Idiots guide to classic airgun strips (pt 1)

[ggggr]

Knock out small pin through breech block and remove barrel plunger and spring. You can clean, lube and replace these now and replace leather breech washer if required. I suggest you knock out,lube and replace the pin through the breech jaws that the plunger locks against. Remove trigger adjster screw and spring from behind trigger.Remove trigger pins and slide out sear and trigger spring. The actual trigger is a 2 piece trigger with a steel blade that springs onto it and held in place by two dimples. I wangled the lot out and in but if you can "spring" the dimples it would make reassembley easier. Put pressure on end cap and remove cylinder end pin. Release pressure and remove cap, mainspring/springs and slide out piston. It has ususal rivetted washer which you could change for material and fixing of your choice as mentioned in 522 strip above. Clean and lube. Replace piston,mainspring and endcap and cylinder end pin. I think the correct way to replace trigger is to slide sear in 1st then wangle the trigger blade and triggr spring and finally the actual trigger piece in from the front and locate it on the dimples. Refit barrel and shims,pivot screw and lock screw, cocking arm and pivot and then replace action in stock and tighten screws. Refit rearsight if removed and tighten that lockscrew on top once sight is in place.

[ggggr]

I got this a bit back but put off stripping it right down because I havent got a spring compressor yet and in the back of my mind was an old AGW article that suggested (on one of the Bsf,s) that a nut had been tightened by two fifteen stone Germans with a four foot spanner. I did the strip three times (so it must be easy) because the first spring I tried was coilbound even after cutting off a few coils.
Remove rearsight if you want. Its like the old Diana ones. Undo stock screw on underside of fore end and one in front of trigger guard and remove action from stock.If you look at the bracket that the cocking arms go through, you will see a pin. This needs removing and on mine was a right Ba*####*d----harder than the rest of the strip. Once removed,break barrel slightly and undo lockscew and pivot screw on RHS of breech block. You should now be able to remove barrel with cocking linkage attached. If you want to lube barel plunger and spring, they are held by a small screw on Rhs. Do it now and replace so you dont loose them.Unscrew cylinder end cap. Look at the scope ramp---the little screw at the back is just an arrestor for the scope and can be left in place. The big one at the front of the ramp needs removing or you cant get the trigger out. GO TO NEXT POST

[ggggr]

You may need to tap the ramp backwards. The trigger block will move so far and then you can lift the ramp off (like taking a cocking lever off) and slide the trigger block right out. I placed the cylinder face jaws down on my bit of wood and used the special bit of tube (see very first post of the thread) to put weight on the guide. I undid the bolt that screws into it (it wasnt that tight) and let off pressure. Guide and spring came out and I hooked piston out. Piston washer is held on by a screw and is made of leather with a fibre buffer. The screw had come undone a touch so I put a thin piece of leather under the buffer to give it a bit more cushioning. Clean and lube. Replace piston, mainspring and guide in cylinder and push down with your bit of tube. Locate and tighten bolt that goes into hole in guide. Push trigger block in so far and then fit scope ramp into slot and push right home. Replace end cap.Refit barrel and cocking arm linkage and tighten barrel pivot screw and lock screw. Replace the pin in the bracket the cocking lever goes through. Place action in stock and tighten both stock screws and replace sights if you took them off.

[Phil Russell]

Not sure if this is a collectable yet, but here are some notes I made after a strip and clean of an auction find: Sorry, no pictures. It can help to look at the Chambers parts diagram.
NOTES ON DISMANTLING AND REBUILD OF ORIGINAL 45

STOCK REMOVAL
2 screws front. Rear pin goes though the trigger. On our model it looks like a bolt with allen heads as the bushes the pin goes into are a bit mangled. But it is a pin that is drifted out.

SPRING AND PISTON REMOVAL
To gain access to the spring and piston, the trigger must be removed. This is best done with rifle secured and trigger pointing up.
With the barrel to your left:
Remove circlip holding the trigger unit to the end block (2nd circlip from left ... quite clear)
Release and remove spring on extreme left... simple
Lift trigger unit away

The spring preload is not excessive but I found it easier to use a spring compressor.
Use compressor to hold end block in place ... in effect this means holding against the safety block. I used a piece of wood to get a good contact on the straight edge.
Push out the two pins holding the block in position. This releases the safety leaf spring, but do not worry, it will not ping away but remain in the safety slide.
Release spring tension.
The end block with safety slide comes out, with the spring guide and spring. Remove the parts, noting which way round the end block goes in relation to the spring guide. The safety slide comes away from the spring guide. Do not lose the leaf spring.

