250Z Barra 250z .22 Choked Barrel?

[Billm]

I decided to carefully slug my Barra 250z barrel today in the hopes of possibly buying some swaging dies for it. I didn’t want to deal with taking the air tube apart and so I decided to go from the muzzle to the chamber. I understand the risk. The first six to eight inches from the muzzle seemed tight then the slug practically slid to a few inches from the chamber and hit a tight spot and then fell out of the breech. I’m thinking the barrel might be choked. I know @Northeastbeast had a choked barrel and so it’s possible. Has anyone slugged their barrel? I came up with .219” . But, if it’s choked, it doesn’t mean much.

 

[Pumacarl]

I did not slug my barrel, but I did push slugs through it. From doing that, I would have guessed that my barrel would have shot the .2175 ammo the best. The chronograph numbers seemed to suggest that was the best size too. In practice, the ZAN .217 actually did the best, and the JSB KO .216, which has a really thin deep skirt that I think is actually ballooning to engage the rifling. Pushing slugs and pellets through my barrel was a joy. There is no abnormalities in it that I can feel, it is a smooth even push with no tight or loose spots and there is no choke. I would try to get another barrel from Barra, Bill. There was somebody posting that returned several with bad chattering at the muzzle. They definately had a bad batch here and there, and like you mentioned, Northeastbeast got a choked one. I did have to reem the breech on mine but the rifling and uniformity is really good front to back.

 

[Billm]

I did not slug my barrel, but I did push slugs through it. From doing that, I would have guessed that my barrel would have shot the .2175 ammo the best. The chronograph numbers seemed to suggest that was the best size too. In practice, the ZAN .217 actually did the best, and the JSB KO .216, which has a really thin deep skirt that I think is actually ballooning to engage the rifling. Pushing slugs and pellets through my barrel was a joy. There is no abnormalities in it that I can feel, it is a smooth even push with no tight or loose spots and there is no choke. I would try to get another barrel from Barra, Bill. There was somebody posting that returned several with bad chattering at the muzzle. They definately had a bad batch here and there, and like you mentioned, Northeastbeast got a choked one. I did have to reem the breech on mine but the rifling is really good front to back.

I sent them a support email. Hopefully they will replace the barrel.

 

[Pumacarl]

I would think that they have to. Now, they might require you to send the gun back. I wouldn't do that myself, to me it would be easier to just buy another barrel and inspect it first. Making sure it's perfect before accepting to keep it. If it isn't I would just keep sending bad ones back until they got it right. I know someone did this and I saw pictures of the bad barrels and pictures of absolutely perfect barrels that others submitted. The barrel lottery is a real thing unfortunately, but I don't feel that bad about it, it happens to FX guys with huge liner collections too. We are not alone.

 

[Billm]

I would think that they have to. Now, they might require you to send the gun back. I wouldn't do that myself, to me it would be easier to just buy another barrel and inspect it first. Making sure it's perfect before accepting to keep it. If it isn't I would just keep sending bad ones back until they got it right. I know someone did this and I saw pictures of the bad barrels and pictures of absolutely perfect barrels that others submitted. The barrel lottery is a real thing unfortunately, but I don't feel that bad about it, it happens to FX guys with huge liner collections too. We are not alone.

I hear you. I wish I had pushed a slug through it sooner.

 

[Billm]

Well, once again I’m disgusted with the response from Barra. It took them a couple of days to to respond with:
“
I am sorry for the confusion with your rifle. Here are the details that I have regarding your concerns.

Is the barrel choked, and can I use slugs with my 250z?​

• The 250z barrel is non-choked and performs well with slugs.
• Use slugs weighted similarly to heavy pellets and test their fit in the single-shot tray before loading them into the magazine.

I have included a link with details that should further help. Please let me know if you have any other questions
Barra Airguns | 250z PCP Pellet Air Rifle FAQ”

That is not the question that I asked lol. I told them that I measured the barrel and that I believed it was choked, when it should not be and could I please have a replacement barrel.

 

[Northeastbeast]

I decided to carefully slug my Barra 250z barrel today in the hopes of possibly buying some swaging dies for it. I didn’t want to deal with taking the air tube apart and so I decided to go from the muzzle to the chamber. I understand the risk. The first six to eight inches from the muzzle seemed tight then the slug practically slid to a few inches from the chamber and hit a tight spot and then fell out of the breech. I’m thinking the barrel might be choked. I know @Northeastbeast had a choked barrel and so it’s possible. Has anyone slugged their barrel? I came up with .219” . But, if it’s choked, it doesn’t mean much.

Ive seen alotnof QC issues with the Barra barrels. I have worked on several for folks and alot of them had bad barrels. Same issue would be tight then just fall inchs then tight again. Its really a crap shoot with there barrels. I have looked into aftermarket barrel options but by the time you have one done, the barrel costs more then the rifle.

