I have a light infantry fusil in .62 that shot consistently 4 inches low and 3 to the right. I bent the barrel and got it actually hitting the target but now it takes two people to put it back in the stock (one to hold the barrel, the other to drive the pins in). Any ideas on how to keep me on target but not require a team to put the barrel back in the stock?
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bent the barrel and need help
- Thread starter Catkison
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paulvallandigham
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Open the slots for the barrel pins, OR, plug the holes in the stock for the pins, and drill new holes. You should leave some slack in the staples, or dovetailed hangers for your pins, to permit expansion and contraction of the wood due to changes in humidity. That is in all guns. Failure to do so can result in split and cracked stocks!
In your case, opening the holes will allow the pins to fit even now that you have bent the barrel. I am hoping your rifle does not have a full length stock. If it, does you may be forced to omit the forward pin, or redrill the hole, and that may have the pin interferring with your Ramrod.
The last thing you want is the forestock pulling back down on the barrel. As the barrel heats up, the amount of movement of the barrel from this pressure will change, throwing your POI all over the target.
In your case, opening the holes will allow the pins to fit even now that you have bent the barrel. I am hoping your rifle does not have a full length stock. If it, does you may be forced to omit the forward pin, or redrill the hole, and that may have the pin interferring with your Ramrod.
The last thing you want is the forestock pulling back down on the barrel. As the barrel heats up, the amount of movement of the barrel from this pressure will change, throwing your POI all over the target.
Mike Brooks
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Don't take the barrel out of the stock.....
All ya had to do was use a file :v As an engineer I only bend stuff to straighten it and not to get around a symptom :hmm: :hatsoff:
Britsmoothy.
Britsmoothy.
jbrowngunmaker
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Very true! Barrels are bent to straighten them. If it's bent enough to cause problems putting the pins back in, the barrel needs to go back where it came from. It takes very little movement (straightening) to change the point of impact.
Jackie
Jackie
My .54 smothbore is great and
I love it, But it shoots to the left with prb. and patterns low and to the left with shot. I have rear sight on it because I made it for an all around hunting gun,turkey & small game as well as deer and bear. My rear sight is moved way to the right and it still does this! my front turtle sight is dead center. Could I {or should I} bend the barrel to correct this and if so how? Thanks Buck.
I love it, But it shoots to the left with prb. and patterns low and to the left with shot. I have rear sight on it because I made it for an all around hunting gun,turkey & small game as well as deer and bear. My rear sight is moved way to the right and it still does this! my front turtle sight is dead center. Could I {or should I} bend the barrel to correct this and if so how? Thanks Buck.
paulvallandigham
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Bending the barrel is your last resort.
INSTEAD, File the barrel's muzzle on the side where the pattern or balls are going. If low left, then file low left. It will release the ball and wad earlier causing the ball or shot load to go in the opposite direction. Take your time and try the gun at the range frequently to see how much you have moved the ball or pattern.
If you have a front sight on the gun, and the ball is striking low, the front sight probably need so be filed down a bit. Many manufacturers purposely put a " TOO HIGH " front sight on the gun in order to allow you to zero the gun for the load you want to use.
Filing the muzzle to correct pattern locations, or even to center RB loads on target is a very common, old practice, and it works. Usually, you take off so little metal that others won't even see what you have done. Use a draw file, and take just a few strokes before testing.
HINT: ALWAYS have another shooter shoot the gun to see if its the gun, OR YOU, that is the cause of the problem with accuracy. Always do your test firing on a bench rest, with sand bags, or some kind of rest for BOTH the forearm, and the butt of the stock. You want to eliminate as many human factors as possible in assessing whether a gun's barrel " IS OFF " or not.
INSTEAD, File the barrel's muzzle on the side where the pattern or balls are going. If low left, then file low left. It will release the ball and wad earlier causing the ball or shot load to go in the opposite direction. Take your time and try the gun at the range frequently to see how much you have moved the ball or pattern.
If you have a front sight on the gun, and the ball is striking low, the front sight probably need so be filed down a bit. Many manufacturers purposely put a " TOO HIGH " front sight on the gun in order to allow you to zero the gun for the load you want to use.
Filing the muzzle to correct pattern locations, or even to center RB loads on target is a very common, old practice, and it works. Usually, you take off so little metal that others won't even see what you have done. Use a draw file, and take just a few strokes before testing.
