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Thread: Springer Tuning and Refurb Mental Health Warning

  1. #1
    Hsing-ee's Avatar
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    Springer Tuning and Refurb Mental Health Warning

    Up until the 90s it wasn't that common to own more than say two rifles and a pistol.

    Now the enthusiast will have a whole stable of them.

    If you have a whole stable of springers and even worse, project guns, and are holding down a typical modern job that sucks up all your time and energy and have other responsibilities like a family or large carnivorous mammal that cannot exercise on its own or a house that you are building from shipping containers and are brewing your own diesel as well as working three side jobs, then there is a tendency to try to do maintenance and tunes and so on in limited chunks of time.

    It may be that you try to take on two or three springers in one mammoth maintenance tune up session.

    DO NOT DO IT.

    Multitasking was proved to be a nonsense thing some years ago, and most jobs requiring problem solving and conscious awareness are best done in series.

    This is even more important with springers. I recommend to ONLY refurb and fix one gun at a time to the point of PERFECTION or GOOD ENOUGH, whatever your standard is.

    Fixing them up in series then testing them and then having to make changes without any of them hitting the endpoint is uniquely stressful and will generate dire consequences for your mental health.

    I think this is down to the area of the brain that deals with springer issues, the helical boingcephalon (HBC), which can only deal with one combination of transfer port volume, swept volume, piston head material and fit, spring wire thickness, length and spring room, piston weight and pellet peak pressure etc at a time. The HBC is an unusual complex within the brain as it is clearly located in the logical fore-brain, but it also has processes which penetrate deep into the most basic emotional components of the limbic system.

    Thus, overstimulating the HBC by trying to tune more than one springer at a time will result in brain-fog, mild depression, anxiety and frustration.

    In severe cases to relieve the huge psychic pressure so developed, the enthusiast can be victim to intrusive thoughts of cutting up the springers with angle-grinders, or hurling them off cliffs or into hedges from the window of a car going at 80mph.

    Of course there may be a few rare enthusiasts that can take on more than one, or professionals who can do this through long practice, but to me these are like people who can get by on 4 hours of sleep a night like Mrs Thatcher. Exceptional, not like the rest of us. And that kip routine didn't seem to end well for Margaret either.

    Look after your HBC. One springer at a time, do it right, get it right, test and enjoy. Then move on.
    Last edited by Hsing-ee; 02-01-2025 at 08:53 PM.

  2. #2
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    Brilliant 👍😊

  3. #3
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    Also much easier to remember which bits belong with each gun if you only take them apart sequentially....
    Always looking for any cheap, interesting, knackered "project" guns. Thanks, JB.

  4. #4
    Hsing-ee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shed tuner View Post
    Also much easier to remember which bits belong with each gun if you only take them apart sequentially....
    I think they did this at the BSF factory when they needed a new model in the line-up.

  5. #5
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    Brilliant
    I have a few outstanding projects that will be really worthwhile when I finally get round to doing them (Annie 380 reassembly, 1790’s bellows gun final fettling, Tyro Mod 60 rebuild etc) but can’t find the time to do them yet.
    When I do I’ll definitely do them one at a time!

    Cheers,
    Matt

  6. #6
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    So I should be selling the 20+ guns on my project list, and I'll be much happier in an instant, is that what you are telling me??
    Too many airguns!

  7. #7
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    Superb and brilliantly entertaining post, Alistair.

    I do try and just focus on the one at a time, mainly due to my lack of anything resembling a proper workshop and the various time-sapping commitments you mention.

    Y'know, just the other day I was thinking, "maybe I should just get rid of all the project guns and just have an easier life shooting and enjoying the sorted ones". But I'm now in a position where I'll leave it as is for now....a couple of old 35s to sort (one currently stripped) and then some 30 and 99 arms to check and then just enjoy shooting them. And avoid any future project guns......although they can be so tempting at times....
    THE BOINGER BASH AT QUIGLEY HOLLOW. MAKING GREAT MEMORIES SINCE 15th JUNE, 2013.
    NEXT EVENT :- May 17/18, 2025.........BOING!!

