Can a Walther 10m barrel work at 50m?

Been through the mill a bit with no.1 rig... chasing everything up the chain from reg to valve to hammer and even at the muzzle everything was as good as could be. But it was still not grouping well and throwing fliers. Stuck in a bind we threw a 10m barrel on to see if the original dommy barrel was the issue.

Seems to work, this was 7-8 shots off the knee at 50m...



It's going to get a hard workout because I want to be sure we've found the issue, but initial signs are looking good.

Just thought it might be of interest for those pondering shorter barrels. I know some of the 400 boys are keen on shorter barrels.

 

Well... maybe.

I remarked the other week that a clean seemed to make it better when it was going through one of it's hissy fits. The other week I cleaned it till it squeaked. Yesterday when we looked at it with the borescope the grooves were dirty/dusty with lead. So it's getting really dirty quick. But we also rodded a pellet (which is useful for 'feeling' the inside) and the bore goes very slack past the initial lead in. I didn't compare it to the 10m, but the other dommy barrel we had to hand is less slack... and new LW barrels are very consistent down their length until you reach the choke. So we're wondering if it's just worn out, either by 10-15 years of shooting, or 10-15 years of shooting and cleaning. Looking down it's length with the borescope (we've got a long one now) there's no obvious damage.

When I say slack, if you don't engage the choke and just gently tap the pellet back the opposite way back down the barrel and hold it up, it will fall clean out.

We're wondering if it's just bouncing down the barrel almost and knocking bits off as it goes, the next pellet perhaps picking the bits up... a few shots clearing out the junk and it's ok for a bit, then loop cycle repeat.

It's been cleaned up now and the muck came out easily. Checked it with the scope and it's shiny looking.

The hope was to test all 3 Saturday using the 10m as a benchmark... but looks like the weather has put paid to that as I don't have 50m indoors. At 25m it's 'ok'... not super tight but clover leaf with the odd one outside. But it's exponentially worse at 50m and certainly sporadic enough to miss a 40mm when it's going off.

The problem is it comes and goes, so you think it's getting better and settling then 10 shots later it's spat the dummy. Now I've got a consistent barrel to test against I can see if it's dirt or just worn. I'm kind of guessing I'll know in about 50 shots.

At least I've got something I can shoot with now. Will see if the other is any good. If not Phil can machine up barrels for the LG's and we've got a couple of good blanks to play with.

 

No need Sven, it just came out with a dry felt on a wad... it wasn't stuck on, just seemed to be sitting in the groove.

Saturday looks like a write off weather wise... i might try sunday now.

 

True, but then if you figure that you start from the breech a lot of the rubbing gunk will have worked off at that end before you got there.

 

Depends on what you mean affordable. I haven't found anything cheap or digital that fits down a 4.5mm bore.

The ones we're using are Karl Storz 300mm which pushes the price up but it does mean we can examine 600mm barrels, 4mm 70 degree, but looking at ebay the prices have just gone silly. I'd just say keep an eye on it and see if you can find one.

They are really useful though. They at least allow you to see stuff you can't see and give you more information. We not only use them on barrels but they go into actions and other inaccessible places. We wouldn't have been able to see the wear on the valve stem channel on my Walther without it.

 

No there was nothing of that ilk. Visually after pushing a felt down it looked normal. I was hoping to see some horror down there.

 

Yep, we were lucky and it coincided with one of those ebay % deals.

I don't know if other brands which are cheaper are any good. The KS seems to have a min focus depth which is quite close to the tip which makes the picture clearer. The first one we had wasn't as clear up close. Not sure why, it's shorter... I've got a chap who sends me details of his med gear he has when he sells it, so if I see one come up I'll try and remember to let you know.

I did see a 2.7mm one for ages... which I think might be enough to get into a few valve channels... but they've gone into 4 figures now. Dunno why, could be the trade tariffs, a lot comes from the US 2nd hand and I guess they have to get it in there in the first place.