Bent Rifle Barrel

Just got back from moose hunting... our last night out packing back quarters from the field on the 4-wheeler I strapped the rifle, a Browning BLR 30-06, to the rear ATV rack crossways on top of one of the quarters. It got snagged up on a tree and put a noticable bend in the barrel back towards the stock. One definite lesson learned, use a gun boot, hard case, or carry the rifle cross-body. Question is where do I go from here? Can it be repaired?

Depending on exactly where and how severely it's bent, you might be able to have it straightened, though in my opinion you'd be better off with a new barrel. However, you should at minimum have the receiver checked for integrity before proceeding either way.

-jc-

I agree - if it bent the barrel noticeably, it might also have cranked the receiver around in the stock (you don't say if it was a synthetic or not). In any case, if it were a synthetic stock, the stock would not tend to break as easily as a wood stock. And, if you have my kinda luck, you don't just break the easy stuff to find & fix - you gotta break the expensive stuff and the impossible stuff to find.

I just got a problem similar to this one fixed.

Problem was with the gun, you couldn't get a good group out of it at 100 yards. Maybe one the size of a standing 5 gallon bucket. No scope adjustments worked, not even changing scopes helped.

Put the thing in another stock, and it was apparent - the receiver was bent, and wouldn't seat in any number of synthetic or wood stocks (the rifle was bought used, the previous owner had the same problem as me, and got tired of trying to mess with it). In the old stock, where it had been attached to it,the stock itself had conformed itself to the slight bend in the receiver over the years (and time, and heat, etc).

A new barrel might not be too bad, but if you're putting a new receiver in it, you're looking at a good bit towards the cost of a new rifle.

Fit the gun in a couple of stocks just to check it out. You may have more wrong than what you know.

BC

<< Just got back from moose hunting... our last night out packing back

In my case a bent barrel meant a larger scope from 3X9X40mm to 4.5X14X50mm to adjust for the slight curve my rounds move to the right, my gunsmith thought of it after we couldn't keep a shot group, since I talked to remington and explained how the barrel got bent (REALLY BAD CAR ACCIDENT) they sent me a new barrell to show condolences for the two people who didn't make it. my 7MM STW replacement barell was $150 at dealer wholesale cost, but retails about $250

The existing barrel cannot be fixed. If the action wasn't bent, the barrel can be replaced as an econmical repair. If the action is bent, there is no economical repair. If the bolt now binds when cycled, the action is bent. Have somebody who knows these rifles look it over.

P. S. Don't saw off the bent barrel shorter than 16', you can get into big trouble if the BATF is having a slow day & you're all they have to work with.