I've just bought a B2 (deluxe!!) phnar, phnar.

[CapitalBee]

Well, I've just bought my first B2
Sadly my local air rifle shop was closing this week and all stock had to go. I called in to chew the fat and wish the owners all the best and whilst I was there a couple of lonely looking B2's were there. Both the deluxe versions, with a pretty passable stock and fibre optic opens, I took the gamble and stumped up £45. My main aim was to see if they were really so crepe internally and what could be done. Well I cleaned the barrel with some pull throughs and fired a couple of shots - It resembled a powder burner . So to bits she came. Now this is where I was pleasantly surprised. Firstly, both spring ends flattened and finished. Then a properly turned delrin guide with slip washer, with a boss that centralised it to the trigger block . The piston, wasn't too shabby and it was topped off with a reasonable copy of an HW nylon seal. After cleaning and re-assembly the seal was also a reasonable fit. What did I have to do? Well I polished the spring ends and cleaned out all the old oil. Use of moly was limited to where it needed to go (not in front of the piston). I also had to put a small pinch on the breech jaws as they were 0.5mm bigger than the breech. Well, all back together and I just need to bed it in and see how it goes for accuracy and power. The spring had a lot of preload (easily 70mm) and the transfer port is a bit to big for my liking, resulting in a slammy action on firing, but I can happily play with this knowing if I fu, I mean mess up, not a lot is lost.
I seem to remember Mick (T20) did some work on B2 previously, so would welcome some advice.

[Shed tuner]

sleave down the transfer port mate (I'm sure that's what Mick did too)... I forget how long they are (too long), but IIRC they are around 4mm dia - sleave it down with a brass plug loctited in, and drill say a 2.5mm port - then gradually open up... optimum will be less thanm 3.0mm max I'd guess

[CapitalBee]

Thanks John.

[tinbum]

£45 for two B2's? They saw you coming!

[TonyL]

sleave down the transfer port mate (I'm sure that's what Mick did too)... I forget how long they are (too long), but IIRC they are around 4mm dia - sleave it down with a brass plug loctited in, and drill say a 2.5mm port - then gradually open up... optimum will be less thanm 3.0mm max I'd guess

Yep, that is what Mick did.......PLUS he then mounted it into his "sliding action, recoilless" thingy, causing much bemusement to peeps trying it for the first time!

[Hsing-ee]

Do keep a record of the time you spend on the rifle to 'fettle' it up to the standard you stop at.

Then multiply this time, in hours, by the hourly minimum wage - this is £7.83 if you are over 25. Then add this to the cost of the rifle, plus the cost of any new parts and consumables you might have had to use in its fettling.

This is the true cost of a fettled B2.

Then compare the performance of the fettled B2 to that of another off the shelf rifle of the same total cost.

If the B2 is as good as the off the shelf rifle, then you have a bargain.

If the B2 is not as good as the off the shelf rifle, then you have an expensive white elephant. But unlike a white elephant, which can be made into pies and seat coverings for tinbum's Porsche, it is unresuable other than as scrap metal and firewood, or as a testament to Humanity's striving for perfection, one which is as futile as Sisyphus' eternal rolling up the hill of the great stone, only to have it roll back down again.

There's no futility like working to improve the unimprovable.

[Shed tuner]

I do Al. I costed my 22mm conversion to a TX at around £200 in time and materials. But then I mostly do it for the challenge, sometimes buying things I know are crap to see what I can acheive. But I can be a little strange. Like that old original 36 I just got. Going to sleave it..

Then again, I don't expect to get the time back.. although converting sow's ears into silk purses does give rise to some priceless looks on faces when folks shoot them especially when the external "finish" is still rough as anything...

[CapitalBee]

£45 for two B2's? They saw you coming!

Nick, a turned delrin spring guide that fitted nice and snug - you don't have a Chinese cousin??

Or have your sales to China been increasing recently??

