Reply With QuoteEwwwww. That looks like gangrene. You can get rid of the buffer altogether by long-stroking your BSA, just be careful not to dry-fire it (I know you won't).
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It's a well known fact the plastic used by BSA for their buffer washers will degrade over time & eventually jam the piston as it swells & falls to bits, I've found the same thing with breech seals as well.
It has been described as 'Swiss Cheese', well it doesn't look like any nationality of cheese to me, but I have mistaken it for a leather washer before.
All the guns with these washers will be the best part of 30 years old at the least, you've probably already done it, but if you haven't it's probably better to swap them out sooner rather than later.
Here's what came out of a BSA Scorpion pistol tonight with a new washer for contrast, the perfect example - so everyone knows what they're looking at...
may also be employed in conjunction with a drawn reciprocation dingle arm, to reduce sinusoidal repleneration
Ewwwww. That looks like gangrene. You can get rid of the buffer altogether by long-stroking your BSA, just be careful not to dry-fire it (I know you won't).
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It crossed my mind, but I'll just settle for grinding about 1.5mm off the front of the piston to make it square. It's not for the increase in stroke (1.5mm - whoopee!) it's so the piston head fits the end of the compression tube better.
may also be employed in conjunction with a drawn reciprocation dingle arm, to reduce sinusoidal repleneration
In the Olde Days people would replace the buffer with tap washers from a hardware shop. This was mainly for convenience and penny-pinching, but as far as I know most tap-washers last for generations and never, ever turn into cheese. The main problem is with aesthetics, as the washer with the right size inner hole is smaller in its outer diameter than the BSA washer, causign an odd-looking 'waisted' piston.
The radiused piston front is annoying isn't it? Like a wonky picture hanging on the wall, you just HAVE to sort it out.
Even better looking than a HW35
Had the very problem happen to my Challenger, I had to buy a very long and thin screw driver, take the barrel off and feed the screw driver end through the transfer port and beat the living shite out of the piston to force it out
And whilst you're at it make sure the nut that holds the threaded cup on the trigger housing is tight as if they loosen then it will just spin and not come off, unless you cut it off, another thing that happened to my Challenger, bloody cursed it was.
So do it whilst the piston can come out willingly.
Pete
Far too many rifles to list now, all mainly British but the odd pesky foreigner has snuck in
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I was lucky, I'd put it away for about a few months preparatory to servicing it, firing OK, but when I got it out of the cupboard it was jammed.
I got off very lightly, I gave it a good squirt of WD40 & then banged the open end of the compression tube downward hard on a piece of wood a few time & the piston started to shift, it can be so much worse...
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I was looking at the TR robb piston head for the scorpion.
It seems he doesn't use a buffer, unless I've missed some relevant information some where.
Do scorpions really need a buffer?
This is one reason I always wince at boxed "unfired" Airsporters and the like, as no matter how mint and unfired, chances are you are going to need to take a hammer to them if you intend to actually use the things
I have done a few now, and have found that Acetone as a last resort can get all moving as it dissolves the gloop / crystals which are the remnants of the buffer, with the normal precautions obviously (ie. place your cigar / pipe to one side), Obviously the nylon head will suffer, but one Mercury I did was literally welded solid by the mess inside, and in desperation I injected Acetone through the transfer and it started to shift.
ATB, Ed
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Having a few BSA's, what, and where/from whom, are good long lasting relacements? I have a mint Centenary, Airsporter S; and a pretty nice Challenger to pick up!
You can't say muntjack without saying mmmmm
Sounds to me like I need to check out the couple of BSA rifles I've got, a MkII Meteor and an Airsporter Centenial. Both still work but the Airsporter's not been apart in over 10 years and I've never stripped the Meteor. I checked out the scrap Scorpion (a 20 year old "project" that never got started) that resides in my dad's loft and that's solid
The South of England has 2 good things, the M1 and the A1. Both will take you to Yorkshire.
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