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Re: Barrel Cleaning by Graham Freeman

Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 3:48 pm
by I.J.
If coffee and two sugars doesn't move it try Balistol. :shhh: Balistol is good but the smell is an, err :think: :whistle: ..... an acquired taste. :dance:

ATB
'A big old Wobbly Webley softee'. :shifty:

Re: Barrel Cleaning by Graham Freeman

Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 1:56 pm
by Adam77K
I like it. A dab behind the ears and the laydeez can't resist... which is why I'm banned from buying any more by oor lass. :whistle: :lol:

Re: Barrel Cleaning by Graham Freeman

Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 2:22 pm
by I.J.
I have heard that Balistol is fish oil based :roll: - that maybe explain why Im constantly followed by cats when I walk down the road. :doh:

Re: Barrel Cleaning by Graham Freeman

Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 8:39 pm
by zooma
I.J. wrote:I have heard that Balistol is fish oil based :roll: - that maybe explain why Im constantly followed by cats when I walk down the road. :doh:

.....we thought it was your socks :lol:

Re: Barrel Cleaning by Graham Freeman

Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 12:19 pm
by RobinC
The Chanel no.5 of gun solvents is Hoppes No 9. hmmmmmmmmmmm!

Re: Barrel Cleaning by Graham Freeman

Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 4:42 pm
by I.J.
The 'Chanel No5' in the gun room for me isnt a solvent or an oil - but methylated spirits (used in de-greasing before blueing etc.) . :drool: Aaaaaahhhhh, I just love the smell. A quick wipe over for the gun and a quick swig out of the bottle for me! :dance:

[Children please note: My above comments re drinking meths was tongue-in-cheek :liar: :hand: but, if your stupid enough to do it - knock yourself out. :clap: ]

Re: Barrel Cleaning by Graham Freeman

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 11:35 am
by zooma
Have we decided if Steyr barrels are plated or not?

My understanding is that they are NOT plated - they are made from stainless steel and this is not plated.

This makes a difference to the possible cleaning technique and for those that use "solvents" of any type

Re: Barrel Cleaning by Graham Freeman

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 12:05 pm
by RobinC
Hi Bob
Steyr Match pistol and Match rifle barrels are definately stainless, some of the sporting and hunter and FT barrels are other steels and nickel plated on the outside as a protective finish, I have never heard of any barrel that is plated on the bore and frankly could see no logic in doing so.
Modern barrels are either machine cut or button rifled, the finish and precision is key to its accuracy.

Re: Barrel Cleaning by Graham Freeman

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 1:04 pm
by RobinC
I dropped an email to my contact at Steyr in Erntshoffen to confirm and the prompts answer was:-

1. Yes, the match pistol and rifle barrels are made from stainless steel.

2. Yes, the Hunter and FT barrels are moly steel and nickel plated in side and out.

3. No, do not use gun solvents on either barrels.


My interest is only in match guns so I was incorrect and stand corrected on the FT and Hunters which are totaly plated, this would explain why if any one uses extensive cleaning on them they get out black, its the barrel they are wearing out as nickel is a soft metal!
Good shooting
Robin

Re: Barrel Cleaning by Graham Freeman

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 1:05 pm
by I.J.
Thank you for clarifying that. :clap:

Now, does anyone know for certain that stainless steel barrels need more cleaning than normal steel? :think:

Re: Barrel Cleaning by Graham Freeman

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 1:41 pm
by RobinC
I did query the bore plating with them as nickel is not a lot harder than copper, my contact does not know but he's given me the designers e mail address but he is away until Thursday but I'll email him on Friday and ask to clarify why they plate the bore on the FT. If correct it does raise a point for those using solvents on those barrels as most gun solvents are aggressive to copper, and nickel is usualy plated over a base of copper.

I'll also ask his view on cleaning stainless match barrels and how, so we will know from the horses mouth.

Fun this game isn't it! Passes a wet Monday though!
Robin

Re: Barrel Cleaning by Graham Freeman

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 3:42 pm
by Adam77K
Interesting stuff, thanks guys. I'd always assumed since the FT guns were originally uprated 10M match guns that the barrels would be the same.
I wonder why they go to the trouble to plate the Hunter and FT guns. There could be only two high-level reasons to my mind; either it's due to the higher velocity, or it is to protect the barrels from the elements somehow, as match rifles are used inside and FT and Hunter rifles outside. If the former why use a soft metal, it makes no sense. So my guess is the latter and the inside gets plated as a side effect.
RobinC wrote: My interest is only in match guns so I was incorrect and stand corrected on the FT and Hunters which are totaly plated, this would explain why if any one uses extensive cleaning on them they get out black, its the barrel they are wearing out as nickel is a soft metal!
Good shooting
Robin
That last has certainly been the case with the recent Steyr FT barrels since the newer long action guns came out. Initially, by all accounts, accuracy was superb and then within a few hundred shots the groups opened up dramatically. For some time after that the barrels needed cleaning every couple of hundred pellets to get rid of the plating, after which accuracy returned. It seems the plating started coming off before cleaning.

AFAIK only Steyr do this however and some other barrels which are not internally plated do seem to get as dirty. One would expect that with nickel being a soft metal; the plating would be long gone after many tens of thousands of rounds, with or without the occasional clean.

My Steyr LG100 is an early model, with a hammer forged barrel (formed by steel being hammered around a mandrel which has the rifling grooves in relief. These barrels are quite sought after because they are alleged to be less pellet fussy. Whether this is actually true or not is moot. Either way the rifle must have fired 50k pellets and the chances of there being any soft nickel plating left are minimal, and it's still capable of thumbnails at 50m.

Re: Barrel Cleaning by Graham Freeman

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 12:18 pm
by RobinC
Adam
Many people get confused with Steyr air guns as it has evolved quite dramatically over the years, the name Steyr is a bit confusing, I often hear people saying that Steyr make everthing from tractors, farm machinery, off road vehicles and so on, to infinity. The truth is that the town is called Steyr, its an industrial town with many big industries and a multitude of specialist companies sub contrating to them. The Steyr town name is used in many separate companies, it is not one company its merely the town name which is used. When the first airguns were built, the company was Manlicher (who were in Steyr) and they traded as Manlicher Steyr, the forged barrel was their feature and still is, they are very expensive to produce but were very high quality. The independant company Steyr Sportwaffen based at Ernsthofen a small village 10 km from Steyr was formed as an off shoot of Manlicher (who still make cartridge guns). Its a small unit with 15 staff which makes only air guns. There is no manufacturing, they design, but they operate like an F1 team using high quality local sub contractors for all parts and then QC check all parts and assemble. They were re finanaced a few years back by Anschutz which took a 51% holding and as Anschutz are now majorly owned by Ruag I presume they are now part of that group. The company has been recently renamed Steyr Sport. It is really a very small company, Olympiastrasse is a grand name for a unit on a village industial estate, but they are a team of friendly enthusiasts who welcomed us and showed us around when we visited.
Sorry to drift off thread, If I get an answer from the designer I'll put it on here.
Robin

Re: Barrel Cleaning by Graham Freeman

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 1:24 pm
by Adam77K
Very interesting info Robin, thanks for posting. Early LG100s like mine are branded Steyr-Mannlicher

Re: Barrel Cleaning by Graham Freeman

Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 10:40 am
by graham freeman 01
I have designed new Air Striper which will be available very soon the fr01