Sad day for my M15 - bulged barrel

Wondering how you could possibly have bulged the barrel with a round that didn't have enough pressure to get the bullet out of the barrel...
Click to expand...
Yep me too. I've posted here before having seen a Smith M15 with 5 bullets stuck in the bore, military hard ball too; and suffered no discernible damage. No bulges, or rings in the bore whatsoever.

We surmised that the first round fired was a squib, and the rest stacked up behind it. Later that day, we fired it again, after gunsmith inspection and shot a sub 3" group at 25 yds with it. Rod
 
I am not offering advice, nor advocating the following.


If the bulge was concentric ring, minor, and no longer than about .250" in length... I'd probably keep shooting the revolver.
I own more than one firearm with a bulged ("ringed") barrel. [None caused by me!] As long as it's even and concentric, not near the chamber, doesn't cause bullets to lose the gas seal, and there are no other defects... game on.
 
The only squib I've ever had was in my Smith 36 snub - and that was my fault. I didn't drop a powder load but the primer forced the lead WC just past the forcing cone.

I'm assuming you were shooting jacketed? I am like the others in having a problem figuring out how a stuck squip ended up bulging the barrel - especially on a 15. I have a CM (pre 15) and it is one tough revolver.

How did you remove it? Hammering on a rod from the muzzle back? What material was the rod? Any chance you damaged it that way?

Once a bullet is forced in to the rifling - whether it be lead or jacketed, the rifling is engraved on it so while it may require a whack to drive it back out, it should come out fairly easy.

If it were mine, I think I would take a soft lead slug or sinker and "slug" the bore - from the muzzle back. You know where the bulge is so when you get to that point, see how it feels. If a barrel isn't bulged too bad it will usually shoot well as long as the bulge isn't near the muzzle or the concentricity of the muzzle changed in any way.

If you are going to re-barrel it - you might want to make a post on the S & W forum and see if anyone has a spare barrel or know someone who can do it.

Good luck - sorry you had an issue.
 
I've a few squibs stuck in barrels over the years. Always one at a time. Never had one bulge a barrel. Never had much trouble tapping them back out either. That's not to say it couldn't happen, just it's never happened to me.

The range where I used to shoot, had a barrel from a Ruger Speed-Six, sawed lenthways in a little "junk basket" by the register. You could clearly see six bullets stuck in the barrel.

Check E-bay for another barrel There are several listed there this morning. I didn't notice if they were specifically for a Model 15 or not, but it's worth checking.
 
I am well aware that many folks simply won't believe me, but barrel bulges are caused by heat. First, there is some kind of obstruction, such as a stuck bullet. That can have several possible causes, but is usually the result of a bad or insufficient powder charge. Then, with one bullet stuck in the barrel, a second is fired. When the moving bullet encounters the stuck bullet, it stops or is delayed enough that its kinetic energy is converted into heat, which softens the steel of the barrel and allows the gas pressure to expand the bullet and bulge the barrel. Normal gas pressure for a pistol round is itself not sufficient to bulge the barrel, which is why it takes a second bullet to cause the heat and the bulge.

Jim
 
James K said:
I am well aware that many folks simply won't believe me, but barrel bulges are caused by heat.
...Then, with one bullet stuck in the barrel, a second is fired. When the moving bullet encounters the stuck bullet, it stops or is delayed enough that its kinetic energy is converted into heat, which softens the steel of the barrel and allows the gas pressure to expand the bullet and bulge the barrel.
Click to expand...

Well, I've always understood it's a heat and pressure issue, which AFAIK, comes from the tremendous compression of air between the 2 bullets. As the 2nd bullet gets close to the 1st, it compresses the air between them, and gets hotter the more compressed it gets. At the end of the bullet's travel, that air is very compressed and very hot, which tends to bulge barrels.
 
While I admit up front that I know -SQUAT- haha, it would seem to a layman like myself that all the fire, heat and fury is sealed underneath the full-powered bullet with absolutely no possible way to pass...

Someone preached long ago (I read in a gun magazine likely from the 70's or 80's) that it was compressed air BETWEEN the two bullets that causes the ring --

It seems to me that if we want to agree that it's ultra-hot burning gases and fury that causes the ring... would we rather then suggest that the actual location of the ring is NOT between the two bullets, as there is simply no heat between them and no way for heat/gases to even get between them? The bullet is an absolute seal between the hot gases and anything forward of the bullet.
 
Just did a quick search on eBay. A 4" barrel is $59...or, you could splurge, and get a 2" barrel for somewhat more.

Or, there are some 6" Model 14 barrels...
 
Last edited:
Shoot it and see how it does.

You might be seriously surprised. I've seen quite a few bulged barrels that shoot very well.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
 
Don't shoot groups with it anymore and you'll probably never notice any deterioration in accuracy.
There's lots of shooting fun to be had without shooting groups.
See how simple life can be.

I'm with gwillikers on this, set it aside and forget about it.

I agree with the only rifles interesting are accurate ones, but considering my failing eye sight, handgun accuracy for me, has nothing to do with the firearm.

best
 
Last edited:
Now the cost of labor. I was quoted $150 to swap the barrel on a 1942 M&P 10 years ago. Gun not worth that much at the time so I did it myself. Not for the faint of heart and I went in knowing I might ruin the gun. Turned out OK. BTW I scored the barrel on ebay for $5. Paid $60 for the gun with a bulged barrel. So $65 total investment.


standard.jpg
 
James K - I believe your theory . . . .

A little off base but years ago, I attended a welding seminar put on my an auto mfg. for Industrial Ed. Teachers. It was a well worthwhile experience to say he least. Anyway, they took a standard welding oxygen tank and attached a three for steel tube to the valve. i was called up to help and they had me strike a standard paper match and blow it out. They then inserted it in to the end of the tube and capped it. The lesson was to show why you always crack the tank valve slowly. The then instructed me to crack the valve as fast as I could. I did and nothing appears to have happened. I cracked t quickly and then quickly turned it off.

Everything looked kosher until they told me to slowly run my finger down the tube towards the end. About 2/3 of the way down towards the end, it started to get extremely hot and I had to remove my finger. They then cooled the tube with sa damp rag and removed the tube from the valve. They uncapped the end furthest from the valve whee the paper match had been inserted and then turned it up to dump the match on to a sheet of white paper. That paper match had turned in to a very small piece of carbon.

My point - I don't think a gun barrel would be much different than that tube was. "Re-compression" had burned the match into carbon - think a stuck bullet in a barrel and the compression of the air between it and an incoming bullet behind it. Your thoughts on heat and barrel bulges makes perfect sense.
 
Everything looked kosher until they told me to slowly run my finger down the tube towards the end. About 2/3 of the way down towards the end, it started to get extremely hot and I had to remove my finger. They then cooled the tube with sa damp rag and removed the tube from the valve. They uncapped the end furthest from the valve whee the paper match had been inserted and then turned it up to dump the match on to a sheet of white paper. That paper match had turned in to a very small piece of carbon.

My point - I don't think a gun barrel would be much different than that tube was. "Re-compression" had burned the match into carbon - think a stuck bullet in a barrel and the compression of the air between it and an incoming bullet behind it. Your thoughts on heat and barrel bulges makes perfect sense
Click to expand...
. That's one interesting & illuminating post, Billy...thanks for the info...Rod
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top