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Thread: Idiots guide to classic airgun strips (pt 1)

  1. #151
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    Haenel 303

    Haenel 303 strip and rebuild.
    An auction buy in .22, this rifle falls into the medium springer class. Outwardly it looked good with no obvious damage. It shot fairly well but was only producing c. 400fps on the chrono so a strip was in order. This guide explains the basics of the strip plus a few tips but does not cover replacing the piston and breech seals as mine were in excellent condition. You will need a spring compressor to keep control of the action. You will also need a ‘pronged tool’ to insert into the compression tube and around the trigger unit in order to take the strain off the system when removing the mainspring.
    I am aware that the design of the 303 changed slightly during its lifetime so this guide may not cover all variants; it will however, cover most issues.
    Remove the stock: two screws at the forend and two in the trigger guard. There is a trigger adjusting screw in the guard but you do not need to remove this. When removing the stock, note the disc sitting in the underside of the stock in the forend. This is to prevent the cocking arm rubbing on the wood. Do not lose it. Some variants have a spring under this disc. Mine did not. Note the spring fitted to the end of the safety bar; the cocking link nudges this spring to automatically set the safety on cocking.
    With the action on the bench on its side, barrel to the left, note a plastic endcap housing the safety catch. Remove the pin through the end cap then turn the safety catch through 90 degrees and pull the end cap and safety away from the action. Turning the catch like this allows it to free from the safety setting bar that sits on top of the trigger housing.
    In front of the trigger is a large disc with a bolt head on top. Remove the disc and lift the safety setting bar over the trigger. Do not lose the spacing washer. You will note a small flat plate in front of the trigger and under the safety bar. This plate forms part of the mainspring retention system. On my rifle this plate came away with the safety bar, leaving the mainspring retained only by the trigger pivot pin. So if it appears firmly fixed, do not remove it before placing the action in the compressor.
    Place the action in the compressor and insert the pronged tool into the end of the cylinder. Tighten the compressor to just take the strain of the mainspring. Now remove the small plate and the pin that goes through the action and the trigger unit. Juggle the compressor setting until this pin can be removed easily and let your drift pass through the action to keep the trigger in place. With the pin removed, grip the trigger and its spring so as to prevent the spring pinging away and pull your drift out. The trigger plus spring will come free. Note that one end of the spring has a long leg that fits into a groove within the trigger sear. Release pressure on the compressor and the mainspring and guide can be removed.
    The articulated cocking link will slip away from the slot in the piston without having to split the action at the breech. The piston can now be removed, examined and repaired as required.
    This is a good time to examine the plastic pad held in the cocking arm; it prevents the arm rubbing on the underside of the action. It had worn down on my rifle and some rubbing was evident. The pad can be removed by simply levering it out. I made a new one but it would be possible to shim the old one so that the plastic surface was just above the cocking arm edge if needed.
    The mainspring fitted was a replacement (22 cm long) and as the piston and breech seals looked fine, I assumed it had gone soft so prepared a replacement from a standard Meteor spring. Initially I cut it with two extra coils but this was a mistake as it became coil bound. I found that the 22cm length was the critical length ... any longer became coil bound.
    Reassembly is a reversal of the process: add piston, spring and guide. With action in the compressor and using the pronged tool, compress the spring and guide until the slot in the guide that the small plate under the safety bar fits into lines up with the cut out in the action. Replace the small plate. The holes in the action cylinder that take the trigger pin will now be lined up with those in the guide sides. You can now refit the trigger. Initially I did this before fitting the trigger spring as it was easier to align the holes in the trigger mechanism with those in the action. Tip: use a small screwdriver to hold the sear in position in the trigger unit as you replace the unit in the action. I used a drift to fit the trigger first then tapped the pin through, knocking the drift out on the way. You then need to fit the trigger spring. Locate the leg on the spring in the groove on the sear and the spring on the peg on the trigger unit. Then compress the spring to fit the end over the small peg on the action. A bit fiddly.
    Alternatively you can fit the spring into the trigger unit and then locate the end of the spring over the peg in the action as you lower the trigger into the action. You need to compress the spring as you do so, keeping a firm grip of it between thumb and finger. By looking through the holes in the action you can easily see when the trigger unit is correctly positioned to allow a drift to be inserted to secure the trigger in place. Then add the pin, knocking the drift out in the process. With the pin and plate securely holding the mainspring, you can remove the action from the compressor.
    Add the safety bar over the trigger. Make sure the spacing washer is in place within the safety bar slot and add the disc/bolt. The safety bar should slide back and forth quite nicely. Take the safety catch and end plug and replace into the action, making sure the safety catch is at 90 degrees to allow the catch to enter into the cut out in the safety bar. Secure the end cap with the pin. You may need to rotate the end cap in order to align the holes to allow the pin to be inserted.
    Replace action in the stock. I found it wise to keep the trigger pulled as the trigger guard and trigger adjuster was replaced; this keeps the trigger out of the way of the adjuster until the guard is fitted.
    And now a tale about the mainspring. Having replaced the mainspring with one of identical length and specification I found no change in performance. Remember that my spring was c. 22 cm long and verging on coil bound. I began to cut the original spring back just to see what effect it would have. Having removed about three coils to give a length of c. 19cm I was delighted to see that performance increased by about 70fps to give me an output hovering on 8 ftlbs. I can only suppose that a previous owner had tried to increase performance by adding a longer mainspring; an action that backfired somewhat.
    Cheers, Phil

  2. #152
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    Parker Hale Phoenix MK1

    PHOENIX MK1 STRIP AND REBUILD

    The rifle was serial number 0015, purchased at auction some time ago. It seemed airtight when bought but when tried about 18 months later, it gushed air. This account tells the story of the strip and subsequent rebuild, except that I did not manage to remove all the air valve.
    Do not worry, there are no parts that leap into oblivion when you start taking it apart, except possibly the hammer spring and adjuster if you are careless.

