The factory barrel was too tight for the receiver. I carefully filed it down and now the action is buttery smooth.
I've seen a real trend lately where basic parts like springs are always out of stock. It kills my flow because I can't finish a fix without them. Just last week, a revolver sat on my bench for days waiting for a mainspring. The owner kept calling, and I felt bad saying it's not my fault. I've tried calling around, but other shops have the same problem. It seems like suppliers just don't care about our timeline. This makes my job way harder than it needs to be. I'm starting to think I need to hoard parts when I see them, lol.
A client's precision rifle was shooting inconsistent groups despite a clean bore. I switched to hand lapping the barrel, and the improvement in consistency was immediate. What methods do you prefer for barrel finishing?
I always scrubbed rifle barrels hard with a brass brush first. On a precision rimfire, this just pushed fouling down the tube. I tried a solvent soak followed by light patches, and the carbon came right out. Now I start soft and only brush if needed.
Honestly, I tried that trendy oil-based stain on an old Mauser stock and it soaked in way too fast. Ngl, I had to sand it back and start over, so test on scrap first.
Polished all the contact points but it's still gritty... Is there a common oversight with these?
I was trying out a used rifle when the bolt got stuck bad. A veteran shooter nearby saw me and walked over. He said to lightly hit the bolt handle with a soft hammer while holding the lugs down. It came loose instantly, which saved me a lot of trouble. I tell that to anyone with a sticky bolt now.