Dan Wesson 715

[Shed tuner]

So I couldn't leave it alone... I know that'll shock you all...

I was having trouble working out if the barrel was rifled, and it looked like the last 3" was oversize.. well it was, and they all are... I found this video on youtube that perfectly described the rather silly arangement, whereby the "real" barrel is only 2.5 ": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT1PHdcJUmw

So I made a new full length rifled barrel this morning.. lucky I have a lathe, so it's less than an hour's work.

A few points to note...
- you can make it a bit longer if you wish, but there's no point.. see notes on power testing below
- the lower, much shorter of the two pins you punch out to remove the shroud can foul the cylinder mount when refitted, so shorten than pin by around 0.3mm before refitting
- as per the vid, those pins are highly directional - when driven correctly, they come out easy. minimal force required
- I have the muzzle end slightly larger than the original - just small enough for the spring to move freely after a polish - as this gave a tighter fit in the shroud
- the throat needed at the breach is fairly minimal - just make sure the pellet doesn't encounter a step when transitioning from the poppet thing that mates to the shells, to the barrel bore
- I used a 10mm barrel, and there is no need to turn down the main OD - just the two reductions at each end (around 10mm long each) - so whilst a lathe is much the better tool for the job, it's doable redneck style as per the vid. The extra barrel mass belps with the balance too.


Testing...
- accuracy was not too bad before but is now awesome - shot the below 6 shot group two handed unsupported in my 5 yard garage range just now - the BB is for scale, not shooting with.
- power has only gone up about 0.25 FP... I was expecting more. However, the gun is very frugal on gas, so I think there's not enough gas to make much use of the extra barrel length - hence I'd NOT make the barrel longer than stock. Mine was 10mm longer, and had it not been for the group I just shot, I'd have chopped it back to stock length in the hope of gaining a little more velocity. I reckon the 4" version, assuming it has a propper 4" barrel, would be perfect in terms of efficiency.
- another explanation for the tiny power gain, is that the old barrel is either smoothbore, or has the shallowest scratch rifling ever... the new barrel is conventionally rifled, so that will rob a little power, and also not be quite as good a seal

I think I'm done... not planning on touching it now

https://i.imgur.com/CUhvKMh.jpg