doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Repair of Bulged Barrels -- Can You -- Should You

I need the benefit of some expert experience. Have slight bulge about 15 inches from breech on one barrel of an old Superposed. Not a ring bulge. Ribs do not seem de-laminated. Do not know the history of the gun, or how the bulge was produced. Can it be repaired? If so how. Should it be repaired? Any comments on resulting strength of such a repair if it could be done. Is this all that much different in concept than repairing a dent. Any recommended gunsmiths for this repair? Thanks

Before I state my opinion let me say that I am not an expert, or even play one on TV on which bulges should be repaired and which ones should be left alone.

But as a rule I feel that a bulge in the first two thirds of the barrel are bad news. Have a bulge repair fail in the last ten inches of the barrel and no great harm can come to the shooter. Have it occur within a few inches for your face or hand and you might not be so lucky. If your load is 10,000 psi at the chamber it may be 6-7,000 at the bulge and only 2-3,000 near the choke. Easier to deal with thin or weak metal near the choke area than in the middle.

Stretched metal is almost impossible to compress back into the proper place. Most bulges, I think get more filing to make the flush than is smart. Very minor bulges might be repairable but why risk it?

The only sure way to know is to send it to a very good barrel man. Mike O would be my choice. If he thinks it will not be safe he will tell you so in a fast second. His work and prices are super and he can get to the job faster than anyone else I know.

No--No.

15" sounds about where the barrel taper straightens out. The typical shotgun barrel has two tapers that are blended as best as possible by hand.

When metal is cold formed, it hardens and toughens up a bit. A bulge or dent is cold forming. The more working, the more hardening and toughening...to a point.

Hard steels cannot be easily formed or may not yield (form) without fracturing at all if exceptionally hard. Nothing ground breaking here, I have a tremendous grasp of the obvious.

Formable steels have limits of how much they can stretch. The softer the steel, generally, the more it will stretch. But, there are alloys that stretch more than others of similar hardness.

Generally, shotgun barrel steels are relatively soft and form easily. That's why they bulge and dent readily. That's why then can be fixed as well.

The ultimate "bulge" reduction in a barrel is a rotary hamberforged barrel. It starts as a short large diameter bar with a large hole and is literally hammered until it shrinks in diameter and grows in length. Tony G showed me his rotary forge machine that he hadn't implemented yet, but planned to.

A bulge should be assessed by a knowledgeable gunsmith. Frankly, I don't know how they gain the knowledge other than someone taught them and so on, but someone undoubtedly fixed dents and they didn't or did fail and they learned from that and passed it on.

But, one thing that is not so subjective is doing a crack inspection. That can be done visually with strong magnification or with enhanced NDI methods.

Frankly, from your discription of "slight bulge" I would say the metal will be plenty strong after it is formed back or reduced. That's not to say it can be fixed, given there is a rib on top and another barrel below.

I'd give a trusted gunsmith a look at the barrels for an assessment.

I agree with Chuck. The bulge is almost certainly the result of a small barrel obstruction.

You do have a serious problem....I'd say you have a wall-hanger.

In my opinion a gunsmith that would try and hide that in a shotgun barrel has no scruples and comparable to a guy that would torch color an action.

I agree with the guys that go to length to advise you.
As this is not a gun that has a history with you or a family member, it may or may not be worth the cost of repair. That is unless it is on the low side of cheap and in nice condition otherwise.
There is always the possibility of tubes and shooting smaller gauge shells.
Regardless of whether it is successfully repaired, it is still greatly lower in value.
Just some thoughts.
Best,
John

Unless it's one of those high grade models these things are "dime a dozen" so why bother fixing it. Look, even if it's possible to repair it, how much confidence are going to have while shooting it. I would not have much that's for sure.

While realizing we all prefer perfect "Cosmetics", one other option is to simply shoot it "As Is". It is really doubtful it would affect the pattern much, if at all. I did sucessfully repair a buldged bbl once, but it was on an auto-loader & just behind the muzzle. "NO" I did not consider myself in the same class as a "Torch" guy, as I in no way considered this a dangerous repair.

If he keeps shooting that thing is there any doubt that bulge will eventually open up rather violently? It's called a barrel BURST for a reason.