Quality control issue on LW barrel??? or some…
..thing else???? I recently purchased an 18″ .25 barrel from a gent on the yellow. I had some issues with my fluted breech from Tony sliding properly over it. While I was trying to figure out why (assuming all leade ins are created the same) I concluded that it had to be the breech after a few years of being slammed by a 90 gram hammer.
Today I realized that it is not the breech at all, and in fact it is the barrel!
Now I am wondering if this leade in could have been slightly bent by the previous owner. I tried to do a “primitive” test on it. I layed on the floor (eye level) and rolled the barrel and watched the leade in portion spin and it appeared to be straight (but who knows if a slight degree would be discernible to the naked eye?).
I was ready to call the gent I got it from and ask for my money back as I found it hard to believe that he did not know of this problem prior to selling it to me. But before I did this I wanted to try one last thing so I took the barrel to my bench grinder and took the finish off with the wire wheel. Then I spent 40 minutes polishing it with my dremel. I put it back in the frame and 80% of the problem was resolved. Although it does not cock in the previous “effortless” manner, it is not too bad. At this point I decide to see if it is a shooter or not (I also polished the lead in portion of the rifling). If she was not a shooter, then there is no way I was going to deal with the tougher cocking. If she is a shooter, then I could overlook this and even take it back out to perhaps “grind” a little more off with the wire wheel and polish again. I was running late for work so I went outside with 20 JSB kings on a 2800 psi fill. Out of four five shot groups three of the groups stacked every pellet on top of the next (25 yards) Only one of the group had a “flyer” that was nearly touching the other four. My 24″ barrel was never quite that accurate and I think this is possibly due to the 24″ shooting the kings too fast. I am assuming that the kings are running a little slower now. I will chrony soon.
Anyway, I’d like to hear from any of you who have noticed this “oddity” on leade ins. If I stand alone in this problem, I will assume that it was bent due to improper handling by the original owner…
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Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
Well it surely is not tight on the tophat end. Out of all the AF rifles I have owned only one ever truly had the “pop” onto the top hat, that being my AAA .25 from Tony.
There was no “puff of air” from the top hat end when shooting but I will chrony it soon to see where it’s at. One thing is for certain thus far” for 20 shots it held POI to nearly the exact same position and that is fine by me!
Yes if the o ring is to tight on the hammer side you will have inconsistent shots. Doesn’t mater how tight it is on the tophat as long as you can pop it on the tophat and cock it.
Do you have a measuring device?
That fit to the breech is pretty important.
It has to be loose enough to slide on the barrel easily, and tight enough to seal. To tight, and the breech will not seat against the tophat consistently.
Theres your 3 variable to test for.
If its working, leave it alone but make sure your velocity variation isn’t too high.
Well, 80, If it is very slightly larger in Dia., Seems to me it would cause the “O” rings to seal just that little bit better. Better seal, and more accurate at the same time, seems like it may very well be a winner.
Or just trade it to me! Hee-Hee!
Always wanting to play with somthing different. (My .25 is 21″) Would like to see how it stacks up against what I am shooting now!
Mike
I’ve tested three breeches on it. One is even aluminum. All three show the same problem so it is definitely the barrel and not the breech.
I will measure my other breeches to see what they show. For some reason I can’t seem to find my Fluted AAA breech. I think my son (1.5 year old) walked off with it. It will turn up in the next day or so I’m sure. I only hope it doesn’t end up in a pile of my 9 month old pits crap in the back yard.
I’ll try the rolling on glass method next time I take it out. For now I am going to have some fun shooting it. 😀
Need to measure the small part of the breech and see what it is.
Could be a little larger(.310″) instead of .308″-.309″. Your breech is 3 years old and could be a tighter one. They seem to vary on things a little from run to run.
IIRC
Those .25 barrels are turned down and kinda thin at the breech end.
A bump can bend them.
put it on a glass surface and roll it while looking down the bore. You should be able to see if it needs to be fine tuned to straight.
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If its bent, there’s practically no chance its bent in a curve and instead will be bent at the area where the barrel gets wider.
Any binding caused by the bent barrel theory would be shown by the breech hitting the frame as the breech area is still straight – just not along the same axis as the rest of the barre (and that would require a HUGE bend as once its pulled back where the bend is more pronounced its outside the frame with nothing to hit)l. You’d also notice that you have to jiggle the breech to get it on the tophat as that lies on the same axis as the rest of the barrel.
It sounds simply like the outside diameter is larger than your used to.