HINT: ALWAYS have another shooter shoot the gun to see if its the gun, OR YOU, that is the cause of the problem with accuracy. Always do your test firing on a bench rest, with sand bags, or some kind of rest for BOTH the forearm, and the butt of the stock. You want to eliminate as many human factors as possible in assessing whether a gun's barrel " IS OFF " or not.
Paul is right, I done it. I was amazed how little I removed. After, I had a good look at one of my English made s/s and sure enough you can just see how it has had the treatment too from the makers!
On thick walled barrels (and thin for that matter) it could be down to a bad crowning of which could have the same effect. A gun of mine obviously had a bad crown and shot off but filing still sorted it out.
Britsmoothy.
On thick walled barrels (and thin for that matter) it could be down to a bad crowning of which could have the same effect. A gun of mine obviously had a bad crown and shot off but filing still sorted it out.
Britsmoothy.
Captain outwater
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I know of no reason why you can not move the front sight slightly to change impact left and right! ALWAYS try not mess with the barrel!
You may be right Captain but if it is more than a foot or more of then other remedies are required and bending for me is a no no. There can be loads of influence directed to the ejecta at the very point of leaving the muzzle. I have seen many a modern repro with it's muzzles finished in what can only be imagined as some person with a hand drill and a countersink bit in the chuck resulting in the gun shooting where ever it wishes.
Britsmoothy.
Britsmoothy.
squirejohn
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Bending the barrel is an easy solution for smoothbores. I've done it on three of them with good results and I'm a first class klutz. I use a large screw clamp, and check progress with various size drills as go-no-go guages. You can probably find more detailed specifics in the archives section.
Thanks. I hadn't considered filing the muzzle and am leery of moving the front sight since it's a bayonet lug as well. From my rifle experience, I'm hesitant to file the muzzle but will look at that as a way to take the muzzle back closer to fitting in the stock. When I got it, I thought it was me but after two other shooters put 20-30 rounds each, we all determined it was the gun. I'm almost to the point of making it a wall hanger and going back to my brown bess since I know it hits where aimed.
paulvallandigham
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Check the condition of the inside of the crown, first, for dents, nicks, etc. Any defect can cause a ball to fly away from the POA. However, if the crown is okay, and the muzzle is SQUARE to the bore of the rifle, then you need to consider filing to move the ball to POA. Its really very easy to do, and it works well.
paulvallandigham
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A draw file has a single angled cutting edge to its teeth. It is used to cut across surfaces.
You hold the file in both hands, with each hand on the file itself, rather than on the handle. The hands are separated just enough to allow the workpiece to fit between them. Some files cut when drawn towards you; other when pushed away from you. Determine which yours is on scrap. Take only one stroke per placement of the file. Then move the file in your hands, reset the file on the barrel, and take the next stroke. This allows you to use the entire file evenly, and then you can flip it over and use the other side, if needed, before you need to card the file to remove the filings that will undoubtedly be clogging the file. Card carefully, and inspect the teeth with good light. a copper pick is often needed to manually pluck out really stuck filings from the teeth Its important to remove the filings so they don't scratch or score your workpiece on the next stroke.
Many crafstmen will fill the teeth of their files with chalk before using them, in order to lubricate the teeth, and keep the filings from sticking so they have to use a pick to clear the stuck filings. Chalk does work.
You can buy it in one form or another at most hardware and home supply stores- where you buy your files. Buy the best quality files you can find. Stick with American made Nicholson files, if you can. The Chinese stuff does not have a very good reputation.
When filing the muzzle to change the POI, put pressure on the side of the muzzle that needs to be filed. You can always clean up the rest of the muzzle after you have moved the POI to where you want it, by filing a complete flat bevel across the muzzle.
The only time you may have to use a file other than a draw file( single cut) is on a double barrel shotgun, where the two barrels are shooting away from each other. Then, a half round file may be needed to remove metal where the two barrels are joined, to bring the POIs back together. This is often seen to have been done to original double barrel shotguns, and I have seen many such guns in the used gun racks at Friendship.
