Bulged Barrel

[joustin]

I have a Savage Hog Hunter in 308 and there is a bulge in the barrel under the front sight ramp. I am not sure what's going on, I was re-arranging the safe tonight and I bumped the front sight, it seemed loose. On inspection I twisted the base a bit and the front sight came off.

There is a noticeable bulge on the barrel but I could only feel it when the base was off. The tapped hole in the barrel for the screw was distorted it seems. I contacted Savage and maybe I'll hear something next week. In the meantime I have been looking online and may just upgrade to a longer barrel. Then again I could have this one chopped to 16.25 for the heck of it.

I shot some Monarch 150gr SP and Fed American Eagle 168 SMK's, the bulge is crazy but the gun is still a tack driver so who knows.

 

[LAGS]

You do not look for a Bulge in the barrel on the Outside of the barrel for the most part.
You can see it inside the bore as a Ring in the reflection as you look thru the bore with a light.
It can also be felt when slugging the bore.
That rifle may also be built with a Boss that is slightly larger diameter at the point the rear sight goes on the barrel.
But if you have a Bulge that can be felt on the outside of the barrel and concirmed on the inside of the barrel then DON"T Shoot it.
Have it looked at by a professional if you have any doubts.
Barrels generaly get Bulged by having some kind of Bore restriction.
What do you think caused the barrel to bulge, or is it only the loose rear sight ?

 

[joustin]

Front sight only, you can see the bulge with a straight edge, not sure what happened.

 

[wally]

I shot some Monarch 150gr SP and Fed American Eagle 168 SMK's, the bulge is crazy but the gun is still a tack driver so who knows.

A buldged, or "ringed" barrel often shoots fine, so if it shoots good enough for your needs, why worry about it?

 

[hardluk1]

Contact savage and send it in to be fixed . They may deal with it free.

 

[LAGS]

A Ring or Mid Barrel Bulge can get progressively worse over time.
But it depends on what caused the bulge in the first place.
It can get worse if the bulge is Long and not just a Ring in a perticular spot in the bore.
What happens is.
The bullet traveling down the bore hits the bulge, and then on the other side of the bulge the bullet reingages the rifling, causing a slight pressure spike, and that occurs right where the steel has previously been weekened.
The pressure will spike even more if the barrel bulge caused the barrel to not be straight anymore, even a few .0001"
I had a friend who shot a Deer with Snow packed in the Muzzle by accident.
He got the deer, but after inspection when cleaning the rifle, we saw the ring and could feel a progressive bulge.
I gave seen similar bulges in MilSurp barrels and wondered if they got shot with the barrels packes with mud or snow in Battle.
My friends rifle, shot accurate after that, but we noticed the barrel was not straight any more after repeated use, and the bulge was growing ever so slightly, and not uniform.
We ended up rebarreling it for him before the next deer season.

 

[joustin]

I hope Savage can replace the barrel, heck I don't care to pay for it.

 

[LAGS]

Can you tell if the front sight screw hole was drilled too deep onto the barrel ?
The depth of the hole should be no more than .120" deep for a 6/48 screw, and the thin slimline barrels .070 '

 

[joustin]

Its fairly shallow and this is a beefy barrel. Its just odd that it bulged there

 

[wally]

Its fairly shallow and this is a beefy barrel. Its just odd that it bulged there

Not really, if the muzzle got filled with mud form a stumble, or a mud dauber nest while in storage and not noticed before firing, the ring will usually be just behind the obstruction. IF the obstruction is severe, or near the the chamber things generally break violently.

 

[Bob w]

You didn't! Mention anything about jamming the barrel in snow or mud so I assume it was clear and open. Experience will teach us to CLEAR THE BARREL when first loading to shoot after storage or any stumble while hunting.

 

[LAGS]

My friends rifle got the barrel full of snow, we assume when he was carrying it on the sling on his shoulder.
Clumps of heavy snow had been falling out of the trees all morning long. and we think one landed right on the end of the barrel.
Then possibly froze in the barrel as time passed thru the next few hours.
When he saw the Deer, he never thought or had time to look at the barrel.
He just flipped open the scope covers and took aim then fired.
Right away, I saw a Puff of Snow and steam shoot from his barrel.
But we didnt give it a second thought untill he was cleaning it back at camp that night.
that is when he saw the ring about 1/3 down the bore, and a very slight bulge on the outside.

 

[joustin]

The bore and muzzle area are clean, the thread protector should have dirt on it if I had jammed it in the mud. Regardless I was shooting prone with a bipod on a shooting mat, no real dirt issues there.

 

[kimbernut]

Depends

On your definition of tack driver. A friends S/A Rem. .308 was plugged with mud at some point by a relative. It bulged between 2.5-3" from the crown and would still keep a 3moa group. I trimmed 3.5" and re crowned the barrel with the reward of a 1.25 moa rifle. Well worth the effort on this rifle and made a super carbine!

 

[joustin]

I installed a scope on it but haven't had a chance to sight it in. With irons it was about 2.5 mow maybe, the front bead is large

 

[LAGS]

2.5 moa is an awful big tack.
I hope you scope helps shrinking your groups.

 

[joustin]

I think the bead is like 2 MOA, they are more or less express sights

 

[jmr40]

Is the bulge inside the barrel, or just outside. It is possible there could be some minor deformation just on the outside from drilling and tapping for the front sight. If so it is cosmetic and will not effect function.

 

[fguffey]

There is a noticeable bulge on the barrel but I could only feel it when the base was off.

A bulge in the barrel and the sight is loose, the bulge would have to be behind the front sight. If the bulge was caused by an obstruction the pressure would drop when the bullet passed the bulge. The drop in pressure would be caused by the gas escaping between the rifling and bullet.

I would suggest using a technique used to lap a barrel, if the barrel had a bulge the resistance to pushing the lapping plug down the barrel would get easy when the plug got to the bulge.. I had an old Spenser with 5 bulges, I traded it for parts.

F. Guffey

 

[joustin]

You can see a dark ring in the bore. I'm leaning heavily towards getting a longer barrel at this point.

ETA I may have this chopped below the bulge, I'll need to have it threaded too, I'm betting that a 16 inch or so barrel in 308 might be loud, I'd like a comp that directs as much of the blast forward as possible.

 

[joustin]

I wanted to update you all on what happened. Savage had the gun for a few weeks, I just received it back today. They swapped the barrel and sent it back to me under warranty. It looks great and once I remount the scope I'll be back in business this weekend. Savage has great service and even though I was prepared to pay it only cost me the time to pack the rifle back up. I'll be buying another Savage in 223 based on this awesome level of service, well that and the value of their guns.

 

[Slamfire]

I wanted to update you all on what happened. Savage had the gun for a few weeks, I just received it back today. They swapped the barrel and sent it back to me under warranty. It looks great and once I remount the scope I'll be back in business this weekend. Savage has great service and even though I was prepared to pay it only cost me the time to pack the rifle back up. I'll be buying another Savage in 223 based on this awesome level of service, well that and the value of their guns.

Sounds like good news!

A buldged, or "ringed" barrel often shoots fine, so if it shoots good enough for your needs, why worry about it?

The risk is, the material has been stressed above the yield limit of the material, which means it is permanently deformed. It is now weaker than it was originally, is not getting stronger as it is being used, and there is a potential for rupture at the bulge. Steel stressed beyond yield limit should be replaced.