doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Farrows?

Yesterday, my Farrow shot in a Schuetzen match, probably for the first time since WW 1. My thanks to Terry Buffum for shepherding the restoration, to J.D. Steele for the excellent advice from another forum "With a Farrow, proceed slowly", and to John Mitchell of Classic Rifle Company for the restoration work. I shot a 273x750 and the match was won with a 473x750. That rather poor showing is my fault. I practiced the day before, but got rained out. Another 50 rounds of offhand would have improved things.

I'd like to tell you that the Farrow is a tack driver, but that is not the case. It's a 22 Long Rifle rimfire with a 16" twist and an original 12-groove barrel. But the barrel is kind of frosty, the steel is soft and I am very reluctant to scrub any more. The rifle will shoot an 8-inch group at 200 yards, but that's about it. Any suggestions that will gently improve the accuracy would be greatly appreciated.

My problem now is sights. Farrow used Winchester front sights and the front sight is original. I purchased inserts and a retaining clip from Axtell. The inserts fit correctly and with a bit of file work, the retaining clip fit also. So the front sight is now restored to original form. The front sight dovetail is 0.405" and the front sight looks as if it has been tightly installed since the rifle was made.

The rear sight was missing. Farrows have a built-in tang sight base and need a windage-adjustable tang sight. I used a Parts Unknown version of a Stevens-Pope tang sight. It fit into the Farrow mount. The windage works fine, but the whole sight is just too high. I filed down the elevation screw until the base of the top frame contacts the main body of the tang sight. I can get on target at 200 yards, but not at much closer ranges. With the rainbow trajectory of 22 match ammunition, the rifle shoots about 3 feet high at 100 yards when on target at 200.

Any suggestions? Does anyone make reproduction Farrow sights? Should I try to find a replacement front sight that is higher?

Waterman

Pictures?

I had a rifle one time that had an insert in the front dovetail then a new dovetail cut into that to make it higher. It was so well done that it was hard to tell that the sight was not made that way.

Not much you can do with the .22LR outside of trying every different type of ammo you can get your hands on. You may not be able to buy accuracy by you can buy consistency.

Frank Zika of Illinois makes a very nice Farrow sight among his many fine products. Call him at 708-354-7434

Nice preservation effort there, Mr Waterman.

Consider this approach: fellow name of Paco Kelly makes an "Accusizer". It's a swedging/swageing device that allows the user to bump up the rimfire bullets to a uniform diameter. As well, he has assorted nose punches with which to reform the bullet, while it's being swedged. The old Hanned Line was similar, but not exactly the same, so far as I know.

I've read several first-hand reports noting increases in accuracy, even with bulk-box .22 long rifles. For a review of the original product, subsequent improved products, and a new flat-point shearing tool GOTO Gunblast.com and use the search engine. Also, Rem40X may have some additional info on the inventor and his product.

Paco Kelly, as many of you may be aware, has some few articles on shootin' subjects, and available thru the Frontier Sixshooter or Leverguns.com forums.

At any rate, it's possible that you could get Paco to make one of his swedgers in a size that would fully use your remaining rifling. Another thot, tho it is a bit of risk, is to consider fire-polishing of the bore with extremely fine rouge.

I have used fire polishing on a good many military Enfields, starting - in some cases - with some pretty rough grit. Of course, THAT is some quite robust rifling compared to your case. FYI, generally, one can occasionally go from a dark and nearly non-existent bore, to one that exhibits the remaining tips of the pitting and corrosion only with a Hawkeye bore scope.

I venture this only as information for those Brothers in Rust, who perform resurrectionist feats upon the nearly deceased barrels, which merit return to operating condition. It's a tedious process, and while it has been safe for me, I can't warrant pressures, results,and Ye Auld Etc.

BTW, made it to Tulsa this past weekend, and i will never again believe that colts and winchesters are rare -- because THOSE guys own most of them already. The rest are prolly in Vegas and auction houses. Did see a fair amount of nice SxS's and their vendors, tho.

For the common weal; perhaps one of these idea/products may prove to be of use in a vintage rimfire bore:

http://www.gunblast.com/Paco.htm

http://www.gunblast.com/Paco_Scorpn.htm

http://www.gunblast.com/Paco2.htm

http://www.gunblast.com/Paco-Flatface.htm

Disclaimer: no commercial or personal interest in either the Web site nor the product. Y'know, JIC someone may be wondering.