Anschutz 1427 Biathlon restoration

[Beorn]

Hi all, first post here. I've tried to find all the answers myself, but came up short and hope for some help.

I recently purchased an Anschutz 1427 Biathlon, and look forward to restoring it to its former glory.



The action is a Match 54. The barrel reads HI, so it was proofed in 1978.

The serial number is digits only, no A-s or X-es or anything exciting, and the last 3 digits of the serial number on the action match that of the bolt.

The muzzle, chamber and barrel looks good, the stock may or may not be salvageable.

The bolt is an [edit] 1400-series:



Please let me know if it should be replaced, polished or left as it is:

[Tim S]

The bolt is actually a 1400, possibly a sporter version as it has the longer externally-sprung claws; single shot match bolts have short internally-sprung claws. Note the safety catch built into the bolt end cap, a feature of Match 54 bolts since 1954; an 1800 bolt would have a conical screw-on end cap. Yes, the handle is curved, with a large plastic ball, but this feature pre-dates 1800 rifles, appearing during 1978. Some 1978 1600/X-rifles have the old all steel handle, and some have the new curved steel and plastic handle.

If the bolt has all the internals, I'd just polish out the scratches. Replacing the bolt would be expensive, and would require replacing the trigger catch; your triggeewill not function with a new 1900 (or used 1800) bolt.

[Beorn]

Thank you, much appreciated. As the bolt does not have the open underside showing the firing pin, I believed it was an 1800 instead of a 1600 but was obviously mistaken. The end of the bolt, the black "ring", is different than other 1400-bolts I have seen online (so much for Google research), which could support the idea of a Sporter-version. The gun shoots, it just needs a thorough cleaning and fortunately only very small amounts of epoxy on the stock.

[Tim S]

Beorn,

It's a perfectly understandable mistake. The slot through the front of 1600 bolts was unique to that Match 54 variant; 14xx and early 18xx bolts are actually externally very similar, if not actually identical, in front of the handle.

The "ring" at the front of your bolt is the retainer and spring for the extractor.

Yes, I'd say that bolt needs a very good clean!

[Beorn]

Thanks again Tim, I highly appreciate that you take the time to provide much needed guidance.

Perhaps this thread should be moved elsewhere in this forum than "Olympic Rifle - Air and Smallbore", and perhaps I chose the wrong forum to begin with ("A forum to talk about Olympic style shooting, rifle or pistol, 10 meters to 50 meters, and whatever is in between"), but this forum is where I found the most useful information.

The rifle is in atoms, removing the front sight was the worst part as red Loctite was used on half the barrel diameter, in full length, not only on the set screw threads.

The trigger is marked with "74" and is thus a 5074 I believe.

The stock was in much, much better shape than originally feared, the epoxy glueing of cracks is now finished while superglue (in cracks/dents along with dust from sanding the stock) for aesthetical purposes is the next step.

The action/barrel is thoroughly cleaned and rust on the underside of the action removed with a brass brush to preserve the original finish. Paint is applied in some areas, while others are yet to be painted.

The bolt is to be cleaned and polished prior to assembly. Assembly will be according to Anschutz' instructions and tips to lubricants found on this forum, all of which are at hand.

[Shooterer]

I found some extra parts for you

https://cmpauction.thecmp.org/detail.as ... ver-200252

[Beorn]

I found some extra parts for you

https://cmpauction.thecmp.org/detail.as ... ver-200252

Thank you, that's very kind of you. I have tried a dozen times to open the link, to no avail thus far. I can reach the main page sometimes, but not the page with the listings unfortunately.

[Beorn]

Bolt completely disassembled, cleaned inside and out, and polished. Note that the two (black) extractors are of different design (one is an extractor and one is a cartridge retainer) and thus cannot be alternated.







Stock is done (for now), barrel and action are done, bolt is done, now onto cleaning and lubricating the trigger (Anschutz does not recommend using a ton of solvent to clean the trigger, the Internet, however, disagree...).

[Beorn]

Everything cleaned and reassembled, stock obviously needs a lot of work to look nice, but very excited to fire the first shots tomorrow to see how it groups.

[Beorn]

Spent 5 minutes transferring some buttstock spacers, a hand stop and a scope from another rifle, as well as a short Arca rail to ease initial bore sighthing with a bipod. Using a sling, the groups are good considering a shaky left hand and no cheek rest (yet). The white dot by my pinky is 10 points and overall 5-shot scores were typically 50 points. So, I'm happy and will start restoring the stock and make a matching buttstock spacer to replace the plastic ones.

[Beorn]

Realized from the pictures that the UIT rail for the harness is mounted in the wrong direction.