To remove the piston, the cocking arm must be released. I released it at the breech block end by pushing the pin out. The pin is held in place with a circlip but this was missing on our rifle. Remove cocking arm.
The piston can be slid out.
The piston has a sleeve. If you remove the sleeve, take care that you do not lose the cocking shoe (about 2cm long x 6mm wide) as it is held in place on the piston by the sleeve.

Service as you wish.

REASSEMBLY

This is basically a reverse of the above but these notes may help.

Refitting the cocking shoe: A bit fiddly. I found it best to insert the piston body into the cylinder (not fully!), hold rifle upside down above my head, then add the cocking shoe (right way round) and jiggle it so that it lay in position in the slot of the piston. Then, still with the rifle upside down, add the piston sleeve. With care it is possible to slide the sleeve into the piston so that it goes over the cocking shoe and hold it in place.

Refitting piston and end block: With piston shoe fixed, replace rifle in compressor, barrel to the left and trigger housing such that the trigger will point up, and add the spring. At this point I refitted the cocking arm. Add spring.
Add the spring guide, flat uppermost, and end block, making sure the end block is positioned correctly with the lugs over the flat of the guide. Add the safety slide, making sure the slide fits snugly in the guide and that the safety is the right way up (leaf spring slot pointing up) Compress spring to bring the two pin slots into alignment. Take care when doing this that the flat on the spring guide stays true to the end block. I used a punch to hold and align the left pin holes. Insert pin in the left hole.
Now you can add the leaf spring for the safety. I used a punch to hold the legs of the spring apart, then introduced the spring such that the legs went either side of the pin just fitted. The spring ‘crinkle’ should be pointing up. The spring is now held by just the ‘crinkle’ on its left.
Release the compressor tension. Carefully pull the safety slide out to allow the rest of the leaf spring to be pushed down into the safety slot. Push safety in. It is now possible to fit the second pin through the block, with the pin passing through the leaf spring. This can be a little fiddly. Do not hammer it through. I found it easier to use a torch to see how the pin was aligning with the holes and to use the spring compressor to just add or release a little tension such that the pin slides easily into place.
Release spring compressor and check that the safety slide moves easily in and out.

Refitting trigger: Not a problem but a bit fiddly to get the pin in place. Slide trigger unit into position in the end block and add the pin. I used a drift to first locate the pin holes then carefully pushed the pin into place. You may need to jiggle the position of the trigger unit to get the pin to locate.
Refit circlip. Refit the spring on the left of trigger unit.

Refit action to stock: Simple but take care that the pin through the trigger has a clear path. This can be achieved by slightly moving the trigger and using a drift to align everything. Refit the stock pin and screws.

Job done.
Cheers, Phil

[Prewar]

Unscrew 2 trigger guard screws

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...ff/BBS/012.jpg

Pull trigger back and turn stock anti clockwise from cylinder to unscrew

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...ff/BBS/013.jpg

You can now access the mainspring

Unscrew bolt to remove cocking arm

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...ff/BBS/014.jpg

remove cocking arm from cocking slot

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...ff/BBS/015.jpg

You can now remove the piston assembly

[ggggr]

I dug the Merlin out of a box. I intended to strip, varnish and spray it with placticote when I move, but the Idiots guide got the better of me. I dont really know how to describe the strip and the Chambers page isnt much use but here goes.Take out loading tap and put in safe place!
Undo and remove front two stock screws and the one at the rear of the trigger guard (its like a woodscrew as it goes into plastic end cap). As you lift action out of stock, the sliding plate attached to the cocking lever will slide backwards until action can be lifted out. On mine the trigger guard came up and out with the gun, but it may well remain in place. The end cap slides out of the rear of cylinder with the trigger spring (note how the spring sits in recess in plastic). The trigger then slides out of cylinder. If you remove the cocking lever pivot pin (WATCH OUT FOR THE SPRING THAT SITS IN THE MIDDLE) then all the cocking lever stuff can be removed. THere is a pointy bit of thin steel that is the safety, which sits between the cocking lever, with the pointy bit facing forwards. There didnt seem any point in stripping that further so I just put a bit of GN paste and LT2 round it. To remove the mainspring and piston, you have to remove the funny spring clip at the rear of the cylinder that this gun has instead of a pin. GO TO NEXT POST.

