Gunsmithing Evaluation of a barrel

[Slugfest]

Greetings,

What is the best way to evaluate a barrel? I plan on purchasing a barrel(barrel only) from an individual who claims the barrel is new with light handling marks. Is there a way to visually inspect a barrel to get an idea of how many rounds have been sent downrange?

Thanks Everyone for chiming in

 

[KZP]

Bring a small flashlight to shine down the bore from the opposite ends so you can see if it has pitting from rust or other damage. Adjust the light so you can cause imperfections to cast shadows.

Inspect the crown of the rifling at the muzzle to see if it looks clean without burs or dents.

Without a bore scope it may be tough to inspect much else. This is all I know to look for anyway.

 

[dimar1492]

New as in unfired?

 

[Slugfest]

yes reported to be new/unfired

 

[...]

look for copper buildup in the grooves .....and look for a ring of carbon around the chamber area........no matter how well you scrub a barrel, you are never going to remove every trace.

look at the threads/ barrel tennon......check for wear.


if you see any of the following you can assume its been shot........if the seller is selling it as "new"....i would walk away, because hes probably shot the barrel and realized it didnt shoot, and is now trying to offload it onto someone else.

 

[flyer]

The two places to look for wear are the throat and muzzle. A damaged chamber is bad too but not directly related to wear.

The cheap trick is to bring a bullet of the same calliber and set it in the muzzle. If it goes in too deep your rifling lands are worn away (at least at the muzzle).

You can get throat errosion guages for different chamberings but you'll probably just have to look.

The best thing would be to bring a bore scope.

Of course, you won't see much if the barrel is dusty or dirty so bring a bore snake to pull through it.

 

[Slugfest]

Thanks everyone for their responses. Much Appreciated.

 

[DAVETOOLEY]

Flyer

"The cheap trick is to bring a bullet of the same calliber and set it in the muzzle. If it goes in too deep your rifling lands are worn away (at least at the muzzle) "

Really
I never knew you could get a precision measurement of the groove diameter and the bore diameter by simply dropping a bullet into the muzzle. Could you please explain how you get those measurements?
Personally I've never worn out the muzzle end of a barrel. I have cut the chamber end off and chambered the muzzle just for the hell of it. The barrels I did that to shot fine.

"You can get throat errosion guages for different chamberings but you'll probably just have to look "

To use throat erosion gages you have to have a starting reference measurement than measure erosion as the round count increases.

 

[Threadcutter308]

Greetings,

What is the best way to evaluate a barrel? I plan on purchasing a barrel(barrel only) from an individual who claims the barrel is new with light handling marks. Is there a way to visually inspect a barrel to get an idea of how many rounds have been sent downrange?

Thanks Everyone for chiming in

At the end of the day, you are likely to be much better off by purchasing a new barrel (Blank) that is specifically/exactly what you want. It is highly unlikely that the barrel you are presently considering will "bolt right on" without some form of adjustment. That means there will be gunsmithing/machining necessary, which may (or may not) cost a little less than that to chamber a brand new barrel.
Do it right. Bite the bullet, buy a new barrel and invest in proper gunsmithing. In the long run, you will be money ahead and won't have the frustration of having purchased (and tried to make work) what is possibly a used barrel (then, having to do it "the right way").

Edit/clarification; I consider a chambered/crowned barrel as used, regardless of what the seller is telling me. In my book, "New" is an unchambered/uncrowned barrel blank. Keep in mind that a large portion of the work/cost involved in doing any kind of work on a barrel (new or used) is the time involved in setting it up and dialing it in on a lathe. It just makes more sense to me to dedicate that time/cost to a new barrel blank. Your 'Smith might charge you the same amount to (re)Chamber either barrel, so that's a wash. Look at a new blank, then subtract the asking price for the "used" barrel and ask yourself; "Is the new barrel blank really that much more expensive in the long run" ? (It's not.......)