Just stripped the Stutty...

[johnbaz]

And what an absolute ball-ache of a job to get that stupid Maxgrip scope rail off the cylinder

I hade a curved tool to tap it back with out of a piece of flat stainless, hammered it to within an inch of it's life and still made a mess of it

Someone in the past has fitted a square section spring which for some reason they saw fit to grind down the outer diameter, the spring had been shortened very roughly with a grinder but then (and this really strange!!), they saw fit to stick a bit of broken ROUND section spring in too, i mean- what's the mentality of that?????, it will just screw itself up the square section spring and kill the effect of the last 20mm of the mainspring

I know- it was to lower the power to keep it legal

The gun was actually cocking and shooting very smoothly but was down on power (can't remember what it was now), i think mainly due to the fact that the O-ring was so worn that it was only around 75% of it's original thickness (i've never seen one with such wear....)

Just looked again, it's a round section spring that's been ground flat

Whichever Gunsmith did the work, he must have missed the broken off bit of spring and never got to work his magic with the grinder..

Anyhow, i think i'll polish it up (though it will need some metal removing as there were pits under the black paint that some unknown artist lovingly applied and then i'll get it reblued along with the HW35e that needs doing...


John...

[Sabo]

Sounds like you had mega fun stripping it down.
I know what you mean about the scope rail. Mine came off with no damage thankfully,but was very tight to shift. I thought i was going to have to resort to getting a sledge out the shed.

[edbear2]

Is that why they called them maxgrips




































Sorry mate, I too have sworn about previous "gunsmiths" work to some of my stuff, and know only too well that feeling of "WHAT THE $%^&*", when you start to pull out the innards

[johnbaz]

Sounds like you had mega fun stripping it down.
I know what you mean about the scope rail. Mine came off with no damage thankfully,but was very tight to shift. I thought i was going to have to resort to getting a sledge out the shed.

It was a nightmare but i was expecting it as i had read somewhere of how bad of a job it was to strip these things

It will be OK after i grind around 5mm from the front then clean it all up and apply a new coat of satin black paint..

Is that why they called them maxgrips



Sorry mate, I too have sworn about previous "gunsmiths" work to some of my stuff, and know only too well that feeling of "WHAT THE $%^&*", when you start to pull out the innards

Hi Ed- it was stuck like the proverbial brown stuff to a blanket

The strange thing was that the piston buffer was still OK but it was 'proper' black rubber rather than the green stuff that turns to hard plastic that crumbles once disturbed..


CFheers, John

[inproved]

Hi,

I was not brave enough to take my maxi grip rail off and I had a complete service at BSA......

Regards


Inproved

[Sabo]

What i used to shift mine,was a large copper mallet and a length of wood with a nice square end cut off it,which i placed against the end of the scope rail. Then rested the end of the cylinder on another bit of wood,while steadying the cylinder against me leg. Then gave it a few sharp taps. Oh alright then. Quite a few sharp taps

[T 20]

O-ring was so worn that it was only around 75% of it's original thickness


John...

Hi John

I've never been inside a Stutzen but this piston head doesn't look like a BSA part to me.

The O ring normally fits further forward on the head and the front of the head is radiused to correspond with the inside end of the cylinder.

It could be that the O ring is about the right size but the ring groove has been machined too wide (normally about 0.13" to 0.14" wide).

I could be wrong ?????


All the best Mick

[edbear2]

Hi John, Have never done one of these, but from your pics it looks as if the rail is Aluminium, and slides into the slots on the cylinder....So maybe it was assembled in a press/fixture in at the factory with a slight interference fit

Any, if this was the case, it may be a bit looser to refit, so may need a bit of locktite....if still tight It may be a plan to put the action in the fridge overnight and the rail in the oven at say 150 degrees, or even in boiling water...this should help in re-assembly

also to remove one from scratch next time, a bit of careful application of heat from a propane torch to the rail may help things.

As I say, I have never done one, and am not 100% sure on how they fit...just throwing some ideas about after looking at your photographs.......I may be talking total spherical objects here (won't be the first time!)

Atb, Eddie

[benchstop]

The maxigrips I have had the pleasure of owning have had a buffer strip of rubber between rail and cylinder. Why bsa used this system is beyond me, they even made them the non std size of 14mm.
Mine came off fine with a few taps with a hammer and block of wood, a little downward pressure too.

Mike

[Arch.Stanton?]

Yep these are a pain to even try and remove and that rubber strip doesn't like to budge - at all . A press would have been used to fit this rail and would assume that one would be needed to remove it . To anyone who managed to remove the rail - hats off to you !

[copperjacket]

Looks to me as though it has had a robb steel piston head conversion. Not sure why two Piston seals have been fitted.

[johnbaz]

Looks to me as though it has had a robb steel piston head conversion. Not sure why two Piston seals have been fitted.

The rear one is a buffer as fitted to most airsporters from the 70's onwards but it's rubber rather than the plastic stuff that crumbles..

I'm fairly sure that the rifle has never been apart before as the scope rail wasn't mashed (until i had a go at it!!) and it was soooo very tight, it felt as though it had never been removed before (and the rail has to be removed before the piston can be withdrawn )

The piston head isn't removeable, the O-ring has worn badly down, probably due to lack of lubrication, there was a very thin ring of rubber also that i pulled off, it was likeit had spliar around the circumference...



John

[hwvixen]

Iv'e not seen one of those either.....but if you want an aluminium "jobby"..you know where to come...

[copperjacket]

The rear one is a buffer as fitted to most airsporters from the 70's onwards but it's rubber rather than the plastic stuff that crumbles..

I'm fairly sure that the rifle has never been apart before as the scope rail wasn't mashed (until i had a go at it!!) and it was soooo very tight, it felt as though it had never been removed before (and the rail has to be removed before the piston can be withdrawn )

The piston head isn't removeable, the O-ring has worn badly down, probably due to lack of lubrication, there was a very thin ring of rubber also that i pulled off, it was likeit had spliar around the circumference...



John

John if the piston head is not removeable then you couldn't fit a buffer as it is placed between the head and the piston. On my piston there is a very small pin holding the 2 together which you may well see if you remove the remains of the so called buffer. Are you sure some one hasn't tried strokeing this by removing the buffer and then adding a spare ring to try and smooth things out? May be worth checking the rear of the slot in the piston?

[edbear2]

The maxigrips I have had the pleasure of owning have had a buffer strip of rubber between rail and cylinder. Why bsa used this system is beyond me, they even made them the non std size of 14mm.
Mine came off fine with a few taps with a hammer and block of wood, a little downward pressure too.

Mike

I think, now I have read about the rubber strip, that a good blast of silicon spray beforehand would help as well as the rubber strip is probably the "sticking point" .see what I did there!