Skout Tight Epoch barrel!

[Tricky-Dicky]

Having rodded a few pellets down the barrel I am rather worried about my findings first off its pretty tight getting a pellet in to start and has a pretty tight spot in the first inch or so, then feels a fair bit looser however it has a mega tight choke for the last 2–3 inches it takes a fair bit of effort to get the pellet through it, and I am not at all happy with the look of the pellets when they come out they look fairly mullerd nor happy about this! If there was ever a barrel that needed a good polish.

 

[BABz58]

Looking at the skirts and how much they appear to have been squeezed . That’s going to take some serious polishing to correct. What’s the head size on those pellets? Tried any with a smaller head?

 

[Tricky-Dicky]

CORRECTION The pellets tested where actually Barracuda 8 at 4.51 and the JSB heavies at 4.52!
however in reality I have found very little difference in pellet sizes despite what the makers claim, for a gun of this price and calibre I am rather disappointed and starting to wonder if I would have been better spending my money elsewhere, be interested to hear what Skout say, but I have recently asked several question which seem to have fell on deaf ears despite the initial contact and the answers I have received so far are starting to make me wonder if I should be going back to buying cheaper guns at least you don't expect so much from them and are often pleasantly surprised.

 

[Ranchibi]

Why not send the barrel back to Skout as I am pretty sure they will send you a new one, they have outstanding customer service from what I have seen.....send them these pics also.

 

[Scotay42]

What he said^^^^. Send the barrel back to Skout.

 

[manabeknives]

With the FAC rifles, I am aware of how Skout conducts their testing before the rifles are sent out from the factory.
However, I do not know how this testing is done for a sub-12 ftlb rifle for the Euro market.
If you find that this barrel has not met you expectation, send it back.
i understand that you have opened a dialogue with Skout. I would continue to expand on that dialogue until you get ahold of Darryl. He will take care of the situation or get you in touch with the tech who can.
I do not know Skout’s protocol for calling back a person overseas, so try to be the one to make contact.
Hope your situation gets resolved
Mike

 

[Peashooter]

12 ftlb rifle for the Euro market

We are not all SUB12 over here, but UK and the Germans got it bad.

SUB 12 might be in the cards for us Danes though, it is at least a fear i must entertain as a observer of the people here and not least the people they endorse with power to rule.

 

[Motorhead]

WHAT SIZE pellets are those ... ah, 4.53 say you

a .177 caliber is generally 4.50 mm std bore spec for many ... if you go to 4.51 / 4.52 or greater ... YES there going to be tighter !!

I don't see this as a Barrel issue at all !!!
Most of us would love to have a tight .177 that DOES NOT require larger sizes to shoot well

Try some smaller pellets

 

[Tricky-Dicky]

WHAT SIZE pellets are those ... ah, 4.53 say you

a .177 caliber is generally 4.50 mm std bore spec for many ... if you go to 4.51 / 4.52 or greater ... YES there going to be tighter !!

I don't see this as a Barrel issue at all !!!
Most of us would love to have a tight .177 that DOES NOT require larger sizes to shoot well

Try some smaller pellets

CORRECTION The pellets tested where actually Barracuda 8 at 4.51 and the JSB haevies at 4.52!
Have you ever measured the various sizes of .177 pellet? Like I said they have a large variation and in most brands the actual difference between 4.50 an 4.53 is in a lot of cases nowhere near .3 mm some measure 4-50 and some 4.51 if your lucky and a lot considerably less in fact those pellets I pushed through were Barracuda 8 and JSB heavies and the 8 measure at 4. 35 -37 and the heavies at 4.37-38 head size so not exactly tight, my problem is that the breach end is what I would class as TIGHT and the choke is VERY TIGHT so much so that it took quite a force to actually get the pellet through.

And my main concern is that the pellets end up pretty messed up with shaving and distorted bit showing under the head and skirt, it not like i don't have any experience of just how a decent barrel should leave pellets looking like and that is most definitely not it!

 

[JaceSpace1369]

CORRECTION The pellets tested where actually Barracuda 8 at 4.51 and the JSB haevies at 4.52!
Have you ever measured the various sizes of .177 pellet? Like I said they have a large variation and in most brands the actual difference between 4.50 an 4.53 is in a lot of cases nowhere near .3 mm some measure 4-50 and some 4.51 if your lucky and a lot considerably less in fact those pellets I pushed through were Barracuda 8 and JSB heavies and the 8 measure at 4. 35 -37 and the heavies at 4.37-38 head size so not exactly tight, my problem is that the breach end is what I would class as TIGHT and the choke is VERY TIGHT so much so that it took quite a force to actually get the pellet through.

And my main concern is that the pellets end up pretty messed up with shaving and distorted bit showing under the head and skirt, it not like i don't have any experience of just how a decent barrel should leave pellets looking like and that is most definitely not it!

Yeah I would send that barrel right back. No point in messing with an expensive barrel.When you just got the gun and they should be able to just replace it

 

[Tricky-Dicky]

The barrel is relatively accurate but not near pellet sized groups at 35yds which is what I would expect from a high-end gun, I have others that would better it, however I will see if the supplier in the UK will swap it out as I really don't like what it's doing to the pellets.

 

[Tricky-Dicky]

Someone has just said this is the largest .177 barrel they do? If so, I am very surprised!

 

[Tricky-Dicky]

Just to update this Skout sent me another barrel which was slightly better but still had a very tight breach and choke with a slightly easier bit in the middle, and it was no more accurate than the original, and after talking to Keith at Skout he informed me that they are all tight!

So I have now decided to obtain another barrel blank, but I can only get 30mm shorter so will need to get a longer barrel clamp nut made up, I am going to go for a Lowther Walther barrel and hope it's more accurate.

I suspect that the main problem is that this gun is designed for the unconstrained power market and limiting does it no favours, I think the HP regulator is much happier at higher pressures and doesn't do well using lower pressures that sub 12 or similar require, the same applies to the barrels they are really designed around high power however I am still a bit perturbed by the amount of distortion the tight barrels impress into the pellet hence the barrel change.