    I work with barrel to my left. Remove air bottle. Remove the butt; one bolt through the pistol grip and the forend, 2 bolts. Remove the hammer adjustment bolt and spring from the end of the action; 2 grub screws hold it in place. Take care it does not eject when you release the screws. Lift out the adjuster and spring. The hammer should now slide out. Undo and remove the 8 bolts holding the barrel and loading probe assembly onto the main action. Lift the barrel etc away, taking care not to damage the transfer port which will remain in the action body. Pull the transfer port out together with its O ring and place it somewhere safe. Remove end caps on the safety catch. From the start it was obvious that a previous owner had taken it apart. One of the screws (2mm allen key) holding the safety catch was rounded off and had to be removed another way ... I drilled a shallow 3mm hole and lightly tapped a star bit in the hole. The screw came undone quite easily. Undo the 6 screws holding the body frame to the interior blocks ... 2mm allen head screws again.
    As you release the 6 body frame screws you may note the two halves of the interior block begin to separate. This is quite OK. Carefully slide the action body parts up and out of the frame. As you do so, the main trigger sears will separate; one attached to the hammer housing (closest to the front of the rifle) and another to the valve housing block. Do not worry, they slide back together quite easily. Lift the 2 body parts out. On my rifle I found a small nylon washer sitting between the sears ... it had clearly migrated there during a previous strip as it should have been, with its partner, on the hammer housing sear pivot pin. Both were missing. The valve stem is now visible, protruding from the left hand end of the brass valve body in the valve housing block. To remove the valve it is first necessary to remove the two threaded dowels; one each side of the valve assembly. They are threaded 3mm and to remove them you need to screw a 3mm bolt (e.g. from the barrel assembly) into them and pull out the dowel. I made a simple puller from suitable washers which pulled the dowel out as I screwed the bolts in. This releases the brass valve end cap. Unfortunately on my rifle this is as far as I got as the main valve body containing the valve head remained in the rifle and it did not move with a slight pull on the valve stem. So I left it. If anyone knows how to remove all the valve body, please let me know. I did remove, clean and replace the two O rings I found there.
    As I could go no further, I reassembled the valve end cap and started to rebuild the rifle.
    Reassembly is basically a reverse of the strip but the following notes may help. Check to ensure that the trigger guard bolts are not protruding into the bottom of the frame. My rifle had clearly had replacement bolts fitted and I found that a bolt that protrudes may interfere with the sears.
    You can assemble the two housings held together or separately. Separately is easier, starting with the valve housing. Move the underlever down while entering the housing into the frame and secure it with the 4 screws. Then feed the hammer housing into place, making sure the sear of the valve housing passes into the channel in the hammer housing, not into the circular hole that takes the hammer. Also ensure the sear on the hammer housing passes below the valve sear so that it is against the bottom of the frame. Feed the hammer housing up against the valve housing and secure it with the two screws. Add the hammer, narrow end first, into the end of the hammer housing, followed by the spring and the adjuster. Holding the action frame firmly ( I did so vertically with the air filler on my knee), push in on the adjuster until the central groove is level with the 2 grub screws and tighten them to hold the adjuster and hammer assembly in place. Now return the underlever to the rest position, you should get the feeling of cocking the action against spring pressure. Pull the trigger; hopefully it will fire.
    When I did this on my rifle it would not cock and it took me a long time to puzzle out why. Initially I suspected a trigger issue even though I had not disturbed any settings. Stripping the trigger parts to clean and inspect them was straightforward ... they are held by cross pins that have nylon washers on them. One pin holds the sear bar (about 2.5cm); removal of the pin allows the bar to come away with its spring. Refitting is easy; just ensure the spring locates on its peg. Putting the nylon washers back on the pin was the most fiddly part. Removing the trigger is similar although you will need to push the underlever pivot pin out to remove the trigger. Note there are black plastic washers on it. Again, make sure the trigger spring is seated correctly when replacing it. The nylon washers are again fiddly but a dab of grease to keep them against the housing while you tease them into position helps. I was missing 2 nylon washers but made some by slicing some off suitable nylon tubing.
    The solution to my non-cocking issue lay in that nylon washer I had found during the strip plus the fact that the person who had stripped the rifle before had clearly not assembled the small leaf spring on the hammer sear correctly. The spring needs to exert force against the hammer sear bar which then pushes against the bar from the valve housing and was not doing so sufficiently. The spring had a slight curvature so I reversed it and all was well. Presumably the presence of the nylon washer between the sears just gave the extra pressure needed to allow intermittent cocking before I stripped the rifle.
    Having done this I carefully screwed an air bottle into the filler until it started to vent air from the transfer port hole. I had been advised that this may well blow away any dirt and allow the valve to seal again.
    I reassembled the barrel housing, taking care that the transfer port and O ring was back in place and that the loading probe spigot located in the hole in the bar of the underlever.
    Then put back the safety catch end plugs and screws. Note that the safety catch is reversible. Just remove the spring from the side of the action ... one screw; and reassemble the other way round.
    I was delighted to find the rifle held air when I tried it. The air blast must have done the trick although I am still puzzled as to how the valve body comes out. I test fired a few shots then resorted to a short chrono session to set the power as required by the adjuster. While doing this I found that at the end of a magazine and with the magazine removed, it is not necessary to ‘dry fire’. With the underlever in the down (or forward) position, simply pull the trigger and bring the underlever back to rest. The mechanism does not then cock and there is no need to dry fire.
    I think I will have to live with the breech O ring. A later rifle, but still MK1, has a larger plastic ring fitted in the action, not a rubber O ring; or maybe there is an O ring underneath it. No matter, it seems I will just learn not to dry fire without a magazine in place.
    I am also looking for some of the small star washers that fit on the ends of the pins on the underlever assembly. Two of these fell away, presumably broken (a tab missing) but just held in place when I refitted them. They are quite narrow in outside diameter and none of my supply of such items for the pin diameter was small enough.

    Phil Russell

  3. #153
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    Phoenix Hy-Score pistol strip (pt1)

    I've been meaning to do this for a while except I had a problem (more later).
    The pistol is one of those designs that the trigger mechanism is really better off being left alone other than a bit of a scrub with some cleaner (meths/isopropyl alcohol) and then some lube. This is partly because it would be very fiddly and partly because you cannot get spares.
    Firstly I removed the rearsight by undoing the 2 cap head screws on the side of the sight and lifting it off the grooves.
    Mine did not have a silencer on it and I did not have the special tools that I think the gun came with. I used a flat headed screw driver to undo the barrel and it came out ok.
    I then pushed the button on the RHS that you use when cocking the gun. This lets the cylinder spring up a little from the trigger and grips. If you undo the forked nut on the grip/cylinder pivot, the pivot screw will come out and you can then slide the grip back a little and lift the cocking arm out of the cylinder. Put the trigger and grips to one side. The sear is in a little housing welded to the cylinder and is a simple thing with 1 pin and a coil spring. Remove the pin and the sear and spring slide forwards and out.
    You should now have the cylinder, end caps and shutter mechanism left. There is a plain circlip holding the end cap/loading shutter--it was a bugger to get out. I managed by grinding a small screwdriver so I could get at it. TIP when I got it out, I ground either end of the circlip so it had a "lead in" to make it easier if it needs doing again. The endcap/loading shutter then came off and the little shutter/transfer port thing lifted off the end of the cylinder. There is a flat section circlip in the endcap,which opens and closes the shutter when the endcap is twisted.
    I then wanted to remove the inner endcap from the cylinder to get at the piston. IT WOULD NOT SHIFT I tried Plus gas, tried to make up a tool like the proper peg spanner etc but it would not shift. I sent it to Mick T20 who managed to get if off without damaging it. nut sure whether he made up a peg spanner or a soft bush to grip it.
    Anyhow, with this off, the piston, mainspring and guide came out. Clean and lube everything and go to part 2
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  4. #154
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    Phoenix Hy-Score pistol strip (pt2)

