Britannia Mk 1 barrel rifling corrosion

[Huttles94]

Bought a cheap inspection camera off the net last week, Thought Id stick it far down the barrel of my MK1 Britannia air rifle to see why there is so much rust and crap coming out when cleaning and well....I dont think it looks good

Here are some images:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/152900...57697775756641

Tell me, how bad do you think it is? Is my poor old Britannia bound to become a wall piece or will it shoot straight again?

Was planning on restoring the rifle (cosmetically poor/ok) but if it is bound to be a wall hanger I might not.

[T 20]

It can be repaired :-

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ7sQya7tyk

Jon/Shed Tuner did this to a Scorpion Pistol and it works well.





All the best Mick

[Shed tuner]

Or sell it to me... I'll make it into a .22 to confuse people

Yeah, as Mick said it's not past it... it's surpisingly easy to sleave an airgun barrel, machining is really basic. My scoprion had a 5.6 (or 5.7)mm barrel that was just too annoying to use, so I sleaved it with an 8mm OD crosman drinking straw barrel

[Huttles94]

ahh ok, haha I dont want to sell it :P took me long enough to find one at the right price. I thought about turning it into a .22 for the fun of it . Ill look into sleaving the barrel but I think it might be beyond my skill set...No worries though, just glad to know that it aint FUBAR

Cheers

[silva]

You know what, that will most likely shoot fine, once the leading builds up again. I wouldn't fret about it, until you know its inaccurate.

[Geezer]

First, clean and polish the heck out of it.

Try aggressively using JB Bore Paste on a brass brush, from the breech, with a .17” stainless cleaning rod, brass brush, and a 4.4mm rod guide.

It may not work, in fact it probably won’t, but if it doesn’t, you haven’t massively reduced the value of a rare old gun, and can then think about other options.

[micky2]

Bought a cheap inspection camera off the net last week, Thought Id stick it far down the barrel of my MK1 Britannia air rifle to see why there is so much rust and crap coming out when cleaning and well....I dont think it looks good

Here are some images:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/152900...57697775756641

Tell me, how bad do you think it is? Is my poor old Britannia bound to become a wall piece or will it shoot straight again?

Was planning on restoring the rifle (cosmetically poor/ok) but if it is bound to be a wall hanger I might not.

Hi can you post some photos please of what a clean bore looks like with the camera so l can see the difference.

Mick.

[Shed tuner]

First, clean and polish the heck out of it.

Try aggressively using JB Bore Paste on a brass brush, from the breech, with a .17” stainless cleaning rod, brass brush, and a 4.4mm rod guide.

It may not work, in fact it probably won’t, but if it doesn’t, you haven’t massively reduced the value of a rare old gun, and can then think about other options.

yeah, but soak it in WD40 and oil first. Defo worth a try - it'll certainly improve velocity and accuracy regardless of whether it gets all the way back to what you'd like.

[greenwayjames]

Bonehill didnt make these airguns. he imported them from Germany. Many were brought in as .177" smoothbore, rifled by Bonehill and so well oversize. I had several that were closer to .20" than .177"

[Shed tuner]

Bonehill didnt make these airguns. he imported them from Germany. Many were brought in as .177" smoothbore, rifled by Bonehill and so well oversize. I had several that were closer to .20" than .177"

That's interesting, as I found both of mine defo like larger .177s, e.g. SuperDomes. What about the .25s ?

[Josie & John]

Bonehill didnt make these airguns. he imported them from Germany. Many were brought in as .177" smoothbore, rifled by Bonehill and so well oversize. I had several that were closer to .20" than .177"

I think you may be thinking of the so called '1st pattern' Britannia rather than the Cox patented Bonehill manufactured Britannia.

As far as I am aware the name Britannia was never associated with these early airguns as the name was not registered by Bonehill until 1905, when the so called '2nd pattern' Britannia was first made. It is more accurate to call the 1st type the 1902 Cox Patent Airgun than a Britannia as none of the models I have examined or been sent details of were marked Britannia.

I'd be very interested to see any contemporary adverts for the 1902 model to determine exactly what they were called at the time, if anyone knows of any.

John