BSA Lincoln Jeffries Service/Repair??

[chris u'5]

Hello Guys,

I recently inherited a BSA Lincoln Jeffries from my uncle which is my absolute pride and joy as it's the rifle I learned to shoot with as a boy and my uncle had it since he was young so it really means a lot to me.

It's still shooting well and I love using her but I was thinking that perhaps I should get her serviced just as a preemptive precaution before anything is damaged inside.

Do you know of anyone who knows and works on these amazing rifles? I wouldn't send to her to just anybody so it needs to be someone that really knows and appreciates these rifles.

I'd really appreciate your help.

Best wishes,

Chris

[TonyL]

I can fully understand you wanting to lavish some attention on this lovely rifle, Chris.

I've wanted one for a long time and recently managed to acquire one. But yours also holds huge sentimental value.

If you're a little handy, although I've not worked on one myself, I understand that they're an easy rifle to work on. There is lots of very useful information on these wonderful rifles on the Vintage Airgun Gallery forum. Have a look on there and see if it instills enough confidence. And make sure you have those all important correctly fitting screwdrivers so as not to mark up those beautiful fasteners.

Many parts available from Knibbs, Protek and Chambers.

If you decide not to have a go yourself, I'm sure someone will shout up with the details of a suitable 'smith.

All the best,

Tone.

[Roundshot]

Echo what Tony says. Very easy to do yourself with modest skills, the ready availability of parts and plenty of sources of info.

[Phil Russell]

Have a read of Post 112 over in the Idiots Guide sticky in Collectables. It will give you an idea of what is involved in a strip. As said, they are really quite easy rifles to work on. The hardest part is removing the end trigger block as they can be quite stuck at times.
If you decide to 'have a go' and get stuck, just post on here and there will be lots of people who will be pleased to help.
Cheers, Phil

[chris u'5]

That's great guys, thank you very much.

I'll do some research into the process to see if I could handle it myself rather than give it to someone else, I think I'd actually prefer to do it that way now you've mentioned it but obviously I'd want to be completely confident that I wont screw it up.

Thank you again

[Huttles94]

Hello Guys,

I recently inherited a BSA Lincoln Jeffries from my uncle which is my absolute pride and joy as it's the rifle I learned to shoot with as a boy and my uncle had it since he was young so it really means a lot to me.

It's still shooting well and I love using her but I was thinking that perhaps I should get her serviced just as a preemptive precaution before anything is damaged inside.

Do you know of anyone who knows and works on these amazing rifles? I wouldn't send to her to just anybody so it needs to be someone that really knows and appreciates these rifles.

I'd really appreciate your help.

Best wishes,

Chris

They are probably the easiest air gun to work on. I have had quite a few in the past and I have worked on every one. You can buy the seals needed off the internet (John Knibbs (Though I found that the seals from Knibbs to be just a bit too large) Protek sell them I think as well as Chambers).

The only thing I can think you will want to do, that is if it is needed, is change the piston seal. To do so you simply remove the trigger guard (depending on what type of rifle you have, it will be either 2 or 3 screws, on the early models it is just the two screws in front of the trigger (they also hold the cylinder and trigger block together) but on later models, the trigger guard has a wood screw going into the stock).

You then simply turn the cylinder counter clockwise, though be careful and make sure you have a good grip on the gun since when the thread runs out the cylinder can 'pop' up and take you by surprise, just be careful is all.

then to take the piston out, you will need to remove the cocking arm (one bolt needs to be removed on the axis point of the cocking arm and cocking lever, there can also be a tiny locking screw that hold the bolt in place which will also need to be removed). After that you can simply pull the piston out of the cylinder. Inspect the seal and then decide to change the seal or not. If you do want to change the seal then it is just a simple screw and washer holding the seal onto the piston. All screws should be flat head by the way. You see any phillips screws then they are modern replacements.

To put the gun back together is very simple, just do the reverse of what you have done so far.

Oh also, in case you did not know, the piston has a slot down it where the cocking arm just slots into, one end of this slot is wider to allow the cocking arm piece to fit into the piston and you will need to align this up correctly to get the cocking arm out and into the piston.

Also depending on what model you have, you could have either twin springs or just one longer spring. The twin springs are a bit of a pain to compress and get the trigger block on in my opinion, compared to the single spring versions. Also if it is a straight hand stock, then again I find these harder to put back together then the pistol grip versions but maybe that is just me.

But once you are ready and the piston and springs are back in the gun. You simply align the piston rod guide (the metal tube coming out of the trigger block) up with the piston rod, then apply pressure until the springs are compressed enough that you make contact between the trigger block and the cylinder and then start turning the trigger block and stock clockwise to tighten back up, remember to keep pressure on to stop the trigger block popping back out, once you have the cylinder and trigger block reattached, you can simply align the trigger guard holes up and put the trigger guard and screws back on. And you are done.

Very simple gun to work on. If you can complete a jigsaw puzzle, you can work on a BSA/LJ rifle.

[Phil B]

One thing to remember is when you are unscrewing the end cap/trigger block, if the trigger is forward it will lock into the trigger slot so you must pull the trigger before unscrewing.

Beautifil rifles. Worth every effort to get it working well. Mine shoots sweet and is 112 years old this year!

[micky2]

One of the easyest guns to work on. it was my 1st try at taking one apart before any forums were about to give you any help incase you get struck. l thing you will enjoy doing it, just take your time. and follow the instructions as above.

[Phil B]

It’s best to thin down the “lip” on the piston washer if you can. Use a drill and mount the cup washer on a nut and bolt. Thin it (before soaking in oil) so it’s a reasonably free running fit but leave it with a thicker rim at the working edge. Result will be more effective seal and marginally more power.

[Lakey]

See here for a lot of very useful information

https://forum.vintageairgunsgallery....bsa-resources/

and here

https://forum.vintageairgunsgallery....qs-2/#post-481

and also pays to get parallel screwdrivers, so you dont damage the screw heads. Here is a way of making your own

https://forum.vintageairgunsgallery....qs-2/#post-487


Very easy air rifle to work on.


regards

Lakey

[chris u'5]

Fantastic information!!

Thank you so much to you all, I genuinely really appreciated your help. I'll keep you updated...

[Vernal]

The only thing I might add is that mine had quite a lot of preload, both before and after I fitted a new John Knibbs spring, so I prefer to use a spring compresser, but to do this I had to make a carefully carved block to fit over the pistol grip so that the delicate tail doesn't take the full load of the compresser. But you can do it perfectly well without, just be sure you have a firm grip well before you get to the end of the thread.