If Ox springs are so bad then why do.......

[bozzerman]

I'm going to sound like a real hypocrite now.....

I first fitted an Ox spring to a Webley Vulcan many years ago. The gun cocked like a pig and shot like a pig. After a few hundred shots the holes at the back of the action had elongated.

I fitted another one (again many years ago) to a HW77. I nearly lost an eye fitting the damn thing. The gun again cocked like a pig and shot like a pig. The recoil made you think it must be doing @ 50FP but it was actually doing 13FP....still over the limit.....the spring was removed after just a few shots. When I removed the spring the rear spring guide was totally ruined. The spring had ripped it to bits.

Now the hypocrite bit.....some time later I bought an old Diana 38 off a local old guy who had quite a collection. It was .22. The gun seemed to cock and shoot well enough. I tested the gun and it was doing 14FP. I stripped the gun and inside was a square section spring......I'm presuming an Ox. However on this spring the square coils seemed to sit squarer (I know that sounds daft). In other Ox springs that I've seen/used the coils sort of bend over so the spring is presenting a sharp edge in contact with the guide etc. Maybe this had been worn in? Anyway I replaced it with a round spring but kept it.

Just last year a local lad brought a HW77 to me that he said wasn't shooting right. I stripped the gun and the spring was broke. He hadn't got any money so I told him I had an old square spring that I could fit (it was the right size) but couldn't promise it wouldn't wreck the gun. The gun looked like it had been mis-used anyway. He said to fit the spring. I fitted the square spring with a top hat. It fitted the rear guide really well and the length was probably no more than a Venom F1.....as I say this spring may have been well worn in the Diana.

The gun cocked and shot as smooth as anything I'd owned. It shot .22 at @ 11.5FP and was very very consistent. He's still got it now.

As I said....I'm not sure if this was an Ox but it worked well.

I'd still say don't buy one.

Boz

[I. J.]

I fitted another one (again many years ago) to a HW77. I nearly lost an eye fitting the damn thing.
Boz

Perhaps Ox spring SHOULD have a health warning on them.

Personally I always use Ox springs (in my pogo stick, on my garden gate etc.) but never in my airguns.

I remember the hype launch of the Ox spring. For months in advance Airgun World just carried the wording 'ITS COMING'. By the time 'it' arrived (the Ox) everyone wanted one wether you needed one or not.

[Eightpots]

I remember the hype launch of the Ox spring. For months in advance Airgun World just carried the wording 'ITS COMING'. By the time 'it' arrived (the Ox) everyone wanted one wether you needed one or not. [/QUOTE]

Good exercise in marketing then. How much did the makers of Ox pay the mags I wonder?

The best results I've seen with one of these springs is when a couple of coils have been cut off. Put one in a rifle and took 3 coils off and put a spacer behind the piston to take up the slack. Proper lube job and the rifle run quite sweetly. Wasn't harsh at all. Stayed within the legal limit too.

[I. J.]

[QUOTE How much did the makers of Ox pay the mags I wonder?
[/QUOTE]

Normal magazine advertising rates I would have thought but if that advertising campaign is a result of todays 'need' for an Ox its repaid them well.

A.T.B.
Ian

[Big Si]

I have found that if you use a manufacturers replacement spring, that you clean and polish well (Dremils are good for this) then make sure that the top hat is free to move and a good re-lube then in most cases it always makes them shoot better. I sometimes make a plastic spring guide from a pop bottle and ocasionally I will add a washer or two at the front of the spring behind the piston. However any thing over 11fps is OK. Also because it's not a radical tune the gun usually shoots as smothly if not more so than before.

Rgds

Big Si