Spring Gun Tuning

[tomgun]

Hello Everyone


Could you please give me some advice. I have bought a second hand TX200HC and decided to fit an AA master service Kit.
I followed the tuning guide found it very easy to strip fit and reassemble the TX. But now it is only doing 7.5 ft lb.

Thanks Tom.

[electric sheep]

Accuracy is superb and shoots as well as my 77, recoil is solid and mild straight back. More recoil than the 77 but not much and it's not hold sensitive.

[tomgun]

you will have more luck with a reply if you start your own thread rather than hijacking someone elses

Sorry If I have upset anyone but I thought this was the Spring Gun Tuning Guide Thread.

Tom.

[electric sheep]

Good moly does not burn unless you use excess, it's the only thing to use on seals. The surface of the comp tube must be honed for a wet edge if you want any performance over time.

[Mike95]

The back block screws into the cylinder but there is no "cup like" depression as in the Webley Mark3 for instance, so that when reassembling under the pressure of the spring, I found the back of the spring guide kept slipping off the block and preventing the threads from engaging. I cut a piece of plastic waste pipe, 28mm a few inches longer than the block to act as a collar. This collar stops the rear of the spring guide slipping sideways and makes the reassembly much easier singlehanded.

Mike95

[rehmk5]

Hi airgunners across the Atlantic. Below it a story of a farm/ranch pest control hunt I did recently. Sorry about sticking it here, but I don't have new thread priviledges.

Also, here in California, USA, we may do things differently enough to not be minding what would be necessary P's and Q's (manners and behavior) for English hunts. So I hope the Administrators will correct me if I am in any way, doing improper stuff per your customs and rules.

This story is about airgun hunting the local, large (tree squirrel-size) California ground squirrels, a pest species here.

Anyway, here is a story (one of my shorter ones) for your cheers&jeers consideration:

Robert Hamilton, California, USA Dec07

================================================== ==

FARM PEST HUNT REPORT: Only got 31 ground squirrels but had chances at almost 100.

SUMMARY:

My hunt yielded 31 adult California ground squirrels at the cattle grazing pastures, but I should have gotten a lot more.

DECEMBER HUNTING IN CALIFORNIA:

Last winter here in central, coastal California was dry. As was 2007 Spring, Summer and Fall. And now, it is December and still very little rain year to date.

But rain or not, around here, even in the Winter, if the day is a bit warm and sunny, some ground squirrels will be out of their holes. Today was no exception.

CATTLE GRAZING LANDS:

The landowner was not going to be around on the hunt day, but promised to leave the master key for the gates. The weather forecast was for yet another cold morning, warmer afternoon, but basically it was forecast to be a sunny day. More of the same weather we have been having all year. A blind, deaf and dumb weatherman could predict as well as long as he could speak and write the words “fair” and “sunny”.

The only rain we have had for almost the entire year was a light and brief rain of a couple weeks ago. That light rain shower had greened the round-topped hills around here. Green grass of a few inches in height gave some color to the previously straw-colored hills of over-grazed, parched and thirsty range grass flats and low, round-top hills.

A previous ground squirrel hunt here showed me that there was no reason to arrive too early, what with the ground squirrels staying underground until the sun warmed things up. And I had not gotten to bed until after 2AM anyway. Without coffee nor a Red Bull, I could expect to behave in a calm, measured manner for the hunt, if not comatose.

Regardless, I set the alarm clock for 6:30AM as I wanted to do some target shooting prior to the actual hunting.

6:30Am was far too late a setting for a serious crow hunting. It was about the right time to get up for a serious farm pest bird hunter on a local farm. But indeed early for late year ground squirrel hunting.

ARRIVAL AT THE GROUND SQUIRREL LANDS:

I did not arrive at the cattle grazing lands until about 8AM. But lingering coastal overcast hid the sun. The temperature was a bit cold, but putting on my ancient, tattered, 40 year old brown canvas duck hunting coat was plenty enough. I have never been one to toss clothing just because it was no longer new. Air was calm, as winter season mornings are generally here.

I drove in and parked the car by the wood plank-fenced cattle corral and loading chute. I opened the car door and stepped out.. Ah! But the air was fresh and clean. And put my hunting boot right into a fresh dog turd. Ick!

