All may not be lost with my pacnor??

[pposey]

well I had calmed down enough by this afternoon to examine better the carnage,,,,,, there for sure is a bulge, you can see it clearly inside, feel it well with a sabot, and it is located 4.5-5.75 inches from the end of my barrel on the breach end,,,

now if I measure this correctly,,, AND if it would be OK to use the bulged area as part of the threads that are inside the reciever I think I may be able to get a 16 inch barrel overall and for sure a 15.5 inch,,,, now this will not be the usable barrel,,,,, I know that will be shorter, remember my bulged barrel is 21 inches as is right now from pacnor. I'm thinking this will give 14-14.5 inches of barrel in front of the breach plug when installed,,, I will have to use fast powders for sure if I do this,,,, that will mean a short powder stack and a 195 barnes,,,, there goes another 1-1.25 inches.

I could end up with 13 inches of barrel in front of the bearing surface of the bullet,,,,,man that sucker would be loud...

I have 3 questions,,,,,,

1
Do you guys with the enginering and other knowledge of these guns think it would be OK to use the bulged area as part of the threads within the reciever as long as there is a section of breach plug threads that are not from the bulge? say .25-.5 inch worth?

2
Also do you think that short of a usable barrel could burn 31-33 grains of 4759 or another fast burning powder using a Sabot and 195grain bullet?

3
Do you think I'm crazzzzzy for thinking about this and does anybody want to buy a really cool pistol barrel?

[spaniel]

I am not an engineer though I went to an engineering school and tried to learn some through osmosis, but me personally I would not trust barrel metal that had been stressed beyond its elasticity threshhold. If it stressed enough to permanently bulge, I would cut ALL of that section off. I would not trust it as any part of the breech.

[killitgrillit]

I think I would turn it into a tomato stake myself. I've dealt with a lot of stressed metals in the past and the outcome is never good.

[pposey]

So I ask again,,, does anybody want to buy a really cool pistol barrel?

[pposey]

I modified the top thread,,, after looking again I could not see an outside bulge while measuring with calipers

[edge]

QL predicts that a 205 grain bullet ahead of 35 grains of N110 should get you about 2100 fps @ 33Kpsi with a 14 inch barrel and it should be 95% burnt in 12 1/2 inches.

If I knew that the bulge was in the breechplug area only, I would probably be ok, but for greater safety I would have a RB breechplug made which I think is only 5/8 in diameter!
That would really add metal to the area in question.

edge.

[boarhog]

How much will Pac-Nor charge to set the barrel back, and won't they refuse to do the work if they consider the result to be unsafe? I would have to compare that expense with what a complete new barrel will cost. You would need to include shipping costs both ways on the set back job.

I would never presume to tell you what you should do. In the end, you will have to do what you think is best. IMO Richard has proven, to my satisfaction at least, that a barrel bulged as you describe can withstand far greater pressures than you will ever subject it to with your mild loads. If it were my rifle, I would have to proof test it as Richard suggested, and try a few of my proven loads to see if I could live with it.

One other question to answer: Are there legal ramifications to shortening a ML rifle barrel to less than 18"? Seems like I read somewhere, that the 14" Contender is legal because it was made to be a pistol from the beginning.
Boarhog

[ET]

Pposey

If you don’t see an outside bulge then the metal integrity should be good as it appears only the lands are affected. Remove this area from further exposure to high pressure and you should be fine.

The reason I can say this with confidence is from past experience using explosives in a process called Detonation-Forming the metal is not cold worked as some might think because the grain structure isn’t altered as would be with a cold working process. The metal is formed so quickly it doesn’t even know it’s been altered in dimension but there will be some elongation of the grains and the amount is dependent on the dimensional change resulting.
So if the outside dimension of the barrel hasn’t been altered then the integrity should still be there.

Just conveying my past experience with unique metal working as a guideline only.


Ed

[Richard]

Just for your information, PN charged me $100 plus shipping to re-thread my mistake!
Richard

[10ga]

Minimum barrel length of a shotgun is 18", under that it is considered "sawed off". For rifles the minimum barrel is 16", shorter is considered a handgun. BATFE trouble if you make a rifle into a handgun. Bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives..... Should be a store not a govt. agency! 10 ga

[trooper1]

I'm not sure if BATF rules apply to MLs as far as length of barrel etc.

[tar12]

Oct 7, 2010 20:35:33 GMT -5 trooper1 said:

I'm not sure if BATF rules apply to MLs as far as length of barrel etc.

You are correct. They are expemt.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Firearms_Act

[pposey]

I don't know guys,,,, I could end up spending $130-$150 for a long barreled pistol when for $400 I can get another barrel,,, I am leaning towards the new barrel,,,,,, say a 22 inch in a sporter profile,

I'll think about it,,,, I have the backup .50 ML2 shooting 2 inch groups at 80 yards about one inch high with the 250sst with 40 grains 4759,,, I know thats a low load but I had to back down to there to get any groups at all,I think my older sabots are the culpret,,, I had forgotten how picky a factory ML2 can be with no bedding, no 3rd bolt.

[10ga]

Bed the action today and mix the epoxy hot and heat it with a hair dryer, shoot tomorrow. 10 ga

[dans]

Just my opinion, but why throw good money after bad? I don't think you will be satisfied with the very short barrel. You have a rifle that is huntable (the 50) so you don't have to be in a hurry to decide what to do. Sit down and do some deep thinking as to what YOUR ideal barrel would be and then get what you want. Life is too short to put up with compromises. My grown son shoots 40 grains of 4759 with the Barnes 250 mz and has no trouble killing deer. You don't need moose loads for whitetails. (Sorry about that Big Moose)

[pposey]

I'm hunting in the morning so I'll stick with what I have,ML season opened last monday and runs to next sat so for this year I am set,,, and yes my little mind is already racing with the thoughts of a light sporter taper 22 inch pacnor,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I may hang the bulged barrel over my reloading center as a reminder,, with a photo of a donkey

[chuck41]

Oct 8, 2010 8:38:01 GMT -5 dans said:

Just my opinion, but why throw good money after bad? I don't think you will be satisfied with the very short barrel. You have a rifle that is huntable (the 50) so you don't have to be in a hurry to decide what to do. Sit down and do some deep thinking as to what YOUR ideal barrel would be and then get what you want. Life is too short to put up with compromises. My grown son shoots 40 grains of 4759 with the Barnes 250 mz and has no trouble killing deer. You don't need moose loads for whitetails. (Sorry about that Big Moose)

dans is right on here. Take your time and decide for sure what you want and go that way. Not necessary to make a quick decision that you might regret later.
That's just my two cents worth.
Chuck