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Lothar Walther - is this normal?

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Marmalade

Marmalade

Member
Dec 7, 2016
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EU
Hi everyone! 

Some time ago I bought a Lothar Walther 5,5mm polygonal barrel blank to try it on my Steyr LG110 since my original barrel requires frequent cleaning. After machining it and giving it a good clean I want straight to the range to see what happens.

The first 5 shots were perfect. 1/2" at 55yds not really trying to much in a light wind  

I was surprised that it was shooting so well with nothing done other than swapping the barrel. Right after that the first flier came and hit quite a bit high right. I didn't think much of it and started shooting other fresh targets...

https://imgur.com/xSY8g5Z This was the best I could do after the first 5 shot group.

The average "group" looked like this: https://imgur.com/mMo4eaX

When I got home I pulled the barrel, gave it a good clean and tried to figure out what was going on. After some time of trying to get a decent look down with a phone flashlight I managed to snap this picture: https://imgur.com/wwqwMol

The breech end has similar marks just much more subtle so I can't take a decent picture.

Do you guys think this is normal? Do these barrel blanks have to be lapped beforehand?




 
Shucks.

Did you polish the barrel which fouled to fast for you?

Truly a horrible , gathering (? cant call that a group) of pellets on target.

Do they all need polishing? IMO-- YES.

It can be hard to tell much from pictures however the chatter marks (?) yours shows do look a bit extreme.

That would'nt be a old stock 15mm .22 LW would it?

John
 
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1533488807_13202743465b672ea7365868.80794278_3E076C59-FB66-4F8E-9413-419FDB83F862.png


I’m on mobile so I don’t know how well it can be seen but here is a closeup of what I’m trying to show. There are these thread like marks inside. This is the best I could see and I don’t know if they go all the way through. Later tonight I’ll try to get a better picture and lighting. 

The barrel is choked and has the crown on the correct side. 


 
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Photo is clear enough :)

Definitely not normal, and this is the first time I see a LW blank with a bore like this. (And I have seen/machined a lot of them)

They should have a mirror like finish, I once have sawn a leftover piece of barrel in half, and it looks like a miror polished finish. No scratches or tool marks visible.

If I were you, I'd contact the seller of the blank about what to do with it, or ask for a replacement blank. It seems like LW is hard to contact, that's why you'd better contact the seller of the blank.
 
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Thank you for the information. I remember when I was choosing my first PCP and looking to buy a HW100 I saw some pictures of a barrel with much more subtle scratches in the same area and people were saying its a defect. 

I posted this to see if this is something that I was expected to deal with when fitting a blank or if this is something out of the ordinary. 

I sent an e-mail to the vendor. I'll keep you guys posted.
 
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Hey guys I got the barrel back from LW.
They didn't say much except that the barrel will be fixed by polishing the marks. As soon as I received the barrel I gave it a good clean.
From what I can see the marks are gone along with the accuracy I saw before. Keep in mind I only tried JSB Jumbo 15.89gr and RS pellets at the usual recommended speeds (820-920 FPS).
I'll have to try some more pellets and speed combos to see what's up.
All the groups were shot in an indoor 50m range, prone, sandbags front and rear. 

https://imgur.com/5swjPRg

After trying with a LDC and not getting anywhere because it was clipping I took it off and tried again. Still no luck.

https://imgur.com/YVIRPdr


Whilst waiting for the barrel to return I thought to myself... The original barrel shoots like s*** so I can't possibly make it worse. Got in my car and went to the shop and bought some fine valve polishing paste. It seemed kind of dry for what I was trying to do so I made a little mix with a drop of Ballistol so that it stuck better to the VFG cleaning wad. I put the barrel in a vice, marked the end of the barrel on the cleaning rod so not to touch the crown and went at it. After that I gave it a good clean with some Tipton bore cleaner and waited for the LW barrel to compare on the same day.
Below are 5 shot groups shot on after another again at 50m and 263,50m/s or ~ 864fps.

Straight from the tin:

https://imgur.com/25IfHzu

Sorted by weight and sized with a TBT sizer from "5,52mm" to 5,51mm.

https://imgur.com/p1ftQy2


Finally after almost 2 years of trying I can say that I'm happy with more that one lucky group in a whole day of shooting. 

Since it was going so well I gave the new JSB lead-free pellets a try. Weighing at 11,75gr the speed was just over 300m/s or 985fps with the same settings as for the 15.89gr JSBs. I forgot to take pictures but the groups were surprisingly tight at about 15mm CTC and no noticable spiraling along the way. Definitely have to try them at longer ranges. 
Because they were doing so good at 985fps I tried slowing them down to about 870fps and the groups were more like @spysir said... gatherings :D 
 
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