    On the piston, there are 2 grooves of different depths at the front. Mine only had 1 O ring in the front but I decided to try to fit another thinner section one in the 2nd groove. not sure if it should have one or not. EDIT--- been told that some had a felt ring as an oil retainer.
    I screwed the barrel back into the cylinder and then slid the guide and mainspring over it. The piston then went in. It sticks out of the cylinder a little but when you put the inner endcap on, it screws in easily enough. I put a tiny bit of THREAD LOCK on the cap and nipped it up with my crude and weak home made peg spanner (a bit of flat bar with two holes in it and 2 steel pegs). I then slid the plain circip onto the inner endcap so as to not have to stretch or force it over the outer cap later. I located the shutter onto its hole in the cap (middle one of the 3)and moved it so it was in the open position (ie you could see the end of the barrel). If you have not had the flat circlip out of the outer endcap, I assume it would go back in the right place. If it does not close the shutter when you screw the outer endcap up, try again with the clip moved round a little. With the outer endcap in position, you should be able to feed in the plain circlip to locate it.
    You can now refit the sear,coil spring and the sear pin. I used a punch to line up the holes.
    Get your trigger mechanism/grips and slide the cocking arm into the slot in the cylinder. Replace the pivot pin and nut. Push down on the cylinder and it should click into place on the grips. Replace your rearsight.

    I've managed a quick plink with this between showers. It seems pretty accurate and not bad power wise. The trigger is a little heavy, but no worse than some other pistols. It seems a quite well made pistol.
    Last edited by ggggr; 19-11-2013 at 05:23 PM. Reason: Edit info
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  5. #155
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    Parker Hale Dragon

    PARKER HALE DRAGON

    Resealing.

    Before beginning, I must make it clear that I accept no responsibility whatsoever for any damage or other issues that afflict your Dragon as a result of you following these notes. I have written them as a result of my own actions in repairing an ailing Dragon belonging to a friend. If, however, the notes help you, I will be happy as I could find no strip information to help me whatsoever, except for replacing the pump seal. The Dragon suffered two sequential faults: to begin with it appeared to allow air to be compressed on the compression stroke but the trigger did nothing. The various airgun fora commented that it is caused by the valve stem sticking and that dripping oil through the transfer port may help cure this. On this occasion, it did not. Then it was clear that there was an air leak on closing the pump. A balloon over the muzzle indicated that air was not escaping through the transfer port and down the barrel.

    Tools needed: 6mm, 5mm, 4mm, 3mm, 2.5mm allen keys. Narrow blade screwdriver. Pointed tool to help remove O rings. Reseal kit. Oil: 20/50 engine oil and a few others are recommended in the manual. I have an electronic version of the manual, available on request.

    Servicing the pump:
    Remove action from stock (6mm, 5mm keys).
    Remove thread cap or silencer. Open cocking lever and remove the 4 screws that secure the muzzle block (2.5mm). Remove block. Ease barrel to one side and remove the countersunk screw under muzzle block (3mm) and the other socket screw (4mm) retaining the lever pivot. The barrel will flex enough. Remove the similar screws underneath the cylinder. Slide lever assembly out of main tube, making sure the axis pins retaining the levers in the pivot block remain in place.
    Remove O ring on the piston head and replace with a new one.

    Clean inside of compression tube. Oil compression tube with a few drops of e.g. 20/50 motor oil and add a few drops to the piston head and guide. Replacing the piston and guide is best done with the action vertical. Fit piston head into tube and lower it down the tube ... a bit fiddly as the levers are above the tube, but you will do it. When piston ring gets to the end of the slot take care that the ring does not snag on the cylinder body at the end of the slot. The tube is slightly flared at this point to help entry of the O ring.

    With cocking lever at right angles to the main tube, insert piston head until the cocking lever contacts the open end of the tube. Introduce the pivot block into the open end of the tube; line up the holes and add the countersunk head screws first then the cheese head screws. Do not over-tighten as they are screwing into aluminium.

    Replace muzzle block. Check that piston head is lubricated and that it moves freely in the tube. Replace stock if all is OK.

    Reseal valve
    You do not have to remove the pump assembly to do this. Remove stock and muzzle block (see above).

    Remove the 6 bolts that pass through the breech block, through the cylinder and through the trigger block. They fasten into nuts on the trigger block but may still be a very firm fit in the holes even when the nuts and lock washers are removed. Do not force, go carefully and the bolts will often ‘wind’ out even though there is no thread in the breech block, the cylinder or the trigger housing block.
    Lift breech and barrel off the action.
    Lift trigger block away ... followed by the safety button and its spring.

    On top of the action is a brass cylinder approx 10mm diameter with a thick O ring in the centre. Through the centre of the thick O ring you will see the end of the valve stem, about 3mm diameter. The brass cylinder is the top of the valve chamber and lifts off. Underneath it is another O ring. Both of these are supplied in a reseal kit.
    You now need to remove the valve stem: If the stem end is flush with the top of the O ring, the valve is in the ‘set’ position. If it is below the O ring it is in the open position.
    Look at the bottom of the cylinder near where the safety catch sits. The black bar, about two inches long, is the trigger sear actuating bar. With a finger or a small tool, press gently on the rearmost part of the bar while at the same time gently pressing the valve stem down from top to bottom of the action. The stem will slide smoothly down and out of the valve bottom, pointed end first. You may well hear a click as the trigger sear flips closed as the valve stem passes it.

    You are now almost ready to get at the lower part of the valve chamber in order to replace 2 more seals. From the top of the action, look down into the chamber. Note that the chamber is dark coloured but has a brass coloured central base section. You will see a rod protruding into the chamber a few mm from the top edge. This is the power adjuster. The power adjuster rod does not need to be touched unless you know its' seal has gone.
    Turn the action over and look up into the chamber again. You will see another rod extending into the void, but this time it enters the space below the bottom of the valve chamber. This is the trigger sear adjuster rod.
    If you really want to remove the power adjuster: Make a mental note how far the rod protrudes into the valve chamber (approx 1mm on this rifle). Note a silicon plug in the end of the action (maybe coloured red). Tease the plug out. Insert allen key and locate it in the grub screw a little way into the action. Remove grub screw, counting how many turns it takes to come free. Now insert a narrow blade screwdriver into the hole and locate the screwdriver on the adjuster rod. Turn anticlockwise, counting revolutions as you go... watch the adjuster rod wind back out of the chamber and judge how many turns you need to get it to clear the chamber body and action. Write down how many turns you used!
    Now for the trigger bar: Have the action upside down. Look at the black horizontal trigger bar on the base of the action. It has 2 grub screws on it, one near the safety tube (2nd stage engagement), the other near the end block. Remove the grub screw near the safety tube, counting how many turns it takes. Write this down. Note another silicon plug in the end of the action, this one perfectly central. This is the trigger sear rod adjuster. Remove silicon plug and the exposed grub screw (count turns again). Remove spring behind grub screw. With a thin blade screwdriver, locate the slot on the end of the adjuster rod and undo it a few turns ... count the turns. You can see the adjuster rod to the left of the black bar. Gently push the rod to the end of the action as you press on the right hand side of the trigger bar. It should begin to pass under the trigger bar.
    Gently twiddle the safety tube to see if it will come away from the cylinder. It should do so easily without force. If it does not, undo the sear adjuster rod another turn or two until the tube comes away.
    Go to the top of the action and gently push against the brass base of the valve stem guide clearly visible through the valve body. It should move down and out of the tube. Here are the last two O rings on the valve. Remove O rings and fit new ones.