 

[Pumacarl]

It's really sad that they can't do a better job of quality control. Knowing what I know now, reading all the stories, and seeing all the pictures, good and bad, if I got another Barra I would order another barrel with it and use the best one. Hopefully one of them would be acceptable, but if they weren't I'd still have one to play with while I sent the other one back. The price of playing from the cheap seats I guess.

 

[Billm]

Ive seen alotnof QC issues with the Barra barrels. I have worked on several for folks and alot of them had bad barrels. Same issue would be tight then just fall inchs then tight again. Its really a crap shoot with there barrels. I have looked into aftermarket barrel options but by the time you have one done, the barrel costs more then the rifle.

Yeah, I’ve had no luck with their customer service from day one. From receiving a defective butt stock, where one of their responses took a month, to the barrel issue. The last time I contacted them was because my rifle was degassing after being filled. I just wanted to ensure that I notified them and had it documented in case it became a warranty issue. Their response was to refer me to their FAQ and troubleshooting tips. I don’t want a new rifle, just a barrel.

 

[Billm]

It's really sad that they can't do a better job of quality control. Knowing what I know now, reading all the stories, and seeing all the pictures, good and bad, if I got another Barra I would order another barrel with it and use the best one. Hopefully one of them would be acceptable, but if they weren't I'd still have one to play with while I sent the other one back. The price of playing from the cheap seats I guess.

Their barrels are sold out, might be an indicator lol. I doubt the average buyer is buying back-up barrels.

 

[Pumacarl]

Their barrels are sold out, might be an indicator lol. I doubt the average buyer is buying back-up barrels.

I keep telling you, we (around here) are not average.

 

[Billm]

I keep telling you, we (around here) are not average.

That’s a fact

 

[Dogowski]

Their barrels are sold out, might be an indicator lol. I doubt the average buyer is buying back-up barrels.

Yea i tried to get a replacement barrel a few weeks ago and they were out. Might be a long time waiting. One thing about it is they are priced cheap.

 

[Billm]

Yea i tried to get a replacement barrel a few weeks ago and they were out. Might be a long time waiting. One thing about it is they are priced cheap.

Apparently made cheap too lol.

 

[Dogowski]

Apparently made cheap too lol.

So true! Like $40 bucks,

 

[Pumacarl]

Apparently made cheap too lol.

That's a fact

 

[Billm]

I feel an “honest, off the shelf video review of the Barra 250z .22” coming.

 

[Pumacarl]

I feel an “honest, off the shelf video review of the Barra 250z .22” coming.

I have got to say though, that where mine is at right now, it is my favorite gun of all my guns, to shoot. It's a one off though, I would not want to do it all again.

 

[Billm]

I have got to say though, that where mine is at right now, it is my favorite gun of all my guns, to shoot. It's a one off though, I would not want to do it all again.

I just look at all of the YouTube reviews of the Barra 250z and not one mentions the flimsy fore end of the stock, the misaligned picatinny rails, defective butt stocks and more. I know you had a good experience initially with their customer service. But, I have not had that experience with them. I really like the rifle, but the company attitude with customer support is beyond poor. From knowingly shipping out rifles with defective butt stocks, sending people the wrong caliber barrels, sending others the wrong caliber magazines etc., to taking days to respond to correspondence. I wrote them a good review on their website and tried to cut them some slack. But, they really don't seem to care about quality control or customer pain.

 

[Pumacarl]

I just look at all of the YouTube reviews of the Barra 250z and not one mentions the flimsy fore end of the stock, the misaligned picatinny rails, defective butt stocks and more. I know you had a good experience initially with their customer service. But, I have not had that experience with them. I really like the rifle, but the company attitude with customer support is beyond poor. From knowingly shipping out rifles with defective butt stocks, sending people the wrong caliber barrels, sending others the wrong caliber magazines etc., to taking days to respond to correspondence. I wrote them a good review on their website and tried to cut them some slack. But, they really don't seem to care about quality control or customer pain.

You have more than earned the gravitas to post a scathing review. Don't feel held back, or bad about it. It is what it is.

The way that I use my built-in center balanced arca swiss rail, I don't ever push or notice that the front isn't beefy enough. I would not want to be throwing the gun down on a bipod on the ground though for sure. The only major defect that still infuriates me is the picatinny rail not maintaining spec through the magazine cut out. I am only mad about the stock not taking a standard folding stock adapter, but I am extremely pi$$ed off that I can't swap scopes to or from my other guns.

Write away, do a video, let people know and let them decide what's important to them. With the caveats mentioned, it's still the darling of my collection at this point, so I would say that it is possible to have a great outcome for you, still.

Give'em hell though Bill, it's the only way some people learn, and how our posts show, they have a lot to learn still.