Been doing this myself by eye for years and can attest to its effectiveness. It’s really cool to see the same method used by a master gunsmith. Thanks for sharing this sacred knowledge with the community at large.

Don't laugh at this man, absolute mater at his craft, would pay a million bucks to be a fly on his wall everyday he worked in his shop, this is a dying art folks, pay attention, thank you for the videos sir

My Lord....I had no idea that barrels were that maliable. I am in shock. Awesome video. I'm so glad you're making these videos. We must pass this knowledge down so it's not lost. Thank you

Normally I'd say that you are nuts.... Except I was trained to straighten turbine engine shafts in a pair of v blocks using a 2x4. So as outrageous as it sounds, you are absolutely correct. Metal has a memory and it will return to its original shape/position if properly coaxed.

straightening a barrel is the same method I used to straighten out my daughter's ex boyfriend.

Brownells now sells logs for barrel shaping at $650. Lmao

This method is old , goes back to WWI , Britt number 1 mkIII barrels where thin and easily bent even in a manlicker stock. Rifle s had to be fixed in the feild. Replacment parts where not easily brought back into battle . Some times they would fix the barrel this way by just removing the wood ,leaving it in the reciver. There where both horses and trenches to deal with. An old timer bought a Russian SKS for next to nothing and I watched him actually repair it this way with in an hour! Sadley as you said metal has memory. Sometimes after the barrel heats up. It slowly slightly returns to off center. A sporting rifle firing 3 to 5 shots may never get hot enough to have this issue. But the SKS wouldn't stay straight when hot. So he got a new barrel ,but he said 9 out of 10 x this method works. Bill has long past . But this man understood metal , he was one of 3 men in the U.S. certified to weld on a nuclear reactor! His life spent testing steel under heat and load. You are the only other guy I've seen do this , Bill tied a string to a post covered it with wax ,put it through the barrel and used half hitches to pull it tight then spun the barrel in the direction of the rifelings twist. Marked it and used a wood fence post to strike it on. He was a wealth of information, now lost. Into guns since he was a kid and every one enjoyed his company. He was a Captain in Vietnam and another member of the Range told me he had saved his life there. Bill could never sit with his back to a door or window. And you had to say behind you , or hey Bill . Not someone you want to sneak up on , he was jumpy , he knew it but he just couldn't help it . 4 tours in the thick of it is what I was told. I feel honored having known him .

Thanks for the wisdom. I enjoy expanding my skills as a professional gunsmith by watching those who have much to teach. Well done sir, well done. I successfully straightened a bananaed .410 barrel on an ancient Iver Johnson arm and cycle works break action. I used an arbor press and some shoes I crafted from a piece of UHMW. I was pleased with the results. More than one way to skin a cat. Again, thanks for teaching me.

"If it's stupid but it works, then it ain't stupid no more." soldier saying

Hey Randy, I am a body man, (auto body) and I straighten metal on a daily basis. You are 100% correct when you say metal has a memory. The old timer who taught me, his exact words were “Metal has a memory, just remember that kid”. And 25 years later it still remains true. Great video, and god bless.

I couldn’t believe it when I saw you do this exactly the same way I straighten 30” steel survey markers when someone hits them! I learned it from my first boss 45 years ago.

That was a wonderful reminder of a lesson my mentor, Virgile Jenkins, taught me almost 40 years ago. He used war pictures he had, Army Intelligence in China, from plane wrecks in WWII. The land crashes were very bad, but the planes were mostly intact and were clearly identifiable. The pictures he showed me of planes that crashed in shallow waters off the Chinese coast, both bellied in and straight down, were all but completely destroyed and not identifiable. This discussion was of the different surface tension strength and compression reactions of natural and man made materials. Using a rope looped at each end of a 1” flat stock. I stood in the middle and put about a 3 or 4 in bow in it. I took the piece of metal into the shallow end of a pool. Holding the metal bar flat, I raised it into the air and slammed it onto the water as fast and flat as I could. I raised the metal bar out of the water. The impact perfectly straightened the bar flat again. Water does not compress at the instant of impact. It is an absolute fact that your method takes advantage of physics and metallurgy to most effectively return a barrel to its original orientation. For a moment I was back in Virgils shop.