And not just any dog turd. This one was not just fresh, but real big. And long.

Either this testament to canine dining came from a large dog who had been over consuming. Or a small dog that was now walking funny and still sore. For the rest of the day and over the course of a couple miles of walkabouting, I never saw another dog pile.

Lucky me.

My boot stunk for hours.

The car was my wife’s. It was nice and clean. My wife has a very keen nose. Oops.

No squirrels out, but a couple hundred blackbirds and starlings sat on the plank and post cattle corral fences. An earlier ground squirrel hunt here had shown that 9AM was when the ground squirrels here, started emerging from their den holes to forage and sun bath. But my plan was to put my too early arrival to good use. I had brought along my .177 Beeman R1 break barrel springer to punch some paper with.

My R1 was one I have had for quite a few years, but have not used for years. It is my closet queen second in hunting uselessness only to my FWB124.

[rehmk5]

BEEMAN R1 AT 1,024 FPS MACCARI KIT, WITH CPLITES:

Years ago, I had put a Maccari full power kit in my R1 and after settling-in, was getting a consistent 1,000 fps power level. Bragging power. Magnumitus Club membership level power.

In fact, it last chronographed at 1,024 fps with 7.9 gr Crosman Premier Lites (cplites), fingertip seated. Good groups too. With only my usual folding camp chair and camera stand rest shooting range setup, the R1 put five cplites into a 2.0” ctc group, at 100 yards. Trajectory was fairly flat. Firing action was fast and crisp. Like a gas ram in fast, twang-less action. Really great! What more could I ask for?

Well, how about field accuracy? I had repeatedly taken this full power R1 on farm pest hunts for ground squirrels, feral pigeons and crows. But despite having a carefully done, every 5 yds, from 5 to 100 yds, trajectory plot based on actual shooting sessions at the range, using a three point sitting rest, when actually hunting with the R1, it rarely hit where the trajectory plot said it should. Making it pretty useless as a farm pest hunter.

Three point sitting rested shooting is when my right elbow (I’m right handed) is resting on the padded arm of my folding camp chair and left/forearm-holding hand is resting on the foam pad on top my camera stand rest.

Two point sitting rested shooting is when the right elbow is floating (in the air/no support) and the left/forearm-holding hand is resting on the top of my camera stand rest.

Two point standing rested shooting is when I am standing. The adjustable camera stand rest is adjusted higher to let me stand and comfortably rest my left/forearm hand rest on the stand’s foam pad, and my right elbow is floating/no support.

Generally, I farm pest hunt all my shots using a 2 point standing rest position. Hitting as small of a target as the vitals of a starling at 40 yds or a ground squirrel at 60 yds requires I have a steady rest.

But the R1 at over 1,000 fps was too hold sensitive to be a successful hunter. Too many times, I would completely miss the ground squirrel at 30 or more yards because while my trajectory plot told me where the poi (point of impact) was with a 3 point sitting rest, but the poi was an inch or more off when shooting with a 2 point standing rest. Or a 2 point sitting rest.

Though that was still better than my old FWB124 which I would zero and trajectory plot with a 3 point sitting rest, then drag along the camp chair and camera stand rest and take only 3 point sitting rest shots while actually hunting and still see sudden vertical poi shifts of a couple inches at 45 or so yards.

BEEMAN R1 AT 945 FPS WITH 7.9 GR CPLITES:

A few years back, Maccari had been working with what he called “Aussie wire” or words similar. As I recall, he had gotten good results with this special and expensive wire in RWS sidelevers. At my request, Maccari had made me a kit using this interesting spring wire for my R1. It gave me about 950 fps with my R1 and cplites and I later put the 1,000+ fps Maccari kit back in the R1 and stuck the R1 950 fps Aussie wire kit away. I liked the 1,000+ fps JM kit because it was a short spring, 28 coils (?). So short, there was so little preload that I did not need a spring compressor. Really convenient.

