Barrel Seasoning - Benjamin Marauder .22 Cal.

[Sfttailrdr46]

I checked the new barrel for bore damage.  None noted, and the crown looked good.  Cleaned with about six patches with Goo Gone (used sparingly), until patches were clean, then ran a couple of dry patches through.  Reassembled the rifle and tested in my short range (aka garage) with several domed pellets (Crosman 14.3, JSB 18.13, H&N Barracuda Match 21.14).  All looked pretty good (round holes, less than two pellets wide).  Will know more on Thursday when I can test outside up to 40 yds.  I did notice that the receiver screws may have loosened slightly after 30-40 shots, and one of the set screws that holds the barrel to the receiver really loosened a lot.  Have any of you had similar issues?  Would Loctite Blue be the proper remedy if loosening rears its ugly head again?  Finally, I've read (and experienced) that .22 Marauder barrels can be very pellet picky.  Have any of you had experience with a barrel that wasn't particularly picky?

Thanks,

Steve

maybe one of the experts can chime in on that info...

Yes Blue will work fine and allows disassembly in the future if needed. Just make sure all mating surfaces are de greased first

[Dr. Swa]

Related to the Loctite question, I reexamined the barrel that I removed, and in the position where I am having the set screw problem, take a look at what I found at this point on the barrel.  It looks metallic, almost like solder.  It makes me think that this was a problem when the rifle was originally assembled.  Any idea as to what this might be?  Thanks.  The set screw looks brand new, so it is not from there (in addition to the fact that the set screw is all black).

[FuzzyGrub]

Related to the Loctite question, I reexamined the barrel that I removed, and in the position where I am having the set screw problem, take a look at what I found at this point on the barrel.  It looks metallic, almost like solder.  It makes me think that this was a problem when the rifle was originally assembled.  Any idea as to what this might be?  Thanks.  The set screw looks brand new, so it is not from there (in addition to the fact that the set screw is all black).

Looks to me that the barrel shifted position and the finish was marred by the set screw.   It is very common and did not have to happen on assembly.   Just align your barrel and re-tighten the set screws. 

PS: All Mrod and Prod 22 barrels I've had, were pellet picky, if accurate at all.  Generally, it has been a H&N oversize head pellet that shot well. 

[Dr. Swa]

New barrel was tested today with a wide variety of pellets.  General observations on the new barrel.  The new barrel is not particularly pellet picky at 25yds (>90% of my shots will be shorter than this).  Also, POI only shifted subtly with each pellet (with the exception being one H&N hollow point-type pellet); at most one inch from the two pellets with the most different POI.  The original barrel at POI's that shifted as much as six inches at the same distance (25 yards).  Pellet weights varied from 14.3 to 21.1 grains, with muzzle velocities ranging from ~880 to ~750 fps.  Selected results at 25 and 35 yards  (unless otherwise stated, pellets were all dome/round).  All are five shot groups unless otherwise noted:

JSB Exact 14.35 - 1/4", 9/8"
JSB Exact 15.89 - 1/4", 1/2"
JSB Exact 18.13 - 9/16", 1/2"
Kodiak 21.14 - 1/2"
H&N Barracuda Match 21.14
      5.51mm - 9/16"
      5.52mm - 1/4", 3/16"
      5.53mm - 7/8" (2 shots only)
Crosman Premier Dome
      Box - 9/16"
      Tin - 7/16"
Crosman Premier HP - 5/8"
Benjamin Discovery HP - 5/16", 5/8"
Predator Polymax - 7/8" (10 shot group)

This is a huge improvement over the original barrel.  Thanks for all of your suggestions, and Fred J, thanks for use of the range!

[Booger]

My MROD loved H&N Barricuda 21.14 pellets best.

[eezapz2101]

This may sound a little crazy but,,,,,

I had great accuracy through my 22 mrod for atleast 1.5 years and then it went to heck. It wasn't until I started hearing people buy new barrels and such that their 22's became more accurate than most or stock.

Me being me, had to understand why.

A few threads turned me onto crowning but the ones that interested me the most were the choke threads. How to do it and why. With a bunch of fiddling around pushing the pellet through the barrel "the push feel" really told a alot of the story.

Although, pushing from the breech to the exit of the barrel was nice, it wasn't until I put a pellet in backward "head first" from the exit part of the barrel.

This was the tell tale of an improperly choked barrel. I then re-choked the barrel using the wedding band method and accuracy is now "IMO" premo.

So,
You can get a barrel re-crowned and choked for about 50 bucks or buy a new one for 100+ bucks.

On a side note,
I rarely clean my barrels. I always clean the barrel first before shooting it for the first time. Look for any burrs or feel for any burrs. With all my ammo, I always clean them. Sounds dumb but, there's always loose lead getting everywhere in those tins.

Hello sr where would I get a barrel worked like that? Whom would recommend?

[shorty]

It's been a long time since we all talked about this. I am not sure who still offers a choke and crown service for our barrels.

I did mine myself and would not want to do it again unless I really had too.