Spring Gun Tuning

[Bad Beagle]

I can vouch for this tuning guide - as a complete amateur I have followed it successfully see the review section Gamo Quickshot.

Big thanks to Hsing-ee.

[franktheferret]

Good stuff Mick, but for a final degrease, I like to use Iso-propyly Alcohol. You can't easily get it these days, but ordinary Surgical Spirit is pretty good. It absorbs water much better than commercial-grade meths, and with no powdery residue.

Alan.

[Paul Hudson]

I get my IPA from Maplin. They have a store a short walk from where I work, but they also do mail-order if you're having trouble finding a supplier.

Maplin website

Paul.

[Hsing-ee]

Just make friends with a nurse, they use gallons of IPA in hospitals - they don't trust the staff with 70% ethanol because they know they'll just drink it, and IPA is used as a convenient surface steriliser.

[frank]

Good stuff Mick, but for a final degrease, I like to use Iso-propyly Alcohol. You can't easily get it these days, but ordinary Surgical Spirit is pretty good. It absorbs water much better than commercial-grade meths, and with no powdery residue.
Alan.

Acetone will absorb the water even better and degrease everything in sight but
it's quite volatile also wouldn't tend to use it on some plastics etc

[Jamie Norton]

Isopropyl alcohol is generally available from pharmacies. It is also volatile (no smoking!) and will evaporate pretty quickly if you leave the lid off.

[deadeye dick]

Isopropyl alcohol is generally available from pharmacies. It is also volatile (no smoking!) and will evaporate pretty quickly if you leave the lid off.

No you cant it is not available to the general public, my wife gets it because she lectures and teaches nails and beauty but I have tried to get some without success I believe you can buy it in the USA over the counter

[neralcm]

Just bought a litre of the stuff from an electronics store, about £11 also available in a spray can (can't spell aerosol). Ideal for degreasing as it leaves no residue. Used it on my 97 to fit a V-Mach stage 1 kit, struggled a bit with heavy deposits but did the job.

Stuart

[joekid]

if you,ve got an HW 97/77,thats dieseling this is the way to stop it,get your steel shim make sure you cut it 5mm longer than it needs to be,so you can cut little v,s out of it like a crown, then it will when these v,s are bent inwards form a hole enough for the piston cocking rod ,to pass through, then should form a lip for the spring to keep in place until a few shots seats it into its housing, this shim /stops any unwanted moly getting back into the compression tube on firing, and keeps it where it should be,use this info as part of your tune,as just changing the factory lubes in the HW range of guns makes a big difference, even a simple wipe off the old/ wipe on the new,,molybdenum grease/lithium grease from a car auto spare shop very cheap////and good silicone oil (bisley) for poly seals(plastic type seals)knock your self out!!!

[rehmk5]

Pardon the slight change of subject from strictly tuning, but I can't start a new thread.

Got a HW80/Beeman R1 question if you would:

Anyone have a 12 ft/lb HW80?

I have a FAC R1 (am here in Calif, USA) that does 7.9 gr Crosman Premier Lites about 1,010 fps.

Problem is, that though it groups accurately, it is hold sensitive in that if I switch from shooting standing with a rest, to sitting with a rest (artillery hold used both), the nice and tight groups move vertically.

At about 35 yds, my sitting with rest groups hit about 1.5 inches higher than my standing w/rest groups.

Can anyone comment on how a 12 ft/lb HW80 is about allowing different holds without the groups moving up/down?

Power is nice, but accuracy is better.

I'd get a 12 ft/lb kit for my Beeman R1 if that would make it more like my AA TX200 (which hits the mark, no matter how I hold it. Dittos for my Beeman R7 and HW55s).

Oddly enough, my Beeman R9 is more tolerant of varying the way I hold it and does not shift the groups like my R1.

Thanks, and good luck on keeping your airgun freedoms. Here in the USA we have the "Democratic" Party that would strip us of our firearms, airguns, water pistols, sharpened pencils, etc if they got the chance.

Robert Hamilton
California, USA

[nightstalker]

hi guys,i have been helping a freind today putting in a gas fire,looking for some bits in his shed i spotted a gun case in the corner.he said it was a air gun,i said can i have a look he said yes,so i took it out of the bag it is a webly vulcan.22.it`s been neglected to say the least,stock needs a revarnish,the bluing is pitted with rust,but the barrel bore was clean no rust which surprised me,it has a trigger guard,i think it might be 20 years old but thats a guess,it also had iron sights a one time,i gave it a clean took the crap scope of and put one of my own on it,but i could not get it on the target,when i break the barrel it has bright metal one side and i was wondering weather it had been dropped and the barrel had took a knock,it has a hell of a twang when i fire it,is it worth taking as part payment for the gas fire,can i get barrels moderrators ect, for it if i take it on.any help would be great.
best regards.

[6519bushman]

If you are able to strip the gun, clean the piston and chaimber with hot soapy water (hotter the better) so there is no more grease or oil. Pay very close attention to the piston seal removing it carefully and again cleaning it with hot soapy water. Once you have done this clean the parts once more with pure alcohol as a final precaution against grease and oil. At this point you can check the cylinder for scoring, if its bad you may wish to have it polished. Assemble the piston into the cylinder using a silicon based lubricant on the piston seal (use very sparingly the lightest of wipes with finger, almost undetectable) The next step is possibly a little more difficult. Take a look at the spring....... wipe with a rag removing all the grease and oil (not to the same standard as the other parts mentioned. Then look at the spring guide. If its plastic and loose fitting, have one made out of silver steel so that it fits with no play! (make sure you accomodate the spring guide in the piston as this runs through the other guide and engages the trigger sear, HW80 that is) into the spring. This is one of the secrets to Dampening twang. There may be after market parts you can source for this. There used to be a kit out there with an ox square sectioned spring and a solid steel guide. Also supplied was a replacement piston seal and lubricants. I doubt if this is available as it would come under the new VCR act. However it is a very simple job for a competant enginear to make one for you. Just dont! fit a bigger spring! This tight tollerance piston guide along with a carefull application of moly grease from a car parts dealer dampens and smooths out the operation of the piston. DO NOT GO MAD WITH THE GREASE as it will make its way into the piston chamber when you cock the gun, and mess up what you have tried to attchieve, and will make you gun exceed 12lb muzzel energy. The next step is to clean you barrel with a copper brush then a nylon brush. Once you have run these brushes through the bore several times use a solvent to remove the lead build up and repeat until there are no marks on a cloth pulled through the bore. I the use Alcohol to finally remove any trace of oil. Job done. Reasemble the gun. And run it in with a tin of pellets, then recheck it with a chrono. Any sign of ignition or a burning smell, you have either not cleaned all the parts adiquately or have used accessive grease on the spring.

Good luck if you get it right you should have a accurate quiet consistant gun that should not need servicing again for thousands of rounds.

[jackf1]

:d:d:d:d:d:d

[risingfriend]

just read this with great interest will give it a try in the near future..good info

[bsa-boy]

i could do with a hand with this