Two Gew 88's grouping different at 50 yds

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brianmiles	Two Gew 88's grouping different at 50 yds	Lead	[-]
Posts: 146 (03/02/07 09:26 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : None Question...I have two really nice GEW 88 (Loewe Berlin 1891), rifles that are turked out. One of them shoots really tight groups and the other does not. The rifle that does not shoot tight groups (using Remington 170 grn SP rounds) has a very slight bend to the left in the last 6 inches of the barrel shroud. As if it had been dropped in the last 100 years. When I screw the barrel into the shroud I notice there is a tightness and then looseness when screwing all the way down. My question is could the bent shroud be causing my barrel to be bent enough to throw the bullets off as they travel down the bore to the target? Has anyone else run across this problem. I really want this rifle to shoot well as the barrel, receiver, and shroud all have matching numbers and the tiger striped stock is to die for. The other 88 does not have matching numbers but seems to shoot really tight groups. Appreciate any feedback you experts may have in getting tighter groups. Both bores are in pretty good shape but the larger group rifle allows an 8mm bullet to go farther into the muzzle than the other 88 that has a very nice shiny bore with sharp lands and grooves. Thanks in advance for your input Brian
Swedenelson	Re: Two Gew 88's grouping different at 50 yds	#1	[-]
Posts: 343 (03/03/07 01:07 AM) active member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	brianmiles Have you slugged the bore to see what the dia. is? Could be that one has a .318 bore and the other a .321 And yes a bent barrel shroud could change the point of impact. Have had good luck straightening barrel shrouds with what I call the Accurizer barrel shroud iron. (named after a board member that came up with it) I think if you do a search for barrel shroud you should find it. Swede Nelson
Plevna	Re: Two Gew 88's grouping different at 50 yds	#2	[-]
Posts: 400 (03/03/07 03:14 AM) active member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Swedenelson, as I recall Accurizer remarked in previous postings that he had successfully used an appropriately sized socket from a tool set to remove dents from the barrel tube but I apparently missed further details of specifically how this was accomplished. How is the hole in the socket sealed? How is this driven and out of the tube without damaging and/or scratching the tube? Or has some modified piston been developed to accomplish this purpose? Perhaps either you or Accurizer might elaborate on this process. Im sure this input would be very useful to many forum readers.
Swedenelson	Re: Two Gew 88's grouping different at 50 yds	#3	[-]
Posts: 343 (03/03/07 01:31 PM) active member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Plevna. Brianmiles, others I took Accurizers idea of a snug fitting socket (That worked very well as it is) and added my own spin to it. I started out making a anvil out of round bar machined to .917 O.D. threaded ½N.C. I.D. x 1 5/16 long. Next I made a Handle out of ½ Round Bar 36 Long with ½N.C. threads on one end for 1 5/16. Make this a thread that you can use your fingers to thread the anvil on and off with. To use start the Anvil in the back of a barrel shroud. Thread the Handle in to the Anvil. Grasp the barrel shroud with both hands and drive the the Anvil through the shroud by hitting the Handle on a hard surface. (Like a slide hammer) Once the anvil has gone through to the other end, unscrew the handle and thread it back in to the anvil from the front of the barrel shroud, driving the anvil back out. Have had very good luck with this set up. Works very good for me. But for one or two jobs the old snug socket may be the best idea. We all can thank Accurizer for the Idea. Swede Nelson
Plevna	Re: Two Gew 88's grouping different at 50 yds	#4	[-]
Posts: 400 (03/03/07 02:13 PM) active member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Swedenelson, thank you much for your informative and well illustrated description of the Gew88 barrel tube tool. As I often joke with friends, good ideas are like gas pains you just never know when they'll show up next! This tool should prove very useful to those of us who are trying to salvage and/or repair otherwise mangled tubes on the parts rifles we have accumulated. The only off the wall suggestions I might immediately offer on your idea are that it: (1) might be helpful to form a slightly angled edge on the opposing shoulders of the anvil to facilitate fitting it into the mouth and avoid any possibility of squaring the end of the tube near the muzzle; (2) would seem prudent to cover the sides of the anvil and the mouth of the tube with a thin coating of a suitable lubricant (I was thinking of RIG) prior to inserting it in the tube; and (3) it might also be helpful to fabricate a suitable wooden "cushion" to cradle the "nose" of the barrel tube during the pounding process to prevent it from being inadvertently crushed or deformed. Both Accurizer and yourself are to be commended for brain storming this development. As an aside to barrel tube related repairs, one problem Ive encountered (and have not overcome) is how to replace the front sight mount (not the blade but the mount which actually holds it). The entire front sight was missing on a tube on an OWS or CFS rifle I purchased leaving a well defined rectangular hole about 3/16 x 5/16 of an inch oriented parallel to the long axis of the tube. Sadly, as I recall this was an otherwise useable tube suitable for rebuilding a rifle.
