Idiots guide to classic airgun strips (pt 1)

[ggggr]

Its a common question about mainsprings for these. As they are a Bas---d to cock anyhow, I think an old style Meteor spring to be about the best option although they will take the later one if you wont listen to sense.Withdraw the piston. It should have a leather washer rivetted to the piston. If this needs changing, either buy the leather one and the rivet,or try one of these options. (I tapped one piston to 5/16 Bsf and used a countersunk screw--You could tap some round bar and drop it in the piston to do the same job-- Or see whether you can get a ptfe washer that will fit and do the same thing. Im sure some modern guns must have washers near the right size). Clean and lube. Replace your piston. Replace sear,trigger and trigger spring. Now refit your mainspring and endcap and pin. If your gun has been grinding when cocking,the little Piece of fibre/nylon on the cocking arm may be worn. You can pick this out with a small screwdriver, put some araldite underneath it and replace it a few mm proud (leave araldite over night to go off). Replace cocking arm and pivot screw. Replace cocking lever, pivot and lock screw. GO TO NEXT POST

[ggggr]

Replace loading tap,spring and nut and tighten (again using forked screwdriver or punch for last couple of turns). Replace action in stock and tighten front two screws. Replace rear screw ---VERY IMPORTANT! You need to pull the trigger while you are tightening this screw to make sure it goes all the way home. If you do not, it feels home but can come loose when you cock the gun and result in a split stock. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. Replace the trigger adjusting screw and its spring in the centre of that screw. If this screw is missing then the screws out of a light switch plate can be cut down and the head filed to do the job and a biro spring can be used. The adjuster screw doesnt really do much and the guns seem to work fine without them.

[ggggr]

This is a later Relum break barrel, Introduced in 1978? to relace the larger Relum break barrel. It seems to have simalar styling to a Webley Hawk mk3 although the rear of the stock is much shorter. It has a different trigger to the ealy Relum 322/tornado,s that I have seen but it is the same as the super Tornado I think. I think I put the trigger back together the wrong way (more later). I like the fact they have done away with that fine thread rear stock screw,which I consider a weak point on the Tornado as you have to pull the trigger when you are tightening it or the screw doesnt go all the way home. The gun is lighter than you think it should be but I reckon its a good rifle to give to someone who knows nothing about them. ie-- its hard to break or mistreat.
If you are removing the rearsight it is necessary to undo the lockscrew you can see through the hole in the top of the sight. Once removed, you can drift the pin out (watch for 2 springs). Remove front two stock screws and one in front of trigger guard and lift action from stock. Undo cocking arm pivot and remove cocking arm. Break barrel and remove barrel pivot lock screw and barrel pivot and remove barrel and its shims. GO TO NEXT POST

[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