TCooper wrote:
I use the brass screw and electric drill trick for crowning. The first step is with valve grinding compound. Then I use a blend of jeweler's rouge and JB Bore Paste to get a nice polish. Use a high power magnifying glass (loop) to inspect the crown for burrs and a crisp transition to the rifling.
I hope Crosman continues selling with the Optimus rifle as it is. I noticed on their American web site that most of their break-barrel rifles now have a long plastic barrel sleeve. I'm guessing they went the Gamo route and use a soda straw barrel inside the bulky plastic.
The Optimus/Fury/Phantom is a nice design and can stay great if Crosman puts some pressure on the Chinese manufacturer to put more effort into getting consistent bores. Sometimes you get a nice bore that drives tacks and other times it has tight and loose spots throughout the length. The common tight spot in front of the breech block can kill good accuracy. I would rather see them epoxy the barrel in the block than drive it in tight so it constricts the bore. I have an one excellent Optimus barrel that can nail small cans at 75 yards. I didn't have to do anything to it. I have two others that needed lots of work because of constrictions. They shoot fine now but not quite as well as the good barrel.
I like the Optimus because it can be made to shoot well, parts are cheap, the trigger can easily be made very acceptable, and the rifle price is reasonable. The sights suck but a scope fixes that.
I’d like to try the crowning work sometime and I’m curious about this constricted bore. I’ve done a fair bit of similar turning to this point, I suppose some work on the barrel is next. And you push pellets through to check? I can do that.
I was a bit frustrated with the Phantom and I was wondering what I should do next. And I saw cool Cometa springers on Canadian Air Collector, so I ordered one. And then I just tried a little harder with the Phantom and, sure enough, it started grouping better closer to the bull.
And the Fusion arrived, I think it’s pretty good, I haven’t taken it apart yet. If you’re interested, it looks like there’s at least several available there, good price.
I had a look where the barrel meets the breech on it, it looks as though it’s been epoxied.