    Now time to re-assemble.
    Replace the valve bottom plate, O rings upwards, and push into place with the safety catch cylinder.
    Reset the trigger adjustment rod: turn it back in the same number of turns as you unwound it. I am told that if you have forgotten this you can set it, with the valve stem in place, by screwing all the way in and then backing off 2 full turns. Add spring and grub screw ... same turns as you undid it.
    Replace the grub screw you removed from the black trigger bar. (same turn number).
    You can test this action by adding the valve stem from the top of the action and pushing it down. It will click into place at the ‘cocked’ position and only move down again if you depress the right hand edge of the black trigger bar. If you can push it straight through the valve body without touching the trigger bar ... start again.
    If you wound back the power adjuster: With valve stem removed, wind in the power adjuster to its original setting (you did note that didn’t you?). If you have forgotten, start with about 1mm of rod protruding into the chamber. Add the grub screw to lock the power adjuster.

    Add valve stem from top, remembering to push the trigger bar to get it to set on the sear. Add the larger diameter O ring into the top of the valve chamber and replace the valve chamber top complete with its thick O ring in the centre.

    Add the safety catch and spring and replace the trigger block underneath the action. Replace breech and barrel assembly and locate the 6 bolts. Tighten them in sequence; I did diagonally at the breech end first and then a rear bolt. I am told the front bolts are tightened to 3Nm (2.213 ft lbs), the rear ones to 2Nm (1.475 ft lbs).
    IMPORTANT: These 6 bolts hold the 3 parts together, breech, cylinder and trigger block. They ensure the parts are held together sufficiently that the valve chamber O rings give an air tight seal.

    Replace the muzzle block and stock.

    My first dry fire was ok but a bit muted. But no sound of hissing air. Hooray. Went to chrono ... 283fps with Superdome .22 (14.5gn). Impending despondency. Next shot about 360, then 480 then 550 then 582, 582, 583, 584, 590, 583 ... stayed as such. Yippee.... 10.9 – 11.2 ft lbs.
    AA Field next ... typical 570, 570, 570, 563, 567 ... av. 11.5

    I have read that power can be low for a few shots straight after a service so maybe this supports that.

    So I think it is OK. Yippee.
    Typical cost: about £16 for a seal set. I did not replace the pellet probe O rings, the O ring that seals the power adjuster, nor the O ring on the end of the barrel under the muzzle block.

    Cheers, Phil
    Last edited by Phil Russell; 05-02-2014 at 11:33 AM.

  6. #156
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    Haenel 28 pistol

    HAENEL 28 PISTOL

    Made around the mid 1930s, this pistol, .177, No. 12741E, had a broken cocking link when received. A strip then showed the absence of a piston head. Major operations were thus to fit a new piston head and make a new cocking link. On a working pistol, a button on the rh side, near the breech, is pressed to release the grip section from the cylinder. The grip then swings down and back, pivoting at the rear of the cylinder to compress the spring and engage the piston on the trigger sear. The barrel is not used to cock the pistol but pivots on its own pivot to allow a pellet to be loaded once the pistol is cocked. Overall the pistol is very easy to work on with only screwdrivers and pin punches being required, although I found a means of clamping the pistol cylinder to be needed when refitting the mainspring.
    To strip, remove the grips, one screw each side. Unscrew the end cap. Be prepared for the sudden release of the cap under spring pressure as there is considerable (about two inches) of preload. Remove spring and spring guide. To remove piston and with the grip action still locked to the cylinder, pull the trigger and, with a finger inside the piston, withdraw the piston over the trigger sear. The piston cannot now be removed until the cocking link arm is lowered ... either do this by pushing the end of the link in the grip body or push out the pin that the cocking link pivots on and remove the link. The pin has a large flat end c. ½” diameter that fits snugly into the grip frame. As you remove the link, note the spring leg that fits inside a groove on the inside of the link. There is no need to remove this spring but if you wish to, there is a pin that holds it in place.
    With the link out of the way, pull the piston free. On this pistol there was no leather piston head. There was an end plate with a countersunk central hole but the hole looked as if it had been filled with solder. I guessed that there was originally a screw that went through this hole and secured a leather sealing washer. So I tapped the hole at 6mm and made a leather piston head, securing it with a 6mm countersunk bolt and a lock nut inside the piston. I place this in neatsfoot oil to soak while I continued.
    There is no need to remove the barrel unless there is good reason. If you wish to do so, simply remove the retaining screw and main pivot bolt.
    My cocking link had broken at the end that contacts the piston to push it back. I thus needed to make a new link. I found out that a reproduction link was available from JG Airguns in the USA for $50 plus postage but decided to continue making my own. I was kindly sent a picture of the grip frame complete with cocking link and from this managed to produce a life size picture of the link that I then used as a template to make a new one. A piece of ¼” (actually I used 6mm) steel plate and several hours work with hacksaw, bench grinder and various files later, I had a good first model link. The pin hole in the centre that secures it to the grip frame was 4mm. Refitting the piston minus the spring showed that this first link could move the piston into the cocked position. When doing this it was important to ensure the small leg of the link spring was located in the groove on the inside of the link. By unhitching the link from the piston and pushing the piston fully home in the cylinder it was possible to fine tune the link to ensure that the piston was fully home with the link attached. Care had to be taken to make sure the link was shaped correctly in order not to catch on the link spring body nor on the top of the pistol grip frame. When all seemed well, I case hardened the end of the link where it contacted the piston body.
    The pistol was then ready for final re-assembly. The piston, lightly lubricated with moly grease on the outside) was pushed home over the trigger sear and the new link put in place, making sure that the end of the link contacted the piston body and that the link spring leg was located in the groove on the link. The link retaining pin was then fitted and the piston pushed fully home.
    The spring and spring guide (light coating of moly grease) were added and the cylinder clamped in a rubber padded vice before the end cap was screwed back on. There is considerable preload. I found it easiest to use a block of wood to push the cap onto the threads with my right hand and use my left hand to turn the cap to engage the threads. The grips were then refitted.
    Cocking is not the easiest operation and considerable effort is involved. During testing I almost convinced myself that the spring I had found in my pistol was not original such was the preload. But a photograph of a pistol plus spring convinced me that my spring, at 23 coils, was correct.
    After a few test shots to settle the action, I decided to chrono the pistol. From various fora I had expected output to be around 300fps with Hobby pellets (7gn) so was very pleased to record an average of 340 fps with excellent consistency of +/- 4fps.
    Phil Russell

