Hey all, I'm in a bit of a quandary and would appreciate some advice.
Here's the background:
I have an old NEF R92 that I was given by my Grandpa when I was a kid. It was abused and looks like crap, but I kept it around in hopes of someday getting it back in action and as a somewhat sentimental thing. Long story shorter, I finally got sick of its poor accuracy. Barrel was pitted, crappy crown, and would have needed a lot of work and this is a target/hunting weapon anyway, so I wanted a longer barrel. I did some research, and ordered a 6" HR 939 "Ultra Sidekick", slab-side barrel from Numrich's. Local gunsmith removed the old 3" barrel and replaced it with the new 6" barrel. Since I was putting the barrel onto a R92 frame, I was not able to get the standard rib and front sight. Instead, we installed a simple brass bead. Have to say the old junker looks pretty sharp now, actually. Refinish of the frame and grips may be forthcoming.
Initial tests proved that the barrel is indeed a shooter. After a little filing of the front bead to square up and change point of impact, I had a nice little ~1.25" group on steel resting right on the top edge of my front bead at 25 yards. This was with Remington "Thunderbolt" HV LRN bulk ammo.
Thusly encouraged, I proceeded to put another 50 or so rounds on steel from standing at 25 and 50 yards. By about round #75, I was missing EVERYTHING! I went back to the bench and tried to hit a 10" steel @ 25 yards. Nothing. Proceeded to try paper @ about 10 yards. After emptying 9 shots at the paper, I got a 15" pattern splattering the paper. All of the shots indicated that the bullets were tumbling and entering the paper sideways.
Stopped shooting then and headed home. Barrel was severely leaded to the point of filling the grooves completely from the throat to about 2" from muzzle. I worked on it a little and got a lot of lead out, but need to work on it again. Unfortunately, I had to make a trip out of the country a couple days later and won't get a chance to shoot it again for another several weeks.
Have any of you ever seen anything like this before? Where should I start after getting it clean? What's the best way to get the lead out? I have never had this kind of leading even with my cast reloads in .357. New game for me. Any help greatly appreciated!
-Deadly Punk.
Here's the background:
I have an old NEF R92 that I was given by my Grandpa when I was a kid. It was abused and looks like crap, but I kept it around in hopes of someday getting it back in action and as a somewhat sentimental thing. Long story shorter, I finally got sick of its poor accuracy. Barrel was pitted, crappy crown, and would have needed a lot of work and this is a target/hunting weapon anyway, so I wanted a longer barrel. I did some research, and ordered a 6" HR 939 "Ultra Sidekick", slab-side barrel from Numrich's. Local gunsmith removed the old 3" barrel and replaced it with the new 6" barrel. Since I was putting the barrel onto a R92 frame, I was not able to get the standard rib and front sight. Instead, we installed a simple brass bead. Have to say the old junker looks pretty sharp now, actually. Refinish of the frame and grips may be forthcoming.
Initial tests proved that the barrel is indeed a shooter. After a little filing of the front bead to square up and change point of impact, I had a nice little ~1.25" group on steel resting right on the top edge of my front bead at 25 yards. This was with Remington "Thunderbolt" HV LRN bulk ammo.
Thusly encouraged, I proceeded to put another 50 or so rounds on steel from standing at 25 and 50 yards. By about round #75, I was missing EVERYTHING! I went back to the bench and tried to hit a 10" steel @ 25 yards. Nothing. Proceeded to try paper @ about 10 yards. After emptying 9 shots at the paper, I got a 15" pattern splattering the paper. All of the shots indicated that the bullets were tumbling and entering the paper sideways.
Stopped shooting then and headed home. Barrel was severely leaded to the point of filling the grooves completely from the throat to about 2" from muzzle. I worked on it a little and got a lot of lead out, but need to work on it again. Unfortunately, I had to make a trip out of the country a couple days later and won't get a chance to shoot it again for another several weeks.
Have any of you ever seen anything like this before? Where should I start after getting it clean? What's the best way to get the lead out? I have never had this kind of leading even with my cast reloads in .357. New game for me. Any help greatly appreciated!
-Deadly Punk.
