Nice 1900

[DavidJayUden]

G57:
I have a beautiful matching Artillery Luger with a bulged barrel. Seems a couple of kids tried shooting it and stuck one bullet, then another, then another. Anyway, the barrel is slightly bulged but not fractured. So I took it to the range and banged away. Shoots fine, but I'm not sure what to do with it if I ever decide to sell.
dju

[Green57]

dju,

I have heard of people shooting both rifles and pistols with bulged barrels with no great loss in accuracy. I have read that as long as the last few inches of a barrel are in good shape dimension wise and the barrel still has a good crown the firearm will still shoot well.

I can't speak from personal experience for a bulged barrel, but I have an old Mannlicher-Schoeanuer and a Remington model 8 both with lightly pitted/frosty bores that still shoot well.

Lightly pitted is okay, Bulged is okay in some cases, a fractured barrel needs to replaced in my opinion.

As for the Artillery, sell it as is or replace the barrel. As long as you price it to reflect the damaged/replaced barrel. Describe it in an accurate fashion, so the buyer knows what he's getting both parties will sleep well at night.

G57

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by DavidJayUden

G57:
I have a beautiful matching Artillery Luger with a bulged barrel. ...I'm not sure what to do with it if I ever decide to sell.
dju

Gerry Tomek has successfully un-bulged barrels with a 'saddle' which fits over the bulge and is then tapped while turning the barrel. Pics look good of the finished fix.

I have also seen bulged barrels put back round using a tool that looks like a pipe cutter but with three rollers (no cutter). It works great, but leaves circular marks. It is loose enough to ride the Luger taper but the resulting barrel needs refinishing.

Gerry's method is cool, and a Luger taper could be easily bored in a steel block on a lathe, then split. It would likely be gun-specific since the taper is different diameter at any point on the barrel. From a machining point of view, it sounds like a fun project. (For someone else!).