and I use a 1/4 " diameter brass rod with one end flattened out to rotate them back in position. I will post a picture in the next day or two of the wedges. One is longer than the other so that striking one end expands the wedges and the opposite end loosens the wedges.

The reason for tapping or hammering the outside of the dent is that in my limited experience, when you raise the dent there is often still a small shallow depression in the center and hammering from the outside against the wedge on the inside, reduces that

I did remove a dent from a muzzle loading gun using the wedges, once. (sweated bullets that I could remove the wedge afterwards) I that case I put a 4" or so length of brass rod in the barrel first then the wedges so they would expand when struck from the muzzle. After raising the dent. I used several blows from the inside going towards the muzzle using the 1/2" brass rod like a hammer to release the wedges

cheers mooncoon
 
I have an expanding brass slug. Expand it as much as possible, then push under the dent. Tap around the dent with a non-marring hammer. Remove the slug, expand it, replace it, tap some more. Repeat until the dent is raised. Works remarkably well.
 
Keep in mind the elasticity of the steel and when a dent is first formed, it is metal that has expanded beyond it's elastic ability and the dent now has more surface area than the surrounding metal. It is just about impossible to collapse that expanded material back into itself simply by pushing outwards from the bore. A serious dent may also involve refinishing on the outside of the bore to be an invisible repair.

The good news is a dent almost never causes any problem when shooting.
 
I have turned a piece of hardwood to the size needed ,tapered that is. It was 6 inches long pushed it into place with wooden dowel and rubber mallet ,put a thin piece of leather over dent and used a cooper hammer with rounded edges,lightly tapped around the outside and worked perfect.
 
mooncoon said:
You could try using Cerrosafe to remove the dent; might work might not. Essentially cast the cerrosafe clear of the dent and then drive the cerrosafe plug past the dent with a 1/2" brass rod. I have never tried that and don't know if the cerrosafe is hard enough to remove a dent. I have always used opposing wedges

cheers mooncoon
Click to expand...

Thats a good idea! i have an old baker that i have been putting off fixing up due to the lack of a dent raising tool. i do have enough cerrosafe to try that so if i can find where it went i might have to give that a go.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom