Tell 3 pistol disassembly- the back pin?

[Jerry Cornelius]

In case it helps in the future, according to Griffiths encyclopaedia the end cap should be slightly turned anti-clockwise, and the pin should come out with tapping. He observes this can be a problem if the pin is stuck with rust or dirt.

[45flint]

I put this on the back burner but got out my best Tell that was boxed and untouched. The pin did back out with gentle tapping as said above. Also as Don said the pin is not the only issue. The sear bar at the end fits into a slot in the end cap. It is not fully retracted by pulling the trigger. It appears there are 2 pins that would need to be knocked out to drop it down. At that point I thought it was less risky to just flush out the sear mechanism with a thin oil. This seemed to clean it pretty well and the pistol operates fine. Not sure if anyone can speak to disengaging the sear bar. Don’t know if I am missing something. John Griffith’s book just says remove the pin?

[45flint]

I think so few people fire or work on these pistols that I don’t expect comments but this may help someone later who is searching for answers. I am happy that I never got to the point of having to take my Tell 3’s apart because I found a common issue in both my new ones that were leading to failures to cock properly. You can see in the patent drawing a sear “claw” at the very end of the tube. I think it needs to be well lubricated so it can pivot easily. I just made sure I got a thin oil down in that area through the slits in the cocking arm. The key is and you can see it on the patent drawings, there is a small screw at the rear of the tube on top. This screw is connected to that “claw” sear and adjusts it. If you look on the Vintage Airgun Gallery there is a picture of the early instructions that tell you how to adjust the trigger. On later boxes like the one I have those instruction do not appear. It was so dumb to start leaving this off? On both my guns I turned that screw to the left until the action didn’t even open. That is the extreme point. Then slowly turn it to the right until the action starts to open. If you cock it now this will be your hardest trigger pull. It is also your firmest lockup. I settled on a firmer pull than was originally on the pistols and had no problem with the sear holding. I’m sure I could fine tune it to a light trigger but given no safety on these guns I like to err on the safe side. And with a very fine trigger don’t be surprised if you start to get a failure of the sear to hold. And when you get that failure the barrel can snap back catching some skin in the breach. It gave me a nasty bite!

[ccdjg]

Many thanks for the info'. This sort of detail about rare airguns that few collectors like to take apart is invaluable.


All the best,
John

[45flint]

Many thanks for the info'. This sort of detail about rare airguns that few collectors like to take apart is invaluable.


All the best,
John

I’m sure with these rare pistols many are thrilled just to have one and never shoot it. There is always risk to shooting any 80 year old mechanically complex springer. I’m sure the one pistol I got from the Alm Auction was never shot, it was blued to perfection and never had a leather breech seal put back and had no drag line on the breech pivot. It was just a show piece? I just had to make a leather breech seal and get it working. My reward was getting my skin bit by a sear hold that failed! Then the adjustments made above. Now a awesome shooter, it is truly a prize and I feel I’ve added value. The joy of the Model 3 is experiencing and understanding the complex mechanism he developed to shorten the piston tube to make a compact, totally firearm looking blue milled pistol. He took 1.5? inches off the length of a Haenel 28 with his mechanical genius. There really is nothing quite like it.