Gratifying to see that modern machining techniques are still at the very forefront of today's gunsmithing community!!! Precision and Accuracy are Our watchwords.

I didn't learn it here, but actually read about it somewhere. I actually tried this with a old 12 gauge single shot. I didn't use a lathe or even mark the barrel. It hit way low, even with my head almostall the way up off the stock, edge of chin barely touching, it patterned about a foot low. One whack at a time on an old soggy log until it centered the pattern on the bead with a proper cheek weld. Now it will splat an osage orange center mass from about 15-20 yards every single time with cheap federal or winchester slugs, without even trying. Point and shoot. And I have taken squirrels out of the tip top of the pines with that same gun. It is my favorite gun to shoot now and I bring it almost every time I fish my favorite spots, until the end of squirrel season. Thanks for sharing this.

Sir ... some years ago (1973) I was in the African bush, at the time the country I was in was fighting for its independence. I was with an armed colleague on an army truck delivering Jet A1 fuel to helicopters based at a forward air field (FAF). During the journey the truck hit a land mine buried in the road / track. We survived. As a result my colleagues weapon, a 12 gauge semi automatic 5 shot browning shotgun was damaged and the barrel was bowed like a banana. He was from Italian stock and his father was a gunsmith back in Italy. His father had taught him many tricks with armaments. We placed the barrel, still in the stock, across a sand bag and proceeded to apply full body weight, standing / jumping on, against the bend. Result was the barrel was straightened sufficiently for the weapon to once again become useful (lethal) as was proven over the period that followed prior to returning to the main base where proper repairs were effected.

I own an old air rifle that first was my father's rifle, I remember this particular yellow stock carabine when my father used to shoot little birds in the backyard of our house. He didn't miss a shot. It was in 1965 or 66. He died in 1967. The carabine was a Slavia 620 that was tortured by me when I was a stupid 15 or 16 boy: I badly erased that beautiful yellow coat with sandpaper plate on a drill and changed with a horrible brown finish, and I treated it like a toy, with no respect. In this late years I decided to restore it, fortunately there has been enough wood to wipe out brown coat, metal blue has been restored with an appropriate treatment of cold blue but the last, worst work of a bent barrel was insurmountable for me. Some days ago i saw your video, first time I won't believe it but today I've tried, with grace, no overdoing.. the miracle happened. I'm really happy, and after the early abuse of the rifle I hope my father is happy too, wherever he is. Thank you from the deep of my heart.

Sometimes the simplest way is the best. This is from the age when you had just one rifle for survival and accidents happen and the knowledge of fixing it the best way known. That knowledge should be taught in modern gunsmithing schools today! Master crafting is becoming a lost art. Thanks for showing us a tried-and-true simple method of repairing bent barrels!

Yes this does work.... I have only had to straighten one barrel so far (a .22) in 30 years and I did it this way. The method is good, easy and the results as good as you'll get any other way. I usually have to do things the "old fashioned way" as my equipment is basic (lathe, mill, welders and lots of hand tools), and this guy, who seems to be in my age group, uses his brains rather than fancy machines....

Yup, this works! I have a 26 year old RWS Diana Model 34 competition air rifle that had a bent barrel, probably from falling over. I hadn't touched it in years because you could clearly see the barrel was bent upwards. RWS is a German company and I really didn't want to mail it to Germany to be repaired. Found this video and decided to give it a shot. Like this gentleman, I took my time and worked it slowly. The barrel is perfectly straight and shoots just as good as I remembered when I got it new. Now I got my boys shooting. Just goes to show you can always trust the experience of the ol' timers that have been doing this for a while. Thank you so much for passing on your wisdom!

A true master at your craft. Hopefully I never need this tip but would definitely give it a shot if needed. Thank you for passing on the knowledge and experience with us.

I straightened a drill press spindle in a similar way. Instead of a log i used a piece of wood and a hammer and it now has no run out. The memory deal he speaks of is real.

Randy this content is awesome. Thanks for sharing. Most gun Smiths will say it can't be done and want to sell u a new barrel. You prove this wrong.

Wow that was amazing! I never saw this one coming. Now I regret I did not keep the bent barrel of my 1920`s Oberndorf Mauser 98 chambered in 30-06. I bought the rifle and discovered that the barrel was bent, returned it and they fitted a barrel I had laying around as compensation. So now it is 6.5x55 Swedish which I preferred.

