Stripping my s/h 0.22 Remington Express Compact

[Mr.Fixit-Norm]

Right, following my successful tuning of the HW35k with a great deal of assistance from folks on here I decided to tackle a strip down of the s/h Remington Express Compact that I bought on a whim from Guntrader during lockdown last year.

I’d had a couple of short sessions with it when I got it and although the cocking seemed quite heavy, the twang wasn’t too bad and it seemed quite accurate out to 30yrds.

Anyway, having done as much as I wanted on the 35 I started stripping the REC down. I wasn’t sure how to remove the trigger mechanism which is integral with the cylinder end plug so I did a search on here and found that shed tuner had done a strip down a few years back and described in detail how to remove the safety pin which is the first thing to do before removing the pins hold the trigger block/spring plug.

It’s a fiddly job and really needs 3 hands but after about 20mins I’d got it out and used a spring compressor ( sash clamp ) to release the spring.

There was a fair bit of preload but the most shocking thing was the complete and utter absence of any grease of any sort on all of the moving parts

The spring was so clean and grease free I had nothing on my hands at all, the cylinder was grease free and dry, as was the piston, ptfe spring guide and metal spring outer guide, there was no sign of any lubrication in the trigger mechanism either - un-bloody-believable !!!

Further examination of the breech axis pin, cocking shoe, breech pivot washers etc were all completely dry as well.

I’m finding it hard to believe that Remington or whoever makes them for them assembled it like this and with an unknown history I can only assume a previous owner had been tinkering

The spring ends were properly collapsed but could do with a bit of smoothing and polishing as could the piston where it rubs on the cylinder.
I will probably replace the breech seal as it’s quite flattened and although the parachute type piston seal looks ok, it would make sense to replace that as well.

Im hoping someone may know how many coils the spring should have ( this ones got 28 and the wire gauge is 3mm ), in case this has been swopped out ?
Hopefully this should be a relatively simple tune up with mainly a good grease up and a bit of polishing being the main things.

I did run some FAP’s through it before the dismantle and it was averaging 11ftlbs Previously when I first got it I’d set it up with JSB Exacts and it was running around 10.5

I’ll update this thread as I get it sorted but as with the 35 thread, if anyone’s got any comments, advice or do’s/don’ts I’d be very grateful.

Cheers,
Norm

[TonyL]

Ah, just spotted that you've now started with the fettle and have successfully stripped the beast, Norm. By the sounds of it re surface finishes / lack of lubrication, just some TLC, polishing and sensible lubrication should transform the manners no end, as you have said. What's the guide to spring fit like and does it have a top hat?

[rapidresponse1]

good luck with it norm

[evert]

Most springers are self-destructing the way they come from the factory.
A proper de-burr, some polishing, adjustments and good lubrication can often improve them a lot without costing anything but your time and a few smears of grease.

Check the seals for any damage before you reassemble the rifle.
Tonys implied advice of adding a tophat is a good idea too.

[Mr.Fixit-Norm]

Ah, just spotted that you've now started with the fettle and have successfully stripped the beast, Norm. By the sounds of it re surface finishes / lack of lubrication, just some TLC, polishing and sensible lubrication should transform the manners no end, as you have said. What's the guide to spring fit like and does it have a top hat?

The inner spring guide is a decent length but is hollow and quite a loose fit in the spring. Where the spring goes into the piston there’s an outer thin metal tube with a thin flange at the piston end. There’s no top hat and the spring sits on a raised piece which is built into the piston. ( I’ll do a picture !! )
I’ve got some ptfe rod so I can make a top hat but it won’t be as straight forward as normal because of the outer metal sheath and the shape of the inside end of the piston.

Most springers are self-destructing the way they come from the factory.
A proper de-burr, some polishing, adjustments and good lubrication can often improve them a lot without costing anything but your time and a few smears of grease.

Check the seals for any damage before you reassemble the rifle.
Tonys implied advice of adding a tophat is a good idea too.

Yes, I’m replacing both the piston seal and the breech seal ( which doesn’t seem to be available on the chambers site ? )but checking back through old threads it’s a rubber O ring 8.5mm OD with 2.5mm wall thickness, and I’ve got two big boxes of O rings so hopefully I can find the right one.

I still can’t get my head around the complete lack of even the tiniest bit of grease, especially on the spring ! I was looking at it again last night and it’s like it’s been cleaned in solvent then never degreased

[Mr.Fixit-Norm]

good luck with it norm

Thanks

[loiner1965]

look forward in following this thread norm

[Mr.Fixit-Norm]

look forward in following this thread norm

I’ll do my best to make it as interesting and as factual as I can, I was amazed at the views and number of threads on the HW one, mind you a lot of them were mine

It won’t be a review as such just what I encounter whilst doing it, how I sort it and what the testing and outcome is, along with hopefully suggestions and input from anyone else
As I’ve found out on the other thread, it’s very important not to be too blinkered when pellet testing ! ( Oh, and try and remember to thank the correct people for the information you get )

I’m always willing to learn, I sometimes think that no matter how much you know you can always learn something new and sometimes a different way to do something

[Phil Russell]

Thank you,
Keep going ... I am collecting this information for my files just in case one day I own one of these rifles ....
Cheers, Phil

[TonyL]

Hi Norm,

Quick nip in as I'm at work.

