Breeching Up

[ireload2]

Once you have looked through a truly crooked barrel is it easy to see the bowing by viewing the off centered light rings.
Another way to see a crooked bore is to chuck a barrel in a lathe and look through the bore while it is turning at low RPM. If it looks like a jump rope on the inside it is crooked.

[Son]

A not really professional test for the bore is to use a brigth white wall and glue a black sheet of paper on it. Now you must look thru the bore half in the white and half on the black. If you hold it exactly and the bore is straight, you can see the light semicircular shimmering from the muzzle to the chamber. If the bore isn`t straight the light is ending on that point the barrel begins to be bent. Hope that anybody can understand my bad technic english.

Regards

Gunner

Gunner, that is pretty much how it was done at Lithgow. The barrel straighteners were a very gifted few who could view a barrel toward the edge of a black surface on a glass window- using the sharp line of light. (I have diagrams somewhere in my text books that show what to look for) They had a stand with a striker surface, not quite an anvil, but along those lines, and they would hold the barrel against it and hit it with a copper hammer. Last time I toured the Lithgow Museum I had the good fortune to talk to an elderly gent who had tried his hand at the job in the fifties when he worked at the factory. He reckoned about one in a hundred that tried had the knack.

Peter, I got the impression that a bent SMLE barrel was given a couple of hits, if it came good, fine, if not- chuck it out. Lithgow also made a lot of Brens, so I'd imagine those barrels were given more chance for straightening if needed. I did try it once myself- near drove me crazy, but I improved the barrel eventually.

[gunner]

Hi Son, i learned this method from an old gunsmith as a sort of "quick-test" when buying milsurps. Never known that this is a method used at Lithgow. Thank you for the info about that. Know i have to revise my first sentence of the former post. Can you please send me the diagrams from your text book by PM if it`s possible for you ? I am very interested in these things and try to collect the experiences of elderly gunsmithes. I think that will be sometimes as valuable as the gold treasure from the pirates tales.

Regards

Gunner

BTW. Is the right side of Australia looking from the North to South way ?

[Bindi2]

The right side as you look from the the south. Should be broken off and floated away from the best side i will add.

[limazulu]

Many years ago I took a tour of the Springfield Armory Museum in Massachusetts. They had a display of the people who straightened Garand barrels. They would look thru the barrel at a lighted window. There was a ring (an area that was out of focus). If it was cetered the barrel was straight. If it was off center they would work the barrel on a standing jig (as best as I can describe it) until it was centered. That ability surely was as much an art as a skill.

[Edward Horton]

Eyeballing a barrel is easy, it only took me three rounds to figure out why my old Mauser was shooting low and to the left.

Normally I wouldn’t need to fire that many rounds to figure things out but the duct tape holding the front sight on kept getting blown off, and for a few minutes there I thought I had a headspace problem.

[gunner]

Bindi2, at wich line you want to cut it away ? From Karumba to Portland? I thought that we can have this nice part of Australia, but it won`t fit right to our coast. D***** , no long range shooting opportunities ! I have to think to make a trip to Australia. Nice country if its complete.

Regards

Gunner

[Bindi2]

Straight down the border north to south will leave us the longest range in one state any way. How far do you want to shoot. You ask we supply.

[gunner]

Quickley shot at 900 Yards (?) my gunsmith made a new magnum rifle with his own load its .460weatherby magnum case with a .264 bullet and a special powdermix that gives a speed off 1264m/s . So i think with the right angle i need only 4-5 miles. For shooting across your country i need around 900 rounds and an extra barrel. Wow, a lot of work and time.

Regards

Gunner

[Bindi2]

No problem fit you in the back yard easily, if you need more will have to go out in the paddock