Scope creep on an Osprey?

[Ulverston]

Hi Chaps,
been playing with an Osprey that I had been thinking of selling but ... anyway put a scope on it as I havent used it before and the scope eventually flew off-caught by my cat like reflexes! I always thought that the Osprey was an under stressed rifle? Will a one peice mount work or scope arrestor? It does seem harsh to shoot is this normal?
Thanks

[johnbaz]

Hi Chaps,
been playing with an Osprey that I had been thinking of selling but ... anyway put a scope on it as I havent used it before and the scope eventually flew off-caught by my cat like reflexes! I always thought that the Osprey was an under stressed rifle? Will a one peice mount work or scope arrestor? It does seem harsh to shoot is this normal?
Thanks

Hello Ulverston (i used to live on Ulverston road here in Sheffield )

if your osprey is harsh on the firing cycle it could be that there's an air leak somewhere, i've had a few sidelever (and underlever) rifles that when shot, it feels like the piston is hammering into the end of the cylinder with very little buffering.
usually a new piston seal can cure it but sometimes it's wear in the loading tap which is much harder to deal with...

If you can get a smoother cycle the problem should go away...


John

[keith66]

I used to have an Osprey one of the most accurate rifles i have ever shot.
They have a plain steel piston with two piston rings of phospor bronze, this explains why they might seem a bit harsh, I have a new pair of PTFE Bronze rings if they are any good to you.

[Ulverston]

Hi Keith,
thanks for the offer but Im not going to strip the Osprey as Im mechanically inept! May try a scope stop...

[david9d]

If you do decide to strip the Osprey (or indeed get someone else to do it for you ) then I have a copy of the handbook in pdf format I can share.
It has a good write up on how to strip and re-build.

Regards
David

[Ulverston]

Thanks for the offer but I would probably lose a limb if I tried to strip it. I actually got a tip from gggr which was to use a webley scope and mounts-IT WORKS!
Does this mean all webley scope rails are made this way or was it a marketing ploy for a while? The scope has not moved at all though I am limited to 4X32...I suppose its the same age as the gun.

[gingernut]

I find that if you use a little socket set on your mounts rather than an allen key it stops creep. Obviously dont go mad and dont use it on the tube mounts. FWBs like to discard their scopes and this worked on mine.