worn out guns

[Bait O' Eggs]

What do you do with a gun when it is just flat worn out??

I have a browing BLR 22 that I have shot so many times I believe the barrel is just shot out. I have cleaned it hoping it was just lead fouling. After scrubbing the barrel, I had a hard time today off a bench rest at 25 yard, with sand bags keeping 15 shots in a 3 inch circle. :depressed: :depressed: That is with a 4 power scope :depressed:

I know I have shot 100's upon 100's of bricks of 22 shells thru the gun. The gun in it original form was gorgeous, grade 2 with the gold trigger and engraving. After my buddy tried to club the raccoon and split the stock full length, we glued it back together and bolted it back on the gun. After that it turned into, lets see how much abuse one gun can take

Now it doesnt shoot well enough to really justify keeping. Do people try to pawn them off at a gun show, or what. I hate to pitch it in a pit at a dump Do gunsmiths look for guns for parts? Whats my options to get some coin back out of the gun, but not lie to somebody about it driving tacks (at 3 feet ).

Just what is the expected life on a 22 caliber rifle? 5,000 rounds???? 10,000 rounds???? more, less??

[SeanD]

I dont know what the life is, but its a whole lot. Id have a smith check the throat and barrel out and see if the barrel is junk before you toss it. It might be something simple like a damaged crown.

[Rauly]

BOE
Are you sure you didn't drink to much coffee before you shot it?

[duck-boy]

Hey Bait,
just a sugestion but i would take it to a gunsmith and make sure it isn't copperfowled. Some of the over-the-counter stuff is no match for a badly copperfoweld gun. You would be suprised what a gunsmith can get out of it with a little effort and a small bill compared to a new one. Just my 2 cents worth hope it helps.

duck-boy

[Flatfish]

While it is possible to shoot out a .22 LR barrel, I doubt it is your problem. Gun wear is usually not a real life problem either. Make sure things are clean and tighten everything up. Look at the crown under a magnifying glass. Try another scope. Try different lots/brands of ammo.

Cleaning lead out of a bore sometimes requires more than Hoppes and a brush. Bronze wool is your friend.

To me it sounds like something has come loose. Don't do anything you are not comfortable with. Try the basics first. Then try a smith.

I shot out an '06 once. Even when the throat was bare of lands 3-4" in front of the chamber it still shot 2-3" at 100 yards. It took over 6000 rounds to do it. When you figure that temperature is what actually kills a barrel, it would be tough to actually shoot enough .22 shells to actually superheat the interior of the barrel.

Good Luck.

Mark and the Leupold only from now on dog.

[Bait O' Eggs]

I have thought the scope might be the problem, until I put a new one on it yesterday :depressed:

I dont know all the correct terms, but I have only shot cheap lead bullets so I doubt copper fouling is a problem.

I really believe I have shot at least 35,000 rounds, maybe as high as 40 or 50 thousand, thru this gun, and it was wore out. Everything seems tight and works, it just doesnt put holes close to each other leading me to believe the barrel is shot so to speak. I use to buy shells by the case, (10 bricks of 500) and go thru them and go back to the store for more. The gun use to shoot great, now it resembles a shot gun pattern after a few shots.

Maybe some industrial cleaner by a smith would help, I scrub it with hoppes and a brush/rag until it comes clean.

I had heard (dont know if it is true) a large caliber rifle was good for 3 or 4 thousand rounds, but I never knew the life of a 22 long rifle.

maybe a higher grade of cartridge would group better :whazzup: I have bricks of thunderbolts I normally shoot as the price was right for plinking. Now I take it to the range and sandbag it down and get discouraged with its preformance. :depressed:

[Flatfish]

OK then check the scope of the possible list. Now take the gun down and clean all bolts/screws. But the gun back together( take off the scope rings and mounts and clean them up too) and shoot it again.

If that don't work have a smith clean the barrel down to bare steel. Leading is a problem if left alone so it can build up.Try it again.

