Do I have a barrel bulge?

[HistoryBuff]

After my range session this Saturday I went home to clean the 20ga. While cleaning with a tight patch, I noticed the resistance went to nothing about 2-3 inches from the breach plug. Maybe I just didn't notice before, but it sure seemed to get loose at that point. The barrel was made by Ed Rayl and is a 42 in. octagon-to-round about 1 1/8 inches at the breach. Nothing odd happened while shooting. The barrel appears perfect and shiny inside and the visible flats are perfectly straight. Is this normal?

HistoryBuff

 

[Ridge]

I have a 48 inch Getz on my fowler.

You can tell when you hit the wedding band with the jag because from the band back it's noticably tighter.

Unless you know you've left airspace between the ball and powder or made some other critical loading mistake, I'd chalk it up to an imperfection in the barrel.

I wouldn't think it would cause the problems that a bulged barrel would because a bulged barrel has already been stressed at that point. Stressed enough to bulge it.

Used gun? i dunno.

 

[Java Man]

My new 20 Fusil seems tighter near the muzzle, than most of the rest of the bbl. But you can almost finger start a .595 and .015" ticking patch. Then she slides right on down. Don't know who made the bbl.

 

[musketman]

After my range session this Saturday I went home to clean the 20ga. While cleaning with a tight patch, I noticed the resistance went to nothing about 2-3 inches from the breach plug. Maybe I just didn't notice before, but it sure seemed to get loose at that point.

It could be that the cloth in the patch is fully compressed by the time it reaches the breech area and this gives the illusion of a bulge as it slides easier, does the patch get tighter as you pull it back out towards the muzzle?

Could the barrel have a slight choke in it that you didn't know about?

Another thought is this could be where your crud ring stops and it is smooth sailing to the bottom, mark the rod where it gets smooth and compare length when loading to see if this is where the top of the ball or shot column rest...

 

[nchawkeye]

I doubt it...a 1 1/8 barrel is pretty stout...
Only 2-3 inches from the breach plug is where your powder and shot would be...

 

[Mad Professor]

Could be fouling, does it still feel that way after you've got it really clean?

 

[HistoryBuff]

Yes it does.

HistoryBuff

 

A barrel bulge can be felt on the outside of the barrel and you can see it on the inside if you can get a light source down past it.

 

[ffffg]

it could be from machining or too heavy of load or shooting ramrod ball not seated down etc.. just try to get the powder to cover this spot so ball is tight.. a fiber wad could be a help in this case.. a sand bag or gunrest session at the range will tell you if yo need to use a fiber wad.. the ball should be tight enought to hold its position while hunting.. if it does and your not blowing pathces, i dont think you have a problem.. dave