But now, I pulled the JM 1,000+ fps kit and re-installed the Aussie wire tune kit. Very nice. Smooth and crisp action. A longer spring so my Randy Gunn model spring compressor was needed to install. I was getting initially about 920 fps with cplites, but soon it built up to about 940 to 950 fps. But a range session showed me that at 60 yds, the 950 fps Aussie wire kit was giving me about one inch vertical poi difference between a 2 pt sitting w/rest hold and a 2 pt standing w/rest hold, at 60 yds.

I define hold sensitivity as when varying the hold varies the poi. And my minimum test for non-hold sensitivity is that the gun at least shoots the same poi both 2 pt sitting w/rest and 2 pt standing w/rest.

So the JM Aussie wire kit was a hold-sensitivity improvement. But still had some hold sensitivity. Plinkers and informal target shooters/hunters may not view hold sensitivity as an issue. Serious farm pest hunters may beg to differ.

BEEMAN R1 AT 875 FPS WITH 7.9 GRAIN CPLITES (MACCARI 13 FT/LB SPRING):

Maybe I could have worked with the R1 using the Aussie wire kit. But a few years back, Maccari had offered a 13 ft/lb muzzle energy tune kit for the R1 and I had bought it and never tried it. Tony, of the Doug&Tony farm pest hunting team’s postings about his detuned airgun successes inspired me to follow in his leadership, and finally try the JM R1 13 ft/lb ME tune kit. After all, if Tony can detune that springer monster, the RWS350 down to 9 or 10 ft/lbs ME and be pleased, then I could surely try the 13 ft/lb Maccari kit.

The 13 ft/lb JM R1 tune kit, how did it work?

Well, the JM 13 ft/lb spring was a lllooonnnggg spring of heavy wire just like the JM full power short spring. O.D. was slightly bigger too. Big enough that the spring was too big to fit into my 12.6 oz Venom Lazaglide R1 piston. Lucky me, I still had my buttoned 11.9 oz R1 factory piston. The factory R1 piston had a slightly bigger I.D. than the Venom piston and the JM 13 ft/lb spring went in without a millimeter to spare.

I needed a piston seal on the factory R1 piston and put one of Maccari’s precison-made orange synthetic R1 piston seals on the piston.

Then, after a very light coat of JM velocity tar on the spring sides and outside, and a slight amount of Beeman moly grease on the white JM synthetic guides, the R1 went back together. Randy Gunn spring compressor a must.

650 FPS WITH CPLITES, WHAT?@##@!:

Ok, cocking was easier but 7.9 gr cplites were only giving me about 650 fps. With a 13 ft/lb spring? What was going on here?!

[rehmk5]

UNDERSIZED JM R1 PISTON SEAL AND OVERSIZED JM R1 REAR GUIDE;

Well, the Maccari piston seal was undersized. Nice seal. Harder material than the soft nylon, parachute HW factory piston seals, but at least in this R1, definitely undersized. Without the spring in the R1, the Maccari sealed piston all but moved with simple tilting the compression tube up and down. Gravity enough to move the piston. Oops. Better go back to the factory R1 piston seal.

Another problem. When I had installed the Maccari 13 ft/lb tune kit, the base of the rear guide was a real tight fit, but as I was using the spring compressor, I did not realize how tight a fit. Well, it was so tight a fit, that even as I unscrewed the R1’s end block, the 13 ft/lb spring lacked the power to push the end of the rear spring guide out of the R1 compression tube. What I should have done would have been to try to insert the tune kit into the R1 compression tube backwards. That is, rear guide base first. That would have detected the over-sized rear guide base.

Heroic measures finally dislodged the JM 13 spring guide out of the R1 compression tube by partly unscrewing the end cap and then violently and strongly (with the trigger block out of the gun), slamming the piston against the base of the rear guide in a repeated hammering action. Eventually, I was able to hammer the JM tune kit rearwards enough that I then could take a large, rectangular cross section gunsmith screwdriver and jam it into the rear guide hole the piston stem passes through, put a wrench on the screwdriver shaft, and with a lot of effort, screw the JM rear guide out the threaded end of the R1 compression tube.

Amazingly, the R1’s barrel was not bent and the R1 cocking shoe was not damaged beyond use. More amazing was that I didn’t break the JM rear guide.

