So what's up?

[jonk]

I have a Fayetteville. If you aren't familiar with them, basically a 2 band Springfield with brass furniture and bands. Hoyt barrel, Harmon lock with some Hahn internals (the tumbler sheared off so I had him re-work it).

I got it because I felt I had reached my personal limit of ability with the Euroarms 2 band P 58 I was shooting. Still a solid back up gun.

After I got it, I won the Striker class at the next nationals. Nationals after that, I got... I dunno, something like 4th place. Enough to move up both times, to class 2. So, the gun can shoot, and so can I.

In matches, in 50 yard events, last year I was running in the high 30s for hit times. Don't ask about 100 yards... that's a problem for me with breakables. More practice to be had! So maybe not superb hit times, but solid... some days in the high 20s, some days in the low 40s, just depending... average in the 30s for 50 yards.

Then this year came. Last time I shot it my time was over 100 seconds. Benched and individual results similarly poor. Average for the year is going down, and is perhaps 60 seconds overall. Worse than the Euroarms!

I put a new beryllium nipple in it. No improvement.

3 things to consider.

1. Of course, the nut behind the trigger. Given my carbine hit time is still solid, 35 seconds or so and in the mid 20s for 50 yard events, I doubt this.
2. Lead. I got my lead this year from the same source as last year... guy on the 111th OVI. Cable sheathing. It tests as... not QUITE dead soft on my cabin tree tester, but something like 50:1. Still soft enough for me to deform it with two fingers. About the same as the previous year's lot. Still... if it's a point or two harder...
3. Could it be time for recrowning? The barrel has serial no. 645 stamped on it. So one of Hoyt's earlier barrels, I'm sure, or at least one that's been around the block. I got out a magnifying glass and can see a small scratch with light smear from the edge to the rifling...

I shot it from a bench at the group is looser than it was in previous years. That tends to make me think that the lead or crown is to blame.

So I guess my question is: would a pin thick deformation of the crown have so much impact, or should I look at the lead first? I do plan on getting some guaranteed virgin pure stuff from Fred at nationals, or from rotometals if needed, but can re-crown too... I just hate to take the dremel stone to the muzzle if y'all think it's the lead...

Gun is glass bedded btw.

[Muley Gil]

Obviously, the easiest thing to do is to try pure lead first.

[Michael Bodner]

Don't forget to bench it and make sure the gun is/isn't working to standards.

Also, did you change type of caps (German to Swiss) or buy a new lot of powder? I discovered the new Swiss caps seal MUCH tighter to my nipple than the old wingless caps and turned my tack-driving Smith Carbine (at 100 yds) to a 'can barely hold paper' gun...

-Mike

[John Bly]

If you changed powder lots run a ladder test with different weight charges to see if that helps. Certainly try different lead and make sure it is pure. Recrown only after trying these things.

[Eggman]

Obviously, the easiest thing to do is to try pure lead first.
I'm with Gil.

[efritz]

We all know that there are many variables involved with this stuff. I'd have to ascertain if this was a gradual decline or a sudden decline. If gradual it good be a sign of wear. If sudden then what changed. Powder, caps, lead, etc. This isn't a lot of answers but you'll find it. Look at everything in your process from bullet making to cleaning the gun. Maybe leading up.

[Lou Lou Lou]

Can you try a half thousandth bigger bullet

[bobanderson]

I'd put in my 2 cents worth, but I've never had a hit time in the 30's.

Wouldn't want to drag you down.

[Ben Nevlezer]

Dremel stone??? Yikes!!!
I had a " new" 2-band '55 put together winter before last. All original, glass bedded, with an original, re-lined barrel. With my standard dead lead loads on the bench it would shoot 3 rounds in the black and 2 would be lucky to even score. The problem. Crown. Looking closely showed slightly rough machine marks. After a trip to my local gunsmith who re-crowned and polished the muzzle in the lathe, 5 rounds, all 10's.
I have herd of lapping the muzzle with engine valve grinding compound using the round end of a SPENT CO2 cartridge (used in air guns) to remove slight scratches but in my case that wouldn't be nearly enough to smooth out what I had. Double check your lead first. Then if needed I would have it re-crowned. But I don't think it would be near possible to do in with a Dremel tool and Bo straight or smooth enough.
just my experience. P.S. The group with my Maynard seemed to be slowly wandering farther from the black last season, so, off to re-crown it went, and.... BINGO! Back shooting the best I can hold that little fricken thing.

[jonk]

Fortunately my team keeps stats. Looking at them... I can't say it was an overnight change from doing well to doing poorly. Outliers of "good" vs bad shoots aside though, it's been getting steadily worse over this season, so I have to think that wear might be the most likely issue.

Maybe I'll just let Bobby Hoyt look at it at nationals and see what he thinks, and perhaps leave the barrel with him and shoot my Enfield backup gun.

Considering other people's input:

-I already size 1/1000 over bore size. No moving forward on that front.
-Same powder lot as last year, though it IS almost gone. Usually when I switch, I try it from a bench before taking it to the next shoot, to verify things are still good to go. My normal load is 48 gr of 3f with a Hodgdon with NWT core pin, though I have found batches where 46 would do just as well. As I've only had the gun 3 years myself, and have gone through 3 lots of powder, I haven't found any where MORE was needed.

On the other hand, I shot the Enfield at the last skirmish. Forgot that it was sighted for the 315 Moose minie and brought the Hodgdons... which GROUP just great from the gun, but with the heavier bullet I gotta hold high. Shot in the 30s with hanging tiles, 40s with hanging birds... and couldn't find the pots or moskeets to save my butt...on the bird board, I had a heck of a group going below one pigeon, until it was big enough I could see what was happening... POINT being, the lead appears to be good.

So I think it's muzzle wear. I might try buffing it out myself... otherwise we shall see.

[jonk]

I recrowned it and had the best shoot of the year with it. Guess that was it!

[Chris Sweeney]

Muzzles are apparently very important things - who knew! I just replaced a Maynard barrel because it stopped hitting things. I was looking at the muzzle with a glass and noticed there was some really hard leading just at the north end of the grooves. Several sessions of bronze brushing later, it now shoots as well as ever. Yet another expensive learning exercise :)