Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Tight Spot in Bore

I have a rifle with a tight spot in the bore that is about 2" in length and roughly 5" from the muzzle on an 18" tube.

I have run the usual foaming bore cleaners, Buthch's Bore Shine, and JB Paste through the bore. The patches come out very clean now and the rifle has less than 200 total rounds through it. The problem is, I was not the first person to clean the bore when it was new or the barrel broken in, so I don't know if the bore has always had a tight spot, or if there is some oxidation in the bore. The rifle is a hunting rifle and has punched some tags in SE Alaska and Oregon, so it's no stranger to the rain.

The only rust I have been able to detect externally on the stainless (and cerakoted) gun was on a bottom edge of the blind magazine box metal.

Is it uncommon for a bore to have tight spot like that?

I have a tight spot on my 270 Weatherby Mark V. It coppers like a fiend using Barnes bullets . It shoots itty bitty groups so I forgive it. I have not had that issue yet with a hand lapped bore or with a Sako or Tikka FWIW. I have had other Factory rifles with tight spots.

Unlikely rust.
Depending on how the rifle was bored, I suppose as far as how common it is.
I had an 03 Springfield that was tight about 1 1/2” from the end of the barrel. It shot about 2 1/2” groups. I cut the barrel back 2” and that became one of the most accurate 30-06’s I’ve seen with some groups a dime would cover.
If you want to get rid of that tight spot you have a couple of choices. The best method may be a bit labor intensive - it is hand lapping the barrel.
If the rifle shoots ok, I’d suggest just keep shooting.

Fire lap your barrel to remove the tight spot.

Firelapping might work, but it certainly works better closer to the chamber. I firelapped a Contender barrel that had visible tool marks on the lands, and I've firelapped a revolver for the restriction in the bore caused by screwing it into the frame. I've also firelapped several rifles, but for none of them was it for a constriction near the muzzle.

It’s a bit close to the muzzle for this, but are there stamping over the tight spot? I had two Marlin 1894s, a 44 and a 45, that both had very tight spots under the barrel stamping. Bores weren’t round there either. I tried firelapping, but it was so bad nothing would work,

Old70

The only places it's stamped are the usual Kimber stampings. I will have to look and see if it is a Criterion or Bergara barrel when I go home for lunch.

I had the barrel cut from factory length and threaded by a local gunsmith. Maybe when the barrel was in the lathe? Or maybe it came from the factory like this?

The rifle shoots well enough to take several deer and a bear, but I have not really pushed it on paper since I had it cut. I re-zeroed with factory ammo after picking it up from the gunsmith, drove across the state and shot a deer at ~250m, so it "works" as is.

I`ve had several, including a "custom" barrel. Oddly, or maybe not, they all shot very well. Sounds like yours does too. It happens.

I worked with a Rem M7 ss in 260 that had 2 tight spots in the bore. Lots of Jb bore paste and shooting later it was still fugged. Owner traded it off, it needed a new barrel just that simple. Mb

I was going to order a new tube for my M77, but I may rebarrel the M84 first, if the precision is no there when I test it on paper. Maybe a Lilja in the Kimber Improved contour or a Bartlein in the factory profile. I'm not sure yet, but I'll figure it out if I need to.

I'm in no rush to buy new anything with the scarcity of ammunition and components.