Try several different brands of ammo. Shoot it again.

You may want to have the smith recrown the barrel. It is easy to put a little ding there. And any ding, dent, flaws in the crown will play with groups.

With the number of rounds you have thru it( and I still have my doubts that you killed it) it may be possible that there is barrel damage. But I doubt it is as bad the pit of your gut may say.

Past this there is a couple things in the lockwork that may be playing with the groups.Try the easy to eliminate/fix stuff first.

You have a lot of shots down the barrel. But it is heat that kills barrels. Not how many grains of powder it has burned. I can kill any magnum centerfore in 250 rounds or less. Just keep shooting the thing. But let it cool between groups and it should last 2000-3500 shots. and that is 75 grains of powder at a crack. The .22 burns less than 2 grains. So I still figure it would take an autoloader with a bunch of magazines and a speedloader and someone doing the loading for you. It just don't get that hot in there.2 grains of powder just don't contain that much energy.

Remember this- they make barrels every day/ Worst case scenario is you need one. If that is the case( don't give up til you have tried everything else) I bet it was fun burning it out!

Mark and the Hart, Lilja, or Kreiger dog.

[KingFisher85]

I'll tell you what. I'll buy it from you. I love getting used and abused guns and turn around, clean them up and use them.
Clean that barrel and clean it good. Shoot higher grade ammo out of it. I shoot them federal American Eagle 22 ammo, comes in 40 to a box and 400 to a brick. Just with my standard Ruger 10/22 I can put a few 10 round mags into a dime at 30 yards.
I think its the ammo you are shooting. You say 3 inch groups, well good luck!

[James in Idaho]

If it really is the barrel, any decent 'smith should be able to put a liner in it for you. They just drill out the old barrel, and silver solder a liner in place. I'd have the smith check it out before you get drastic with it.

[Killertraylor]

Roy - there is a guy in Portland who does barrel liners for less than $100 (I want to say it's about $50 but the price may have gone up a little) He is really good and usually specializes in the old Winchester Model 90's. They shoot great and it's impossible to see them with the naked eye. I'll try and find his name and number for you if you are interested.

[Old Coot]

Bait, if all else fails and you don't want to dump a bucket of money into your old .22, you might think about donating it to a local hunter education instructor for use as a classroom demo firearm. You might even call Tony Burtt at ODFW in Portland to see if he can accept the donation, give you a receipt for your taxes, then pass it on to an instructor somewhere. That way your gun can continue to live a useful life, and you'll have a tax write-off! Speaking from experience, instructors like to show as many different action types as we can to each class, plus the split stock provides quite an opportunity for a "don't do this at home" yarn.

Just a thought...

[REEL HANDEL]

Hey Bait
Knowing you the barrel is just full of wet fir needles.

[Bait O' Eggs]

Look what the cat drug in

Congratulations on catching the first ********* out of Palina Lake

Nice spelling on handle... or handel in your case Reminds of some little girls name from the swiss alps.

normally new posters tell a story, :tongue: but in your case, it would just be a lie, :grin: so you can just skip it. [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img] by the way, who typed the post for you??

[ 06-21-2003, 09:25 PM: Message edited by: Bait O' Eggs ]

[Gun Rod Bow]

Roy,

Sounds like everyone has beaten the barrel angle to death, but on a lever gun with that much wear, is it possible the bolt has loosened and not holding the round all the way in the breach?

I'd think it is worth checkin' out.

[big john]

being a lever rifle, it has probably always been cleaned from the muzzle vs. the breech as with a bolt gun. unless precautions were always taken, it is possible the lands at the crown have been worn down by the cleaning rod.

the condition of the lands at the crown are important, as that is the final place where the lands exert control over the bullet.

if the crown is worn, a 'smith can easily re-crown it.

[Gus Orviston]

OKAY Reel Handel.....cough up a story....I am sure you got some free time. Newbies always post some enticing tibit about their life experiences and general interest.

