Barrel Flaw

[niemi24s]

Will this barrel flaw "shoot out"?

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p232/niemi24s/P3270004atxt.jpg

The photo shows (at least as good as I could get it to show) a ring about half way down the bore of a barrel from a Para-Ordnance 1911, "WWII Parkerized". This ring does not seem to be foreign material as wire brushing and bore cleaning foam won't remove it. It seems to be part of the barrel material as it's quite hard and can't be removed with the sharp tip of a pointed hobby knife blade. The barrel has less than 50 rounds through it.

I don't think the flaw is large enough to be considered an obstruction, so it's safe to shoot. The outside surface of the barrel is OK.

Is there a way to remove or dress down this flaw other than shooting? It looks too big to lap out. Thanx in advance for any advice.

[TriumphGT6]

This looks like some sort of manufacturing defect to me, or else the bullet hit an obstruction on its way downrange (which happened to me once with a muzzle loader, and it left just that sort of ring).

I'd get the barrel replaced, although you may have trouble getting it done under warranty. In any case I doubt very much that it'd "shoot out."

Good luck, and let us know what's going on!

[gbw]

Can you feel the flaw when, for example, you run a piece of brass wire over it?

[Greg Derr]

try running a bore brush covered with a patch down the barrel if you feel it "skip" as it moves over the spot you have a bulged barrel- no options but replacement sorry to say

[niemi24s]

The first hint of the problem came when (cleaning it for a friend) I felt the cotton patch catch on it. It won't budge even with a very pointy #11 X-Acto hobby knife blade, so I'm sure it's barrel metal that somehow got "turned up" during manufacture. When the point of the blade is slid down the groove up against the edge of the land, it deflects the blade up and out of the groove, so it's more than a surface imperfection. I'd call it a 360 degree circumferential ridge, and it's most prominent where grooves meet lands.

Doubt if it's the result of a bore obstruction. No barrel bulge and only ball ammo's been shot in it.

[Lazarus]

Thanks for posting the neat photo. Can't say that I've ever seen this type of ring. Let's pretend that this is a manufacturing flaw. Somehow the barrel drilling went awry. Maybe they drilled the barrel from both ends and didn't clean it up. All of these possibilities are unlikely, but even so the rifling is done after the drilling, so the barrel grooves themselves would be smooth, even if the lands were not. Also not likely. I'm going to vote for barrel 'bulging' if that is the correct word. Someone has shot out a squib load with a follow-up round.

-Lazarus

[niemi24s]

In Post #4 Greg asked if the patch "skipped" when pushed by the flaw. Just the opposite - it "pauses"! Barrel didn't look or feel bulged from the outside, so I miked it horizontally & vertically to 0.0001". Average readings were: muzzle = 0.5772"; flaw = 0.5777"; aft = 0.5769". Exterior surface of bbl appears to have been finished by grinding, so not sure how significant the largest dia. at the flaw is.

Then, put a straightedge along barrel's sides and found it's crooked! All this, plus your inputs (coupled with the fact the barrel has absolutely no discrenable external markings) means it's not worth taking a chance with. Thanx & Regards.

[twin oaks]

WOW! You're not kidding about not taking chances! It almost looks as if someone tried to forge weld two pieces of a barrel together. You stated that the ext. was ground. Is it only around the 'ring'? If so, it could catastrophically fail on any shot due to thermal expansion. I'd call the manufacturer on this one. What can they say, "no"? Good luck with it, and if nothing else, keep the barrel and tell lies about a hand load so hot you blew your barrel in half.

[John]

That ring reminds me of two-piece barrels. But as far as I know PO's barrels are not two-piece. Strange indeed.

[ambidextrous1]

By all means, contact Para and tell them what you told us; send the (rather good) photo to them.

Be sure to tell us what transpires; it's a strange defect.

[niemi24s]

Hi Twin Oaks: The barrel's exterior appears ground over its full length, not just where the inside ring is. And there's no visible sign of any type of "re-work" on the exterior. Time to contact [Auto]-Ordnance, I guess. Thanx.

[Edited: P.S. Please note correction of manufacturer's name from Para-Ordnance to AUTO-Ordnance. My bad!]

[Black_Talon]

Dang dude, that gun has all sorts of problems, from the BO'ed barrel to the out of whack feedramp and mag slot geometry. Maybe you should quit while you're ahead and get rid of it.

[niemi24s]

Hi Black_Talon: Gun's not mine to get rid of, belongs to a friend. Besides, I love how the feed ramp can be worked with the blade of a pocket knife (instead of a hardened bearing scraper). Whittles kind of like pot metal does, just a wee bit harder. Regards.

[Edited: P.S.; FWIW, a rep from one 1911 manufacturer said it looked like the rifling cutter got stuck in the barrel, was unstuck & removed but no further bore work was done.]

[niemi24s]

Does anybody know if a barrel for a current model (Kahr) Auto-Ordnance WWII 1911A1 will fit the same pre-Kahr model from about 1995? Folks at AO aren't sure if it will or not! I can't really see why it wouldn't, but the more I learn about this stuff the less I understand. Thanx in advance.

[gbw]

There is no way to know in advance, I wouldn't think. It should, but that doesn't do us too much good. Probably would not fit any worse than many other factory pistols. Maybe best bet its to get a Kart easy-fit. Not cheap, I think they're $160 or so retail. If the gun is worth it. From your description of the frame, though, the more I think about it, this might be true classic case of putting whip cream over horse dung.

[niemi24s]

gbw, you hit the nail on the head with the whipped cream analogy! I'd initially thought $52.95 for a new barrel wasn't too much to spend on a junk gun like this, but now I'm thinking it's $52.95 too much. Can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Cheers