Thats great brother. My Dad said his Dad ran over a 410/over 22lr and his Dad just stuck it between dual tires on truck or tractor and pulled looked at it then did it again. and he used that gun for a long time said it shot like new. These chinese pellet guns come with bent barrels and Mike Mellick taught me how to straighten a ruger air magnum 22 pellet gun. That was 10 yrs shot it today at about 350 ft its dead on with sights in the middle. Like they shud be. And you have firewood too!!! Great video my friend.

I actually straighten out my bent barrel watching this video! haha! My Savage 64 takedown was at Savage Arms for one year! I was hoping they would just give me a new barrel since it was still under warranty. It came back the same as I sent it! I was so mad, I had no problems wacking the barrel against a couple of 4x4's....I had it straight in 15 minutes! haha! Thank you very much THE REAL GUNSMITH! Let me like and subscribe also to show my appreciation!

I would have never even thought that a barrel could be straightened to shoot with a reasonable tolerance! I'm sitting here amazed by the simplicity!

Randy you have forgot more about gunsmithing and ballistics than most gunsmiths will ever know you are a true gunsmithing genius.....

Did this last night for my AK74M 12.5" barrel after a training accident that claimed the barrel and stock after running through a doorway with the rifle going horizontal to me. Ate shit and found a nasty broken stock, buffer tube, and bent barrel and suppressor mount. Watched this video and i am surprised that it worked. Thank you sir for giving us more knowledge!

I apprenticed at Griffin&Howe briefly and came to appreciate types of gunsmiths. I worked with a couple masters. This fellow is a a master smith for shooters and hunters. The folks who use guns. A good friend was a shooter's gunsmith, that I worked with at Stoeger Arms LONG ago. Got to respect the experience these fellows have. Blindfold them and hand them a part, and they will tell you where it goes, on which gun, and maybe if it needs replacing. This fellow is aptly "The Real Gunsmith."

So simple but yet affective. Randy I wait with anticipation all week for you next video . And they are always a pleasure.

Absolutely fascinating. So simplistic it's brilliant! I've learned so much from you. I wish I would have found your channel sooner. Thank you so much and God Bless

This is the same method I use for straightening form stakes, now I know it works on barrels. Awesome video!

I’ve watched this several times and it still amazes me how Randy can do this without all of the fancy equipment. I personally like to fix things rather than throw them away as well.

Excellent technique. You are using the inertia of striking against wood block to relief the stress built up in the barrel from the bending to return it to the original memory state of the metal. Clever!

Thanks Randy! Brought back a memory I have of an old time smith I was talking to at the pistol range some 30+ years ago. He once had some fella come in with an S&W revolver that shot consistently off to the right. Told me that he kept a block of lead about the size of a brick and he'd removed the cylinder and smacked the barrel down hard on that lead block. The gun shot straight after that!

Thank you Randy. I just straighten a 30-06 barrel following your instruction. Barrel was bent enough the rifle could not be zeroed due to a fall while hunting. It will now zero within 4 MOA of dead center of scope adjustment and accuracy is as before the fall. Thanks again. Best regards.

i dont have a lathe so I ran a cleaning rod though it to see when it was straight. Also.. I whacked closer to the muzzle end, rather than the center.. it worked!

I just used this method to straighten a bent barrel from a 1762 brown bess musket that a horse had rolled on way back when…worked perfectly!

no school like old school. i dont pay anybody to fix my stuff. i grow a brain and figure it out. well done and thanks for all your tips.

I about fell out of my chair, when you whacked that barrel on that log. I laughed so damn hard. But yes, it did work. I saw you fix it right there on the spot. This is where experience, artistry & physics all come together. Very nice work !

Randy you've lost weight, looking better than ever brother. Thank you for sharing this "secret knowledge" with the rest of shooting community around the world. Cheers

This is true craftsmanship,knowing how to do things in different ways can not be taught from books .Real world know how is,some time's more important than ,class room technic.Very well done sir!!!!!!!!Keep up the good work!!