Another point of interest in the Maccari R1 rear guide was that it was so tight on the spring, that upon firing, the spring was unable to fully expand. The coils still on the rear guide were noticeably still partly compressed while on the forward portion of the 13 ft/lb spring, the coils were fully expanded. Talk about a tune kit that was made tight enough to need a “wear in” period. No spring twang was going to happen due to loose guides on this baby!

Lucky me, I had a spare R1 factory piston seal and could dump the JM piston seal and install a factory seal. How did that affect chronograph performance?

WVED (ED CANOLES) GUIDES:

Well, first things first. I had a spare JM 13 ft/lb spring and just for fun, sent the mis-fitting JM 13 ft/lb tune kit and a spare JM 13 ft/lb spring to WVED (Ed Canoles the custom piston crafter). Ed makes his own guides, though is more of a Beeman R9 guy than a R1 guy. But I hoped he could lathe the Maccari rear guide down to size and also, due to his precision work and reasonable prices, make me a guide set for the spare 13 ft/lb spring while he was at it.

Which, WVED did. He turned the job around and the mailman delivered a box from
WVED within a couple weeks of my original mailing.

WVED was not able to remove the JM spring off the JM rear guide, so he was not able to lathe down the JM rear guide. I did it later the clumsy and less precise way holding the JM tune kit in one hand and a file in the other and filing away on the O.D. of the rear guide base, while slowly turning the kit. In about an hour, I had the JM kit where it would fit snug and still be removable.

But the delrin/steel base WVED guide set was so pretty, precise and of “can’t pull the spring off but coils expand fully on shooting” tight, that I wanted to try WVED’s work first. The filed down JM kit could wait for later.

I put the R1 back together, factory piston with the factory parachute piston seal on it with a little Beeman moly grease on the sides, and after some warm up shooting, chronied I the R1 with the 13 ft/lb kit again.

13 FT/LBS ME WITH THE 13 FT/LB ME MACCARI SPRING AND WVED GUIDES:

With the JM 13 ft/lb ME spring and its WVED guides, instantly, I was getting about 875 fps with 7.9 gr cplites, which was about what one should expect out of the kit, that is about 13.4 ft/lbs M.E.

Ok, all was well. Firing was still crisp but more sedate. Cocking effort was more like my Beeman R9 now. My R9 having similar power, so that made sense.

R1 LESS HOLD SENSITIVE AT 13 FT/LBS:

At the range, the 13 ft/lb JM/WVED kitted R1 was pleasant to shoot and for sure, easier to cock. Groups were reasonable, both with 7.9 gr cplites and 8.4 gr JSB Exact 4.52 domes. For instance, despite about a 15 mph cross wind, the 13 ft/lb R1 put five JSB Exacts into a 1.0” ctc group at 60 yds with using a 2 pt sitting with rest hold.

But the wind was blowing too much to allow creation of a trajectory plot chart that I could have confidence in. So the R1 awaits a calm air, 5 to 80 yd trajectory plotting session at the range. But there is hope. Time will tell more if I finally had a good hunter in my Beeman R1.


BACK TO THE HUNT:

Having arrived before the ground squirrels emerged this hunt morning, I took some time to test the 13 ft/lb R1 for hold sensitivity. The air this early in the morning was almost dead calm. So I set out a cardboard box with three one inch black ink marker-drawn bulls on it, at a Bushnell laser rangefinder-measured 60 yds. I shot sitting in my inexpensive aluminum Costco, folding camp chair. The one with padded arm rests.

I shot three ten pellet groups at 60 yds. One group was 3 pt sitting rested; one was 2 pt sitting rested; and one was 2 pt standing rested. At 60 yds, the 2 pt sitting and 2 pt standing had the same poi. The 3 pt sitting rested group poi was about 2/3” lower.

9:30AM and it was time to stop the target session. The sun was out. The overcast was breaking up and using my Bushnell 6x25mm Custom Compact binoculars, I could see a few ground squirrels dotting the rain-greened, flat lands of the fenced cattle pastures. Not many, but enough to be worth a try for.

The R1 went back into the cheap, black plastic hard case and back into the car. I was getting a late start anyway and these late in the year days are short. No time to experiment nor play.