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    Diana 24D with TO1 trigger part 1

    DIANA MOD. 24 D (TO1 trigger) Part 1

    I bought this at auction for £20. It looked awful; the action was somewhat pitted and rusty, the rear sight was broken and the rifle would not cock. In its favour, the cocking action was quite smooth and the stock was pretty good. My main purpose in buying it was to see if I could copy the safety catch as I have a Webley Air Wolf that is deemed to be a rebadged Diana 24. I was thwarted in this objective as when I started to clean the action, the magic marks 24 with a letter D beneath were revealed. This was thus a Mod. 24D and not the Air Wolf version which was, I believe a simple Mod. 24. Nevertheless, I continued, reasonably confident that I could restore the rifle to working condition. A few surprises awaited me ...
    The stock is easily released by removing the two screws in the forend and the front bolt in the trigger guard. The rear bolt is a wood screw. The action just lifts out. When I did this, two of the trigger pins that secure the sears fell out. They are longer than the trigger housing and are held in place (seemingly) by being the same width as the cut out in the stock ... so when the action is in the stock the pins cannot move. But they were quite a loose fit in the trigger block: be warned. I replaced them and put small strips of masking tape over the ends to keep them in place.
    Once out of the stock it was clear that the trigger unit was a Diana TO1 and is assembled in a housing that can be removed from the action without taking the trigger apart ... memories of the Original 48/52 flooded back as some models had the same trigger unit.
    The first job was to remove the trigger housing. I recommend the use of a spring compressor and two slave pins, each 24mm x 5mm diameter. The plastic end cap simply pulls off the rear of the cylinder. Put action in a spring compressor, trigger uppermost and to the right. Depending on the clearances you have with the compressor, I recommend removing front and rear sight units. As the safety catch extends beyond the end of the cylinder you need a small wooden block to butt up against the end of the cylinder and trigger housing as you take the strain of the two pins that you can see going through the cylinder and the trigger housing ... the two pins to the extreme right of the action. This is where the two slave pins are very useful. Use the slave pins to drift out the pins holding the trigger housing to the cylinder. The slave pins are just long enough to maintain the trigger unit in a working state when out of the action, but short enough to allow the trigger housing to slide in the cylinder. With both slave pins in place, release pressure on the trigger housing and let the mainspring come free. On my rifle there was about two inches of preload; the trigger housing coming almost free from the cylinder. Of course, you could achieve the same effect by not using the slave pins and simply drifting the pins out using a parallel punch. If you do this you will release the safety bar from its place as you remove the punch. This is not critical, but using slave pins is easier.
    Once the trigger housing is out you can remove the mainspring and spring guide. I was surprised to see that my guide was delrin leading me to think that it was an aftermarket one. To release the piston, you need to release the cocking link; a simple pin through the breech but note that it is retained by a circlip between the arms of the link that will need removing first. This is a bit fiddly and I know of at least one rifle where the circlip is missing. I removed the barrel assembly as well; a bolt that passes through a steel sleeve that passes through the breech jaws and the breech. With the cocking link removed, the piston simply slides out. Again I was quite surprised; a long, heavy piston greeted me, complete with a synthetic piston head. It looked quite good.
    I now started to wonder why the rifle would not cock. The spring seemed OK and there was nothing obvious to impede the cocking stroke. To check trigger action I took the piston and pushed it firmly into the end of the trigger housing. Nothing happened. The piston did not lock in place. Note that if you used a punch to remove the pins earlier then the trigger will not engage with the sear mechanism until the pins are replaced in the trigger housing and the safety activated. (Not actually 100% true as if the safety slide is removed, the trigger will cock; but it still needs the pins in place). So I had a trigger problem.
    This was my first experience of stripping the TO1 trigger even though I have stripped and rebuilt several three ball triggers from the Original 50 / 35 series and removed the TO1 unit from Original 48/52 rifles. Inspecting the trigger unit and comparing observations with the exploded diagram provided by Chambers, it was clear where my problem lay. The trigger unit has five springs: one is very clear, a strong coil spring about 4cm long sitting in a groove on top of the trigger housing, a large open coil spring that connects the plastic trigger blade to the trigger housing, a smaller diameter (about 3mm and 1cm long) coil spring that sits underneath the trigger sear bar, a spring with two legs that holds the piston sear down and finally another ‘legged’ spring that holds the safety catch in engagement. My trigger was missing these final three springs.

    Cheers, Phil.
    Continued in Part 2
    Last edited by Phil Russell; 06-03-2023 at 11:44 AM.

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    Diana 24D with TO1 trigger part 2

