Do you guys check for tight spots in your barrel

[Muskett]

Barrels are surprisingly soft. Doesn't take much to bend one.
Better would be to say they are tough and soft, to take all the violence that goes on through them.
Hammered or cut they need to be pretty soft to make a hole all along them.
I forget when they are hardened in the making process. If you see how a sword blade is quenched and the makers concerns that the blade can go all wonky in the process, then anything steel is going to have similar issues.
Again barrels are far from perfect, and in truth don't need to be. Modern manufacturing and design of all the parts including the projectiles all addd to accurate.
One MOA to 1000m with firearms is doable. 1/4" inch at 40m with an air rifle barrel isn't so big an ask. When farmyard ranges were the norm then a rifled pipe would suffice.

[Dornfelderliebe]

When you've been testing by pushing pellets through, has anyone encountered the pellet dropping clean through after passing the breech choke.
I've been testing a .22 Mk6 Meteor which will not get upto power. All done with the barrel broken and pointing down.
Once passing the breech Superdomes and Marksman 5.5 drop clean out of the end. Even a Marksman 5.6 which needed tapping gently to get it passed the breech moved along under almost no effort.
Mk1 & 2 showed gentle resistance and the 3 &4 taken to the bash showed little resistance but the pellet will stay in the barrel under it's own weight.

I had already noticed the Mk6 groups worse than the 3 & 4s.
It is no consolation the the Mk6 has no tight spots.

[Muskett]

When you've been testing by pushing pellets through, has anyone encountered the pellet dropping clean through after passing the breech choke.
I've been testing a .22 Mk6 Meteor which will not get upto power. All done with the barrel broken and pointing down.
Once passing the breech Superdomes and Marksman 5.5 drop clean out of the end. Even a Marksman 5.6 which needed tapping gently to get it passed the breech moved along under almost no effort.
Mk1 & 2 showed gentle resistance and the 3 &4 taken to the bash showed little resistance but the pellet will stay in the barrel under it's own weight.

I had already noticed the Mk6 groups worse than the 3 & 4s.
It is no consolation the the Mk6 has no tight spots.

Maybe they put the barrel the wrong way round? Chokes are generally at the exit end!
I bow to others here with a lot more BSA knowledge tan I.
Anschutz and Walther were fans of choked barrels, and maybe others too. I suspect for many British barrels then the same old machinery was being used for longer than it was prudent to.

[Dornfelderliebe]

My referring to a choke at the breech is because I don't know if the constriction has a specific name. The pellet falling clean through, after it does not seem right.

[Muskett]

A pellet with a soft skirt should get over the breech shoulder and fan out again once passed.
For once I would suggest giving the breech a good scrub as it could just be dirt and dried out oil???

There are different pellet sizes too to cater for different sized bores of what should be the same calibre. Again not all barrels are the same, by manufacturer, by batch, by cutting tool and just wear.

All that matters is down range results. There is a hobby in maximising potential. Often it's two steps back to get one step forward. Sometimes all the effort just makes things worse. Hay ho it is meant to be fun. If I have a rifle shooting well, I leave them alone.

[Barryg]

Pushing a pellet down a barrel with a rod doesn't simulate a pellet fired down a barrel.


Do have some fun thinking up issues, but I suspect there is no real conclusions to be had. If the rifle shoots well, then it's not an issue.

Pushing one of those green things down a barrel does as they don't deform like lead.

I didn't think up an issue it just happened that I had my spare .177 barrel in my hand and remembered hearing about tight and loose spots in a barrel not being something that you would want so I pushed a pellet through the spare barrel to find the pellet pushed through nice and even with no tight or loose spots, I then pushed a pellet through the .22 on the gun and the pellet was loose from the breech block to the choke, so I was interested what other members knowledge and experiences were.

So far only evert has said that he has experience of checking barrels and I would be interested in his findings, I don't doubt that the choke deals with accuracy but I have noticed FPS consistency better with my guns with no tight/loose spots so perhaps evert or anyone else who actually has experence might chime and see if they have found the same.

I respect you opinion but you don't have experence as you never check so only guess.

[HW777]

My referring to a choke at the breech is because I don't know if the constriction has a specific name. The pellet falling clean through, after it does not seem right.

There are stories that BSA fitted some barrels the wrong way round and yours seems to prove that

[Barryg]

Sometimes it's better not to know as long as it meets the main spec, good power and accuracy.

