Bulged barrel...please advise

R

Romulus

New member
I'm taking down and cleaning a Savage shotgun that has long been neglected. Lots of crud, etc...I noticed the barrel has a significantly noticeable bulge right behind the bead pedestal. The bulge is eccentric, meaning it appears only on the top of the circumference, and extends rear of the pestal about an inch. Is this unsafe to shoot?

Thanks
 
If you have enough usable barrel length to work with, your best option is to cut it off behind the bulge. If you need choke in that gun, you will then have to have it threaded for tubes. I would not advise shooting a bulged shotgun barrel. A bulge near the muzzle is not helping your patterns either.
 
If the shotgun is a relatively new model with good steel barrels, and unless the barrel is actually cracked at the bulge, it is probably OK to shoot, but tie it to an old tire for the first couple of shots and pull the trigger with a string.

Oddly enough it might just shoot fine as I have seen some bulged barrels do. The shot column spreads out in the bulged area, then is choked back down at the muzzle, just like a real choke. We used to do this in another way with a "jug choke", which involves enlarging the barrel behind the muzzle to give the same effect as a choke.

Jim
 
I'll take your advice about tying it to a tire and pulling trigger via string. Something I should do in any case, since it's an old 775a by savage, I believe 50s vintage.

Thanks for the advice, gentlemen
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top