bending barrels

[J.J.]

I have seen and read posts about the bending or should i say the rebending of barrels, due to factory barrel droop or from misproper care. I have an almost similar problem. I put heat shrink tubing on my barrel and used a heat gun to do so. I am worried that i kept the heat from the heat gun on the the tubing and barrel for too long. with a gloved hand i squeezed (a palm width)the tip of the barrel. when it cooled down, i cleaned the barrel and looked down it from the breach side and it seemed like it curved slightly to the right. see when I looked down the barrel from the breach end, i can see the rifling all the way down the left side but at the very tip of the right side is shadow. so am i right to assume that it is slightly bent? and if so, what is a good way to straighten the first 1'' to 3'' from the muzzle? or should i just let it be? i mean it still shoots ok but I worry if it is robbing the potential accuracy. hope to hear from everyone soon.

[Cal]

All barrels are Bent!  Some are less so than others.  It is only a matter of degree.

The reason you might consider "straightening" a barrel is if there is difficulty getting the sights to align with the point of Impact.

If your sighting in is fine,  then no work is required.

If you do have trouble getting the sights aligned,  bend the barrel to make a correction.

"Worry is interest paid on trouble you don't have"

Cheers

Cal

[J.J.]

Thanks cal, but if i were to have to bend it back, how does one do so at the first 1  to 3 inches of the barrel?

[QuigleyUpYonder]

..all I know is, I've GOT to get me some of that wicked industrial strength heat shrink wrap that can bend high carbon steel in one fell swoop!

I'm lucky if 22ga. soft copper wire doesn't poke a hole in my stuff!!



Source please.

[J.J.]

Quigley, i dont know if your tryin to be funny or what but no one ever said that the wrap bent the barrel but the amount, duration of the heat along with me squeezing it with a gloved hand. If im assuming what your sayin them i apologize. If  im correct that your trying to clown me, please dont because i feel that i have a legit issue and need legit feedback.

[Bullit]

JJ,  if you look into the "GTA Library" , you'll find info on barrel bending, and a jig to make for the process.  Make sure you can find the spot that you'll need to apply the pressure to.   G'Luck to Ya...  Mike

[john]

it would take alot more heat than you used to warp or bend a barrel. Like Cal says, all these midrange priced barrels are slightly warped.  I was disappointed to find my Trail barrel was and bought a spare...no love...same problem...only bent in a different direction. Yours was that way when you got it...but just noticed, I bet. Ignore it if you can hit your poa with the scope adjustments near the middle of their range. I have "unbent" a few times for different reasons (including mistakes) with some success using different methods. It's not easy and not fun.

[QVTom]

Barrels have a lot of stress from manufacturing but to relieve these stress with heat you would need to get into the 500 degC range for mild steel.  Never going to happen with a heat gun!

Like Cal said.  Barrels are never perfectly true, some are better than others.


Tom

[J.J.]

well everyone, thank you for the feedback.  I was really stressing because I got it to shoot pretty decent.  Maybe you guys are all right, that I just noticed it.  Well thanks for getting me calmed down.  Could it be actually bent though?  How can I actually determine it?  Should i optically center my scope or should I find the middle/center of the clicks for the elevation and windage? And then see where it hits from there?

[gandalfretlaw]

If you optically center your barrel your gun should shoot within a few inches of that point. If it does not it may have a bent barrel or it may just have droop (the scope mount not perfectly in line with the barrel). I have to do this with my gun. The advantage is, once optically centered you can try to adjust the scope mount to get the gun shooting at the scope zero (flip the mounts, shim it, etc, adjustable mount). Then you only have to make minor scope adjustments to get it really on target. Scopes don't do well if they are adjusted towards the end of their range.