Swedenelson	Re: Two Gew 88's grouping different at 50 yds	#5	[-]
Posts: 343 (03/03/07 03:27 PM) active member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Plevna A little more info. (1) might be helpful to form a slightly angled edge on the opposing shoulders of the anvil to facilitate fitting it into the mouth and avoid any possibility of squaring the end of the tube near the muzzle; Have not had any problems starting the Anvil. And a good point to pass on is the Barrel shroud starts to tapper at the back of the front sight to the muzzle. So stop at the back of the front sight. It could also be the way the front sight is attached. (2) would seem prudent to cover the sides of the anvil and the mouth of the tube with a thin coating of a suitable lubricant (I was thinking of RIG) prior to inserting it in the tube This would be a good idea. I usually straighten my tube before I start to clean them so if it doesn't straighten I don't wast any time cleaning. Needless to say the inside is coated real good. (3) it might also be helpful to fabricate a suitable wooden "cushion" to cradle the "nose" of the barrel tube during the pounding process to prevent it from being inadvertently crushed or deformed. The barrel tube never comes in contact with any thing other than your two hands grasping it. The Handel is what comes in contact with the "hard surface" (concrete floor) Picture the barrel shroud muzzle up with the handle striking the floor to drive it in. As to the front sight the base has a stud that fits into that cut out and it is just a matter of soldering one back on. Not to hard to do. Swede Nelson
JONES.k98kpage		#6	[-]
Posts: 20 (07/10/09 02:45 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	IT WOULD BE GOOD TO MAKE IT FROM TOOL STEEL AND HARDEN THEN IT WOULD BE LESS LIKELY TO GALL. I have two of the junkers from centerfire.one with stock .darn the one that took all the bolt heads,I bet they turn up in the future at a high price.If I had a lathe and bridgeport I could make them.also if I were younger.
temperflash		#7	[-]
Posts: 462 (08/15/09 01:10 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Good repair. I've used a socket turned down with a very slight taper and polished bright to remove a dent in the barrel of a 16 gauge double. The barrel of that lightweight double was probably no thicker at that point than the barrel jacket of the GEW88. Dents affecting accuracy was a problem from the begining with the 88 and the Belgian 89 rifles. When removing the dent from the sixteen gauge I used a very small ball peen hammer to tap all around the center of the dent very lightly while the socket was used as a mandrel. This sort of Shotgun barrel was very thin and elastic. fter reducing the size of the dent I slipped the tapered socket further in till it met resistence and repeated the process until the dent was gone. The purpose made dent removers used for this purpose usually have a split cylinder that is expanded by turning a bolt in the center. A tool for removing dents from metal powder flasks has a long steel rodd with a sort of small curved anvil at the end. The tool is held solidly in a vice and positioned with the anvil against the dent. You then tap on the steel shaft with a small hammer setting up a vibration which very gently pushes the dented metal back into shape with very little stress, and without touching any other part of the inside of the flask so theres no likelyhood of deformation. Barrel jackets may be to massive for this to work though. The Remington 8mm normally uses a .321 bullet first designed for use in the smokeless powder version of the .32-40 and the .32 Winchester Special. Whether they still do so I don't know. The original 8mm used a 318 bullet but bore size was intended to be .321 with some variation due to mass production methods of the day. Sporters and target rifles chambered for the early J bore 8mm are occasionally .318 , meant to give better accuracy than the military bore which was oversized and depended on bullet set up on ignition to bump the bullet up to fill the grooves. This was a common safety factor to make allowance for metal fouling and hard packed fouling , and reduce resistence when the bore became pitted by corrosive primers. This safety factor was mainly developed due to the often very roughened bores of rifles used in Germany's tropical and African colonies where proper maintenance facilities and supplies were occasionally difficult to find or get to for years at a time.