[ggggr]

I assume there must be a special tool to do this and a big lump of round bar might help. A spare pair of helping hands would make it easier as well. I pushed down on the clip ans then flicked the bits that locate in the slots on the side of the cylinder out with a small screwdriver. Once out, release pressure and remove clip,gide,spring and piston. You will see a small serrated flatbar pin at the front of the piston. Tap this out with a punch and piston head will come off and you can change buffer and washer. (this piston head set up is a bit like the Mercury with flatbar instead of a round pin BUT the buffer material seems better than the later neoprene material). Clean and lube. Replace piston head and secure with pin. Replace piston, mainspring and guide and try to replace the spring clip. I tried to just close it slightly so it would enter cylinder and open up once in place. Replace cocking linkage and safety (remembering the spring in the middle). The safety is a bit of thin steel with a pointy end and a flat end. It sits with the pointy bit upwards and faces the front of the gun The spring seems to sit best with the open ends to the top and the closed end to the bottom. I am fairly sure you can leave the safety plate out and just use the spring (I'm sure I used mine like that before fitting the safety) .Replace trigger in cylinder and then put trigger spring into endcap and slide into cylinder ensuring spring locates behind trigger. I put the trigger guard into the stock and then slid the action in. Tighten the 3 scews and replace loading tap. This gun had a lot of paint in the cylinder and responded really well to a clean and lube. It is quite punchy for its size and a fun plinker.

UPDATE---I've seen 4 MK2 versions of these now and 3 different types of trigger spring. One of them has a double hook coil spring that hooks onto the safety sear spring and a hole at the front of the trigger. The other 2 have either a flat or round wire spring that goes behind the trigger. I've also seen both types of trigger guard on these.
Also I forgot to mention about the transporter (the tap thing) washer, base and spring (little bent washer). The base is a round metal thing with a spiggot on it that the washer sites on and they sit in the cylinder end along with the transporter spring. If you are replacing these, the transporter spring goes into the hole at the end of the cylinder with the point end facing outwards and then the metal side of the transporter base goes on top of that with the washer facing the transporter (tap).

[Citizen33]

I dug the Merlin out of a box. I intended to strip, varnish and spray it with placticote when I move, but the Idiots guide got the better of me. I dont really know how to describe the strip and the Chambers page isnt much use but here goes.Take out loading tap and put in safe place!
Undo and remove front two stock screws and the one at the rear of the trigger guard (its like a woodscrew as it goes into plastic end cap). As you lift action out of stock, the sliding plate attached to the cocking lever will slide backwards until action can be lifted out. On mine the trigger guard came up and out with the gun, but it may well remain in place. The end cap slides out of the rear of cylinder with the trigger spring (note how the spring sits in recess in plastic). The trigger then slides out of cylinder. If you remove the cocking lever pivot pin (WATCH OUT FOR THE SPRING THAT SITS IN THE MIDDLE) then all the cocking lever stuff can be removed. There didnt seem any point in stripping that further so I just put a bit of GN paste and LT2 round it. To remove the mainspring and piston, you have to remove the funny spring clip at the rear of the cylinder that this gun has instead of a pin. GO TO NEXT POST.

Thanks to Ggggr for his useful posts on the Merlin. Being more stupid than the average idiot, there were a couple of points that weren't clear to me and I thought more detail would help.

As you lift the action away from the stock one thing to be aware of is that the lever axis pin may be loose enough to drop out if you turn the assembly sideways, causing the safety sear and spring to fall out and leaving you unsure of their orientation (this is what happened with mine). The other thing is that once the end cap screw going through the trigger guard is removed, and you lift the action away from the stock the plastic end cap may pop out, letting the trigger spring fall out, and again leaving you in doubt about the relative positions. My advice would be to slowly lift the action a couple of inches from the stock and examine the positioning of these parts before you try to get the lever and sliding plate out.

The safety sear sits with the closed side towards the action and the long thin spur towards the barrel. The end of the spring with twin prongs sits inside the closed part of the sear and the end with a loop is tensioned against the trigger guard, which you will have to position carefully on top of the spring when you re-assemble. Putting a small hook through the looped end of the spring may make re-assembly easier.

The long end of the trigger spring sits behind the trigger (facing down and parallel), while the short end with bend is positioned in the square hole on the front of the plastic end cap.

I have made pdf diagrams of both assemblies, and also have a very helpful collection of photos from member Isobar (whose help was crucial in letting me fix my gun). I'm happy to forward these via pm, or if a moderator wants to add them to the thread will supply on request. I do not appear to have posting rights for images. As Grrrr noted, the diagram on Chambers' website isn't very helpful and doesn't show the safety sear.

