Olympic 9mm barrel - bulged & splitting

[michael_aos]

I recently noticed the barrel on my factory Olympic 9mm upper has a bulge & crack maybe 3" from the muzzle.

I've been toying with moving this upper to an existing SBR lower and getting it cut-down anyway.

Would there be any concern with just lopping it off below the the problem area?

Or should I really just scrap the whole barrel?

[Circuits]

Provided the rest of the barrel is sound, you should be able to cut it back, recrown it, and use it in on your SBR.

If it were me, I'd definitely have the "good" length of barrel you're contemplating using inspected for cracks, though. If the cost of having that inspection performed were around half the cost of a new barrel or more, I'd skip the inspection and just start with a replacement barrel, though.

So what's the story on the bulge and crack? Squib round?

[michael_aos]

No clue what caused it. Purchased new from MidwayUSA back in October 2009. Just noticed it when I was screwing-on the 3-lug adapter. Never been shot suppressed.

[Irving]

Nice find. Was it easier to identify in real life than the pictures? At a glance it just looks like a streak of dry wall or something.

[michael_aos]

I thought it was just a scratch at first, but it catches on my fingernail. You can feel the bulge too.

Seems like the rifling / chunks of barrel are missing around that spot.

[Circuits]

Guessing by eye, you could cut to between 11.5 and 10.5, and get rid of the damaged section.

That's an unusually large amount of damage for a squib with a pistol caliber round, though - the others I've seen in 9mm (Uzi barrel and a glock barrel) have resulted only in a bulge and a dark mark in the rifling, not long, ragged, multiple cracks like those appear to be, with rifling completely missing at the bulged section.

Definitely get it tested if/before you decide to cut it down and re-use. Seeing that much damage, I'd personally just trash it and get a new barrel to start from, rather than take a risk.

[michael_aos]

I've never knowingly had an issue with a squib.

I did initially have some issues with this upper firing out-of-battery that killed a few pieces of brass. I guess there could have been a piece of a cartridge in the barrel at some point.

I tried contacting Olympic via e-mail, but they apparently don't monitor or at least don't respond to e-mail.

If it's a manufacturing defect it should be covered under their lifetime warranty.

[SA Friday]

That is the result of firing a round with a barrel obstruction, squib or other debris in the barrel. I've seen this in older 22lr barrels from lead build-up.

Personally, I would chuck the barrel.

[BigBear]

That is the result of firing a round with a barrel obstruction, squib or other debris in the barrel. I've seen this in older 22lr barrels from lead build-up.

Personally, I would chuck the barrel.

I am NOT a gunsmith and know jack crap about weaponary. However; you ever seen all those youtube videos of firearms blowin' up in peoples faces? It's because of stuff like what your barrel looks like and people saying, "It's fine."... Well except for that guy who had the ar15 boom on him because he would punch the forward assist for every round! HAHAHAHAAHA.

[michael_aos]

Can I just replace it with "any" 9mm AR barrel? Or does it have to be another Olympic barrel to work with their upper design?
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