Haenel 303-Super piston seal.....

[cooper_dan]

I picked up a Haenel 303-Super at Melbourne last weekend and so far I'm quite liking working on.
Started stripping it today as I was told it had been sat in a cupboard for quite a few years, and found a load of shrapnel embedded in the piston seal





My current best guess is someone put ball bearings down the barrel to try to shoot them out.... Then they fell through the transfer port into the main chamber......

Also, any tips on removing scratches from the inside of the compression chamber?

[piggy589]

Bought a late model 303 in .22 last week,the seller admitted it's down on power.

Do they all use a leather piston seal and what diameter is the chamber bore?.

[Modski66]

Hi cooper_dan,

I bought a 303-S earlier this year, so far I have fettled the internals along the lines of B.B. Pelletier's blog, (see link). There are about 15 parts to this in total, some were not relevant to me, but I copied and pasted them all into Word and printed it off so I can have it handy the shed. (PM me if you would like a copy emailing to you).

http://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2009/...-super-part-1/

My seal was thankfully in reasonable condition, but quite dry, I soaked it in oil with the breech seal for a few days while I did the other bits. Although not scratched, I smoothed the inside of the main chamber with some fine wet & dry, wrapped around a wooden rod and wetted with oil rather than water. I completely re-built the trigger assembly, polishing all contacting parts and adding a smear of moly and some washers and PTFE shims to stop some of the lateral movement. I have removed the 'David Dickenson' finish from the stock and sharpened up the profile to make it look a bit more modern, with a bit of an HW-55CM theme.

I am part way through fashioning an adjustable butt pad, but my big quandary is how to re-finish the beech stock. Do I go for natural oiled finish to give it a cleaner, match-rifle look, or do I opt for a darker, walnut-type finish?

My experiments with Danish oil on some of the trimmings have narrowed it down to two options Jacobean oak = walnut-ish, or natural = errrr, beech!

My leaking shed roof has taken priority recently, but I am itching to get it finished and down the range to see if this rifle shooting lark is as easy as it looks!

Cheers,

Mark.

[cooper_dan]

Mark, thanks for that link its interesting reading. I've also stripped the orange finish off the stock and started staining it with a mixture of Danish oil and a fairly bright red wood stain. I think my first few coats were not enough red so it's a very faint tint of colour, and now a stronger mixture isn't making it much darker. I think the first coat has effectively sealed the wood. So if you want a particular colour I would get it on in the first coat.

I'm just letting my seal soak a bit and will hopefully take it bell target shooting next Tuesday to see how it does

[Modski66]

Where do you go for the bell target shooting? I have never had a go, but I know there is a club in Melbourne.

Cheers, Mark.

[cooper_dan]

Hi Mark,

I go to a pub in Whitwick (three crowns) which has been going for about 3 months I believe (but I've only been 3 or 4 times).
There is one in Melbourne (Melbourne Marskmen), Bosworth and loads in Hinckley. There is a Facebook group called 6 and 7 yard shooting where people might know more clubs