I have just joined the site and introduced myself in an earlier posting. I am impressed by the helpfulness and knowledge of the members, with a wealth of information to be discovered here. Alas, the technical practicalities are beyond my abilities.

History: I owned a variety of air rifles from the age of 12, trading each in for the subsequent purchase. I bought a new Mk3 in 1973 (£29), then a HW35 (the spring deteriorated after about 1000+ shots), then a 1970s BSA Airsporter (erratic power), and a FW127 (a pleasing rifle). I found satisfaction with an Original 45, which I still possess but now never use. In 1998, I bought a re-conditioned BSA Standard 2 (1939) from John Knibbs, which does about 8ft/lbs but has possibly since improved after shooting about 500 pellets and wearing in the new parts.

Mark 3: I have nostalgia for the Mk3, not least its fine lines and reliability and am now buying an A Series (1968 production) for £300, which has only shot some 1000 pellets. It is probably not possible to find anything unused and this one has hopefully only just been run in.

Having rediscovered my enthusiasm for air rifles, I should be grateful for guidance with respect to the following and dare say some of the answers will assist other readers:

1 Lubrication: Probably, the leather washer (the gun has never been taken apart) will be dry, so should I fill the tap loader with some ‘Weboil’, allowing this to soak in for 24 hours or so? What quantity should I use for this purpose?

2 Greasing: What grease should be used for the mainspring? I have some old Abbey gun grease LT2 – molybdenum - designed for compression springs, so presume this is well-suited.

3 It used to be said that one could fire underlevers with the tap loader in the open position, for testing purposes. I recall John Knibbs advising me this, which reconfirmed what others had informed me as a boy. Is this correct?

4 On a similar hue, if one accidentally fires an air rifle without a pellet in the breach, will this cause irreparable damage or would this have to happen several times before serious damage occurred?

5 Should an underlever be loaded only after cocking? If the weapon is later uncocked, with a pellet in the breech, can it then be re-cocked without losing efficiency or will the air intake into the air chamber be reduced if a pellet is in the tap? If so, it is evident the pellet must be fired if a quarry escapes, rather than allowing the spring to suffer undue pressure over a prolonged period.

6 It is sad to learn that Eley Wasp has discontinued and that the cast machinery has been destroyed, in favour of an inferior Wasp brand today. It seems, from this site, that Milbro Caledonian Ultras are the preferred alternative, with RWS Superdomes also attractive. Any views on accuracy and power? Are these closer to the .22 measurements (5.6mm?)?

7 Is it possible to source original Eley Wasps anywhere?

8 Apart from the scope rail, the tap loader lever and some trigger alterations, were there any design alterations to the Mk3 which actually impacted on performance between the various Series produced, during the production of this weapon between 1947-1975?

Possibly, some of these questions should be separate threads themselves but I did not want to clutter the forum with too many threads. Quite happy to submit them separately if this helps, however, as many are general and not restricted to the Mk3.

Any information from forum members would be gratefully received.

Rgds to all
Andrew.