Hard cocking
I have a Gunpower Stealth in .20 and have switched the barrel to an 18″. I also put in a high flo valve. On advice, I added a hammer weight made to the exact dimensions of the Condor weight. Now the rifle is hard to cock and I see scoring on the rubbers on the end of the hammer. Any advice as to the causes and how to remedy?
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Hi all, just some feedback. The rifle just spent two weeks at the supplier of the barrel. Long story short, he eventually replaced the .20 barrel with a .22 barrel and gave the rifle a bit of a tune in the process. I fetched it yesterday and had a few shots with it at his place before I left and can confirm that it looks as if the rifle is now on its way to become as accurate as it should be. Scope needs adjustment and I still need to find out which pellets work best. But it is a huge relief to have it back and working properly. Thanks for all your support and suggestions!
If the pellet was falling through, I can’t see why he would’ve bothered polishing the barrel. Hope you come right Jakoos. .20 is a very nice caliber but .22 is just a little bit better.
OK, update time. I took the barrel back to the supplier. He had a look, polished some rough areas in the barrel and asked me to try again. Accuracy was better, but not by much. End result, the complete rifle will go back to him tomorrow. Will provide you with feedback once I have the rifle back and have had some time for a bit of shooting. I am still drawn to a caliber change to .22 …
yeath,it may be useful, metal detecting tips will give you.
Hi Nick,
I have put about 700 pellets through the barrel and have also cleaned it about 200 pellets ago. The cleaning did not make any difference. I have spoken to Kevin, according to him it is a Lothar Walther barrel and he is looking for another barrel for me – I might do a change to .22.
Jakoos, if I remember correctly you said you got your barrel from Kevin(Airvolution). If that’s the case, how many pellets have you put through it?
I would go with the .22 even if he does have a .20. You will have a MUCH larger variety of ammo to chose from and will also benefit from the higher fpe that the .22 offers.
Sounds like this has been a real nightmare but you seem to really be sticking to it when it comes to figuring it out. Once you get this thing shooting properly, I’m sure you will be pleased.
As always, keep us posted!
Wildfire :5:
OK, I have now slugged the barrel: I took a .20 pellet (JSB Exact) and pushed it down the barrel from the breech end with a thin wooden dowel. It went without much resistance up to about the last inch of the barrel, where I stopped and pushed it back out. I then measured the diameter of the pellet to be exactly .20, compared to .208 of an unused pellet from the same tin. There are scoring marks from the barrel evenly spread around the pellet head and skirt, so I think I can safely say it is indeed a .20 barrel. Now what? I am waiting for the dealer to get back to me regarding an exchange barrel – if he does not have another .20 barrel I am considering a .22 barrel. We actually have a wider choice of .22 ammo, compared to .20 ammo here.
I need to find something to push the pellet down the barrel and back that will not damage the barrel or crown, which is what is holding me up. Yes, .22 ammo is no problem here. We actually have a better variety of .22 than .20, so I am considering getting a .22 barrel if there is no other way out. I am in contact with the dealer to see what can be done about this barrel, maybe exchange it for a .22 with cash adjustment if necessary.
I’m sure you will get this thing sorted out. If it does in fact, turn out to be a .22 barrel, do you have access to .22 ammo where you live?
Wildfire :5:
OK, I am going to try this slugging bit later today. I must maybe also clarify a bit – when I said the pellets fall out of the barrel easily, I meant that if you insert a pellet into the barrel at the breach and tilt the rifle muzzle up, the pellets will fall out. It does not fall through the barrel, it just fits very loosely into the breech. But I will keep going on this, I am sure it is something simple that is just evading me at the moment. Will keep you all posted!
Doug is correct. It would be very hard to accurately measure the bore of the barrel with a caliper. Also, keep in mind that the barrel is choked so the breech end is the important measurement. I’ve never slugged a barrel but that does sound like the way to go!
Please keep us posted on what you find!
Wildfire :5:
I doubt the accuracy you will achieve with caliper. You need to slug the barrel and measure with a micrometer.
OK, so I now measured the barrel at the muzzle end (with my cheapy caliper) and it comes to about 4.85mm. I have to remove the barrel to measure the breech end, but I am reasonably sure the barrel is indeed a .20 and not .22. The only option I see at this stage is to visit the supplier of the barrel and see what we can sort out. I do not expect this rifle to be as accurate as the much more expensive rifles, but I like the rifle for its simplicity and light weight. My BAM51 in the same caliber currently performs way better with the same pellets, if I can get equal accuracy I would be happy.
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Enjoy it! Thanks for keeping us posted and definately let us know what you think now. Maybe youcan posts, some pics also!