bending the barrel of a '97 clone

[geo]

having braved the heat and humdity of a maryland high summer to get the poa of my '97 clone to center i have this to say:

military/police weapons with fixed sights had their poa corrected by bending the respective barrel.

there are several schools of thought on bending the barrel of a shotgun. you can use the v-notch of a tree, you can use the trailer hitch of your truck (see pappy's website that i listed in a prior message), you can use some supports and a press, you can use a gunsmith.

my gunsmith said that bending a shotgun barrel is fairly straight forward. brace the breech and the muzzle of the barrel and apply pressure in the center of the barrel on the side you want to move the poa until poa is achieved. right? right!

place a 5/8" wooden dowel inside the barrel the length of the barrel so you don't collapse or kink the barrel. shotgun barrels are thin. brace the breech and the muzzle of the barrel (2x4's cut with a v-notch will work). apply pressure in the center of the length of the barrel on the side you want the poa to move . this puts a c-curve in the barrel.  the barrel insert is critical...use a wooden dowel or a soft metal (aluminum, etc.) rod. apply pressure, shoot, correct.

i found that in my case because i was using an outers rifle rest the muzzle of the barrel didn't get support (it was supported by the dowel) that i should have put the press on the opposite side of the barrel. the first time i did this with the pressure on the rightside of the barrel( i wanted to move the poa to the right) i doubled the distances that it was off. back home and corrected the problem. i got it to index at 11 o'clock in the nine ring (at 20 yards with rifled slugs) with the press on the left side of the barrel.( if this makes absolutely no sense to anyone call me at 410 452 8375 or email me at geo44kri46@verizon.net and i'll talk to you in person. leave a message; if you call and i'm home i'll pick up.) shoot, correct, shoot, correct.

having a chicom repro there were other issues. the trench gun shroud may not have been aligned correctly. loosen the shroud screws (no easy job the first time) and shift the shroud to right or left as needed. or remove the shroud and throw it away. if you do this you will have to go to numrich gun parts and get the barrel band and screw for the magazine tube for the winchester '97.
i did remove the front sight bead. remember this is a point and shoot shotgun.

or just shoot the gun until you know where it is hitting and forget the above.

good luck, geo.