doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com How do barrels get dents?

I saw a rifle once that was used by a son to hit his dad on the head with in a drunken brawl. (No charges were filed, but the dad sold the rifle.) It was a 22 rimfire. The guy who bought the rifle, a single-shot Win, brought it to the office. I could tell by looking at it, before I knew the story, that the barrel was bent. The new owner said, "Hunh. I knew it was shooting low."

I think he hammered the barrel straight with a rubber mallet. You can look down the bore of a rifle and I suppose a shotgun at a bright light to a straight line (like a plumb line) and tell immediately if it's bent at all, if it isn't obvious on the outside. The refelction of the line will crook where the bend is.