Please stop playing with fx air rifles.

[nimrod177]

I have just received back what must be the 5th fx air rifle that has been played with. Just to give you some idea what the customer has done i will describe it in brief. This is from a customers covering letter who wrote " i regularly service my own air rifles"
1. I went on line and watched some bloke as i wanted to adjust my power for my pellet weight to 11.8/11.9 ftlb using 8.4 grn jsb's. (now i can guarantee that rifle with a heavier pellet will be over the limit, trust me i tested enough of them to know)
2. I don't know what happened but i got some pellets stuck in the barrel.
3. I tried to heat the barrel up to melt the pellets out but it didn't work. (surprise surprise)
4. I tried to rod the barrel with a brass cleaning rod but it came apart and there are two bits of cleaning rod stuck down the barrel. (yes they are still down the barrel)
5. I tried drilling them out with a 2mm drill bit but it broke into two bits. (yes they are still down the barrel)
6. I tried hammering it down but none of them would budge. (wow, guess which end of the barrel the hammer hit........yep the crown!)

This was a brand new fx impact mkII. It took over an hour to get the rods x2, drill bit x2 and 2" of lead out of the barrel. I don't even know if the barrel will be ok but on initial inspection miraculously it doesn't appear to be damaged. However the crown is wrecked and will have to have the top 2mm removed and recrowned. Its now away with the gunsmith to see if the barrel can be salvaged or he will need a new barrel.

Second customer thought that he would service his fx impact as he did his fac one and that was fine (MKI) So the MKII should be fine, and up the power a bit! Takes it all apart and orders the seals for the MKII which duly turn up. Puts it back together and it doesn't work so then proceeds to take his working mkI apart (remember fac). Now has two guns that don't work. Decides to phone me and ask what the problem is down the phone! Initial question "when you took the first one apart and replaced the o rings did you have any left? Yes was the answer. "Then why didn't you check to find out why you had three o rings left rather than take your working gun apart?" Response "I thought i could compare" them was the answer.

Third customer wanted to adjust the power on his MKII wildcat as it was only running at 11.8ftlb on jsb heavies. He was changing to 8.4grn and wanted it to run at the same power or just a "smidge more". Tried adjusting the reg once he got past the anti tamper and the hammer spring but now it is all over the place. My question.... was it shooting ok before you played with it. Oh yes came back the reply it was near pellet on pellet at 50yds.

All the above rifles will have to be stripped down and put back together at the customers expense. If you aren't 100000000% sure what you are doing don't take them apart just because a mate or youtube is your bestest friend. I have had hardly any genuine warranty claims to do and most were quick fixes. I can tell if a gun has been taken apart reasonably quickly. Especially when a bit is missing from somewhere that, without taking it apart it is physically impossible for it to be missing from.

[Mach 1.5]

I think it's a case of stop playing with any guns!!. The amount of HW's I've seen with problems is a real shock. Like you say, leave alone. Mach 1.5

[nimrod177]

I think it's a case of stop playing with any guns!!. The amount of HW's I've seen with problems is a real shock. Like you say, leave alone. Mach 1.5

Strange the amount that come in with " i lent it to a mate and i don't know what he did but" Oh for a penny for every time i have heard that old chestnut.

[Robet]

I think it's a case of stop playing with any guns!!. The amount of HW's I've seen with problems is a real shock. Like you say, leave alone. Mach 1.5

1st rifle I bought was an old used HW77K. After learning about legal power limits I discovered it had 4 fat washers in it. Needless to say it was barely legal, I'm not admitting it was well over!
I had no idea who had owned it or how many. But I'll never buy a used gun again unless I know the seller very well, there are too many dabbling numpties around.

[Phil Russell]

there are too many dabbling numpties around.

Too true.
I have, over the years, bought several rifles at auction, pcp and springer. Two pcps were ott because some numpty had fitted cortina suspension springs in place of the standard hammer spring. A couple of springers had similar square section springs crammed in and were just at the point of being coil bound. Luckily you can usually spot a 'square section' but I never take preload for granted.
I admit I am 'more relaxed' dealing with springers but provided I can get good authorative advice on a pcp I am generally happy although always proceed with caution. 'If it feels as if it needs undue force then it ain't right' is the rule. Regulators .. never touched one, nor have I tackled a BSA Spitfire HF as all the advice was 'let JB do it'. I do remember sitting at the table puzzling over a PH Dragon for a couple of hours though .... finally sussed it.
The worst cases are where you make the assumption that the previous owner put an unknown to me rifle back together correctly ... a few times I have discovered that the fault is simply that the numpty got it wrong ... maybe a trigger component or valve seal in the wrong place or a small spring hooked on the wrong part. Sometimes parts cannot be fitted incorrectly (yippee) but sometimes they can. More hours spent staring at them on the table ...

Happy days
Cheers, Phil

[Black Beard]

I am quite happy to take springers apart. The most dangerous part is the cocking link and the breech area. Both can mess up your fingers. If you put the action back in the stock before you cock it and handle it properly (including pointing it in the right direction) it is pretty safe.

[averageplinker]

Well it keeps you from getting bored 🤣

[nimrod177]

Well it keeps you from getting bored 🤣

Thanks i love the humorous sarcasm sometimes. Trust me i have better things to do than fix things that weren't broken before all those budding gunsmiths that watch youtube, or listen to their mate, get their hands on kit. I have a dreamline carbon fibre that i haven't touched as it shoots better than me out the box, so i have left it well alone running as smooth as silk at 11.7 on jsb heavies. And i have a pretty good idea what to do thanks to a weeks training with fx.