I think Lyn Lewington (venoman on here and trades as ARC Tuning) will be the UK authority on tuning these? Guessing he possibly does drop in kits if desired?

[CapitalBee]

You can go the whole hog with these. Lyn does set back triggers (as they have a bit of a L.O.P.) and moderators for the unusual barrel diameter. This is in addition to the kits.

[Mr.Fixit-Norm]

Hi Norm,

Quick nip in as I'm at work.

I think Lyn Lewington (venoman on here and trades as ARC Tuning) will be the UK authority on tuning these? Guessing he possibly does drop in kits if desired?

You can go the whole hog with these. Lyn does set back triggers (as they have a bit of a L.O.P.) and moderators for the unusual barrel diameter. This is in addition to the kits.

Thanks for the heads up on that one. I’m going to see what I can do myself at the moment, I’m sure greasing and smoothing should have a significant effect.

The setback trigger is interesting, I was aware of the L.O.P. When I bought it and it’s not a huge issue but would make the shooting more comfortable. Maybe that’s for the future.

[TonyL]

I'm sure you're right with this approach. It's nice to keep the spend low, especially on a budget priced gun. Going by your description of internal finish and lubrication, I'm sure an "old-fashioned" polish and tune will yield a positive transformation. And, as evert says, once hand finished and lovingly reassembled, you'll be sure in the knowledge that all's well inside.. If you can find a way of making up a top hat, I'm sure that will be most beneficial, too.

[Mr.Fixit-Norm]

I'm sure you're right with this approach. It's nice to keep the spend low, especially on a budget priced gun. Going by your description of internal finish and lubrication, I'm sure an "old-fashioned" polish and tune will yield a positive transformation. And, as evert says, once hand finished and lovingly reassembled, you'll be sure in the knowledge that all's well inside.. If you can find a way of making up a top hat, I'm sure that will be most beneficial, too.

In its standard form the end of the spring in the piston is centralised by a raised section which fits inside the end of the spring and the spring ‘turns’ on the outside flange. I say ‘turns’, even having polished the end up a bit it’s still quite graunchy to turn. One of the PTFE (?) preload washes from my HW tinbum kit is a perfect match to the outside diameter of the spring, fits in the piston sleeve and even has the right ID to fit over the spring locator in the piston ( how lucky/weird is that )

My plan would be to make a top hat with the bare minimum thickness and length, to go up against the tinbum washer, however even then I reckon it’ll add about 5mm of preload in total ! This may make it harder to cock so ultimately I might then have to remove 1/2 a coil maybe ??

I did have a look at the breech seal this afternoon and I think I might have mistakenly said it was 8.5 OD by 2.5, it should of course be 8.5 ID
Typically having gone through a large O ring kit and my odds and ends ones I don’t have one that will fit. I know I can order them from ‘that’ place but for the time being I’ve filed down the OD of a 0.2mm washer I found and put that behind the existing seal to make it slightly more proud of the breech.

I have a new piston seal on the way as well.

I decided as I couldn’t do too much today that I’d take a load of measurements of the internals and list them, as they may be of use to someone else. Please bear in mind these are for my gun and have been measured with a digital calliper ( zero checked after each measurement )
I’ve put ‘plastic’ for the inner spring guide and piston seal as I’m not sure what they’re made of and didn’t want to look a tit quoting something they’re not

Oh if anyone knows how to date these guns, mines got 140XEX 053184 on the Cylinder

Norm

Cylinder.

ID - 28mm
Wall thickness 2.0mm
Port 4mm at front tapered to 3.5mm inside ( measured with drills as I had no other way )
Port depth 20mm
Sloping breech with sprung ball lockup.

Piston.

Seal is ‘plastic’ parachute style 28.2mm max diameter x 4.75mm depth - bear in mind this is the old one !
Piston head diameter- 27.5mm
Piston is turned steel with machined slot, not folded steel like some cheap ones.
Weight inc seal - 269g
Total length to skirt ( inc seal ) - 131mm
Head to main body 11.9mm
Cocking rod from skirt to end - 32mm x 10mm diameter
Internal spring shoulder is 3mm with further stepped 3mm reduction which fits inside end of spring.


Outer spring guide/piston sleeve

Material - steel
Length - 106mm ( when in piston it fits level with skirt )
OD - 23.0 - 23.13mm
ID - 21.6 - 21.9mm
Hole diameter at piston flange end - 15.65mm

Inner spring Guide.

Material ‘plastic’
Length - 111mm inc stepped out head which fits into recess in trigger block.
OD - 13.9 - 14.0mm
ID - 10.5mm ( average )
Metal washer between end of spring and spring guide, 26.75mm OD, 16mm ID, 1.03mm thick and appears to be blued ?

Spring.

Round section wire gauge 3.0 - 3.13mm
OD - 20.5mm
ID - 14.3mm
Length - 234mm
Coils - 28

[Mr.Fixit-Norm]

Just to add that contrary to my earlier cursory examination, the inner and outer spring guides are actually quite a decent fit and not too sloppy. Which is probably why it didn’t twang too much despite being completely devoid of lubrication

Norm