Winchester model 70 barrel bulge - suggestions

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Ocraknife

New member
My brother was sighting in his 1949 model 70 30-06 with a bore laser and somehow forgot to take it out before chambering and firing a round. he knows how lucky he is to be unhurt and alive so no use in discussing that please.

Anyway, he has a bulge in the barrel. Can anything be done for this gun or is it a mantle piece now? I've heard some guns can have the barrels replaced, is this one of them?
 
Where's the bulge? How long's the barrel?
And any commercial hunting rifle's barrel can be changed. Usually for not a huge pile of money. Pity he ruined a pre-64 M70 though.
"...and alive..." Bulging a barrel isn't going to do that.
 
I echo what's already said. If it's right down at the muzzle, you could potentially cut and re-crown the barrel. The barrel will have to come off either way, so you might as well have a new barrel fitted. It's easily done. A good smith can chamber, thread, crown, and match the taper to the old barrel without costing you an arm and a leg. They can even match the blueing so it still appears original if you care for it to look that way. This is where things can pile up because while doing this, it's also the perfect time to square the receiver and bolt faces.
 
You can probably put a new barrel on it as cheap as having the old one cut, re-crowned and re installed. Sounds like your brother just bought you a new barrel.
 
Before anyone takes a hacksaw to it....
Is the "bulge" so bad that he can't just shoot it and see if any real accuracy effect?
 
Yeah, if it's that far out, cut & crown, then re-blue touchup. Hopefully can keep at least 22" of bbl, which is all .30-'06 really needs anyway.

Before anyone takes a hacksaw to it....
Is the "bulge" so bad that he can't just shoot it and see if any real accuracy effect?
Click to expand...

Yeah, that too.... if the bore LOOKs completely clear and not bent, then fire away and see what happens. If accuracy is there, then great - cheap lesson learned.
 
Thats too bad. At least no one was hurt. How far does he usually have to shoot when hunting with this rifle? If it's a shorter distance and the barrel doesn't show a crack/split I'd try shooting it and see how the accuracy is at 100yds. It still may be acceptable. It's not going to blow up. He made a expanded area in the barrel so the bullet won't be gripped there. Some guns shoot fine especialy low power or rimfire rounds.If it's not good it could be shortened. If aesthetics aren't a concern you could use a xtra fine hacksaw and square the muzzel with a file. Then a brass screw with valve grinding compound to cut a recessed crown. Mightnot be as nice but work fine. Good luck.
 
Any M-70 can be re-barreled. If the bulge is at a place that can be cut off and re-crowned leaving the barrel 18" long or longer I'd do just that.

if the bulge is going to make the barrel 17" or shorter I'd recommend a re-barrel job.

I don't know what the cost will be in your area, but I do them with a new barrel for $400-$430. That's a new barrel, contoured and polished, blued, with the sights replace (if desired)
The cost for a stainless barrel runs about $60 higher but the labor charge is the same.
That may give you an idea of what to expect.

Pre-64 M-70s cost more to re-barrel because the breach is coned and has to be cut for the extractor. Mausers and other flat breached bolt actions (Remington 721-700 series Ruger M77s, Savage 110s, Weatherby's new Winchesters and so on) are less because they can be faced flat, chambered and screwed in. I do the final headspacing in the receiver so I get them to a very close tolerance.
 
The smith can drill & tap and set back the front sight for an extra $75 to $100 ish (or less).

But from the looks of it, doesn't seem too bad. I would just look down the bore, and if it appears to be a straight line, and is not "narrowed" at any point, then just shoot the thing and test for accuracy. If the muzzle area near the end, and the crown, are both still good, they will act as a "choke" if you will and impart a last-second "pinch" and likely still give good accuracy (good enough for hunting). Just have to test it.
 
Years ago I bought a Win model 670 (Mod 70 without a floor plate/box magazine) in .30-06 that someone some how put a bulge half-way down the barrel. Gave $150 with a junk scope/mount. I bid on GunBroker for a take-off Win 70 barrel in .270 cal & got it for $25 plus $10 shipping. My local gunsmith unscrewed the old & screwed on the new & it all headspaced perfectly & even the barrel writing lined up. The 'smith charged me $20 for 5 min work. That gun shoots fantastic!

One of my best bragging gun trader stories...
 
My .02

If it were mine I wouldn't patch the barrel I would replace it and not look back, if that isn't an option I would disclose the problem and sell it. Some times one gets lucky when changing barrels, but in any event I wouldn't make any repair unless it included bringing the rifle back 100% to it's original stock condition as it left the factory.. William
 
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I think he's going to buy a vintage replacement barrel. Knowing him he'll want to make sure it's done right so he'll pay extra to get a good barrel and smith.

He'd like to get one with 30-06 Government on the barrel rather than 30-06 Springfield
 
To my knowledge, there is no such cartridge as "30-o6 Government"

The "30" Government did exist at one time, but could now be one one of three cartridges:
The 30-40 Krag, the 30.03, or the 30-06.

I'd suggest your friend stay with conventional nomenclature.
 
WinM70_3006_010213_4.jpg
 
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