[ggggr]

Unscrew 2 trigger guard screws

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...ff/BBS/012.jpg

Pull trigger back and turn stock anti clockwise from cylinder to unscrew

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...ff/BBS/013.jpg

You can now access the mainspring

Unscrew bolt to remove cocking arm

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...ff/BBS/014.jpg

remove cocking arm from cocking slot

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...ff/BBS/015.jpg

You can now remove the piston assembly

BSA Pre War Break Barrel Strip.

As the pics have gone from this and I have now bought one of these guns, I thought I would add a little to this post.
Unscrew the 2 trigger guard screws and remove the trigger guard. Unscrew the barrel pivot screw and lift the cocking arm out of the slot in the cylinder to free the barrel and breech block. You can unscrew and lube the cocking arm pivot screw now if you want. There is a little pin in the breech block, that retains the barrel plunger. You can drift this out and remove/clean and lube the barrel plunger and spring. Sometimes a little block of wood helps for pushing plungers back in far enough to relocate the pin.
Unscrew the trigger block, keeping tension to stop it flying as it clears the cylinder. The mainspring and piston should now come out. The mainspring on mine had a rough end so I heated it and flatted it. I think the piston washer should be a normal leather cup washer set up with a buffer and the dimpled steel washer, held by a screw. Unfortunately, the buffer washer was missing on mine and 5 small steel washers had been used instead. This meant that the piston had been slamming into the end of the cylinder and also damaged the head of the screw that holds the washer on. The piston rod should unscrew once you have undone the little lock screw, but as mine looked fine I just cleaned the piston up. I made up a buffer washer and found a dimpled steel washer to complete the piston washer set up. Before I put the gun back together, I undid the trigger pivot screw and removed the trigger and trigger spring for cleaning and lubing. I also cleaned out the trigger housing. I find this is worth doing on the old stuff as you might have grease that could be somewhere between 70 and 100 years old!. The trigger spring is located in a hole in the trigger housing and the trigger slid back in and lined up and the pivot screw replaced.
Refit your piston and mainspring and screw the trigger block back on. When It is located, replace the trigger guard and the 2 screws. Before you replace the barrel, it is worth checking the breech seal washer as these are often old/worn and are often the cause of low power.
Locate the cocking arm in the cylinder and locate the breech block in and barrel in the breech jaws. replace the pivot pin.

This was very low in power and I suspected the breech seal, which I had left in for now just to see how much difference it would make. Once the new seal was made up and put in, the gun shot quite well. I would say it is quite a well made little plinker.

[ggggr]

I have just found this on Chambers Website, which might help.https://www.gunspares.co.uk/products/24464/G71/ . I bought this recently to have a look at one. Unfortunately, the safety catch is missing although the gubbins are there on the inside. This came with a missing medallion, none original stock screws and the stock had broken at the fore end at some point and been repaired. This is more or less a G 78/79 with a different trigger and a barrel sleeve. The sleeve on mine will turn (I am guessing it shouldn't) so it either needs the foresight sliding back to hold it tighter or a washer/shim behind the sight. The sleeve slides over the barrel and is held in place by the foresight and there is a threaded piece at the end of the barrel that screws onto the barrel.

Undo the front stock screws and the rear one at the front of the trigger guard. The action should lift out of the stock, and leave behind a small cranked bit of metal that holds the trigger adjusting screw. It is located by the front trigger guard screw so if you have fully removed the screw there is a chance it could fall out of the stock. Lift the cocking arm out of the cylinder and undo the barrel pivot screw and remove the barrel/breech block. If you want you can undo the tiny screw on the LHS of the breech block and remover the barrel plunger and spring for lubing. I usually push the plunger with a small block of wood when removing or replacing it. Once you have lubed it, replace the spring and plunger back in the block and tighten the screw.
I am not sure how the safety attaches to the gubbins, but assume it would just hook on. The safety is just a simply rocking bar that stops the trigger from moving. It is located on a bar in the cylinder sleeve and centralised by a spacer and a spring. It does not need removing for the strip.
Put some weight onto the sleeve and you can remove the trigger pin/cylinder pin. Once it is removed, slowly release pressure and remover the cylinder sleeve, guide, mainspring and piston.
The piston washer is leather, with a fibre spacer below it and is held in place by a screw, ( which I prefer), rather than a threaded nut, like some of the Milbros.
As the screw was tight and the washer in good condition, I did not remove it. The mainspring in mine was something that someone had fitted and left the end rough, so I flatted the last coil and cleaned it up.
Go to pt 2