HW 45 strip down guide with pictures

[ateallthepies]

Also posted in the general section...

I finally went ahead and stripped my naughty 45 after reading others posts on how easy it was.

This was to refine the gun and to stop frequent detonations, not to increase the power.

I used the well known written guide here...

http://my.tbaytel.net/coopers/HW45Review/review.html

... you can use his guide and refer to my pictures if it helps?

First job is to put a paper clip here...

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...ies/001-44.jpg

Then loosen this 2mm allen screw but don't remove...

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...ies/002-34.jpg

You then need to push out this pin, mine was very loose...

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...ies/003-30.jpg

Once this is done, pull the hammer back to open the gun but don't fully cock, the two halves can be separated with a wiggle of the two rods...

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...ies/004-21.jpg

Underneath there is a larger 2.5mm allen screw that needs to be loosened. Mine had thread lock on it which a hair dryer sorted out...

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...ies/005-22.jpg

Go then to the back of the gun and drift out the large pin. I needed to use a hammer and punch for this one...

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...ies/006-20.jpg

Then remove that 2.5mm allen screw and the compression tube will then lift out with another small amount of wiggling and prying and maybe pull the hammer fully back as well...

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...ies/007-14.jpg

Now comes the part I thought would be hard, the removal of the spring out the compression tube.
It turned out to be easy!
I used a quick grip clamp to hold the compression tube then drifted out the pin on one end completely....

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...ies/008-16.jpg

Then using a small hammer I tapped gently the clamps release bar and the spring came out the tube a bit at a time. It helps if you hold the compression tube while tapping so nothing pings out sideways.
There was a lot of pre-load but the whole spring removal was easy...

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...ies/009-12.jpg

This is the guts of the 45...

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...pies/010-9.jpg

I was expecting the thing to be covered in grease but I was surprised to find a moderate amount. Still, some had worked in front of the seal and there was also a couple of gouges on the seal. This must have been causing the detonations?...

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...pies/011-5.jpg

So I degreased everything, removed some small burrs from the slots and re-lubed and re-assembled in reverse order.

Like I say, for now I was not looking to increase power but to smooth out the stroke and stop the dieseling.

Upon chronoing it I found the power had indeed not changed and it still shoots .177 Hobbies out at a consistent 510-520 fps.
Also there was not one detonation or high reading out the 50 or so pellets I ran through it today.
It does smoke slightly on some shots but no where near the same level as before.

So if you have one of these and it needs to be tamed, have a go!

ATB,

Steve

[Bob.]

Is it just me, or can anyone else not see the photo's?
Bob.

[ateallthepies]

Ah yes, I copied and pasted from the general section and links to pics don't when you do that, I forgot.

Will fix....



Steve.

[ateallthepies]

Fixed


Steve.

[Bob.]

Fixed


Steve.

Thanks.

[BobSki]

What a brilliant thread. Thank you Steve, excellent photos and nice simple explanations, even I could sort my HW45 with your instructions.

Well done and thanks for taking the time and the trouble.

All the best
Bob

[ateallthepies]

Thanks.

I have been wanting to strip mine for ages but was put off by people saying they are complicated??

I knew of the written guides but failed to find any guides with pictures which always help.

Now I have done it once I reckon it's a 5 minute job to get it apart!


Steve.

[davidy]

Thanks.

I have been wanting to strip mine for ages but was put off by people saying they are complicated??

I knew of the written guides but failed to find any guides with pictures which always help.

Now I have done it once I reckon it's a 5 minute job to get it apart!


Steve.

Many thanks for this thread. Fab.

davidy

[parria]

Cheers for the info Steve,

Just spent an afternoon with the '45 and your guide (moly spring grease all over the shop )

The 'beast' is now running a consistant 480fps with 8.44 FX's thanks to your show 'n' tell guide with no smoke ! , the neighbours thought there was a new pope everytime I used it beforehand

Excellent guide and a good boy gold star from me !

Many Thanks,

Ian

[IvanM]

My 5 y/o HW45 has always dieseled from new, it also creaked horribly when cocking. This despite me paying a tidy sum to those nice folks in Hull, a couple of years ago, to supposedly sort it out. When I got it back it continued creaking and dieseling exactly like before. On phoning I was assured it would soon stop: two years on it still hadn't. Now having seen the mess of grease muck and swarfe around the spring and the amount of oil sloshing around the compression chamber, I know why. It really is hard to guess what they actually did.

Things are very different now though! Having stripped down, degreased, de-burred (the slots were very ragged and would have torn up the new seal), put in new a new piston seal and re-lubed (very sparingly), I now have the pistol that I should have had 5 years ago. Cocking is almost silent, NO DIESELING (really i.e. no smoke, no crack, no smell). On firing there is one clean snap of recoil and no ringing. :-)

Thank you very much, your picture guide gave me the confidence to tackle a job which had previously daunted me.

[ateallthepies]

Thanks chaps, glad to help.

Another thing I did on subsequent strip was to make a spring shield out of a soft drinks can.

Apart from stopping excess spring grease working in front of the seal from out the cocking slots, it may help with any twang as it makes the spring a tighter fit in the compression tube.

Worth a go if your in there?

ATB,

Steve.

[schony]

They say a picture paints a thousand words. It certainly does in this case. Thank you for a very informative article
Alan

[peteswright]

Excellent!!! Thanks for going to the trouble. Im sure it will be a help to many. ATB. Pete.

[fox87]

thanks for posting this, I own a hw45 and its a great pistol! owned one back in the 80s when they first came out.love spending time target shooting in the back garden.

[Mark A]

Just taken my Blackstar apart and have the exact same marks on the piston seal. Must be due to the rought cocking slots . Did you just re-use it or replace with a new one?