disgusted with my Mannlicher

[sherder]

I am starting to get a little disgusted with my AV Mannlicher , its a beautiful gun that I only had a chance to shoot a few times and it blew the band off the nose cap. I have spent weeks trying to find this part to no avail. I cant possibly be the only person this has happened to ? and why aren't there parts out there for this gun ? Does anyone know or have any ideas short of putting a new stock on it or having a gunsmith make this part for $$$ how to get this gun back on line ??

 

[misako50]

Contact Accuflite Sports in Export, PA.- Best chance for the part that I am aware of for the newer Sakos or you might get Lucky with Sako Berretta?-Misako

 

[sherder]

Thanks , Ill try Accuflite , tried Berretta already

Struck out at Accuflite too, nice guy though

 

[stonecreek]

As you've found, Beretta does not even pretend to support Sakos made prior to their takeover.

When you say "blew the band off the nose cap" do you mean that it somehow damaged or destroyed the part, or simply that it "blew off" and is now missing? If the latter, I assume you've looked for it at the last place you shot it, right?

 

[sherder]

it blew a 1/2 inch piece out of the band , I still have the bottom part of it and could not find the chunk that broke off

 

[Paratroop]

I am not familiar with this particular nose cap and band. Where can I see one? Might be easy to fabricate!

 

[paulsonconstruction]

Been following this thread to see if I could learn anything, but am totally confused. To me, a barrel band & a nose cap are two different items. Looking a my L579 Mann I see no "band" on the nose cap. Do the AV Manns have different nose caps with "bands" on them? Exactly how did it "blow" off? Having the piece that is missing some metal should allow a smith with good metal working skills to replace the missing portion fairly easily. Most parts for the pre-1992 Sakos are not easy & many times impossible to find. As Stone has said, Beretta has abandoned them. The best source is to miraculously find a rifle damaged beyond repair or missing critical components so that it can be parted out.

 

[enotstehw]

Sherder

Every now and then one comes up on Ebay. But . . . be ready to open up your wallet. You may try checking in with some of the gunsmiths in your state. The nose cap has a band that raps around the barrel. And when shot . . . the barrel vibrates and puts pressure on this band. If you put up a outlandish reward . . . I know some of the guys here just might part with some of their spare parts that they have stashed away for a future project.

 

[enotstehw]

Paratroop

If I get time I'll post a photo.

 

[stonecreek]

Sherder:

If you can post a photo of your damaged nose cap it might help some of us come up with better suggestions as to how to repair/replace it. In rereading your post it sounds as if your stock may also be damaged? Or not?

It would also be very instructive to those of us who have Mannlicher models to understand how to avoid such a mishap, so if you will, you might elaborate on how it occurred. One great benefit of this site is learning from the experience of others!

 

[iwanna]

Sherder

Every now and then one comes up on Ebay. But . . . be ready to open up your wallet. You may try checking in with some of the gunsmiths in your state. The nose cap has a band that raps around the barrel. And when shot . . . the barrel vibrates and puts pressure on this band. If you put up a outlandish reward . . . I know some of the guys here just might part with some of their spare parts that they have stashed away for a future project.

Tough break on an otherwise fine rifle. I'll bet one of our members has your part. Give it a second chance? It is a Sako. I'm sure they do screw up once in awhile, but I'll personally swear by (not at) the brand.

 

[enotstehw]

photo

The photos are not as clear as I would like them to be.

 

[sherder]

I assume this happened from to hot of load also may have been to tight on barrel. Load was 77.0 grns of RL15 and a barnes 270 grain tx chronographed at 2,663 fps
The Barnes book lists that load at 2,820 fps I had started at 73 grains but was getting low velocities. My note to self is that I am not going to get those velocities from a short barreled rifle? any ideas here ?

 

[sherder]

I am sure a gunsmith can make one but would like to restore as original

 

[sherder]

The stock is ok

 

[iwanna]

I hope somebody here can help you out. Maybe one of our members will share his hoard. The gunsmith thing don't sound too awful promising. It's not that simple.

My hunch still is that you got a little unlucky here and things will be fine. Very good luck to you.

 

[sherder]

Thanks ! yes I feel somewhat fortunate that the rest of the gun is fine and that it happened at home and not in the field. My discussions with many gunsmiths is that they dont weld and want to start from scratch and that will be expensive, I feel a good welder should be able to attach a new band to it. They are also not to fond of Barnes bullets.

 

[enotstehw]

Sherder

I'm not a metallurgist but I looks like a very clean break. What is the history of this gun? I don't think your load was the problem.

 

[paulsonconstruction]

Any good welder would be able to weld metal back on the missing ring section. Find one with a quality MIG welder that he can turn down to about 30 or 40 amps & use some .025" wire. Using some round stock of the same diameter as the ring to bend the metal to match wouldn't be difficult either to get a proper fit. Use a mild steel or spring stock steel that hasn't been heated treated. Grinding the weld down, polishing & reblueing properly would make it look like new. A properly applied weld will have more strength than the metal. Evidently the smiths you have talked to can't weld. Making one from scratch would be much more expensive & difficult. Heck, I could even weld that & I'm not even that good a welder. To me, it's a simple fix. Still can't figure out how it could break like that from just shooting the rifle. Did you try sweeping the area it was lost in with a magnet? I got one about a foot wide with wheels on each end & a push handle. Goes along about 3/8" off the ground & catches any iron or steel it passes over. Finding the missing piece would make the repair even easier.

 

[sherder]

The gun is in like brand new condition hardly been shot at all. Just a stroke of bad luck I guess. I have looked hard for the piece , my father has a huge magnet , I will to try to find it before the snow flies. I cant weld at all but have a friend with a wire feed , I may have to go that route.