Barrel Bending

[Mr. Bubbles]

I'm just trying to get my sights right on a new build.  (So far, 60 shots taken down range. )Right now to get the E-W close to right, I have to move the rear sight almost to the edge of the barrel flat to the left, and the front sight way to the right.  Obviously this looks pretty goofy, and affects how the gun is mounted an cheek weld happens.  The only solution I can think of is bending the barrel to get things less kittywumpus looking.

Have you guys run in to this issue before, and, if so, how did you deal with it?  Or, should I not really worry abut it until I get another 100 or so through it, and the correct load developed?

[sqrldog]

Bend the barrel to get sights back to the center of the barrel. There have been threads recently on how to do this. I've bent three or four barrel to get sights back on center with surprisingly good results.

[Flint62Smoothie]

Agree, bend it. First few I did I jigged up, took copius markings, etc., to re-place it back at the same spot and nnow how far I may have deflected it ... and it worked. But the last one I just removed from the stock, placed the breech under the range bench and gave the barrel a good ‘whang’ in the direction it needed to go ... 1st shot took out the X at 50-yards offhand, others right on top of it, so it worked out great, albeit VERY lucky ... haha!

[45-110]

oh yes.....have had to bend a few.............my fowler being the worse. put the thing in my Reese square tube truck hitch with a couple of wood shim blocks and "sprang away"  it worked. made me queasy though doing it. clamping rifle barrels on my mill table for a bend is the "normal practice"
kw

[Mr. Bubbles]

Any specific tricks to it?  Or, just wang away and hope for the best?  I hate to put a kink in it.  Being an A-weight 38 cal, it's pretty darn thin and whippy to start with

[Scota4570]

I'd use a big lathe and a 4-jaw chuck for an octagon barrel.  3-jaw for a round barrel.  For a thin wall barrel put a close fitting steel spud in the bore to prevent collapsing it .  Grab it by the muzzle.   Bend to an adjustable stop.  Check the progress with a dial indicator.   I've done several shotgun barrels this way.  You can bend them by hand.  A thicker ML barrel might require a lever, a 2x4?.

I once straightened a 13/16" 45 cal barrel with two lead blocks and a big hammer.  I put a chunk of lead in the middle to avoid marring the barrel when I whacked it.  Same could be done with a hydrollic press. 

[wormey]

Support the barrel at the muzzle and breech with a wood block and use a large "C" clamp on the middle of the barrel to spring the muzzle in whichever direction it needs to go.  Bear in mind that it will spring back so you have to bend it more than you think you need even to the point of being a little scary.  Done it many times.  Good luck.  Wormey

[rtadams]

12-28-2018

Mr. Bubbles,

Send the barrel back to the manufacture for replacement or have them straighten barrel such that your sights are with in acceptable tolerances.

Best Regards,

Robert T Adams

[45-110]

i used to profile a lot of barrel blanks on my lathe, and they frequently "crawled" from the cutting stress and or heat so a follow up straightening process was just part of the game.

[Flint62Smoothie]

I did the 1st few as Wormey opined, jigged up on hardwood 45-degree blocks and used a spring-clamp to deflect the barrel. Also rigged up a micrometer to read the deflection, being well aware you need to bend past what you need due to ‘spring back’.

[Mike Brooks]

Support the barrel at the muzzle and breech with a wood block and use a large "C" clamp on the middle of the barrel to spring the muzzle in whichever direction it needs to go.  Bear in mind that it will spring back so you have to bend it more than you think you need even to the point of being a little scary.  Done it many times.  Good luck.  Wormey

Same here 'cept I do mine on the floor and stand on the barrel till it gives. If it's a thick barrel you sometimes need to jump up and down on it. (many of you think I'm kidding...I'm not) Many ways you can do this, some people have even invented machines  to do this. You can bend in a crotch of a tree or wack them against a telephone pole. It ain't rocket science,  it all works.

[Pukka Bundook]

+ 1 for the above by Mike.

I prefer a 'yunk' rather than slow pressure.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

My best work was one of the heavy telephone pole supports to our 100 m covered range.  Seize the barrel by the breech, and swing it against the pole.  Obviously, one must determine which direction you want it to bend, and slap it on that side.  Try a little whack, re-mount the barrel and test fire it.  Repeat with more violence if necessary.  And you're not trying to hit a homer, so be reasonable.

[jerrywh]

 Mike.
   How hard do you have to jump on it to bend it .010" ?
 Just because a barrel shoots off doesn't mean it is bent. It could be the crown. I once had a barrel that shot off about 4" at 50 yards. I just re crowned it and it shot dead on. I couldn't see anything wrong with the original crown. Unless a barrel is perfectly straight left or right it will only shoot dead on a a certain range? Right? Think about it. If you bend it to hit on at 50 yards and it isn't straight it will go past that and be off at 100 yards.

[Scota4570]

Good point on the crown.

The last barrel I bought had the crown visibly cockeyed.  I could see twice as much chamber on one side as the other.   I did not even try to shoot it that way. 