    DIANA MOD. 24 D (TO1 trigger) Part 2
    Describing how to strip and rebuild the trigger unit is not very easy as there are several parts. A picture guide is available at The Dianawerk Collective. Search for ‘Diana48/52 TO1trigger disassembly/assembly’ and you will find it ... or just Google the search term. The plastic bits on the trigger unit are different but the working parts are the same.These following notes can be regarded as supplementary information. Looking at the trigger unit with the trigger blade pointing upwards and the barrel to the left, the bottom left pin holds the piston sear and its’ spring in place, the pin immediately above it is the trigger blade pivot pin and the pin on the right, half way up the housing, holds the trigger sear and its spring. The safety pivot pin is quite clear on the right top of the trigger unit and holds the safety spring as well. To get into the trigger unit, remove the safety catch pin and pull the safety catch back. It can be quite firm as you are releasing a sprung bar from one of the slave pins (if used). It comes away with the pronged legged spring. The trigger blade and coil spring comes away easily if you push its’ pin out. The trigger sear pin is next but take care as when the sear is released the small coil spring releases.. it should not ping into space but be prepared. The main piston sear pin is next to be removed along with its spring (another legged spring) and the sear itself.
    I had no reason to take the three ball unit apart but if the mood strikes you, it is not too difficult. A few words about the basic construction will help. There is the housing body on the outside, the part that came out of the cylinder. On top of this is the long coiled spring fitted, easily visible. Note one end has a pin (like a small spring guide) inside the spring . The other end locates on a small prong on the outer shell, see below. Inside this outer housing is the inner cylinder that contains the 3 balls. Sandwiched between the outer housing and inner cylinder is a shorter ‘outer shell’ . You need to remove the long spring by inserting a small screwdriver into the housing and just levering the spring free at the pin end. Take care it does not ping away and keep a grip on the other components. Now note that there is a slot in line with the retaining pin holes and that there is another pin passing through the trigger housing in this slot. Push the pin out but keep hold of the shell and inner cylinder (with balls) within the housing so that they do not simply fall out everywhere. It’s not a real problem if they do, just easier to note how it all goes together if you hold them at this stage. With this pin removed you can slide out the inner cylinder and its’ outer shell. (The piston rod passes into the inner cylinder during cocking). The inner cylinder has the famous three balls. Balls are 4.8mm or 3/16” diameter, a common cycle bearing size. Note how the inner cylinder fits into the shorter outer shell and how these then slide into the outer housing. After cleaning, it is time to re-assemble the unit. Good fun. Begin by putting grease in each of the holes the balls fit into in the inner cylinder and put the balls in place. Slide the inner cylinder into the outer shell balls end first. The outer shell should have the prong that locates the end of the long spring in line with the long slot in the inner cylinder. Replace the inner cylinder and its’ shell into the trigger unit housing, making sure that the long slot in the inner cylinder lines up with the long slot in the outer housing. If this is not so, you have the inner cylinder upside down. Refit the pin that passes through the slot in the housing. Take the long coil spring, fit the pin in one end and insert the other end in the long slot in the outer housing such that the open end of the spring locates over the prong on the end of the outer shell. Holding all parts together, you now need to push on the pin in the end of this spring and slide it into the end of the long slot. The spring compresses maybe 6mm but it is not too difficult.
    You can, if you wish now add the two slave pins again to hold all these bits together. The three ball section of the trigger is now almost done and all that remains is to re-assemble the trigger and its’ sears plus the safety catch.
    First to be fitted is the piston sear and its spring ... the flat plate like sear that has 2 wings through which the locating pin passes. The spring fits inside these wings with its legs inside the arms of the plate and the central prong of the spring pointing up towards the trigger blade. The securing pin passes through the holes in the spring. Fitting is a bit fiddly but is not too bad: place the sear inside the trigger housing with the sear ‘dimple’ downwards and the spring roughly in place. Push against the sear and the spring, compressing the prong against the housing until you can fit the locating pin in place. You may find it easier to first locate a parallel punch and then tap it out with the pin. When fitted properly, the spring legs hold the sear plate firmly against the housing holding the balls etc.
    Now for the trigger sear. Again a little fiddly but fine if you go carefully. The sear is fitted with its’ leg pointing downwards towards the ‘ball unit’ and the small prong on the sear pointing upwards towards the trigger blade. Once the retaining pin is in place, put the small coil spring over the prong and, slightly compressing the spring, slide the other end into the recess in the housing plate above. This then holds the trigger sear in place. The trigger can now be replaced ... put the trigger coil spring onto the peg on top of the trigger blade and locate the other end against the trigger housing. Slightly compress the trigger spring and replace the pin through the housing and the trigger blade. There is a groove in the trigger blade that slots over the trigger sear.
    All that remains now is to replace the safety catch. Slide the safety catch bar into the inner cylinder. If you have slave pins fitted, make sure the bar fits over the nearest pin and that the sprung part of the bar fits over the pin. Fit the safety spring over the safety locating bracket with the pronged legs outwards and refit the retaining pin. The central tab on the spring tensions the spring against the housing. I found it easier to slip the pronged legs inside the safety catch plate while fitting the pin as it relieved some tension on the spring. Once the pin was in place I simply flipped the legs out again into place.
    The unit is now rebuilt and ready for installation in the cylinder.
    To re-assemble the rifle, put the piston in the cylinder, lubricated as necessary and taking care not to catch the piston seal on any edges of slots in the cylinder. Add the lightly greased spring and guide. Place cylinder in spring compressor and add the trigger housing unit. Add the small spacer block to clear the safety catch and compress the unit until the retaining pin holes in the trigger housing line up with the holes in the cylinder. If you have used slave pins then simply drive them out using the proper retaining pins. If you have not used slave pins you will find it easier to use a parallel punch first and then push the punch out using the pins. Note that the safety catch bar needs to be out, in the safe position, and the bar depressed using a small screwdriver to allow the pin to pass through the housing ... if you look into the housing you can see the bar just blocking free passage of the pin.
    Add the barrel and breech assembly and the cocking lever. If you need a new breech seal it is a BS109, often fitted with a small shim underneath. Replace the plastic end cap and refit action into the stock. Add the sights and test. Job done. I believe the rifle usually ran at c. 700 fps. Mine was running at c. 550 – 640 fps depending on pellet so I suspect my mainspring is a little tired. I will replace it in due course.
    Cheers, Phil

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    Tell 2 pistol stripdown (pt1)

    Here is a stripdown of the little Tell 2 pistol. I have never seen one of these in real life or even seen a parts diagram. I hope Trevor does not mind me using this link so you can read about the pistol and see the endcap and barrel off.
    http://www.cinedux.com/airgun-articles-t.php

    Here are some pics to help https://forum.vintageairgunsgallery....el-2/#post-389

    (1) is the buffer that goes into the end of the cylinder
    (2) is the piston
    (3) is the barrel. The spring should go over the barrel but I could not fit it in the shot.
    (4) is the trigger spring
    (5) is the trigger
    (6) is the cocking link with it's pin above

    The gun I bought had not cocked in over 35 years, the trigger would not hold the piston against much resistance if it was cocked by pushing the piston with a rod, without the mainspring in and I think the washers were in wrong. I've done the gun as best I can looking at it and how I think it should go.
    The cylinder has a slot right to the end of the cylinder, which should enable you to slide the cocking link out and in for stripping and reassembly ---but on mine the gap had closed up so I have stripped the gun in the way described.

    Give the endcap a slight anti clockwise turn and the cap should come off with the barrel. You may need to start to cock the gun so spring pressure pushes it off. Pull the cocking strap ( the lever at the back of the gun)down and you can see the locking mechanism from the back of the gun. Undo the nut on the grips and remove the grips and screw from the frame. The screw goes through the locking mechanism so the locking mechanism/locking bar will either fall out of the back of the pistol or may need easing out.http://s165.photobucket.com/user/Gar...1276d.jpg.html There is a small spacer wrapped round the locking bar so watch that does not come off. You can now tap the trigger pivot pin out and remove the trigger and it's small coil spring. Tap out the pin that locates the cocking arm in the frame and then slide the small cocking link backwards until you can lift the arm clear of the pistol. The small cocking link pin will tap out if you want to clean and lube that as well. You should now be able to slide the piston out of the cylinder. My gun had a leather washer in the end cap, but I think it should be fitted inside of the piston to help seal round the barrel as I cannot see it doing and good in the end cap. With the piston out, there was another washer in the end of the cylinder. I'm guessing it is some kind of buffer. You should be able to push this out from the hole at the back of the gun. clean and lube the bits up
    The piston on mine had 2 thin leather discs on a spiggot, with a plain steel washer on top of them and the spiggot peened over. I gently filed where it was peened and wound the washer off and then the 2 leather ones. I made 2 leather discs, refitted the plain washer and gently peened over the spiggot. The washer at the end of the cylinder seemed ok and was reused. I'm guessing you could use a thinner buffer washer to get a little more power but it would put more stress on the cocking arm. (I have actually tried this now. If you do it, be careful the piston does not hit on the little cocking link)The cocking arm on mine was more bent than it should be so was heated up and opened up a fraction. The trigger groove in the piston was not very good so this was cleaned up with a file. The trigger was also filed a little where it holds the piston to give positive engagement. Go to part 2
    Last edited by ggggr; 06-03-2020 at 09:22 PM. Reason: adding pics
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    Tell 2 pistol stripdown (pt2)