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by evert View Post
    So I should be selling the 20+ guns on my project list, and I'll be much happier in an instant, is that what you are telling me??
    yep, sell them to me.. but only one at a time
    Always looking for any cheap, interesting, knackered "project" guns. Thanks, JB.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by TonyL View Post
    And avoid any future project guns......although they can be so tempting at times....
    I just can't do that. I bought a (working) project HW 35 a couple of weeks after my shoulder op. No hope of me even being able to strip it for months, much less shoot it. But I couldn't help myself, it was just calling out for my attentions...
    Always looking for any cheap, interesting, knackered "project" guns. Thanks, JB.

  10. #10
    Hsing-ee's Avatar
    Hsing-ee is offline may also be employed in conjunction with a drawn reciprocation dingle arm, to reduce sinusoidal repleneration
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    Quote Originally Posted by evert View Post
    So I should be selling the 20+ guns on my project list, and I'll be much happier in an instant, is that what you are telling me??
    Not at all! Just fettle them one at a time. Retirement will eventually come around and there will be time for any stragglers ..

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hsing-ee View Post
    Up until the 90s it wasn't that common to own more than say two rifles and a pistol.

    Now the enthusiast will have a whole stable of them.

    If you have a whole stable of springers and even worse, project guns, and are holding down a typical modern job that sucks up all your time and energy and have other responsibilities like a family or large carnivorous mammal that cannot exercise on its own or a house that you are building from shipping containers and are brewing your own diesel as well as working three side jobs, then there is a tendency to try to do maintenance and tunes and so on in limited chunks of time.

    It may be that you try to take on two or three springers in one mammoth maintenance tune up session.

    DO NOT DO IT.

    Multitasking was proved to be a nonsense thing some years ago, and most jobs requiring problem solving and conscious awareness are best done in series.

    This is even more important with springers. I recommend to ONLY refurb and fix one gun at a time to the point of PERFECTION or GOOD ENOUGH, whatever your standard is.

    Fixing them up in series then testing them and then having to make changes without any of them hitting the endpoint is uniquely stressful and will generate dire consequences for your mental health.

    I think this is down to the area of the brain that deals with springer issues, the helical boingcephalon (HBC), which can only deal with one combination of transfer port volume, swept volume, piston head material and fit, spring wire thickness, length and spring room, piston weight and pellet peak pressure etc at a time. The HBC is an unusual complex within the brain as it is clearly located in the logical fore-brain, but it also has processes which penetrate deep into the most basic emotional components of the limbic system.

    Thus, overstimulating the HBC by trying to tune more than one springer at a time will result in brain-fog, mild depression, anxiety and frustration.

    In severe cases to relieve the huge psychic pressure so developed, the enthusiast can be victim to intrusive thoughts of cutting up the springers with angle-grinders, or hurling them off cliffs or into hedges from the window of a car going at 80mph.

    Of course there may be a few rare enthusiasts that can take on more than one, or professionals who can do this through long practice, but to me these are like people who can get by on 4 hours of sleep a night like Mrs Thatcher. Exceptional, not like the rest of us. And that kip routine didn't seem to end well for Margaret either.

    Look after your HBC. One springer at a time, do it right, get it right, test and enjoy. Then move on.
    Swap the springers for various types and shapes of wood and this post is my life in a nutshell.
    First image shows a roof stripped ( three of us started at around 7am, filled those bags and carried them down ten flights of stairs, then loaded it all onto my truck - this is about half the load )



    Get home for around 4pm and walk the horse ( who's usually patiently waiting on a table )



    Get stuck into various wood work:




    Bed, then repeat.
    Put on heading 270, assume attack formation

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Craig-P View Post

    Loving the way you seamlessly blended the edges on that pistol grip cap.. I can barely see the join
    Always looking for any cheap, interesting, knackered "project" guns. Thanks, JB.

  13. #13
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    I'm going to spend the rest of the day drooling over the lovely things that are going to come out of your workshop one day Craig. Maybe the LGV sporter stock that I still haven't got will join them sometime!

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shed tuner View Post
    Loving the way you seamlessly blended the edges on that pistol grip cap.. I can barely see the join

    Invisible join isn’t it?
    I’m just going to swear blind it’s for benchrest shooting
    Put on heading 270, assume attack formation

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vernal View Post
    I'm going to spend the rest of the day drooling over the lovely things that are going to come out of your workshop one day Craig. Maybe the LGV sporter stock that I still haven't got will join them sometime!
    I’d love to help get you sorted, Mike - give me a shout when you’re ready.
    Put on heading 270, assume attack formation

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