You hold the file in both hands, with each hand on the file itself, rather than on the handle. The hands are separated just enough to allow the workpiece to fit between them. Some files cut when drawn towards you; other when pushed away from you. Determine which yours is on scrap. Take only one stroke per placement of the file. Then move the file in your hands, reset the file on the barrel, and take the next stroke. This allows you to use the entire file evenly, and then you can flip it over and use the other side, if needed, before you need to card the file to remove the filings that will undoubtedly be clogging the file. Card carefully, and inspect the teeth with good light. a copper pick is often needed to manually pluck out really stuck filings from the teeth Its important to remove the filings so they don't scratch or score your workpiece on the next stroke.
Many crafstmen will fill the teeth of their files with chalk before using them, in order to lubricate the teeth, and keep the filings from sticking so they have to use a pick to clear the stuck filings. Chalk does work.
You can buy it in one form or another at most hardware and home supply stores- where you buy your files. Buy the best quality files you can find. Stick with American made Nicholson files, if you can. The Chinese stuff does not have a very good reputation.
When filing the muzzle to change the POI, put pressure on the side of the muzzle that needs to be filed. You can always clean up the rest of the muzzle after you have moved the POI to where you want it, by filing a complete flat bevel across the muzzle.
The only time you may have to use a file other than a draw file( single cut) is on a double barrel shotgun, where the two barrels are shooting away from each other. Then, a half round file may be needed to remove metal where the two barrels are joined, to bring the POIs back together. This is often seen to have been done to original double barrel shotguns, and I have seen many such guns in the used gun racks at Friendship.
Buck, yes across the bore. The file will be flat and over the bore covering it only the file will be biased by you to remove more material from one quadrant of the circumfrence and no don't go raming any files down the bore :wink:
Try to imagine a ball or shot colume leaving the barrel,for examples sake lets say the barrel was way of square ended to the tune of 1/4" longer on one side more than the other. The colume of shot or ball would cling to the longer side just enough to steer it in that way and or maybe the earlier releasing gasses on the shorter side blow by the shot thus encouraging it to steer away etc.
Now don't go removing 1/4" of barrel on one side, that was only for explanation sake. In real terms it is only a few though,10-20 maybe.
If you have an old bust up single barrel breech loader or M/L you could test out the theory for your self!
Rifle barrels are turned on precision lathes to ensure the bullet has an equal drag of friction all around it as it leaves the muzzle, alot of smoothbores don't get that luxury only instead of using a lathe we are using a target to varify our adjusting.
Alot of folk have success with bending but I will say it again, with bending you are treating the symptom and not curing the cause. It can open far more cans of worms than filing and takes far longer to do.
Muzzle crowns are often believed to be the realms of witch craft and the sort :shake: I once had a 222 that would not win a soft toy at the fair! I noticed the copper washing from the bullets in the groove was widening just before the crown so I had it shortened and refinnished by my local smith on a lathe and the result was a vast improvement. That rifle was new, made no differance to the fact that some one had set the machine wrong and forced a constriction in the end of the barrel, poop happens.
Britsmoothy.
Try to imagine a ball or shot colume leaving the barrel,for examples sake lets say the barrel was way of square ended to the tune of 1/4" longer on one side more than the other. The colume of shot or ball would cling to the longer side just enough to steer it in that way and or maybe the earlier releasing gasses on the shorter side blow by the shot thus encouraging it to steer away etc.
Now don't go removing 1/4" of barrel on one side, that was only for explanation sake. In real terms it is only a few though,10-20 maybe.
If you have an old bust up single barrel breech loader or M/L you could test out the theory for your self!
Rifle barrels are turned on precision lathes to ensure the bullet has an equal drag of friction all around it as it leaves the muzzle, alot of smoothbores don't get that luxury only instead of using a lathe we are using a target to varify our adjusting.
Alot of folk have success with bending but I will say it again, with bending you are treating the symptom and not curing the cause. It can open far more cans of worms than filing and takes far longer to do.
Muzzle crowns are often believed to be the realms of witch craft and the sort :shake: I once had a 222 that would not win a soft toy at the fair! I noticed the copper washing from the bullets in the groove was widening just before the crown so I had it shortened and refinnished by my local smith on a lathe and the result was a vast improvement. That rifle was new, made no differance to the fact that some one had set the machine wrong and forced a constriction in the end of the barrel, poop happens.
Britsmoothy.