    Now you have all your clean and lubed bits you can put them back together. Put the leather buffer washer into the cylinder and push it down to the end. I inserted the other leather washer into the piston and pushed that down. I pushed the barrel through it a few times to make it easier for when the barrel goes back in. Slide the piston into the cylinder and push it right down. Get the cocking arm and slide the bit that goes into the grip frame in far enough so you can locate the small cocking link into the slot in the cylinder. Once it is in, locate the cocking arm and pin in the grip frame. There is enough space to wangle the trigger and trigger spring into place. The trigger spring locates in a small hole in the frame. Locate the trigger pivot pin. Slide your mainspring onto the barrel and endcap, with the foresight just left of centre as you look from the front of the gun. You should now be able to compress the spring and locate the barrel through the washer in the piston. IF YOU CANNOT,try it without the mainspring to open up the leather washer in the piston again first.
    With the barrel located and spring compressed, the endcap should locate with a slight clockwise twist. Get the right grip with the screw through it and place it at it's hole on the frame. Locate the locking bar and spacer and then push the screw through. Fit left grip and nut and that is all done apart from the breech washer. If you think it is worn, just make up a small disc and replace it. It sits in a hole on the plate at the back. My gun was not seating and sealing properly even after fitting a new washer. It was blowing air out of the top of the plate. I did not want to try to heat and bend the plate so tried a thin leather washer, then a plastic washer with a hole in the centre for the breech seal to go through. The gun would not lock up like this. I Eventually made a paper gasket to go on the plate and that has cured the leak for now. I dont know if very thin shim steel or similar would work.
    The gun now cocks,holds and fires. It is low on power and the accuracy is not great. I think maybe accuracy could be improved slightly by fitting washers (steel or plastic) that fitted the barrel OD and the cylinder and piston ID, with the cylinder buffer washer and the leather washer in the piston. Pellets were tight in my barrel and maybe a clean with a brass brush might help. Light wadcutters will probably shoot better although sizing pellets first helps as well.
    It is a very small pistol. If you are a collector and you dont have one, then buy one. If you like plinking, there are better older guns to try. There are no spares for these guns so if the piston wears you would have to get one built up or turned up. A fairly solid little gun but other than buying this one so I could do the stripdown, I would not be looking for another.
    Last edited by ggggr; 28-03-2014 at 04:51 PM.
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    Milbro---Later G25/G34/G36/G77 stripdown ---safety catch models (pt 1)

    These are the stripdowns for the Diana and Milbro rifles with the above numbers and the safety catch fitted. These are more or less G25 and G27 guns but maybe with different sights. Some have a plastic rearsight and some a metal one. Some have a barrel pivot bolt and lockscrew and some just the bolt. Some have a cocking arm pivot screw and some a rivet, so use common sense and read through this to save me doing 4 guides.

    Remove the sights if you want to. Undo front 2 stock screws and rear one in front of the trigger guard. You can remove the rear trigger guard one if you want to take the guard off. Lift the action out of the stock. Undo the barrel pivot lock screw if it has one and then the barrel pivot bolt. Lift barrel and cocking arm away from the cylinder. If you want to remove the barrel plunger and spring, do it now. Press the plunger with a bit of wood and undo the small screw on the LHS of the breech block. Release the wood slowly and the plunger and spring should come out. Clean and lube and replace.
    Undo the screw holding the plastic safety on and remove the plastic catch. Knock the metal endcap off the end of the cylinder (often tight and may need tapping). I'd then undo the trigger adjusting screw and remove the sear spring and the trigger spring. The adjuster screw has a circilp on it but does not need to be removed for this strip. Tap the trigger pin/cylinder pin out (checking that the safety pin is holding the sleeve in the cylinder) and remove the trigger. The trigger may need some wangling as the rivet may catch on the sleeve. Now get a piece of wood and press on the sleeve, while pushing the safety pin into the sleeve. Slowly release pressure and the sleeve should come out. Take note of how the safety goes into the sleeve. The guide, mainspring and piston should now come out of the cylinder. There are a couple of types of piston washer/buffer/nut set ups. Clean and lube and be ready to put the gun back together.
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    Milbro---Later G25/G34/G36/G77 stripdown ---safety catch models (pt2)

    Replace the piston, mainspring and guide into the cylinder. The sleeve should go in next but first a quick word on that. Looking from the back of the gun, the spindle should go into the sleeve from you left,the spring should go on it next, then the safety cam,then the safety plate. There is a pip on the RHS of the cam and the LHS of the plate to locate and show you that you have them in the right place. The little cut out crescent on the cam lets the trigger be pulled and the rounded piece stops it. I'm sorry that I cannot make it clearer.
    Push the sleeve and safety into the cylinder and push down enough to use slave peg to hold the sleeve. The safety spindle should locate in it's hole on the RHS of the cylinder, but you may have to locate it by screwing the catch screw in and gently guiding it into place. Place the trigger into the housing and attempt to line up the trigger and 3 sears and then push the pin through. A drink may help! A slave pin might help, but even then I reckon it is a knack. Once the trigger is located and the pin through, put the plastic safety catch on and screw its screw home. Hook on the sear and the trigger springs and adjust the trigger adjuster up enough to put pressure onto the spring. You can set it properly later. Replace the endcap. Place action into stock and replace the 3 stock screws. Replace the sights.
    I like the old Diana 25's and the German versions with one pin to hold the sleeve and one for the trigger are better to work with. I feel that the later Milbro "improvements" did not solve anything and actually made the guns worse. 2 pins for the sleeve and trigger would have helped and then a decent rearsight with proper elevation and windage instead of the old "ramp" sight in a dovetail or the crappy plastic thing in a dovetail.
    Last edited by ggggr; 03-03-2014 at 04:12 PM.
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    Relum underlever pistol strip (pt1)

    UPDATE 23 06 2017--ANOTHER PISTOL ARRIVED WITH A DIFFERNET SEAR/PLUNGER AND NEEDS STRIPPING DIFFERNTLY TO THIS GUIDE. YOU NEED TO REMOVE ALL THE TRIGGER AND SEAR BEFORE YOU CAN REMOVE THE CYLINDER END PLUG.