If you want I can start it for you :shocked:

gus

[Perfect Drift]

How could you even think of parting with Ole Trustie? No way, stick her in the closet and think of the good memories.

[REEL HANDEL]

BOE and i are old friends beenon many an elk hunt together in fact his Dad and i taught him all he knows about elk hunting was hunting

elk before he could talk

[Bait O' Eggs]

Reel Handel, guys like you are nothing but trouble, 2 post to your monkiker and one is a post intended to be inflammatory and the other is a lie

now why dont you tell us a real story...

maybe how you use to like to hang out at the beardies camp after a long day of elk hunting. A big camp fire, A few hunters standing around the fire and one of the beardies would pull out a couple half gallons of whiskey, open the bottles, throw the caps in the fire :shocked: , take a swig from each bottle and pass one left and one right. The bottles would be empty before they met in the middle on the other side of the fire :shocked: Repeat process all night..... Or maybe about one of the times the old man snuck in under you and shot your bull while you sat on a stump looking the wrong way And leave the names of all the points off the board, their a word filter and they wouldnt show up anyway

Welcome to ifish, see if you can keep from getting banned on post #3

[Gus Orviston]

Beardies.....hey that rings a bell...didn't they get busted down on the Kilches. Heck I think that was a state wide bust if I recall...... :whazzup:

Hey Reel Guy you aren't one them are you?

I do recall a old guy hunting that area with a cop or at least he said he was. And a local logger guy all of about 3 feet tall. Old Larry, Mo and Curly could have learned a few things from them. :tongue:

Use to be a pile of miller cans 7 feet deep when the season was over with they had to hall off.

gus

[REEL HANDEL]

Ok i give up,ICan dish it out but cant take it.Wait till i see you in person or persons, figured out who ol Gus is.

[Bait O' Eggs]

Reel Handel - Its 2nd and 3 and you are punting Send Wild Bill in for a dive up the middle

Enjoy your nap old timer

Gus goes by a couple monikers, a few cant be posted but "Fungus" is his boat name so you dont want to get to close to him. He has also been known to drop the boat off the trailer and miss the water so stay back for safety reasons at the ramp. [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

I thought Tyrone might be your next son-in-law but heard rumor that might be over

[Miss B Haven]

Man- this internet dating stuff is amazing! :shocked: You guys just met and you are already smakin' like a buncha old fiends, I mean friends.

Can't ya just FEEL the love in the air! :grin:

Fungus, ha... I almost forgot!

[WaterDog]

Mel,

'mook is a small place and most of the folks from there are still related (steep people clan). These folks are kin of some sort. :shocked:

Y'all have a good one now, ya heer.

[Miss B Haven]

mook Huh? Related huh? You mean they all married their same cousin? :shocked: :grin:

FunGus, BOE, shame on you. Reel Handel.. .sorry if'n I offended ya. I'm really a nice guy, just ask anybody who doesn't know me. :grin: [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img]

Man- here I am on a hunting thread and I don't even hunt. I GOTTA go fishing. 5 days and counting!

[Gus Orviston]

[DOUGS]

After all this cousin lovin talk I hate to lay claim to this old guy but I think I may be related. Uncle D is that you? G Golly aunt A must have shown you the on/off button to that darn compooter. Ya know they aren't much different than runnin an old Bridgeport if ya know what I mean.
Don't worry about ol Gus he is still trying to find the directions to that darn dip net he's been dragging around in the bottom of his drift boat.
Glad to see ya out here. Hope you got some tags this year. And you may consider sticking to the fishing board they tend to be a bit more friendly plus you won't see Gus due to his lack of fish catching skill.

[REEL HANDEL]

Hi DougS
yes its me drew deer tags in malhuer river again this year, no other tags so will bow hunt for elk this year maybe out on the desert,i was getting beatup bad by these guys so will go to fishing posts. I really dont like Bridgeports any more. fishing poles and guns are better.
talk to you later. uncle D.