Satisfaction from getting an old rifle working again.

[Mach 1.5]

Must say I do get a degree of satisfaction from getting a rifle a little tlc to getting working nicely again.
Some members will remember the old 80 I brought on the way to the bash and made its debut by going off on its own.
Well said rifle was stripped down. New breech seal fitted, vmach seal and old spec venom spring sourced and cut down to 25 coils as we only had 28 coils left and these are FAC territory. New trigger blade fitted, trigger set to right tension as the venom blade was set to light. Safety catch lubed as not working. All put back to together using the right ingredients with a period whisper silencer fitted to the 14 inch barrel.
This 1982 80 is now lovely to shoot and at the moment I can't put it down as I'm well pleased with my results, yes it no super tune but I'm really pleased with my efforts on this old 80.
Mach 1.5

[Segata]

Congrats and I find it much the same with anything, sure anyone can buy a working mint condition thing with enough cash but not many can say that they made it that way and when you fix something up it's like theres a piece of you in it and theres a story to tell.

[joffy]

Must say I do get a degree of satisfaction from getting a rifle a little tlc to getting working nicely again.
Some members will remember the old 80 I brought on the way to the bash and made its debut by going off on its own.
Well said rifle was stripped down. New breech seal fitted, vmach seal and old spec venom spring sourced and cut down to 25 coils as we only had 28 coils left and these are FAC territory. New trigger blade fitted, trigger set to right tension as the venom blade was set to light. Safety catch lubed as not working. All put back to together using the right ingredients with a period whisper silencer fitted to the 14 inch barrel.
This 1982 80 is now lovely to shoot and at the moment I can't put it down as I'm well pleased with my results, yes it no super tune but I'm really pleased with my efforts on this old 80.
Mach 1.5

Good feeling when it all comes together ......I have another hw80 that I'm gradually doing up as my last project ( 25mm piston cs500 stock and a sorted trigger unit) it's. 22 so will be the other calibre .177 to my other 80 with the same specced internals albeit springs adjusted

[TonyL]

Yep, saw that rifle last month, Paul.

Great that you have it performing nicely already with relatively little work.

I've recently revived an older, rear cocking, Crosman 1377 that was leaking by fitting a seal kit from --ped--.

My old nail of a '35, dirt cheap in 2008, performs beautifully. I just need to fit a new cocking link now (here).

As said, great to get them working and performing nicely again.

[Craig-P]

New trigger blade fitted

I'll have the old one off you
( We really should get that trigger blade project we spoke about up and running mate )

[Mach 1.5]

Yes that trigger blade project needs to be rejuvenated. Mach 1.5

[TonyL]

I'll have the old one off you
( We really should get that trigger blade project we spoke about up and running mate )

Yes that trigger blade project needs to be rejuvenated. Mach 1.5

Intriguing.

[rapidresponse1]

well done paul

[les allam]

Nice one Paul
It's great that you are bringing a gun back to life and working nicely.
I've done a few myself recently, a bsa ultra-webley raider-and a crosman pistol (cheers ped).
I have a bsa comet(gamo made)that needs sorting and a few others that are in the pipeline.
Les..

[BEESA]

It does have a feel good factor about it . I built a nice HW77k .22 out of bit I had aquired over the years . Shoots lovely . Decided to keep it with open sights . Very satisfying indeed .
Don

[duomatic410]

Well not HW, (but i have one) picked up a sorry Original 52 with more rust than the titanic, even the weaver steel scope blended in.

Cocked but couldn't move a pellet out so strip polish fitted a TX200 spring with its plastic guide that dropped strait in with very little preload and a lovely shooting tool it is.

Quirky loading but quite easy with long cocking lever, bedding in but may have to reduce a coil as right on 12.
Did clean up nice, surface rust and no pitting.
Accurate? You bet and a nice soft lazy recoil with it.👍

[Shed tuner]

Completely agree. So much so, I don't buy working rifles any more

[Blackrider]

Good job Paul, a great outcome !
J.

[Phil Russell]

It is always a superb feeling when you pull the trigger on a 'mended' old gun (rifle or pistol) and the 'machine' fires with a sound you just know is right. After a few shots the next step will be a chrono test to see if it is performing as it was designed to and you then get another wham when you see it is doing OK and is on spec. Over the years I have done several such rifles, with many coming from the 20's and 30's. Think of early BSA, Diana or Haenels. The pre-war Diana 27 and its clones is a favourite of mine. Post war we come into the 50s, 60s and 70s. Again these can generate such satisfaction. Some, no matter what age, can be a real challenge to get going and you have to be realistic about expenditure as original parts can be so expensive. So I am never averse to taking a few liberties as long as the end result is aesthetically as close as possible to original. Examples of such liberties can include re-tapping screw threads and substituting a different threaded screw ... especially useful where the original screw has been replaced by a self-tapper or even a hex head bolt forced in. With some care a non original screw head can be made to be very close to the original by judicious filing followed by heat/oil blueing. Worn or non-existent leather piston or breech seals can be made, barrels can be straightened, rusty exteriors can often be restored to a fair finish by the wire wool and oil treatment. In severe cases a cold blue can be tried but while a satisfactory finish can be achieved most times it is rarely perfect. And cold blue can give different results on different parts of the gun such that a barrel may end up somewhat different to a breech block ... very common on some older rifles. But I am wittering away........
In summary I love the process and have spent many hours toiling away in the workshop on a project.
Pet gripe: rifles where someone has removed the open sights. (I am still looking for a set of sights to fit the riser blocks on a Supersport Custom).

Cheers, Phil