Slight barrel wobble fix

[petemi]

I noticed one of my factory fit Handis developed a very slight lateral barrel wobble. The rifle has fewer than 300 rounds through it.  I inspected the pivot for wear and there was none.  I picked up a pallet wood forend laying on the bench close by, and it worked perfectly.  No wobble. I think perhaps the wood dried and shrunk a bit. The rifle has a laminated stock I did not want to change, and I didn't want to shim the pivot.  So I decided to try a shim on the spacer.  I used a piece of plastic .050 thick cut from a throw away container.  I clamped a piece of 1x4 to the bench.  Put the plastic piece on it with the spacer on top and screwed both down to the board.  I cut the plastic around the spacer with a utility knife, polished the edges a bit and tried it.  Having been screwed down with the spacer, the holes in the plastic shim were perfectly aligned  I re-assembled the forend with the spacer and tried it.  The edge of the forend stud was hitting the edge of the hole in the forend on the receiver side.  I relieved the inside rim of the hole with a drill just a tad until the stud was able to enter the hole.  I replaced the "O" ring I had on the stud, slid a dollar bill through on both sides of the stud and back to the frame.  Done.  No wobble.   Action opened easily.  The rifle was sighted in for 300 yards, so I took it out to the bench and put a couple through it.  Perfect.  Total time invested about a half hour and zero cost.

Pete

[YRUpunting?]

I did same thing using a bleach bottle.  Then I repeated the same process for a spacer between the recoil pad and stock.  Gives a clean look with a thin white line against the wood.

[RustyReel]

Are you guys talking about barrel wobble or forend wobble.  I can see fixing forend wobble with a piece of plastic but barrel wobble?

[quickdtoo]

Shimming the forend spacer will eliminate wobble when the action is open, but it just hides a loose barrel, the barrel is still loose to the frame. See forend fit in the FAQs, been doing that for years to tune the forend so it's just right for best accuracy.

Tim

Forend Fit

[petemi]

The barrel alway locked up tight on a .001 feeler, but there was still a barely perceptible side to side movement.  After installing the spacer, the rifle shoots the same as before, but the wobble is gone.  A shim on the pivot would have made the already close fit of barrel to breech face even tighter.....perhaps too tight to work at all.

Pete

[cwlongshot]

Peter,
 I have also done this. I used the same shim stock I use for the pivot, just cut a bit smaller then the spacer.

Tim makes a good point, now, looseness in general, quite probably will have a negative effect on accuracy. It will also hide a poorly fit barrel. (Which does nothing for accuracy) Test the fit or looseness of a barrel without the forend attached.

CW

[gcrank1]

Technically I agree with the above, but I sure cant argue with your 300yd results! It may not hold up over time though you can always do it again.
Simple and cheap enough and if it works for you at distance go for it

[quickdtoo]

Not to take away from Pete's marksmanship abilities, but every hit on a gong is always a 10x! 

Tim

[petemi]

Patty's the marksman.  I luck out once in a while.  Not this rifle, but the .22-250 gave me two touching and one 3/4 of an inch right on the latest 300 yard "gong" a couple of weeks ago.  Actually an old small satellite dish with a bull on it.  I quit while I was ahead    I can't see the bullet strikes even with my spotting scope which isn't the greatest quality.  The higher the mag the fuzzier it gets, so I have to drive back and forth out there.  The gas would probably buy a better scope.

If you Google Earth this address, you'll see why we have to shoot a long way.

N9256 Krause Road, Engadine, MI  You should be able to see the berm and targets too.

Pete

[quickdtoo]

Patty's the marksman. 

That's prolly cuz she's younger and has better eyes.....plus she's prettier!! 

Tim

[gcrank1]

She heard if ya kiss a frog ya get a prince?

[quickdtoo]

Pete is a prince, musta worked!! 

Tim

[petemi]

 

[gcrank1]

Goodonya, Pete!!!!