[Hsing-ee]

I do Al. I costed my 22mm conversion to a TX at around £200 in time and materials. But then I mostly do it for the challenge, sometimes buying things I know are crap to see what I can acheive. But I can be a little strange. Like that old original 36 I just got. Going to sleave it..

Then again, I don't expect to get the time back.. although converting sow's ears into silk purses does give rise to some priceless looks on faces when folks shoot them especially when the external "finish" is still rough as anything...

I was just being needlessly cynical. Every project has its own challenges and 'fun' and it's really the only way to improve skills. Chewing up a B2 (or as I did, a DB4) is only so much money lost, while bolloxing a Mk 2 TX200 compression chamber is a lot more painful. T 20's conversion of a B2 to a Feinwerkbau 300 is a piece of engineering genius and has a certain humour to it as well, plus the dang thing might shoot pretty well.

It's a universal human urge to improve stuff, been going on since the first caveman chipped the edge off the first flint to make it cut up the dinner beast more easily. Some perverse caveman was probably hunting the riverbed for a really crappy looking donor stone, just so he could wow the rest of the tribe with his skill at turning rubbish into gold. Or a hand-axe or bone scraper or a B2, as the case may be.

[CapitalBee]

Do keep a record of the time you spend on the rifle to 'fettle' it up to the standard you stop at.

Then multiply this time, in hours, by the hourly minimum wage - this is £7.83 if you are over 25. Then add this to the cost of the rifle, plus the cost of any new parts and consumables you might have had to use in its fettling.

This is the true cost of a fettled B2.

Then compare the performance of the fettled B2 to that of another off the shelf rifle of the same total cost.

If the B2 is as good as the off the shelf rifle, then you have a bargain.

If the B2 is not as good as the off the shelf rifle, then you have an expensive white elephant. But unlike a white elephant, which can be made into pies and seat coverings for tinbum's Porsche, it is unresuable other than as scrap metal and firewood, or as a testament to Humanity's striving for perfection, one which is as futile as Sisyphus' eternal rolling up the hill of the great stone, only to have it roll back down again.

There's no futility like working to improve the unimprovable.

The reality of it is, I'm doing it because I can . If it turns out a pile of fetid elephant poo, oh well no surprises there then. If I could get it performing anywhere near half decent, I'm happy. If I decide to take the angle grinder to it, oh well. Timewise, I've wasted about 40 mins on it so far, not even an episode of Game of Thrones (which people are known to binge on for days). I had better get a bung sorted for the TP

[Hsing-ee]

I do Al. I costed my 22mm conversion to a TX at around £200 in time and materials.

That is actually pretty good value, if you had whatshisname or V-Mach to do it the bill would have been a couple of hundred more. With postage it would be even more.

[Hsing-ee]

The reality of it is, I'm doing it because I can . If it turns out a pile of fetid elephant poo, oh well no surprises there then. If I could get it performing anywhere near half decent, I'm happy. If I decide to take the angle grinder to it, oh well. Timewise, I've wasted about 40 mins on it so far, not even an episode of Game of Thrones (which people are known to binge on for days). I had better get a bung sorted for the TP

You are shaming me into doing something about my Webley Hawk. That's my B2, although I paid alot more for it than you B2s, so im losing out even before I start.

[T 20]

I seem to remember Mick (T20) did some work on B2 previously, so would welcome some advice.

Here you go, Mark. :-

http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread....17#post5258717

From memory the transfer port is 29mm long.

HW shims can be fitted to help tighten the breech up.

On the last one I played with I drilled the back of the trigger guard and fitted a trigger stop screw --- well worth the effort.




All the best Mick

[Rickenbacker]

True story: I once tried to give away a .177 B2 in VGC, and the deal came along with an arrangement that my friend T20 would also tune it... but my victim said he didn't have any space in his gun cupboard.

Wise fella.

[TonyL]

Sounds familiar, Phil.