    This arrived today. I have been after looking at one for a while. It is an underlever pistol with a flip out loading tap. It is of heavy construction with basic sights.
    Tap out the rear sight if you are worried about damaging it while you are working. There is only one screw holding the action to the frame. It is a large screw through the bottom of the grip. The smaller hole to the rear of the frame is a hole for adjusting the trigger, although this example was missing the screw (3 or 4 mm). After you undo the large screw and lift the action out of the frame, watch out for a trigger spring flying out. This is a coil sppring that sits in the frame like the Diana/Milbro G4, Slavia Zvp etc.
    Looking from the front of the gun towards the cylinder, you will see a small screw on either side of the cylinder. Still looking from the front,the one on the left is the tap pivot screw and the one on the right contains a coil spring and a bb that loacte the tap when it is closed. Remove,clean and lube these bits and keep them somewhere safe.
    Looking at the action from the rear, into the trigger housing,you will see the forks of the sear on either side of a tube. This tube is part of the trigger. You can tap the cylinder and this tube should drop out. You will see that it has a notch on it (like a sear) to hold the piston rod when the gun is cocked.
    With that out, you can knock out the cylinder endcap retaining pin. There is not much pressure so it should not fly, but it always pays to keep a bit of pressure on endcaps when removing pins. With the cap removed, the mainsprings (yes 2, like the rifles) and the guide should come out. The guide was at the front of the springs and I put it back the same way. I don't know if it would work at the rear. It is very small because of the inner mainspring.
    Now tap out the trigger pin at the front of the trigger housing and remove the trigger and its small hairpin spring. Try to see how it goes for when you put the thing back together. Knock out the rear pin in the housing and remove the sear from the back of the housing.( Not knowing what sort of screw the trigger adjuster should be,you may have to remove this screw first)
    Undo the cocking arm pivot screw and you should now be able to use it to push the piston to the back of the cylinder. When it gets most of the way there, the cocking arm should drop out of the cylinder and you can then remove it from the front of the housing. Withdraw the piston from the cylinder. The piston washer is held by a threaded nut that has 2 holes for a peg spanner. As the nut was not tight, I used the nose of some long nosed pliers to undo it. There was a steel washer under the piston washer.
    Clean and lube every thing up. Go to part 2
    Last edited by ggggr; 05-03-2023 at 04:05 PM. Reason: Another pistol that strips differntly turned up
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    Re: Relum underlever pistol strip (pt2)

    Put your steel washer,piston washer and nut back on the piston and nip up the nut. You could use some thread lock or gently peen the nut to stop it coming undone.
    I would now replace the loading plate and the locating bb, with the bits you have been keeping safe. The plate has a pip on it for the ball to locate on so you should be able to work out which way is goes. Slide the piston part way into the cylinder and then slide the cocking arm into the front of the trigger housing and slide it towards the rear of the cylinder (helps if the action is upside down) until it locates into the cylinder and piston slot and then slide it forwards, which will pull the piston fully forwards into the cylinder. Locate the cocking arm pivot screw.
    Now slide the sear into the trigger housing from the rear, with the rounded side to the front and the fork to the rear. You should be able to work out which way up it goes by looking at he trigger before you put it in. Replace the pin.
    Now get your trigger and trigger spring (sits in the middle of the top of the trigger). The straight leg sits n top of the trigger and the hooked bit sits against the cocking arm. Locate it and replace the pin.
    Now place the guide and mainsprings into the piston and locate the end cap. With the cap in place, you should be able to push the tubular trigger piece through the hole under the rear of the trigger housing into the cap. With this located, you can replace the endcap pin.
    If you have a screw for the trigger adjuster, you can fit that now.
    Put the little coil spring into the tubular trigger piece and then locate and gently lower it into the frame.
    Locate and replace frame screw.
    Replace sight if you took it off.
    I need to look at this and get a few more shots out of it. The trouble with something like this is you cannot get parts if something goes wrong.
    The 2 mainsprings are quite lightweight and might be better with one spring, but I'm leaving it as standard for now. The trigger is heavy and cleaning up the face of the tubular bit that holds the piston did not help much. None of the faces looked bad. I am always wary of adjusting the triggers to reduce engagement as it can cause problems.
    It plinked! It was shooting high, despite an attempt to heat up and bend the rearsight down a bit. The trigger is heavy, even with the adjustment. IT was not very accurate, but some of that might be due to the strip down and settling. The smoking was stopping and the grouping was getting better.
    It is a strange pistol. The loading plate seals very well but the gun feels quite harsh to shoot. Maybe it is a bit top heavy. Like I said, maybe one spring and a guide at the rear might help. The trigger is quite simple but overly complicated for what it is. I feel that the Slavia ZVP/Diana Modell 5 set up might have been a cheaper/better option.
    OK---It has a heavier trigger and is not as accurate as the Gamo Falcon that copied aspects of it, But I bet it will last a lot longer

    A little update. I tried leaving the inner mainspring out and it reduced power too much.
    I noticed that the foresight was moving so took out the blade and tapped the top of the dovetails.
    I will adjust the sight some more shortly.
    What I have noticed, is that even shooting two handed, you have to really GRIP the pistol otherwise it tends to go all over the place. I think it is a combination of a heavy trigger and a top/front heavy gun. With a good solid grip, it was starting to group ok.
    With the trigger being poor, I would forget about normal trigger technique. It is a bit like an RO 72 in that respect, with the best results achieved by "Yanking" on the trigger firmly, rather than trying to get up the slack and judge when it will go off! If you do try a normal technique on it, you will probably find you will pull get the veins in your arm popping and you will pull the shot anyway.
    I've tried shooting with the wire stock on. It does not give a great sight picture and you do feel very cramped. It is actually pretty accurate like this.
    Last edited by ggggr; 09-03-2014 at 05:05 PM. Reason: update.
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    ggggr is offline part time super hero and seeker of justice
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    Pre war Diana 25 strip (full stock) pt1

    This is for a pre war, full stocked Diana 25. This is the one with the screw on end cap. I've been told earlier ones had the cap inside the cylinder.
    The strip is similar to the post war model and the British made ones, with only a few differences.
    Undo the front stock screws and the rear one that is in front of the trigger guard and lift the action out of the stock.
    Undo the cocking arm pivot lock screw and then the pivot and remove the cocking arm.
    Undo the barrel pivot lock screw and then the barrel pivot screw and remove the barrel. It looks like there should be shims on the breech block but they were missing on mine. If you want to remove the barrel plunger, depress the plunger and then undo the grub screw on the LHS of the breech block. Release the pressure on the plunger and it and its spring should come out. You can clean,lube and replace it now.
    Undo the cylinder end cap.
    Remove the trigger spring from the tang one the cylinder sleeve. Undo the lock nut on the cylinder/trigger pivot screw. Put some pressure onto the cylinder sleeve and the pivot screw should push out. Remove the trigger. Release the pressure and the sleeve should come out and then you can remove the guide,mainspring and piston.
    The piston has a leather cup washer and a fibre spacer. They are held on with a screw. If you need to remove or change these, you will have to drill out a small pin on the side of the piston, that is a keeper for the screw. Luckily mine was in good condition.
    Clean and lube everything and go to Pt 2
    Cooler than Mace Windu with a FRO, walking into Members Only and saying "Bitches, be cool"

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