The Gun Counter

The grandson of my neighbor had an old Remington 550-1 that is old enough to not have a serial number, so it's pre-68. It hadn't been look at or cleaned in years so I took it and stripped it, after ordering the manual from Remington of course. All went well and we were supposed to shoot this week so I took it out and did a general ops check/inspection. I'm glad I did, I saw something I didn't catch during the cleaning, what looks like a crack in the barrel. I'm not going to let anyone shoot it, and as soon as I see his dad I'll explain why.

Here's a pic of it
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y271/c ... C_0009.jpg

My goodness! Well spotted. That might have been nasty.

This could have been caused by obstruction in the barrel and the gun being fired or from oil in the barrel. Most of the time when a rifle is fired with oil in the barrel it will only leave an oil ring. What this is, is a ring cut unto the bore where the bullet has pushed the oil and skiped over it. If you use a bore light and see a small dark ring in the bore, then it is most likely an oil ring.
But if it was an obstruction in the bore, a bulge can happen at the barrels weakest point behind the obstruction.
You may be anle to order a barrel from Numrich gun parts and repair the rifle.

Edit: They have 5 in stock and the price is under $50. http://www.e-gunparts.com/product.asp?c ... SKU=743790

Good catch.

wow, that could have really sucked. How often does damage like this happen on modern weapons?

Ever consider a career in aircraft maintenance? 8^)

You do know you may have saved someone's life, right?

not too sure that a .22 would be fatal if it were shot in that condition, probably wouldnt even have a problem with it and at worst would get a small gas vent out of the crack.

not safe, but it would surprise me if it were fatal.

mekender wrote:not too sure that a .22 would be fatal if it were shot in that condition, probably wouldnt even have a problem with it and at worst would get a small gas vent out of the crack.

not safe, but it would surprise me if it were fatal.

Don't underestimate the little .22LR, they generate more pressure in that tiny barrel than a 10 gauge shotgun. There's a reason those barrels are much thicker than shotguns. Death, maybe not, but loss of fingers or a hand is no small deal.

Mud_Dog wrote:

mekender wrote:not too sure that a .22 would be fatal if it were shot in that condition, probably wouldnt even have a problem with it and at worst would get a small gas vent out of the crack.

not safe, but it would surprise me if it were fatal.

Don't underestimate the little .22LR, they generate more pressure in that tiny barrel than a 10 gauge shotgun. There's a reason those barrels are much thicker than shotguns. Death, maybe not, but loss of fingers or a hand is no small deal.

the crack is down by the handguard in front of the sight so i could easily see hand damage comming from that... i wouldnt shoot it