One of the coaches for our junior rifle team brings his FWB 65 air pistol to the range so the kids can try it out. I've put about 50 rounds through it, by best score is 70/100 on an NRA B-40 target. When I saw one on E-bay for about $415, I bought it. It was described as used in good condition. It was not.
When I open up the box the first thing I noticed was the rusty muzzle, not a deal breaker, but a bit disturbing. I opened the action and looked down the barrel; very dusty. My string/patch cleaned the bore to reveal lots of corrosion that made the surface of the bore appear bubbly. The barrel is also offset due to someone screwing it in improperly. While the seller said no returns, the pistol was not as described on the auction so I'm going to see how well E-bay's buyer protection works if I'm denied a refund.
Looks fine here.
Not so good here.
Accuracy is poor as expected. 3 pellets (Meisterkugeln 7 grain) into a group about an inch wide from a sand bag indoors. The 5-shot group on the right is outdoors at 10 meters from a rest with the FWB 65 belonging to the other coach. My excuse for not doing better is using my bifocals instead of my shooting glasses. :)
As long as the seals are in good condition, the bore isn’t pitted and the muzzle crown is still intact, your gun should be able to produce single hole groups.
Use JB bore paste or Flitz until the patches come out clean. Also, the bore needs to be seasoned with some pellets before accuracy starts to kick in.
Bore paste will actually smooth out the raised bumps of corrosion and restore accuracy? I can probably restore the crown to good as new, but I feel it is unlikely I can improve the barrel much with bore paste.
Does anyone have any experience with removing raised corroded metal in barrels with bore paste or other methods? Thanks.
Well IIWY, I would oil the barrel and shoot it a hundred pellets or so before you scrub the bore. A lot of times, crap looks so much worse than it is. Shooting soft pellets in an oiled bore slowly and softly scrubs the barrel. You can do this without hurting anything before you use bore paste and actually moving metal....... I would sneak up on it if it were my gun.... Metal is so hard to put back.... Also use the largest diameter pellets you can find, it helps sealing and the extra interference fit aids polishing the bore
Ranb. I have had very good luck with eBay's dispute resolution the few times I have used it. I do think you need to act in a timely manner though if you decide to go that route. Also,the more you document the problem the better. Good luck.
Ranb wrote:Bore paste will actually smooth out the raised bumps of corrosion and restore accuracy? I can probably restore the crown to good as new, but I feel it is unlikely I can improve the barrel much with bore paste.
Does anyone have any experience with removing raised corroded metal in barrels with bore paste or other methods? Thanks.
I have "fire-lapped" several guns (not APs). It is easily done. Smear a little 600 grit valve grinding compound on a piece of brass or steel. Take some pellets (10?) and roll them around in the compound with another piece of metal to embed the compound in the pellets. Wipe off the excess and shoot them. Repeat as needed.
Another thing to try. Take a round head brass screw and coat with the valve grinding compound, insert in a drill and polish the muzzle crown.
With vise testing, your pellets should shoot a 10 shot one hole group.
I've already started the attempt to resolve the dispute by contacting the seller. E-bay says to wait a certain number of days then contact them if it can't be settled. Not sure why the seller is unresponsive. I've always got the credit card charge reversal route if needed I suppose.
I've used a crowning tool in my lathe and lapped a crown with compound and a marble. I think lapping the crown will be best for this pistol. The rust in the bore seems to be raised nearly half a millimeter; it's nasty. I don't think I can fix it. Not even going to try unless I'm unable to return the pistol. If I'm stuck with it I'll never get rid of it except for parts or if I can replace the barrel.
My experience with the eBay resolution center has been totally positive. I'm fully confident that they'll take care of you. If the seller won't respond, eBay will give you a full refund to your paypal acc't.
If the seller does respond, don't take any crap from him. Sending it back should be on his dime, and you should still get back your purchase price plus shipping.
There's always a chance he may offer to give you a partial refund if you still want to keep the FWB.
You may want to contact Feinwerkbau in Germany. They have excellent product support.
I have a very good friend with a FWB300s and he buys what he needs to do his own refurbishing. He has documented something like 500,000 shots through it.
The other coach here has replaced seals on a few FWB 300s and a 600 rifles; he says they're easy and the 65 should be also. Unless I can get a new barrel cheap, this pistol is not one I want to keep.
If you end up having to keep the air pistol, I'd contact an expert on getting it back to shooting condition. I highly recommend either our host, pilkguns.com or http://www.iss-internationalshootersservice.com
My advice on buying from a total stranger is to buy from an individual who has been a member of this forum (or similar) for a long time with a number of quality posts and getting many close up photos of the pistol to include the crown and bore, if possible. The price you paid was bargain basement, so if it doesn't cost more than $100-$175 to get it into shape, you won't have been stung too badly.
I find it hard to believe rust in the barrel would cause the group dispersion you show. My guess is the recoil inherent in the pistol laying on the rest is causing the jump. try shooting it from hand, you might get better results.
Buck or I have brought many a bad shooting airgun back to life with a rusty barrel with a good cleaning and brushing and then multiple patches to get the rust out. But bad shooting from a rusty barrel is way better than what you are showing, so I expect is induced from the rest
The pistol is packaged up and ready to ship. E-bay provided a shipping label at no cost to me.
The rust in the barrel is not merely pitting corrosion, it is raised metal that forms bumps on the lands and grooves. There is also the issue of the barrel over rotated in the frame so much that the rear sight is adjusted nearly all the way to the left to compensate.
When I shot each pistol from the rest, it was my hand and trigger guard against the sandbag. The barrel/action was not interfered with. I did this as it resulted in a much steadier hold than I can do offhand without a rest.
