Bulge in .22 barrel

[GerryRA]

While cleaning the growth of ages from the bore of a ca. 1929 Remington Improved Model 6 .22 cal. ‘barn gun’, I discovered a bulge midway in the 20” barrel.

Running a patch thru the bore shows a loose section about 1 ¼” long right at mid bore. I had not noticed the bulge from outside before the cleanup, but now knowing it is there, I can see a ripple when sighting along the outside of the barrel.

My Grandpa taught my sister and I to shoot on a rifle like this way back in the early ‘50s, and it would serve for my grandkids if it were safe. This is certainly not a collector example of this model, but I hate to see such a nice little rifle, even with all its ‘character’ be scrapped.

Is it just a wall hanger now?

 

[Jim Watson]

It might not be.
Shoot it. It is not going to blow up. It might or might not hit anything. With half the barrel left to straighten up the bullet after it jumps the bulge, I think you have a chance.

 

[Safetychain]

Why not google how to remove the bulge? I had looked into removing a bulge in a shotgun a while back and there were several methods given that look very possible for the DIY. A rifle may take a bit longer and more force than what would work for a scatter gun but I'm sure its possible. Obviously the 22 has seen better years and the methods I found surely wouldn't make it worse.

 

[Jim K]

Removing bulges and dents (as long as they are not excessive) from a thin shotgun barrel can often be done and is a common gunsmith job. But removing a bulge from a rifle barrel is another matter, and I strongly recommend not attempting it. As a rule, a bulge in a .22 barrel will not have done any severe damage and the gun can be safely fired. Sometimes, the accuracy is still good. So, no, don't scrap that rifle until you see how it shoots.

Jim

 

[notaglockfanboy]

I am with Jim on this one. Take it out, shoot it and see if it will hit anything. If so, let the grandkids dirty that barrel up and have fun with it. Good luck and let us know how it shoots.

 

[Liberty1776]

Don't forget - standard velocity ammo only!

 

[dagger dog]

I bought a basket case Remington 12 A .22 cal pump, got the parts from Numrich to get it up and shooting, only to find the barrel was "ringed" about 4" from the muzzle.

Called a gunsmith about relining, he suggested that I shoot it before, I plunked down the $125.00 for the lining. I did and found the rifle shoots as accurately as I can shoot it.

Try yours and see how it does before condemning , if it doesn't shoot well you could have it relined.

 

[dogrunner]

I recall a gunsmithing article some time back describing a bulge removal technique involving an octagonal barrel. Can't see why a variation might not work just as well on a round tube.....likely easier if anything.

The smith utilized a salvaged eight sided socket and drove that piece over the octagonal tube, restoring it very closely to it's original dimensions......wish I could recall where I read the article, but as I recall there were even photo's of it. Same process oughtta work on your gun.

RCModel............you recall that article?................


By the way, that bulge won't make a lick of difference........I've an original Ruger .44 flat top with a bulged tube.......prints tiny clusters just like it did new.......I have no idea how I managed to do accomplish that bulge but I've owned the thing since 1960 & a LOT of rounds have gone thru it.

 

[MEHavey]

Shoot it before you do anything else.

And if it ain't broke (from a shooting standpoint), don't 'fix' it.

 

[Odd Job]

We had an old Stevens 22/410 combi that had a bulge in the last 3 inches of the .22 barrel. The buttstock had a crack in it also (this was the tenite version).
It worked fine with no problem and was surprisingly accurate. The barrel was hardly ever cleaned, perhaps this helped with the problem?

 

[boom boom]

Ditto on the bulged barrel issue--try it first for accuracy. Before scrapping the whole barrel, determine exactly where the bulge is. I bought a .22 cheap with a bulged barrel, poor accuracy (it was a semi auto with a visible bulge) but the bulge was past the 16 inch mark from the chamber. Had a gunsmith chop the barrel and recrown it, used a scope with it anyway so did not need a front sight, it is now the most accurate .22 I own.

If the bulge affects accuracy, chop the barrel if possible. Last resort, check with Numrich about a new used barrel which sometimes have problems of their own or if cost is no object then drill out (or have a gunsmith do so) the old barrel and put a new .22 liner in it. Anyway, no need to scrap it.

 

[rangervoss]

I have a Remington 241 that was bulged. Luckily the bulge was past the 16" mark and I cut it down, recrowned and refinished. It looks like a nice little carbine now. Hopefull you can do the same!

 

[Sun Tzu warrior]

+1000 on trying it, it won't be unsafe, and may well be still accurate.
STW

 

[WestKentucky]

Definitely don't bother trying to "fix" that bulge. If it's not accurate for some reason, then get another barrel. 22 barrels are cheap, and even the wrong barrel can be turned and threaded to fit, likely cheaper than you realize....of course if that fails you could chop it off at the bulge and permanently affix a bloop tube, or even a supperssor. If nothing else, sell it to numrich for psrts, or SBR it.

 

[4v50 Gary]

My brother had an older S&W revolver that had a very nice barrel. While the exterior was fine, the interior had a small bulge - just like yours! Our solution was to bore out the barrel and install a 22 LR liner. The original barrel is still on with its finish that matched the frame and it is as good as new.

 

[Lafitte]

Just shoot it. You will probably never notice the difference.

Lafitte

 

[pikepole20]

+1 with the shoot it ..should be no problem

 

[bhk]

I have a Kimber Classic bolt action with a loose spot in the bore that is three or four inches long half way down the barrel. It is very noticable when running a patch down the bore, but is not visable when looking down the bore. No enlargement on the outside of the barrel. I believe this is a result of poor quality control and not the result of a stuck bullet. Anyway, this rifle shoots .25 inch groups at 50 yards with no trouble at all.

Shoot yours and see.

 

[Claude Clay]

32-20's are known for bulged bbls.... go figure I would collect a few and one had a slight bulge 1/2 way. the guy sold it to me offered a refund/discount
and said he had never noticed. so I shot it and... dead-nuts accurate.

YMMV yet it may be worth testing it before trashing it.