Can't leave anything alone LGV

[NickG]

So recently acquired a nice lgv in a Warren Edwards stock the idea being shoot a bit of ft with a standard gun .
However I have a spare piston 🙄. After comparing it to vernals at the bash I was going to go down the Jim Tyler route ie tx mk 3 spring 3 mm trans port.
The gun was only doing 10.4 fpe with express (177), so took it apart, all standard, nicely sized seal, but missing a top hat .
I made an o ring nose for the spare piston , put it back together with a smear of moly, and it made 11.2 fpe and very consistent , same soft comfortable firing cycle , so made a top hat with a slim shoulder , now 11.5.
So all in all a good 1 fpe improvement for more or less the same spring.
So much for keeping it standard, I liked vernals that much will shoot this for a bit and then put the mk 3 spring in .

https://photos.app.goo.gl/drURhnFfBKMWXAui9

[look no hands]

I shot one at the Bash (not sure if it was Vernals?) and have to say how nice it was, reminds me of my Prosport but easier to cock and shoot (just got to get used to using the barrel lock before cocking) but I have to say I still prefer Les's Sidewinder.

Pete

[TonyL]

Sounds utterly superb, Nick.. As always, well done.

As I commented shortly after The Bash, once you've just shot a nicely running one of these I think it's such a huge shame that they're no longer being made. Utterly superb shot cycle and accuracy from so tiny amount of work and that brilliant manual barrel latch adds such an air of refinement and security.

[Craig-P]

Cracking job there, mate.
I feel a BlackBrook trip looming...

[Shed tuner]

all the comp tube guns and sleeved guns seem to fare well with o-rings, as they have a decent smooth surface.
All I've done with mine is open the port, and it's a nice shooter...

[Vernal]

I do like the sound of that Nick. As I said at the bash, it is hard for me to think of how mine could be better, but I know just how good your tunes can be. I can't wait to hear how you get on with the O ring nose - I think I am going to want one, especially when I remember all the trouble I had with lack of power caused by a tight seal.

[Phil Russell]

Dare I ask the spec of the O ring you used, please?

Cheers, Phil

[NickG]

Dare I ask the spec of the O ring you used, please?

Cheers, Phil

Yes after years of experimenting with viton and polyurethane , in different shore ratings , settled on standard buna 70 o rings the secret is in the installed sizes .
Done properly o ring gives total seal from the beginning of the stroke , less lost volume , less dynamic friction, low to no maintenance, and more power for the same amount of spring.Oh and they cost pennies! I like em🙄.

[TonyL]

I do like the sound of that Nick. As I said at the bash, it is hard for me to think of how mine could be better, but I know just how good your tunes can be. I can't wait to hear how you get on with the O ring nose - I think I am going to want one, especially when I remember all the trouble I had with lack of power caused by a tight seal.

Yours certainly does shoot beautifully, Michael.. And, yes, it would be hard to imagine how it might be improved on further. Nick has most certainly proved the effectiveness of 'O' rings and they're so cost effective. I think they really come into their own even more when experimenting with different bore sizes, where a parachute seal may not be available, as Nick has also found.

It would be nice if you could get a spare piston (wonder if they're easily available still, like the service kits they used to do for them?), convert it / have Nick convert it and compare side by side?

In fact, thinking a little more about this and considering how superbly your LGV shoots, I'd probably be more tempted to leave it alone for the time being. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" and all that. But to obtain a piston and have it on "standby" for future use / experimentation. Don't know if you can do the machining work yourself or if you'd need Nick to do it to get the "squish" just right (in which case Nick would need your cylinder)?

Any progress / further thoughts on the 280?

[TonyL]

Yes after years of experimenting with viton and polyurethane , in different shore ratings , settled on standard buna 70 o rings the secret is in the installed sizes .
Done properly o ring gives total seal from the beginning of the stroke , less lost volume , less dynamic friction, low to no maintenance, and more power for the same amount of spring.Oh and they cost pennies! I like em🙄.

[Vernal]

Yours certainly does shoot beautifully, Michael.. And, yes, it would be hard to imagine how it might be improved on further. Nick has most certainly proved the effectiveness of 'O' rings and they're so cost effective. I think they really come into their own even more when experimenting with different bore sizes, where a parachute seal may not be available, as Nick has also found.

It would be nice if you could get a spare piston (wonder if they're easily available still, like the service kits they used to do for them?), convert it / have Nick convert it and compare side by side?

In fact, thinking a little more about this and considering how superbly your LGV shoots, I'd probably be more tempted to leave it alone for the time being. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" and all that. But to obtain a piston and have it on "standby" for future use / experimentation. Don't know if you can do the machining work yourself or if you'd need Nick to do it to get the "squish" just right (in which case Nick would need your cylinder)?

Any progress / further thoughts on the 280?

A lot to think about there Tony. Certainly my much preferred option 1 is to find a spare piston for the LGV, and I shall have to try my very basic skills with Mr Google to see if I can locate one. Option 2, if I have to, is to see if I can find another LGV at a sensible price (one good, two better?). I still have a vague hope that one day I might have a go at making a stock for the LGV (much more sensible to buy a stock, but if I just wanted to do things the easy way I wouldn't be a springer shooter) and I should like to get that under way before I commit to a whole new gun. Whatever I do it will be bits off to Nick to get the tricky bits done.

Autumn tasks have kept me from the Diana, but I should be on that soon. First thing will be to try a variable muzzle weight to see if that tightens the groups up a bit, before going inside to try and lose the last remaining bit of twang as per your suggestions.

[NickG]

If it's any help, the piston nose is reversible, and I found the spare lgu comp tube I have is exactly vthe same diameter as the lgv comp sleeve, so I used it as a gauge, this means I could modify a piston without needing the action.

[TonyL]

Top information as always, Nick.

[Vernal]

If it's any help, the piston nose is reversible, and I found the spare lgu comp tube I have is exactly the same diameter as the lgv comp sleeve, so I used it as a gauge, this means I could modify a piston without needing the action.

It definitely is a help Nick, and I haven't managed to locate a spare piston,, so I will be in touch about modifying the present one. I know there is nothing wrong with it as it is, but like you I can't leave anything alone, and it can do no harm to see if it could be even a tiny bit better.

[NickG]

Did the 3 mm / tx spring thing today , pellets balancing closer now , if anything but probably needs some weight off the piston, mine is making 11.2 fpe with 8.4 g pellets and a tad less with express With 34 mm of preload.will shoot some targets with it now. Then try it with some off the piston, I reckon it will end up at 200 gram sounds familiar eh JB.