HW 45 strip down guide with pictures

[schony]

Personally I would make sure those rough cocking slots were smoothed out and as it is apart would be a false economy not to replace the seal, I replaced my spring and seal. The only problem I have now is keeping the breech seal in place. It is still having a tendency to drop out every now and then. Now I know why the previous owner kept 4 spare breech seals inside the grips lol. I have tried grease to keep it in place but not very successful so if anyone has any other solutions please let me know.

[Mark A]

You could maybe go for a slightly larger O-ring. Just need to find out what size the current ones are then get one that's half a mil thicker to see if it helps.

What would you say is the best way to go about smoothing the cocking slots out? On my Cometa I used a dremel, but I'm not sure i'll get in with it as they are so small on the HW45.

Did you just go for another HW piston seal or an aftermarket one?

[schony]

You could maybe go for a slightly larger O-ring. Just need to find out what size the current ones are then get one that's half a mil thicker to see if it helps.

What would you say is the best way to go about smoothing the cocking slots out? On my Cometa I used a dremel, but I'm not sure i'll get in with it as they are so small on the HW45.

Did you just go for another HW piston seal or an aftermarket one?

I will try a different size o ring but dont hold much hope. It seems that the tiny bit of a lip on the breech that retains the o ring may not be there, but I will try.
The cocking slots I used a power drill, dowel and emery cloth being careful not to mark the cylinder proper.
I bought my piston seal from Chambers, I assume it was weihrauch part.
I found in my 45 that the piston was VERY tight. at one point I had the remove the breech end of the action to punch the piston out. I polished and polished to make the piston a better fit. All works ok now, just that pesky breech o ring problem

[peteswright]

I will try a different size o ring but dont hold much hope. It seems that the tiny bit of a lip on the breech that retains the o ring may not be there, but I will try.
The cocking slots I used a power drill, dowel and emery cloth being careful not to mark the cylinder proper.
I bought my piston seal from Chambers, I assume it was weihrauch part.
I found in my 45 that the piston was VERY tight. at one point I had the remove the breech end of the action to punch the piston out. I polished and polished to make the piston a better fit. All works ok now, just that pesky breech o ring problem

If it was mine, with this problem,I MIGHT try cleaning the groove and back of seal with a solvent and the pop a drop of something like clear nail varnish or rubber sealant in and setting the seal on it over night to maybe help it stick in. Mine has never fallen out so perhaps, as mentioned yours might not be the correct size! I think id try an alternative seal or two first though before going Heath Robinson on it. ATB. Pete. Ps. You're not overlubing it with oil are you?

[schony]

If it was mine, with this problem,I MIGHT try cleaning the groove and back of seal with a solvent and the pop a drop of something like clear nail varnish or rubber sealant in and setting the seal on it over night to maybe help it stick in. Mine has never fallen out so perhaps, as mentioned yours might not be the correct size! I think id try an alternative seal or two first though before going Heath Robinson on it. ATB. Pete. Ps. You're not overlubing it with oil are you?

I have never used any oil near the breech o ring , BUT a guy on here suggested I try a small dab of silicone grease to see if that will hold it but it doesnt. Your idea with the nail varnish seems to be the solution. I will try that today and leave it over night.

[thisisdonald]

rather than nail varnish, id be inclined to give it a proper clean out with a solvent and use something like Fernox LS-X applied with a toothpick to the back of the seal before seating... reason being it is flexible and will not crack or deteriorate over time, also if you want to remove it, it will be much easier.

[schony]

rather than nail varnish, id be inclined to give it a proper clean out with a solvent and use something like Fernox LS-X applied with a toothpick to the back of the seal before seating... reason being it is flexible and will not crack or deteriorate over time, also if you want to remove it, it will be much easier.

I had some fernox but it went off. Sounds a good idea. As you say if stays flexible. I supose a silicone sealant would work as well? I dont have any of that either at the moment lol

[thisisdonald]

its just the fernox is sticker and stiffer and sticks better than normal silicon.. 3 quid a tube at ye hardware shoppe, and its amazing stuff.. Ive repaired all sorts of things with it... believe it or not it will seal a leak on a central heating pipe while its leaking.. I dont think it would do a cold mains, but its pretty sticky. The last thing I repaired with it was the tap blanking plate on the front of my s#kitchen sink. It was loose and when I went to tighten it up, the back snapped off leaving a bloody big hole in my sink I just placed the plate where it should sit and smeared a dollop of LS-X on the back of it... half an hour later it was solid

[schony]

its just the fernox is sticker and stiffer and sticks better than normal silicon.. 3 quid a tube at ye hardware shoppe, and its amazing stuff.. Ive repaired all sorts of things with it... believe it or not it will seal a leak on a central heating pipe while its leaking.. I dont think it would do a cold mains, but its pretty sticky. The last thing I repaired with it was the tap blanking plate on the front of my s#kitchen sink. It was loose and when I went to tighten it up, the back snapped off leaving a bloody big hole in my sink I just placed the plate where it should sit and smeared a dollop of LS-X on the back of it... half an hour later it was solid

I will get some, 3 quid cant grumble at that, thanks for the idea.

[schony]

Sussed, or at least i think it is. paying close attention to closing the pistol, the pellets i was using were superdomes in the old tin with the orange lid were not seating flush with the end of the barrel so the 1 mm or so protruding was snagging the o ring. Strangely enough new superdomes in the tin with black lid fit perfect, no snagging no breech seal problem. I have none the less used some fernox to stick it in place and it all seems ok.

[Mark A]

I did a little bit of modding on the breech area. It didnt look like the barrel was contacting the breech seal very well, so I made a shim out of a coke can to move the barrel back a tad. Just cut a little square out and then made a 90o bend and then placed this in the square cutout on the barrel, with the 90o bent bit up against the shoulder nearest the breech. So when the fixing plate goes on the barrel is forced toward the breech by the thickness of the coke can material. Closes nice and tight now.

I also noticed on the barrel where they have countersunk it to allow easier pellet insertion, there was a bit of a rough edge around this where they hadn't cleaned in up properly after machining it. So took some very fine 1500g wet and dry and bent it up into a square and used the corner to carefully smooth out the burr. Then put a bit of autosol on a pencil to polish the area. Should hopefully prolong the life of the seals a bit now.