Rebarrel .22 Anschutz (UK)

[onetoomany]

I've an old 2013 series Anschutz - bought it second hand (perhaps even third or fourth hand!) so I've no idea how many rounds have actually been down it. My scores this season have varied between poor 94 with random 8s to getting every pip on a 100, for no rhyme or reason for the difference. This makes me think my barrel might be a little worn.

Where can I source a decent and not overpriced replacement barrel in the UK? What sort of price should I be looking at?

I understand what it takes to replace a fullbore barrel; however, I'm assuming that a small bore barrel is drops straight in, doesn't require proofing and could probably be done at home?

Finally, the rifle is in a wooden stock. Would bedding the stock in the same way as a fullbore rifle help (I've half a tub of bedding compound spare having bedded in my fullbore stock earlier this summer)?

Thanks for your advice...

R

[Tim S]

Yes, drop in barrels can be found for the 2013; the front of the receiver is split to clamp the barrel. Owners have replaced 2013 barrels at home/on the range; you need a suitable sized allen key to loosen the clamping bolts and a headspace gauge of the correct size to seat the new barrel (an empty case is not OK, as the rim will crush). Personally I'd let a competent gunsmith do the work, but someone who is more technically proficient may feel happy to go DIY.

Legally, if you want to "drop in" the barrel yourself, you will need to get for a spare slot on your FAC before you take possession of the new barrel, as a chambered barrel is counted as a firearm. A drop-in barrel would have to be proofed before sale, but that's something for the RFD I think; if you were to obtain an unchambered blank that you would chamber and fit yourself, I believe that you would only need to have it proofed if selling on in the future. Having a gunsmith source and fit the barrel is easier, as there is no change to your FAC, unless you want to keep the old barrel.

Cost for a gunsmith fitted barrel + proof was £600+ last time I asked, so roughly the same as fitting a new fullbore barrel. I don't think there was much difference in price between brands.

However before you buy a new barrel, have you made sure the current one really is knackered? If you haven't already done so, clean the snot out of it, and book a slot at the Eley customer range, or clamp the rifle into a test vice if your club has one and run through every batch of ammo you can find. If it still won't group acceptably, then it may be time for a new barrel.

Also has the rifle been serviced recently? A worn firing pin, spring, loose headspace, or a damaged crown could be causing the odd shots, but are comparatively cheap to fix compared to replacing the whole barrel.

EDIT - As it's a 2013 it won't be that old, early 1990s at most. Anecdotally Anschutz barrels from this period are not as durable as those from the 1960s and '70s, but it would take a fairly keen shot to wear out a barrel in that time. I'm assuming that if you have cleaned the barrel in the time you have owned it, you know already that there are no bulges in the bore.

[KennyB]

Intershoot were doing drop in Lilja replacement barrels for 20 series Anschutz for £400 - but they've gone from the website now. Might be worth a call though.
As Tim says, it might just need a damn good cleaning. Another easy way to test if it's shot out is with a sturdy bipod, scope and back bag at 50m or 100 yds on a calm day. Like F-class for smallbore...
Even indoors at 25 yards, you should get better than 11mm edge to edge 10 shot groups with half decent ammo like that.

Have a good look at the crown with a magnifying glass - before rebarreling it might be worth recrowning especially if it's a short barrel 2013 with the tube. People would shoot those but not take the tube off and wipe the muzzle when they finished. Eventually they had no crown at all.

One other suggestion - don't torque the front right bedding bolt too high (>5Nm) as this is reputed to cause problems. I've seen it suggested that lower torque settings work better with the 20 series action - possibly as low as 3Nm. Probably wouldn't cause 8's but you never know.

Finally - whereabouts are you?

K.

[onetoomany]

Thanks Kenny and Tim - both great advice.

I've had a few misfires with tenex (they look decent strikes), which could suggest that I need to look at the firing pin and spring before the barrel.
Yes, its a short barrel, so again, I should give it a good clean with the tube off - I will admit to not having removed that, and I suspect nor had its previous owner(s).

I'm based South West London.

R

[jhmartin]

I tested a 2013 for a collegiate shooter this summer. Found some erosion just ahead of the chamber.
Thought was bullet sluffing in that location caused a small lead buildup on the base of a bullet every once in a while causing a flyer.
If you have access to a borescope, you can check out that area.

We actually ammo tested and found that lots of Lapua Polar Biathalon shot very well in this barrel.
(the one selected was 13.66mm edge to edge 10 shot group at 50m --- 24.52mm @ 100m)
The thought is the different shaped bullet did not sluff off at the erosion spot as normal bullets would.(???)

That said, we are planning on replacing this barrel at then end of this collegiate season.
If Eley has a similar bullet shape as the Lapua Polar Biathalon, it might be worth a try ... jeeze replacing a 2013 barrel isn't easy there!

[KennyB]

Ah, you're not far from me - I'm in West London just off the A40.

The short barreled 2013's had a bit of a reputation for not lasting as long as the long barreled versions. That said, I'd like to see a photo of the muzzle when you take the tube off...

One of my clubmates installed a drop-in Lilja on his 2013 a few years ago and it seemed very straightforward to do.
http://riflebarrels.com/shop/anschutz/a ... on-barrel/

The gunsmith who has done good work on my rifles is Rob Nibbs who is now based in Somerset.
http://www.rifle-maker.com

K.