I once cut and crowned a barrel by hand.  Hacksaw, file, square, chamfer.  IT shot about a foot off at 50 yards from where it was before.  Crooked crowns can matter.

[Turtle]

 I once coned a barrel in an attempt to make it shoot straight--to my surprise it worked!

[Mike Brooks]

Mike.
   How hard do you have to jump on it to bend it .010" ?
 Just because a barrel shoots off doesn't mean it is bent. It could be the crown. I once had a barrel that shot off about 4" at 50 yards. I just re crowned it and it shot dead on. I couldn't see anything wrong with the original crown. Unless a barrel is perfectly straight left or right it will only shoot dead on a a certain range? Right? Think about it. If you bend it to hit on at 50 yards and it isn't straight it will go past that and be off at 100 yards.

My primitive methods have always worked for me. How hard  you jump always depends on barrel wall thickness. The ball is always going to hit where the last couple inches of the barrel are pointed. Ever looked down any old fowling gun barrels? Crooked as a dog's hind leg.

[jerrywh]

Mike. Your right about the last 6".  I have only seen about a 1/2 dozen original fowlers but they were all high quality guns. Mostly Manton and Mortimer's. The barrels were very good on them.  I guess I better quit kidding you mike. I think your starting to take it seriously.

[Mike Brooks]

Mike. Your right about the last 6".  I have only seen about a 1/2 dozen original fowlers but they were all high quality guns. Mostly Manton and Mortimer's. The barrels were very good on them.  I guess I better quit kidding you mike. I think your starting to take it seriously.

I've seen lots of high end English fowlers, they of course have very straight looking barrels. I have some dutch and French trade guns from ca. 1730 that have seen some use and they have barrels that have been bent several times, one way then another to get them to shoot right.

[Don Stith]

The Gemmer ML Club range near Valley Park  in St Louis had a couple of holes drilled through one of the firing line roof support posts
  Seen many barrels straightened at the range using one of the holes
  You just stuck a foot or so of the muzzle into the hole and pulled on the breech end.  Plenty of leverage for moving a good size barrel.  Being at the range, it was easy to bend and test fire.  Sometimes took  a few pulls and shots to get the right amount of correction

[Marcruger]

I have to add that the barrel may not be bent, but may have run-out. 

For those who do not know, runout exists where the barrel boring did not run exactly down the center of the piece of barrel material.  In other words, the hole in one end is centered in the blank, but it is not centered on the other end.  The bored hole is aiming to a slightly different spot than the outside of the barrel. 

Most good barrel makers stamp their information on the flat of the barrel intended to be placed at the bottom under the wood when the rifle is done.  This is done so that any run-out is oriented up and down.  Not right and left.  The sight height easily accounts for up-down runout.  Left and right run-out can have you end up with the sights hanging off the barrel flat on top.  Some barrel makers produce barrels with no run-out, and scrap the defective ones. 

I bought a decent handmade .45 Lancaster flinter to learn on as my first gun.  It grouped fine, but the sights hung off the barrel like you said.  The barrel was not marked (maybe Dixie Gun Works), and apparently the builder did not know how to check for run-out.  Bummer for sure.  It may be one that would benefit from barrel bending. 

The idea passed to me for bending a barrel scientifically was to place it on a 2x4 block under each end of the barrel on a strong bench.  Clamp the ends with C-clamps.  Use a big C-clamp in the center (with appropriate bearing block of wood on top), and screw it down until you flex the barrel as much as needed considering spring-back.  You can measure in the center from the bench to the barrel with a caliper.  Pretty simple, but repeatable.

Another thing to remember is to always pack the dickens out of a barrel when shipping for any reason.  One barrel I received from the stand-up maker Rice ended up bent somehow in transit.  It is a very thin .50 Southern Classic profile.  Someone in the USPS must have jumped up and down on it, or dropped a heavy box on it.  Jason made me a new one of the same profile.  Thank you Jason.   

I hope this helps someone.  I am no expert.  Best wishes, and God Bless,   Marc

[shortbarrel]

Is this a store bought barrel. The prices they charge for a barrel these days,why would one have to be straightened (regulated)  the barrel. Used many old wrought iron barrels that I bored, reamed and rifled ,all had to be regulated.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

[little joe]

when sights are mounted in the GOOFY manner you describe most likely the problem is you.too low of a skill level, eyes, manner of holding of the rifle and some more  In my case with a 38 cal rifle at 50 yds I was shooting a fair group a little high and  a good 2.5 in the the right.I ain,t happy. Load the gun 5 shots for my buddy and 4 10.s and slight stray for a 9 out of a rifle he had never shot Bend the bbl. NO, Practice A LOT YES

[Mike Brooks]

How's that for a kick in the butt!  LOL!

[BJH]

Little Joe brings another variable to the table. Shooter experience. I also add eyeglasses to the list. When I test fire customers guns before shipping I always wear my contact lenses. Why? Because my strong prescription will displace the POA to the Left. A known fact for my vision. BJH