cracked forcing cone on a .22 revolver, safe to keep shooting?

[rustymaggot]

i have a .22 revolver that has a crack in the forcing cone. i would rather avoid having to rebarrel. would this be safe to fire with the crack? would i have to use .22 short only, or would .22lr be ok to shoot?

 

[gripper]

I wouldn't....how'd it happen??

 

[rustymaggot]

i can only guess because i got it in this condition. looks like the trigger return spring broke and the cylender was out of alignment when the hammer fell. looks like the round went off into the edge of the cone. im seeing firing pin dents all over the cylender like someone just kept firing it doubleaction when they knew the alignment was off. ive made a return spring for it, and the alignment seems correct now.

 

[Old Fuff]

Depending on what make and model of revolver you have, it might be possible to unscrew the barrel, set the shoulder forward, cut off the cracked part, and put it back together. Anyone with access to a lathe should be able too do the work.

 

[rustymaggot]

i have a lathe. but i dont know how to get the barrel out of the frame without damaging it. any tips?

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Strip the gun down. Clamp the barrel in a vise between two grooved hardwood blocks coated with rosin. Use a padded wrench that fits around the frame (do not run a bar through the window and twist!!)

This assumes you have a screwed on barrel -- some guns nowadays have a crush-fit barrel which cannot be removed without damaging the frame.

 

[Old Fuff]

I wouldn't do anything until the make and model of the revolver is identified...

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I wouldn't do anything until the make and model of the revolver is identified...

Damn' good point -- as I said, some revolvers have crush-fit barrels that can't be removed. Don't mess with those!

 

[rustymaggot]

thank you for all the help. its a iver johnson model 50 sidewinder. it is a screw in barrel. what is rosen?

 

[mnrivrat]

Be advised that Gun Parts Corp (Numrich) has barrels for this model at $28 so it may not pay to mess with trying to cut threads and set back the original barrel.

 

[rustymaggot]

thanks for the tip. ive seen the site and i know they have the barrel i need. i am just hesitant on buying a part i havent seen.
besides, the finish on mine is pretty bad and id rather keep it all beat up looking. a new barrel would be like putting a new painjob on only the hood of a beater car.

 

[rustymaggot]

update

the two blocks of wood in the vice worked fine. thankyou. barrel is out and ive turned it a bit on the lathe. i can see how far up the crack runs now and i have to wait till morning so i can go to the hardware store for a thread cutting die. the whole barrel needs to lose about half an inch. the crack was pretty deep.

 

[Old Fuff]

I doubt that the thread on the barrel is a standard one, so check this carefully. If you are going to use a die to cut the threads, as opposed to cutting them on the lathe, you will probably have to use a tap on the frame as well as a die on the barrel. If so, be careful to not to not remove too much metal.

Usually in a case like this you only have to remove about 1/8" to 1/4" of the barrel at the back. If you are looking at something like 1/2" I would buy the new barrel, and then "age" the finish so that it would match the gun. Cap & ball black powder shooters do this to their revolvers all the time to make them look more "Western."

 

[rustymaggot]

you were right, definately a odd thread. this might be more dificult than i had hoped.

 

[rustymaggot]

i did buy a new barrel from egunparts, but i tried my hand at making a barrel from a old rifle barrel while im waiting for it to ship. took a lot of time to get the old sights to line up right, and i finally figured out what thread the barrel needed. 7/16 20tpi. i did a fairly poor job finishing the outside of the barrel but it shoots pretty good. all 8 shots made it into the coke can at approx 30 feet. barrel is alittle under a inch longer than stock. unfortunately the sight was chipped on the barrel i used to make this one so the sights are a bit off. ill get a better front sight later. as it it works ok. i have to wait to try it at farther distances and see where its hitting. i havent put in a shell ejecter yet. ive been using a allen wrench to knock out the brass.

 

[skeezix]

New Barrel

Now that's ingenuity!

 

[rustymaggot]

it was a really fun project. i plan to whip up another one thats longer. thanks.

 

[rustymaggot]

garbage came in the mail today.

deleted by me. rustymaggot.