So out came the .177 AirArms TX200 Mk3. A very good springer for ground squirrel hunting. Hold insensitive. It cocks without tiring me, is accurate, and a short, handy yet heavy and stable springer. Pre-hunt, right after a fresh barrel clean (cplites being a bore-fouling pellet), it chronied 7.9 gr cplites at 905 fps. Later, post hunt the same day, that evening, I got 880 fps. It had a Maccari TX200 tune kit installed approx. 500 pells ago. Still settling in? Or was it the difference between a dirty bore and a clean with a light oil coated bore?

Regardless, I like my TX200’s also because CHAIRGUN, the computer generated trajectory plotting software matches my real life, actual shooting session trajectory plots. Wish I could say the same for my Weihrauch/Beeman break barrel springers though.

ALL DAY IN THE SAME 20 ACRES:

The cattle pastures I spent the entire, short December day hunting, were only an estimated 20 acres. The big, adult California ground squirrels were thinly scattered, but there were enough to keep me busy. All day. Especially so because the weather conditions changed.

CURSED BY WIND:

I had thought I would have all day with calm or low winds. While summers tend to be calm mornings and windy afternoons, winter days here are often enough calm or low winds only, all day. Not today.

The hunt started out with my cherished dead calm wind. So calm that after my morning Beeman R1 target session and before I put it away, I even took one shot with the R1 at a starling mixed in with a hundred or so blackbirds, the starling sitting on top a tall, wood, power line post. Distance was about 35 yards.

At the R1’s shot, the starling flew off, angling down, hanging a leg. It would have been more of a slam dunk shot with my Beeman R7. I was more practiced with the R7. Goes to show that 6.5 ft/lbs with a precise trajectory plot chart beats 13 ft/lb R1’s without. Definitely the R1 needed more range time and more work on a trajectory plot.

With the TX200, I hunted in a leisurely walkabout manner up and down the cattle pastures, covering about 1/3 mile up and then hunting back again. I spent most of my time in the middle of the pasture flatlands where a small rise and est.15 foot high cut bank in the side of a low hill touching one part of the pasture, harbored a small squirrel colony of about 40 squirrels.

I shot with a 2 pt rest off the Samsonite adjustable camera stand rest, sometimes sitting, sometimes standing. Rains forecast but the ground still dry. The squirrels were kind of spooky. I found that after a few shots, they went down their holes and after about 30-40 minutes the colony squirrels still had not re-emerged. Someone had probably been firearm hunting them recently to spook them this much.

Not good.

The wind was my worst problem though. Squirrel spook distance was never beyond 70 yards and the TX200 was good to 70 yds. In calm air.

But I was not getting the calm air I needed for longer shots. The wind unexpectedly became strong and brisk out of the west and stayed about 20 mph all day. I saw maybe 90 squirrels total. I was only getting about one in three that I tried for. I had hoped to pretty much clear this pasture of most of its squirrels today.

I failed.

By 3:30PM, the hills to the west were casting shadows over the cattle pasture. The squirrels disappearance once the shadows shaded the pasture fields made today a shortened hunt. The day ended up with only 31 ground squirrels.

I got home early.

Better luck next time?

Robert Hamilton, California, along the Pacific Ocean coast
1 Dec 07

[phipps479]

You seem to be very knowledgeable on the subject, I wonder if you could help me .I need some instructions on how to change a main spring on an old Webley Typhoon barrel over lever .22 pistol, hope you can help .Thanks in advance.

Thanks to Hsing-ee for the following :-


Tuning The Older Springer

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ALL WORK DONE USING THIS INFORMATION IS AT YOUR OWN RISK - APPLY COMMONSENSE TO YOUR WORK AND SEEK ASSISTANCE FROM A QUALIFIED GUNSMITH IF YOU GET OUT OF YOUR DEPTH. Use a spring compressor and be careful!

If you want your old or new-to-you old spring-piston rifle to give you its best then you could try the following tune-up. It takes a bit of patience and elbow-grease and dosen't involve any drastic modifications but if you follow it carefully your rifle should shoot sweetly afterwards for a good long time.

