Need ideas for bending a fully shrouded barrel

[Anylizer]

  Packard... from everything I have searched, I am concerned about the shroud also! Being able to find the end of the barrel, and not break off the end of the shroud was good!  lol   But the bending should occur just ahead of the breech block, and the plastic is pretty thin there, so I'm hoping it will flex enough. i will probably heat the plastic a little with a heat gun, to make it somewhat more pliable.

  He also suggested hitting it with a hammer (rubber I assume)... just not sure I can bring myself to do that, would rather tweak it gently!

[Privateer]

Interesting.
I've been looking at that AG.
Do a check on the breech block. It may be out of square and need a tad of file work to close completely thus raising the POI.
Some Benji's have needed this.

[packard8]

  Packard... from everything I have searched, I am concerned about the shroud also! Being able to find the end of the barrel, and not break off the end of the shroud was good!  lol   But the bending should occur just ahead of the breech block, and the plastic is pretty thin there, so I'm hoping it will flex enough. i will probably heat the plastic a little with a heat gun, to make it somewhat more pliable.

  He also suggested hitting it with a hammer (rubber I assume)... just not sure I can bring myself to do that, would rather tweak it gently!

Good luck with it Tim...I'll be looking the other way and cringing!

[Privateer]

  He also suggested hitting it with a hammer

I wonder if that's the 'End of Options' suggestion?
"If all else fails? Beat it with a hammer till dead."
 

[Anylizer]

 @ Jeff... I absolutely love the gun... great shot cycle, added the CDT trigger made it that much better. It's nice & quiet, without much spring noise. Until I ran into this issue, I would have recommended it to anyone!  Now, because of the way Stoeger Cust. Service treated me... IDK
  Nice gun, just ck it out thoroughly.
 Going to talk to a gun-maker friend of mine and see about machining options... if I can wait that long!

 @ Packard.... I know its only another $30 for the compensating mount... But right now i kinda feel like bending/breaking something. Stoeger all but called me an idiot, and only agreed to test it using the supplied optics... This is another reason I feel that there scope is internally compensated.

[Anylizer]

  He also suggested hitting it with a hammer

I wonder if that's the 'End of Options' suggestion?
"If all else fails? Beat it with a hammer till dead."
 

ROFLMBO... might get me into a higher quality gun huh???  Kinda feelin' it right now!!!!   

[packard8]

  @ Packard.... I know its only another $30 for the compensating mount... But right now i kinda feel like bending/breaking something. Stoeger all but called me an idiot, and only agreed to test it using the supplied optics... This is another reason I feel that there scope is internally compensated.

Actually Tim the one I linked on eBay is $12.99 shipped, that's assuming they will include the 1" sleeves (they did for me).

I like your idea of consulting with your gunsmith friend before bending and beating on things! 

[Anylizer]

  I'm going through withdrawls... the squirrels are out, I haven't shot my rifle in 3 weeks. What with shipping scopes back and forth... finding test equipment... and trying to figure out what is going on!  Was really jacked about the new optics... I was gonna be a squirrel slayen' mutha!  Ya... No !!! not so easy!!!
   I'm not a real patient guy to begin with... about time to break something!  Especially since I can't KILL something!

[Anylizer]

Here is a profile pic of the rifle.  Not sure if shows up clearly how bad this thing droops... no DROPS!  lol

[Anylizer]

 Here is another with a straight edge laid along the shroud... notice the gap growing towards the butt end!!!

[Privateer]

It's not locking up properly for some reason.
I'd do some serious checking near the breech area to find out why.

[packard8]

Here is another with a straight edge laid along the shroud... notice the gap growing towards the butt end!!!

I had one that bad when Cabelas had the refurbs on sale. I promptly returned it. Ordered 2 more (.177 & .22) and both were okay when used with the compensating mount.

Why not put the stock trigger back in and see about an exchange either through the retailer or Stoeger? Where and when was it purchased?

[Kailua]

One other option and not saying its the best .  But you might want to file the barrel block.  You may need to be careful in doing so.  A little filling changes the POI quite a bit.  JMO

[Anylizer]

 here are pics of the muzzle end of the shroud dis-assembled.

[Anylizer]

It's not locking up properly for some reason.
I'd do some serious checking near the breech area to find out why.

It's locked up tight, seals well... I believe that the machined angle of the breech/comp tube are incorrect. They match, and the breech seal is doing its job, they are just not correct for proper POA. Obviously it has major droop! But... Stoeger knows this, hence why their scope is the only one that zero's on the gun.
 If the breech end of the barrel were filed off some it would correct the problem... but I could screw that up really easy! Then that raises the question... if I did get it to match properly, would it lock up tight or will it be loose against the detent/chisel ??

[Privateer]

Given you can...
A. Bend a plastic part that may or may not break
B. Beat it with a Hammer. Which in my experience leads to excessive beatings with said hammer.
C. Attempt a file to the breech approach. (Then beat it with the Hammer if that fails)

(Should you damage the AG in anyway after reading my advise? I was never here.)

[Anylizer]

 Hey Packard !!!! you can look now!!!


So... here is how you do it!!!!  be sure to get at least 4" from the muzzle end, this is where the barrel actually ends, the rest is shroud. A firm grip at the pivot point, and a few firm tugs/pulls. Easy peasy!  really took very little effort to get it lined up!
 
 Note:  it is not clamped tight in the vise, just slightly closed up so there is less room for it to roll when pulling!

  the plastic shroud never even groaned, actually not much movement int it at all! I did not even use heat to make it more pliable.

[packard8]

Hey Packard !!!! you can look now!!!


So... here is how you do it!!!!  be sure to get at least 4" from the muzzle end, this is where the barrel actually ends, the rest is shroud. A firm grip at the pivot point, and a few firm tugs/pulls. Easy peasy!  really took very little effort to get it lined up!
 
 Note:  it is not clamped tight in the vise, just slightly closed up so there is less room for it to roll when pulling!

  the plastic shroud never even groaned, actually not much movement int it at all! I did not even use heat to make it more pliable.

And...(Drum Roll) what is the result? How's she shootin' now?

[anuthabubba]

1) NEVER take a file to your barrel lock-up! This is permanent!

2) Once you GET OVER the newby fear of bending the barrel, you will wonder why you hesitated.

3) Most EXPERIENCED mechanics/techs know short cuts and hammers are more versatile than folks realize.

[anuthabubba]

A firm grip at the pivot point, and a few firm tugs/pulls. Easy peasy!  really took very little effort to get it lined up!

This is the part where the other guy 'properly' used the hammer.