off center bore

[b44mag]

  just got back from the gunsmiths picked up my ultra barrel . the smith told me my bore is off center . its a ultra 243 24 in. i shot this before i took it to him.  i had him cut n put 2 crowns on it that's when he noticed . so my ? is is this normal . oh and hows my grammer coming along

[frankkj]

b44mag:
Was this an extra barrel fit by NEF, or the original barrel on that gun?

The reason I ask, is I had four barrels fit at the factory and all for are off center according to the firing pin strike. Not a lot off center, no misfires, but enough to be noticeable. The original barrel for this gun does not show an off-center strike. However, each of the barrels shoots within my accuracy standards of <1"@100 yds. so I am not going to make too much noise about it.

Frank

[b44mag]

hey frankky I'm not sure the ol lady bought me this used. it came with a 20 ga barrel i think it was factory ultra because it had Monty lams on it. no missfires so far. but when i first shot it i took a scope off my standard 243 put it on and it was way off side to side. didn't think much about it then but now its 16 1/4 long it might be an issue. wish he would have told me before he cut it i guess he didn't realize till he was crowning it. boy it came out nice he put a 2 step crown re blued the whole barrel cut a scope rail all for 30 bucks. good deal nice work too cant beat that price. but to get back to the barrel like i said it shot fine at 24 hope i didn't make a mistake. glad to here its not a 1 time thing and all your barrels shot fine even if it didn't they wont replace it now that its cut

[coyotejoe]

Aha, you had it shortened. That's not too surprising then. Bores are often not quite straight, it may be centered at both ends but if you cut it you may find the bore wanders off center in the middle. That is not desirable but does not mean it won't shoot OK, it should shoot at least as well as before it was cut, though likely not to the same point of impact. I would say that 16" seems awfully short for a .243, you'll probable loose 300 fps and if accuracy is not as good as before I'd blame the shortening rather than the off-center bore, after all, it was always off center, you just didn't know it before.

[b44mag]

  joe i thought about the fps i think it should be ok for deer out to 300 i hope . im going to loose about 300 but it starts out about 2800 to 3000 give or take so it should be ok for the deer in PA boy it carries nice hope it shoots

[trotterlg]

I don't think the loss of velocity will bother you near as much as the amount of noise that thing is going to make.  Larry

[ccoorreeyy]

Where are the pictures???

[MSP Ret]

don't worry to much, if at all, about on off center firring pin strike, that could just as much the frame as the barrel. My 19" barreled .280 Remington caliber Handi, aka "Thuderboomer", is very accurate. At that length the bore appears to be a bit off center at the muzzle end of the barrel, but it is accurate, and it shoots small groups. It works, and it works well....<><....

[b44mag]

i was wondering about the noise but in a hunting situation i shouldn't be a problem , hope the muffs work good at the range, i tried to take pics with phone but they were not to good couldn't really see it. so I'm working on pics. i put one of those tasco tru dots on it 3-9 x 40 looks good but not sure how the dots are going to work. i never used a dot scope my buddy said to just sight it in at 100 then use a big target and try it out farther to learn what dot for what range. now I'm looking for a Monty plastic stock for now. but really want to send for thumbhole in camo lamo for this gun but one thing at a time, i just traded for a 223 standard contor I'm thinking of cutting it also not to sure how short to still get good range. let me know what you guys think about 223 length
                                                                                                               b44mag

[coyotejoe]

I'm not sure I see any reason to cut the barrel of a handi rifle. With the factory 22" barrel it is already as short or shorter in over all length compared to a repeater with an 18" barrel. Of course that is the opinion of a guy who has never felt encumbered with a flintlock wearing a 42" barrel. Short guns are nice to carry but keep in mind that you are carrying it in hopes of firing just one shot. When it comes to firing that one shot, without a  benchrest, you'll find that some weight out front really helps those crosshairs settle down and the farther out front the better it settles. Short is nice in the truck but shooting from the truck is generally frowned upon. I'd hate to try an offhand shot with a 16" handi rifle.
 As to 300 yard shots with your stubby .243, I think that cartridge needs all the velocity it can get and I suspect most people would tell you a .243 is not a 300 yard deer rifle even with a 26" barrel. Of course again, that is just an opinion, but if you read the on going thread on the .243 for deer you will find it is a common opinion. I like the .243, it has never let me down, but I don't stretch it beyond 200 yards and seldom even that far.

[b44mag]

OK i went to the range today. it shoots good real good. i did wobble a little but not to much it will take a bit of getting used to but I'm glad i did it .the dots worked out good i did not use a target but at 200 and 300 theres steel chickens. i hit them using the dots. at 100 it groups OK with rem 100s not touching but pretty close maybe 1 3/4 to about 2 that's not bad for a deer gun. I'm sure it will group better after i get used to the short barrel .off the bench i hit the 200 chicken i did miss at 300 but that's not bad for standing shot. put it this way it shoots better than i do
                                                                                                                              b44mag