The following is a basic tune for spring-piston rifles which was common in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The idea is to make the rifle as smooth and consistent as possible, and does not involve modifying the rifle in terms of piston weights, top hats, etc, that is for the more advanced airgunsmith. I used this on a Feinwerkbau Sport recently and it would cut 7mm groups at 25 yards from a rest, and in my 30 year old BSA Meteor which does 10ft/lbs and 20mm groups with a standard spring so it seems to work OK. The guide refers to a rifle with a leather washer, obviously don't soak the washer in silicone oil if it is of a synthetic material, just wipe a small drop of SM50 over it before assembly.

For the full works you will need:

new spring
new piston washer and buffers if fitted
new breech washer

Can of Dri-Slide (or Gun Slide from Chambers) or tube Molykote GN paste
Abbey LT2 molybdenum grease (J.S.Ramsbottoms has this)
Abbey SM50 oil (J.S.Ramsbottoms has this)
Abbey Silicone oil (J.S.Ramsbottoms has this)

Solvol Autosol metal polish ( a car accessories shop like Halfords or a hardware store)
Methylated spirit or white spirit
Very fine abrasive paper
Cheap toothbrush (unused)
18” length of broomhandle
Couple of packets unused ‘J’ cloths or similar

The idea of the tune is to make sure the bearing surfaces are smooth and appropriately lubricated, with the aim of consistent mechanical action giving consistent velocities without dieselling and so giving good accuracy. The molybdenum in the Dri-Slide binds to steel giving a very slippery hard surface.

IT IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL THAT YOU CLEAN ALL THE PARTS COMPLETELY AFTER POLISHING THEM WITH ABRASIVE PAPER OR METAL POLISH. Use newspaper under the parts as you work and throw them out as they are soiled. Have a clean area to put your clean parts and don’t do ‘dirty’ work next to them. Be careful with naked flames and the hair-drier, the methylated spirit and the carrier element in the Dri-Slide ar e both highly inflammable. WORK IN A WELL VENTILATED ROOM OR WORKSHOP.

1. Place the new piston washer in a pellet tin or similar receptacle and pour over Abbey silicone oil to cover it completely. Leave to soak overnight.

2. Disassemble the rifle, taking care to store small parts so they don’t get lost.

3. THE COMPRESSION CHAMBER

A. Degrease all the parts and the inside of the compression chamber using the meths. The broomhandle should have a 3” slot cut in one end so that a stip of J cloth can be slid in and wrapped round to give a cleaning head. Be very thorough, and keep using fresh strips of J-cloth until they start coming out completely clean. Check that the transfer port is clear by using a non-metalisc implement like a cocktail stick and examine carefully by eye. Use the toothbrush and methys to clean the threads that the rear cylinder block screws into. Dry the inside of the compression chamber using further J-cloth strips.

B. If you feel it necessary you can remove the sharp edges on the inside and outside of the cocking-slot. Pack the compression chamber with cloth and using a spatula or table-knife with the fine abrasive paper wrapped around it smooth the inner and out edges of the slot. Don’t overdo this, just remove the sharp EDGES from the slot. Degrease again and be meticulous about removing all the metal filings and abrasive dust using methys and J-cloths. Remove the packing cloth and degrease again until you are sure all the dust has been removed.

C. Using a hair-drier, warm the compression tube by blowing hot air inside and outside the tube body. When it is warm, pour a tablespoon-size amount of Dri-Slide into the compression chamber and roll the chamber around so that the liquid coats all of the surface of the chamber and also further back in the area above the cocking slot. Be careful not to lose all the Drislide out of the tranfer port! The chamber can be left to dry for a couple of hours or overnight. Alternatively, rub in some Molykote GN paste onto the whole surface of the inside of the compression chamber.

D. When you are ABSOLUTELY SURE IT IS DRY, use a tightly-wound long piece of J-cloth on the broomhandle, burnish the surface of the compression chamber thoroughly. Alot of the Dri-Slide will appear to come off, but it is leaving behind a layer so dont worry.

