Haenel 26 questions

[ggggr]

I bought one today that does not always want to cock. Piston and sear seem ok and manspring must be ok as it cocks sometimes. I think cocking arm catch spring is a cock up (more in a minute). Also I assume the gun should have a mainspring guide (there is one in the gun).
Right--the cocking arm spring looks home made and has a couple of extra loopy bits on the side that touches the arm. The other end of it rests against what seems to be a black rubber ball. I cannot see this being correct and I think it was added later to tension the spring. I think the 2 sides of the spring are touching sometimes on cocking and the rubber ball needs to be compressed before the gun will cock. I dont want to rip out a factory fitted rubber ball so will wait until someone on me tells me the correct set up , which I assume is the same as the 28, before I destroy a rare factory special edition.
Thanks

[ccdjg]

Hi Guy, here is a picture of the spring with a scale. I will be sending you some piano wire of the correct gauge so you can have a go at making one. The rubber ball you mention is definitely someone's Heath Robinson idea.




Cheers
John

[ggggr]

Hi Guy, here is a picture of the spring with a scale. I will be sending you some piano wire of the correct gauge so you can have a go at making one. The rubber ball you mention is definitely someone's Heath Robinson idea.




Cheers
John

Thanks John. The thing is the ball idea works-----------up until the point the arm touches it and has to start compressing it. The spring out of my 28 is now back in the 28, but the leg that goes onto the arm could do with being longer to sort it.
I've often thought the 28 is a stupid idea for a gun! Press a catch on the side to release the grip, turn the gun upside down then try to cock it, turn it the right way up and then you have to break the barrel to load it!

[JimmieDee]

Yup. The rubber ball isn't right. I have made quite a few of these cocking lever return springs. If you like I can knock one up as I think I still have the jig.

[ggggr]

Thanks to John and Jimmie for their help here.
I have a feeling that the cocking arm might come too far and touch the coils. It may be a case of getting a few thou taken of the face of the piston that the sear engages on, so the sear will engage a fraction earlier and the cocking arm will not have to pivot quite as far.
Any thoughts to this John and how close the arm comes to the coils of the spring?

[ccdjg]

I had a look at a couple of 26's and in both cases the cocking arm is almost touching the spring coils at the point that the sear engages. As your spring may not be original, it is more likely that the coils are too big rather than there is a problem with the sear engagement. So if it were me, I would prefer to try making a new spring with as small a diameter coil as possible, rather than machining the piston. You could also file a bit off the inner surface of the cocking arm rather than off the piston to reduce contact with the coils.

[ccdjg]

I thought that is would be a very close fit John. I have not taken any material off anywhere yet. How do you make the spring? I guess a couple of nails in a board might be the way to go as putting a cut in a dowel or rod would be quite difficult with such a small diameter?

Yes, a flat piece of wood with a thin rod embedded in it and held in the vise. A staple in the wood to hold one end of the piano wire down flat on the wood, hold the other end in pliers and wind round the rod to your hearts content.

[JimmieDee]

You can use the shank part of a drill bit embedded in the wood to make a former of the correct size. Good tip on the staple John. I usually bend the end of the wire 90 degrees and insert it into a hole in the wood. Staple seems a more sturdy method.

[ggggr]

John sent me some wire the other day and I made a spring by putting a nail in a piece of wood and a pin punch in a hole close to it and winding the wire round the punch. I fitted the spring and have fired about 120 or so shots through it and it seems ok. This wire was onl6 .6mm wheras the spring that was with it and a spare Haenel 28 spring were .79mm . Bloody German precsion engineering. They should have taken the holdng face of the piston back a touch and used thicker wire.
I've tried plinking with the pistol and it is not the most accurate of things. It reminds me a bit of a G4---a couple of shots near on target and then one that goes very wide. At least it is another gun working.

Another thing. The serial number on this is in the 7000's . Does that help to narrow a date down and how high did the numbers go?

I will probably give it to a family member as a present.


If anyone has a photocopy of the instructions or maybe an article on the pistol, that I could get laminated, I would appreciate that.
Thanks

[JimmieDee]

I have an article on the Haenel 26 and 28 that I wrote a couple of years ago. It's in an old format that I intend to rewrite and publish on my website at some stage. For now, you can read it on my Facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/jimmiedeesa...87073951390480

I suspect when I revisit this article, there might be some corrections to be made.

[Buck25]

The highest recorded serial I have seen is in my collection, serial #10708, for the first version with the wood grips. The second version with the bakelite grips is #12869 as noted in John Griffiths book, The Encyclopedia of Spring Air Pistols.