[bighit]

Well it keeps you from getting bored 🤣

Also work through the door

[piggy589]

"Frank! Yes my dear? The man at the garage rang, he said it would be £100 to fix the car,and £400 to fix what you fixed. Ooh Betty!"

[premierpistol]

I get loads of rifles that people have tried to "home tune" too, I blame these youtube video's and their "harmonic tunes" people know an overpowered rifle is illegal but feel the need to try it anyway. the impact's and wildcats are becoming more frequent as they start to offer up new additional items such as power plenums. Why people need or want to run these on a sub12 rifle is beyond my comprehension.

Still, it's all work for someone to put it right

[Swiss Tony]

Pretty concerning that some people think an airgun shooting at 11.8 ftlb can be turned up a bit more.
I would want it turned down!

[RobF]

That barrel will be scrap.

[Thegogg]

I'm really don't see why you're complaining as I work for a major Japanese manufacturer and it's quite simple, any breakdowns or issues on our equipment during the warranty period have to be inspected by factory trained engineers with anything found to have been caused through misuse or abuse is automatically not covered by warranty and therefore chargeable to the customer for both labour and parts at full list price, so why don't you do the same?

[ChrisC]

I have just received back what must be the 5th fx air rifle that has been played with. Just to give you some idea what the customer has done i will describe it in brief. This is from a customers covering letter who wrote " i regularly service my own air rifles"
1. I went on line and watched some bloke as i wanted to adjust my power for my pellet weight to 11.8/11.9 ftlb using 8.4 grn jsb's. (now i can guarantee that rifle with a heavier pellet will be over the limit, trust me i tested enough of them to know)
2. I don't know what happened but i got some pellets stuck in the barrel.
3. I tried to heat the barrel up to melt the pellets out but it didn't work. (surprise surprise)
4. I tried to rod the barrel with a brass cleaning rod but it came apart and there are two bits of cleaning rod stuck down the barrel. (yes they are still down the barrel)
5. I tried drilling them out with a 2mm drill bit but it broke into two bits. (yes they are still down the barrel)
6. I tried hammering it down but none of them would budge. (wow, guess which end of the barrel the hammer hit........yep the crown!)

This was a brand new fx impact mkII. It took over an hour to get the rods x2, drill bit x2 and 2" of lead out of the barrel. I don't even know if the barrel will be ok but on initial inspection miraculously it doesn't appear to be damaged. However the crown is wrecked and will have to have the top 2mm removed and recrowned. Its now away with the gunsmith to see if the barrel can be salvaged or he will need a new barrel.

Second customer thought that he would service his fx impact as he did his fac one and that was fine (MKI) So the MKII should be fine, and up the power a bit! Takes it all apart and orders the seals for the MKII which duly turn up. Puts it back together and it doesn't work so then proceeds to take his working mkI apart (remember fac). Now has two guns that don't work. Decides to phone me and ask what the problem is down the phone! Initial question "when you took the first one apart and replaced the o rings did you have any left? Yes was the answer. "Then why didn't you check to find out why you had three o rings left rather than take your working gun apart?" Response "I thought i could compare" them was the answer.

Third customer wanted to adjust the power on his MKII wildcat as it was only running at 11.8ftlb on jsb heavies. He was changing to 8.4grn and wanted it to run at the same power or just a "smidge more". Tried adjusting the reg once he got past the anti tamper and the hammer spring but now it is all over the place. My question.... was it shooting ok before you played with it. Oh yes came back the reply it was near pellet on pellet at 50yds.

All the above rifles will have to be stripped down and put back together at the customers expense. If you aren't 100000000% sure what you are doing don't take them apart just because a mate or youtube is your bestest friend. I have had hardly any genuine warranty claims to do and most were quick fixes. I can tell if a gun has been taken apart reasonably quickly. Especially when a bit is missing from somewhere that, without taking it apart it is physically impossible for it to be missing from.

Trust me i know where you are coming from but how did you become a 'Gunsmith'?....I would suspect that quite a few of the respected names we have on here started with curiosity and that urge to see how something works and can i make it any better. I'm not formally trained but have been in Engineering for 38 years and am known on the HFT/FT circuits as one of the primary Steyr fettlers. I've done work from as far afield as the US and Russia and even Steyr started using SS shims in their regs years after i started doing it. In the past 2 decades I've serviced over 700 Steyrs and probably double that number in regs so am getting there and have shot Steyrs myself for most of that time with AA's before that. I WAS lucky in that i was initially shown how to strip down an early LG100 by Steve Gallup and Jon Sykes (Hydrographics) who were instrumental in getting the first LG100's up to 12ft/lb for the FT circuit....and went form there. I have 2 Steyrs that are now 17 and 18 years old and still winning trophies.

Now for the bit where we really are on the same page. Some of the horror stories I've had over the years would make your hair curl, One LG110 i had to drill out every single screw/bolt and that added almost 4 hours onto the service time with some needing helicoil. And that's the problem with some rifles, they are actually quite easy to get into and strip down and also very easy to damage as a result. I'm (and the people i do the work for) rather fortunate that this is not my livelihood as the cost would soon escalate for some rifles. It's still something i enjoy doing on the side so don't charge for the extra hours. I do have the odd head scratching moment when someone asks for a reg servicing kit but admit they don't own a reg checker....