I've machined piston rods for the oil and gas industry , various sizes shafts from 5/8" to 2-1/2" diameter material was EDT 150 wich is a prehardened stress proof type steel. Sometimes the 5/8 to 1" sizes would warp after turning / bow and they didn't know what to do , I straightened about 100 of them on a piece of wood like this , and using a rubber dead blow on some getting them to run out from . 0000 to .0035 . Simple methods are the only way sometimes , the quality control guy walked by asked what the hell are you doing , I showed him a before band after on the spot and he was reluctantly impressed . He passed them all later ! No returns .

Very interesting video didn`t know anyone would bother straightening a barrel.

Thank you for sharing this. I have a Remington 514 barrel that is bent. I will be using this method to straighten it.👍

I know people like this in construction.. You get young journeymen like me showing up with their trick new power tools only to get shown up by an old timer using hand tools. There are so many tricks of the trade out there it takes multiple lifetimes to learn them all. We would be wise to learn all we can from these folks before they retire.

When I was in college I worked part-time for a German trained gunsmith. I saw him straighten a barrel in the exact same way except he smacked the barrel over his vise with a pad clamped in the vise. He said that is the way he was taught to straighten a barrel in Germany. Yes it works.

Now that's something. I had know idea barrels bent that easily. Then again never thought of a horse or mule falling on it either.

That proves to me sir you are a absolute genius not that I doubted it to start with.

Great job Randy. Good old mechanical ingenuity at its best! By the way Randy I live about one mile from where you worked for Burris years ago.

Thank you sir! I'm a beginner gunsmith and handloader and I really appreciate you sharing all your accumulated knowledge with us strangers. Good man

I have used this method on small bore shotguns for many years. It works!!! Thanks for showing it.

As a retired third generation Sheet Metal Worker once you mentioned that steel has a memory you had me believing. Great video

Very cool technique I have straightened out shafts and other parts with a block of wood and either a wood or brass mallet most people don't understand that most barrels have a slight curve sometimes when turning taper stress in steel will cause this etc.

Trinidad is a great school. Graduate here as well. Hope I am able to accomplish half of what you have. Thanks for showing this method!

I love how he can just eyeball it and know. Absolute genius. I watched my uncle hammer a sawmill blade when working with him as a teenager and very similar stuff. Just like magic. Oh the old ways are good ways.

Excellent advice. I'm a shade tree gunsmith and if I ever bend a barrel this will be my method.

numerical control, dros, modern metrology are all good, but there's something to be said for just hitting a barrel on a log. great video.

Sir i do agree steel does have a memory. I don't know why but I had a feeling a lot or something like that was going to be part of this video once I started watching it. No I'm got being critical. It's opposite it's old school and it works. Alot to be learned from old school.

I heard of this many years ago...i used this technique to straighten round tubing when I used to build hand rails....it works.....good video

Thanks again Randy! Another great video. You look to be in good health. God bless you and your family.

This method truly works. Thank you so much for sharing!

You've gotta be kidding me. I'm shocked this works. I'm not surprised RGS here knew it would. Go figure - good shooting.

When I clicked on this video, I was thinking about the industry I work in, transportation, and how over the years we've had equipment involved in accidents that result in bent frames. If the bend is not too severe, semi truck frames are straightened with the same theory at work - the steel has a normal set position when formed, and it will always want to go "home". The method employed is a little different, but it works on the same theory that steel wants to go back to it's original resting place. With truck frames, they secure the truck frame to the floor with tie downs poured into the concrete and secured with an extra deep pouring of concrete and anchoring in that tie down area. Then jacks are used to push the steel, basically, back into it's original resting position. I expected to see you mount both ends of the barrel secure, identify where pressure needed to be exerted, and jack it back to straight rather than strike it, but I guess either way would accomplish the same. The frame straightening guys that have years and years of experience have a knack for identifying exactly where to tie off a frame and where to exert force, and how much, and it absolutely works. Interesting.

Thank u I really appreciate it I was really stressing on how to rebend my 22 barrel..my brother found at the dump it works n shoots its just the barrel that's it

Randy, that is a super cool thing you do. Really interesting. I would never have thought you could salvage a barrel like that! Thank you!

Absolute Truth Bob Dunlap teaches this exact method it works .Even crazier is how you range a revolver .

This although it seems haphazard is more or less the same way they do it in the factory. A skilled man at work .

Thank you for the information you dispense. I have bin shooting all of my life so I am not new to shooting. So I know who to lessen to and I watch all of your you tube articles 2 or 3 times.