Now we are getting somewhere

[joffy]

One I threw away today ...... only wanted the muzzle weight as its going on my project 80

[/QUOTE]

[HW777]

One I threw away today ...... only wanted the muzzle weight as its going on my project 80

[/QUOTE]

The dustman won't have come around yet ? If not go get it back out the bin and put it to one side.

Breech blocks can be re-barrelled either by removing/drilling the remains of that barrel out, or said in Michael Caine's voice ( not a lot of people know this ) if you send it to Weihrauch they will re-barrel it

[joffy]

The dustman won't have come around yet ? If not go get it back out the bin and put it to one side.

Breech blocks can be re-barrelled either by removing/drilling the remains of that barrel out, or said in Michael Caine's voice ( not a lot of people know this ) if you send it to Weihrauch they will re-barrel it [/QUOTE]

I have a couple of spare barrels

[Muskett]

Pushing one of those green things down a barrel does as they don't deform like lead.


I respect you opinion but you don't have experence as you never check so only guess.

True I don't check, because I gave up checking things like this years ago.
I have seen enough bulged barrels, bent barrels, and plenty of swarf down barrels. Look down most barrels with good light and you can see obvious things. The only thing that matters is down range results.
I actually decided not to buy a barrel scope years ago because they can question your confidence in a barrel. Once you think something is up, what confidence can you have? I didn't want to be a gunsmith, and preferred to judge a rifle on down range results. If I bother to control my breathing I can halve group size. I have pretty good idea of what expectations I ought to get with a rifle. Once I have done the basic checks then most rifles get on with doing nicely if I do my bit. Most barrels deliver pretty well given the right fodder they like. When it comes to air rifles then even bent ones can deliver.
Rifles I keep are not too fussy, and give reliable results so give confidence.

You are right I can't give you the armourer's answer. I have seen a lot of faffing over barrels that got nowhere. When accuracy drops then check the full list, and do a bore thorough clean; then see. It will either get back to expectations after a shoot in, or not. Most do.

[Mark Palmer]

I machined and fitted a Wheirach. 177 barrel blank to convert my .22 carbine into a long barrelled rifle for target work, initially it was incredibly pellet fussy and I had accuracy issues, I spent many hours rodding pellets through the barrel, finding tight/rough spots and polishing them out, now there is slight resistance engaging the rifling and smooth equal effort until the choke, rifling marks are now even when engaging the rifling (push the pellet back out to check) and all the way to the choke (again pellet pushed back to check it) and also after exiting the barrel, the gun is no longer pellet sensitive , giving clover leaf groups at 25yds with most pellets I've tried and 6mm groups with some pellets (R10s, Kulgens, Qys Streamlined, Domes and Training) well worth the effort in my experience

[Barryg]

I machined and fitted a Wheirach. 177 barrel blank to convert my .22 carbine into a long barrelled rifle for target work, initially it was incredibly pellet fussy and I had accuracy issues, I spent many hours rodding pellets through the barrel, finding tight/rough spots and polishing them out, now there is slight resistance engaging the rifling and smooth equal effort until the choke, rifling marks are now even when engaging the rifling (push the pellet back out to check) and all the way to the choke (again pellet pushed back to check it) and also after exiting the barrel, the gun is no longer pellet sensitive , giving clover leaf groups at 25yds with most pellets I've tried and 6mm groups with some pellets (R10s, Kulgens, Qys Streamlined, Domes and Training) well worth the effort in my experience

Thanks for that, what was your experience with the FPS consistency with the tight spots?

[Muskett]

A few years back polishing barrels was all the rage. A lot of lapping paste was sold. Maybe some barrels benefitted from the exercise?? Certainly there are some barrel tuners that do squeeze down groups with their voodoo. Even they admit that recutting chambers, lapping, recrowning, has mixed results until the sweet spot is found. And then often that sweet spot doesn't last long. Most of this is done on firearm barrels, so I'm unsure if it is all relevant to air rifle barrels.
Lapping is removing burs and smoothing the bores. It doesn't straighten them as the rods used aren't stiff enough and so jags follow the curve.
There is a counter debate that lapping just wears away barrel life, for little benefit.
Modern manufacturing can produce straighter and more consistent bores than before, which is why general accuracy has gone up when combined with more consistent ammunition.

Do whatever floats your boat. People still "shoot in" their rifles, or do "conditioning". I certainly watch my zero grouping as everything settles down, but I don't waste ammo on some set pre format.

Again if a rifle is shooting well then leave it alone. If it is not then do whatever gets a result. A good clean, even a light lap, may well be all that is required. What have you got to lose?
After harsh cleaning then it will take a good few pellets to relube and bed down. The goal of the exercise is consistency.