4. THE PISTON

After disassembling the piston, degrease it inside and out as above, using meths and J cloths. Polish any scratches on the piston body out using the fine abrasive paper, using a rotary action i.e. turning the piston on its axis and holding the paper still so the mark is polished out in a ring around the piston. Polish the whole of the outside of the piston with Solvol Autosol, particularly the back of the piston where it makes metal-to-metal contact with the cylinder wall. Use a J-cloth and to apply and polish off the Solvol. Carefully polish the surface of the bent (part of the piston which engages the sear) with Solvol on a J-cloth drawn tight over something flat and rigid (e.g. a small file). Degrease and clean with meths. Heat the piston up with the hair-drier and coat the inside AND the outside of the piston with Dri-Slide as with the compression chamber, except you don’t need to polish it in afterwards, just leave the coating as it is.

5. THE SPRING

Take a peice of the fine abrasive paper and place it on a very flat surface e.g. a suitably strong piece of glass or steel plate. Polish polish the flat ends on the paper until they are shiny. You can make this a mirror finish if you then polish the ends using Solvol Autosol on cloth stretched over the plate. Degrease and clean the spring carefully afterwards.

6. THE PISTON GUIDE

Degrease inside and out and polish out scratches using a rotary action using the fine abrasive paper and then Solvol Autosol to give a shiney surface. If you like, pad a vice and use a file to remove the sharp edges on the base of the guide. Degrease and clean as above. Make sure you clean the passage through the middle of the guide and get rid of any old grease and dust in there.


ASSEMBLY

1. Take the piston washer that has been soaking in the silicone oil and squeeze it dry using a J-cloth. Fit it to the piston, avoid getting any lubricant on the screw/bolt attaching it to the piston body. Smear a couple of drops of SM50 around the base of the leather washer (away from its face).

2. Take a lollipop stick and smear a stripe of LT2 grease about 1” in width around the back of the piston (trigger end), be fairly generous.

3. Fit the piston back into the compression chamber, easing the piston head into the chamber gently. It may be a little bit swollen at this point, but persist in easing it in and don’t use hammering or excessive force. Line up the cocking slot in the piston with the one in the compression chamber.

4. Using a small pad of J-cloth, apply a thin smear of LT2 grease to the outside of the spring and a generous layer to one flat end. Fit the spring into the piston with the greased end forwards.

5. Apply a liberal amount of LT2 grease to the outside and INSIDE of the spring guide and fit it to the end of the spring.

6. Smear a little LT2 grease on the threads of the back-block and use this to compress the spring and reassemble.

7. Reassemble the rest of the rifle using LT2 grease on all the main points of wear. Apply SM50 oil to the trigger by dropping it into the mechanism, allow the excess to drip out before reassembly. Replace the breech washer with a new one, and clean the barrel in the normal way. Make sure all the stock screws are tightened appropriately (not too loose, not too tight).


The rifle may be a little bit smokey the first ten or twenty shots but should then settle down to be very consistent. All that is needed in terms of lubrication after this is a drop of two of SM50 at the joints occassionally, and once every 1500 pellets or so a drop of SM50 *BEHIND* the piston washer, which can be done by removing the stock and putting the oil in through the cocking slot. Leather washers can take a long time to bed in, so I recommend doing alot of plinking, like two or three tins of pellets, before the gun reaches its peak. Then you should be able to shoot the rifle for thousands of pellets without doing anything more than slip a new spring in occasionally and a sparing use of SM50.

CAUTION: Do NOT over-lubricate. Stick to the amounts indicated here - less is more, especially with polished bearing surfaces.

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[Hsing-ee]

I am not familiar with stripping the Webley Tempest/Typhoon/Hurricane series, but I believe it is quite simple and actually Webley used to sell them with information on how to do this.

I suggest you post a question on the General section, asking for advice on stripping and reassembling your pistol, and then follow the advice in the tuning guide. Someone is sure to send you a copy of the stripping manual.

The pistol you have is now a collector's item as they are no longer made, and also they are very nice to shoot so they are worth keeping in good order.

Have fun!