[beye]

Make sure the barrel hasn't slipped forward, giving you excessive headspace, which might account for misfires. As mentioned earlier, action screw torque (and bedding) can give you problems with the flat bottomed action. I had one of the first one of these actions in the States (McMillan used my action to do their inletting program), and found bedding was a great deal more finicky than with the round actions. So might be worthwhile to bed/rebed/experiment with the action screws after you clean it well and check out the crown. It takes a LOT of rounds to wear out a barrel. Several years ago, I purchased an old Anschutz imported from the UK. It looked terrible and the barrel had several sizeable pits and numerous small ones. I cleaned it, recrowned the barrel and bedded the action, wondering how it would shoot (I intended to rebarrel it from the start). I shot several low end Master scores with it in prone matches before rebarreling it and never an 8. Good Luck

[Tim S]

Isn't part of the problem, (if that's the right word) in bedding 2013s changing barrels? If I understand it correctly, small variations in the diameter of the barrel tenon, will alter the tension/shape of the receiver where it clamps around the barrel. These minutely change the fit of the receiver in the stock.


To the OP,

if you haven't removed the tube in a while, I think it would be a good idea to clean that as well as the bore/crown. The tube does collect a layer of greasy soot. A 12b bore shotgun rod/brush is ideal, although a dowel rod will at a pinch. Squirt some brake cleaner or WD40 into the tube first.

[Bryan996]

I echo Tim's comments on cleaning the crown, it's undoubtedly causing the issues you're experiencing. The attached picture is from rimfire accuracy website and shows fouling on the muzzle of a 2013 after about 1500 rounds! Yours must be in a real state by now! The full link is here:

http://www.rrdvegas.com/the-2014-season.html

After you've cleaned the crown, if the problem still persists, then I'd clean the bore with VFG blue paste and then lots of oil to wash it out. It will remove any lead in the barrel by polishing it out, lead is very inert so chemicals won't dissolve it. I had similar problems with an 1813 that turned out to be caused by a pitted barrel that I only discovered after I'd cleaned it for three hours with the VFG paste.

If after all that you decide you do need a new barrel then the only two gunsmiths I could find willing to fit a rimfire barrel in the UK were Robert Nibbs (as mentioned above) and Steve Kershaw, nobody else was interested. I've had a benchmark barrel on order from the states since February and it doesn't look like it'll arrive any time soon.

Good luck and show us a photo of the crown once you manage to get the tube off, be advised it may need to be soaked in solvent to loosen the crud before it comes away.

[KennyB]

If after all that you decide you do need a new barrel then the only two gunsmiths I could find willing to fit a rimfire barrel in the UK were Robert Nibbs (as mentioned above) and Steve Kershaw, nobody else was interested. I've had a benchmark barrel on order from the states since February and it doesn't look like it'll arrive any time soon.

John Sims is another that does good work - if you're not in a hurry.....
He's in Oxford.

K.

[Bryan996]

John Sims is another that does good work - if you're not in a hurry.....
He's in Oxford.

John Sims has been mentioned to me before however I failed to find any contact details for him anywhere, he doesn't appear to be on the net or listed as an Oxford gunsmith.

[GeraldC]

Thanks Kenny and Tim - both great advice.

I've had a few misfires with tenex (they look decent strikes), which could suggest that I need to look at the firing pin and spring before the barrel.
Yes, its a short barrel, so again, I should give it a good clean with the tube off - I will admit to not having removed that, and I suspect nor had its previous owner(s).

I'm based South West London.

R

Might be worth checking trigger position as well.With bolt closed pin at back should have approximately same amount of silver both sides of red band.

[onetoomany]

Mine didn't initally look anything like as bad as the photo earlier in this thread, until I looked down the extension tube. It was as if there was a lead cork stuck in the tube!

This took quite a bit of scrubbing to get it out, but seems relatively clean now. Hopefully, that should steady up the shots a bit.

[Tim S]

When I first started shooting, extension tubes were often calles still-air tubes, the idea being that the bullet wasn't affected by the wind immediately on exiting the muzzle. That idea quickly changed when people noticed how dirty the inside became, and slowly realised the tube in fact trapped the propellant gasses, which billow around the bullet. Too much crud inside the tube can certainly affect the movement of the gasses enough to push the bullet or tip it.

Once the tube is clean it's very easy to keep it clean; just patch it out after shooting. I have to remove my tubes to put my rifl in the case, which gives a good opportunity.

[gwsb]

I don't live on your side of the ocean but I know a few American shooters who have had good success with Border Barrels in Birmingham. I assume they would fit it for you. I also know an Englishman who, the last time I saw him a few years ago, would buy a new barreled action from Anschutz about every 5,000 rounds and sell his old one.

As to bloop tubes it is essential to clean the muzzle every time you clean the bore. Many use a shotgun brush to take the accumulated goop off the inside of the tube and a wet patch on your finger to clean the muzzle.

I would echo Tim's idea though to send it to Eley for testing. Much cheaper than a new barrel.

Bedding the action in a wood rifle is absolutely essential here because of the wide swings in Temperature and humidity. The expert in this is Alex Sitman at Master Class Stocks. He does amazing work. His web site is:

www.masterclassstocks.com