Author Topic: Can a handi barrel bend?  (Read 606 times)

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Offline wreckhog

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Can a handi barrel bend?
« on: August 29, 2009, 12:20:33 PM »
Got startled. Dropped in the garage. Bounced off a knee high plastic crate and hit the concrete. Scraped edge of muzzle. Any easy way to see if it was bent? This a was a new gun btw. Gonna bounce my head against the same floor....lol

Offline Chas.

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Re: Can a handi barrel bend?
« Reply #1 on: August 29, 2009, 12:27:31 PM »
Shoot it.

I've heard H&R can bend barrels, so if it's bent maybe they can straighten it.

Offline mitch132

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Re: Can a handi barrel bend?
« Reply #2 on: August 29, 2009, 12:54:32 PM »
I doubt the plastic crate could bend it even if you tried. I think you are safe, might need to re-zero the scope if it had one.

Offline myarmor

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Re: Can a handi barrel bend?
« Reply #3 on: August 29, 2009, 12:55:17 PM »
Other than perhaps a scared muzzle, and if the action is still in good working condition, I would say it should be ok. Make sure it still locks up tight and give it a go.
It takes some stress to bend a barrel :o




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Offline cwlongshot

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Re: Can a handi barrel bend?
« Reply #4 on: August 29, 2009, 02:04:06 PM »
I agree, doesn't sound like a bad enough drop to do anything sans the mark you mention. Go out and shoot it and see what you get.
Obviously no one can know for sure with out inspecting it, but I'm guessing it will be just fine.

CW
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Offline jeepmann1948

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Re: Can a handi barrel bend?
« Reply #5 on: August 29, 2009, 03:05:20 PM »
don't worry as already mentioned worst thing that could have happened is to mess up the crown, if so an easy fix. However if the barrel is bent you could straighten it yourself just like one of the premier gunsmiths (a gentleman named Pope) around the first of the 20th century did.
 He had a good reputation for building the most accurate rifles of the time.He used a fork in a tree behind his shop to straighten his barrels.Must work because his rifles were well known for exceptional accuracy!
"it ain't what you shoot em with......................
  it's where you hit em "

Offline quickdtoo

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Re: Can a handi barrel bend?
« Reply #6 on: August 29, 2009, 03:15:49 PM »
There are more controlled methods of bending a barrel, either straightening or putting a bend in it, that the home gunsmith can do.  ;)

Tim

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Offline MSP Ret

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Re: Can a handi barrel bend?
« Reply #7 on: August 29, 2009, 03:17:14 PM »
The drop you describe would not have bent a Handi barrel, and just a mark on the outside of the muzzle would not affect accuracy. Hitting the inner part of the muzzle, the "crown" of the barrel would. Shoot it and enjoy it. This coulkd be a good thing, you no longer have to worry about getting the first scratch on it....<><....:)
"Giving up your gun to someone else on demand is called surrender. It means that you have given up your ability to protect yourself to a power that is greater than you." - David Yeagley

Offline myarmor

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Re: Can a handi barrel bend?
« Reply #8 on: August 29, 2009, 03:50:10 PM »
Even given a weird drop, with the thickness of the Handi barrels, it would be some odds to make a substantual bend. Still I know how it hurts dropping a firearm :'( :-[  I have only done it a couple times, and it still stings... like opening the passenger door on my truck and find my Marlin 22mag flop into the gravels >:( :'(

Offline 44 Man

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Re: Can a handi barrel bend?
« Reply #9 on: August 31, 2009, 02:52:01 AM »
You can easily see if your barrel is bent just by looking down the bore.  Just look through it and get the hole in the end centered in the middle of the chamber.  If it is, it will be easy to see as a change in the 'swirl' of the rifling. 
I bore sight all of my scopes this way when mounting them, it usually gets me on the paper, about 8" low at 40 yds (my back yard target distance) and I can adjust from there.  Usually about an inch low at 40 will put it very close at 100 and I can fine tune it at the range.  44 Man
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Offline JerryKo

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Re: Can a handi barrel bend?
« Reply #10 on: August 31, 2009, 03:40:17 AM »
If mine didn't bend when I run it over with my Ford Expedition, I doubt a short fall will...True story but the rear sight needed a small adjustment...thankgoodness!

Jerry
"It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up."- Vince Lombardi