This thread covers most of the strip...

http://www.airgunbbs.com/forums/show....php?p=2416711

[Hsing-ee]

If you want to replace a leather washer with a high-quality plastic one, then Jim Maccari sells some which might fit your rifle and they are inexpensive.


http://www.airguns.citymax.com/page/page/251485.htm


Alternatively, T.R.Robb makes PTFE ones which may or may not be an improvement on the original.

http://www.trobb.f9.co.uk/

[chrisarvor]

hi
I havent stipped an airgun down since i used to do my Diana model 16 which was just after the ice age!!!!!
I bought a Boxer spring and new piston seal and breach washer and the washer behind the piston for my old BSA Mercury mk2
I actualy thought they has sent me the wrong piston washer as it wasnt leather!!!!!!!
so i stipped it down and put some wet an dry paper 1000 grade on a broom stick and sprayed WD40 in there and gently cleaned out the air chamber.
When i put i back together i nicked the O ring for the piston so i looked in my o ring box and found a near as dam it one and put it all back together but first washing out the air chamber with some WD 40 . And putting some down the barrel.
Eventualy got the bugger back together without any spring compresser and its superb.Quite a super little gun.
Now i dont understand why your all saying dont use this or clean with that if it works the old fashion way why change it????

[Hsing-ee]

Now i dont understand why your all saying dont use this or clean with that if it works the old fashion way why change it????

Because if you use WD40 to lubricate your BSA Mercury it will diesel like a farting elephant, ruin the spring and give inconsistent power and accuracy and have a short life. WD40 isn't a lubricating oil, it is a very volatile penetrating solvent for freeing rusted components and for dispersing water. After it has finished exploding in your compression tube, it will evaporate off and your gun will be running dry. You will need a new seal and a spring in only a few months.

Lots of people have used the Tuning Guide to make their guns better. Also, it is a tune that has been in use for the last 29 years so I think that it counts as 'the old fashioned way' at least as much as scrubbing with abrasive paper and WD40.

If you follow the instructions you will have a nice, smooth accurate rifle that will last a long time and will be a pleasure to shoot. Lubing with WD40 and changing the spring and seal will give a workable gun, but it won't give anywhere near the best performance it is capable of. If you HAD followed the guide then you would have smoothed out the cocking slot and you would not have knicked your seal.

Read it and try the guide, you might be pleasantly suprised!

[Marzy]

Just like to say that I read through lots of tips from this site before attempting to strip down and rebuild my Webley Mk3 (many thanks to all who contributed). the gun had been dry stored under the stairs since the late 1970s with just the odd wipe down and pellet through it every few years but, was seriously underpowered and all the grease had solidified.

I stripped down every moving part, gave the barrel a good pull through and light lube, degreased and cleaned everything before applying new grease and lube, fitted a new spring and PTFE seal which took a little wate with all the wet and dry rubbing but, now moves up and down the cylinder with gentle but firm finger pressure and sounds like a bicycle pump. Put motorcycle chain lube on the new spring to dampen it down while I sealed the loading port barrel with MB grease and ensured a thin smear of gasket sealant went around the edge of the cover plate. With the loading port in the "load" position, working the underlever cocking arm back to the point where it almost engages the trigger, and then letting it go back again will result in a pleasant Pssst once the loading port is flipped back to the firing position, indicatin a good seal.

All in all the gun is now rejuvenated, much more powerful and smooth and was instantly shooting around 2" higher than the scope had previously been set for at 25 yards although it has taken around 100 pellets to start grouping decently as it was obviously bedding in.

[nightstalker]

hi guys,i have been helping a freind today putting in a gas fire,looking for some bits in his shed i spotted a gun case in the corner.he said it was a air gun,i said can i have a look he said yes,so i took it out of the bag it is a webly vulcan.22.it`s been neglected to say the least,stock needs a revarnish,the bluing is pitted with rust,but the barrel bore was clean no rust which surprised me,it has a trigger guard,i think it might be 20 years old but thats a guess,it also had iron sights a one time,i gave it a clean took the crap scope of and put one of my own on it,but i could not get it on the target,when i break the barrel it has bright metal one side and i was wondering weather it had been dropped and the barrel had took a knock,it has a hell of a twang when i fire it,is it worth taking as part payment for the gas fire,can i get barrels moderrators ect, for it if i take it on.any help would be great.
best regards.