Log thumping in how I learned to straighten shotgun barrels over 40 years ago. Did it on a log with soft bark so as to not put dents or kinks in the tube.

I have a clients rifle thats badly bent....will try this tomorrow! Thanks for the demo

Awesome video! I really appreciate a veteran making and sharing something like this!

I have to admit that I thought you were joking around with us but I have to stand corrected, you have True God skills !!!

I've seen that done on door frames. Thanks for the video.

The horse walk around trailer bending barrel had me laughing XD

Thumbs Up. Giggling all the way through the video. Thx for the vid and the wit

Thank you. I just fixed my ak47 barrel! You're the best man!

Thank you the down to earth demonstration

I had to look at this video just to see if it was any more high tech than the method I have used in the past. I personally did all my straightening using a fly press. I made aluminium blocks padded with tissue and permitted sideways movement. Round items were rolled on a surface table, flat items placed on it. I often tried to pass this skill onto other guys in the workshop,but never found anyone that could keep to the tolerances. Many of the parts I straightened were chrome plated, hence the tissue padding, and around five feet long. If you place two surfaces together you can see light through the unstraight areas down to about 2 tenths of a thou.

I love it. You’re a master of your trade. Thank you for sharing.

Great method Randy. You're a pleasure to watch as well as having a plethora of practical information to offer ...

Nice . I liked this .You can see the back woodsman smiling now who learned to do this when they were youngsters .

Sometimes simple is better. Thanks for passing that technique on!

I saw a pic, wished if saved it, showed several men in a factory setting looking up thru barrels with a string thru the barrel and drawn tight in a jig, the caption was that they were checking the barrels for straight, and that was the orgin of the "Straight as a String" saying, by their clothing I'd say after turn of century.

Gold treasure.I would listen day and night to,Amazing! They do this here in Germany by eye ,in the factory,and the accuracy is half inch at 60 yards. 'Wabble' is such a suggestive word you need no translation,..si like shaking the head =universal meaning..no or yes.

That idea works in a pinch; though you need to remember that when you cold-bend steel, weak points can develop. In theory, you could run with it, but I would impress upon you that it should be replaced depending on the severity of the bend. There is such a concept called plastic deformation, which is the irreversible rearrangement of the atomic structure of the metal. Cold-bending it by accident, then cold-bending it back to the centerline is double trouble, considering barrel making is a carefully guided process that includes heat or cryo treatment to relieve the stress that you just reintroduced.

I would never have thought of this! It makes sense though that the barrel would tend to go back to where it was with just a little persuasion. GREAT money-saving tip! (would work in the field too!) When you were looking through the barrel I could tell (after a few smacks) where you were going to hit it by the bend I could see on the video!. Only when you got really close did I have to wait to know where you were going to smack it next. No laughing here! I would feel fairly confident doing this on a barrel bent in the field by bashing it against a against a tree! I can imagine how impressed my buddies would be if I did it and it worked!

I’ve heard of this being used to change the point of impact for shotguns. It was with sandbags tho.

Man you had me cracking up i thought i was gonna see some special tapered barrel tube bender. Im not doubting how you do it i just thought it would be way more complex.

I learned a lot and enjoyed your video! Thank you Mr. & Mrs.RealGunSmith!!!!

I started grinning the moment the method was shown and couldn't stop till the end of the video. I learned something today, I don't know if I will ever need to put it into practice but it's something new that I know now thanks to you. I subscribed because of this video. Thumbs way up!

Thanks for the tip, barrel is close to perfect now.

Well cut my legs off and call me shorty. Awesome simple fix. My brother in law has an old .32 that has a bent barrel. Maybe I can get it and straighten it for him. Simple is always best. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and wisdom.

I would have never guessed that you would use such an expensive and hard to find piece of equipment to do this job you can't beat experience thanks for the great information

Fantastic. Thank-you.

That's amazing! I hope, one day, to have a rifle built by him.

Awesome Randy!

Maybe you could straighten out my stupid neighbour! You are a real craftsman. Thank you sir for sharing your knowledge

Not too many of these artisans are left, good old fashion way of fixing stuff. Simple but effective 👍

Beauriful. Thank you so much. I've got an old wall hanger that will be a perfect candidate for this treatment.