Bash dates 2025

[TonyL]

Pass stamped for Doncaster Range visit on the 24th.

[NewPaul]

Hee, hee, hee! Like a reversed, slightly contorted one, Pauly!

You'll have noticed just recently that I'm giving the "69" a break on the odd day to let you have a breather .

Hope you're keeping well, my friend. How's the troublesome hip?

Phew ! Thank goodness for that, I’m worn out
I’m in full limp mode now matey but hey ho. Saw the GP Friday gone and he’s referred me for an X-ray on 23rd Feb which is good as normally they will send you to a Physiotherapist first and they send you for X-rays, then back to the Physio for referral to Consultant so hopefully a good few weeks saved there.

[TonyL]

I do hope you manage to get sorted swiftly, Pauly. Even better if you can manage to get about and get to a Bash or three without too much discomfort and pain and then get it sorted. Fingers crossed for you that your journey is as pain-free as it can be.

I'll keep giving those "69-ers" the odd miss for you.

[TonyL]

So, stuck a new battery in the F1 chrono. And.......the power output is very healthy......






FOR A PISTOL!


Oops!

Stripped her down again. Once stripped, the piston seal fit seems even looser than previously. So, that's made my mind up. I spoke with the nice guru NickG previously and he has offered to do both the leaky breech fix and 'O' ring conversion at a very fair price. Once Nick has done it I know it will be 100%. So I'll get it sent to him and I'll then very much look forward to enjoying the transformation.

Will update once done.


Have your sexy new red seals arrived, Paul?

[TonyL]

95 / 69 to go, peeps.

BOING!

[Waddy]

So, stuck a new battery in the F1 chrono. And.......the power output is very healthy......






FOR A PISTOL!


Oops!

That's not good

Stripped her down again. Once stripped, the piston seal fit seems even looser than previously. So, that's made my mind up. I spoke with the nice guru NickG previously and he has offered to do both the leaky breech fix and 'O' ring conversion at a very fair price. Once Nick has done it I know it will be 100%. So I'll get it sent to him and I'll then very much look forward to enjoying the transformation.

Will update once done.

It will be very interesting to hear how this goes, pics would be good. I know the leaky thing is fixed with locktite but I'd like to know what the procedure is ?

Have your sexy new red seals arrived, Paul?

They arrived yesterday and are now installed. I tweaked the trigger sear that was fitted while in situ (I just wrapped the whole trigger unit in tape) & then reassembled the gun. It it cocked fine but then fired when I pressed the safety . So I took the action off & the trigger out until I figure out what's going on. The safety didn't work when I got it so I'll try it without the safety to see if the trigger works ok then I'll try another safety in it.

I'm now wondering about the bore of the cylinder, it looks a bit too honed to me. I can see the factory honing which is like you'd see on a car or bike cylinder, but further in it's a lot more pronounced like coarse wire wool or wet & dry has been used. I'm concerned that this is going to eat the new seal. I'm thinking of stripping it again & giving it a polish with autosol.

This 35 is needing more attention than all my others put together


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[TonyL]

It will be very interesting to hear how this goes, pics would be good. I know the leaky thing is fixed with locktite but I'd like to know what the procedure is ?


.

So Paul, I have done one before. Reading all the advice prior to doing it, it looks like it's preferable to force the loctite into the void and then "pull" some of it back under vacuum. Mine went slightly differently.....I used JB Weld Perma Lock high strength threadlock. I blocked the TP up. Got some of the thread lock into the edge of the cylinder plug and then compressed it with the piston and old seal. I seem to remember that I used a bit of wood between the piston rod and the end block so that the piston was held under compression for 24 hours. Then removed the piston and cleaned the area up. Prior to the work the rifle had an old style leather seal piston fitted with a Knibbs convertor and parachute seal. Mick, T20, very kindly did me an "exchange" later piston. The later piston is lighter, gives a little more stroke and, obviously, takes the synthetic seal. Power rose to over 11ft.lbs in .177. But because I had done the leaky breech fix and fitted the newer piston and, also, the previous piston seal was really tight when I removed it, I am not sure which of the three operations gave the power increase. Maybe a combination of all three.

I would have had a go again at doing the breech myself, but with Nick being happy to do the work, and with him having much more experience and the correct workshop environment, and doing at a very reasonable rate for me, I thought, "why not let the master do it". I know it'll be spot on then. Just reassemble and sorted.

[TonyL]

They arrived yesterday and are now installed. I tweaked the trigger sear that was fitted while in situ (I just wrapped the whole trigger unit in tape) & then reassembled the gun. It it cocked fine but then fired when I pressed the safety . So I took the action off & the trigger out until I figure out what's going on. The safety didn't work when I got it so I'll try it without the safety to see if the trigger works ok then I'll try another safety in it.

I'm now wondering about the bore of the cylinder, it looks a bit too honed to me. I can see the factory honing which is like you'd see on a car or bike cylinder, but further in it's a lot more pronounced like coarse wire wool or wet & dry has been used. I'm concerned that this is going to eat the new seal. I'm thinking of stripping it again & giving it a polish with autosol.

This 35 is needing more attention than all my others put together


.

Yes, I remember the safety playing up at Doncaster, Paul. All fun and games, eh? It must be a little bit frustrating and disappointing with these issues, and then now seeing the internal cylinder finish, as I seem to remember that it was a tuned action that you bought. One would have expected everything to be spot-on.

I do hope that with a little more inspection and fettling time you get to the bottom of the trigger issue and get the cylinder to your liking, as it'd be so nice to just get using and enjoying it. Hope all goes well.


On a slightly more upbeat note.....I managed to have a quick play in the shed / ex-playhouse earlier.....last week I bought some mini diamond cutting discs for my Aldi sourced rotary tool. The discs were very cheap. Something like £3 from Boyes, I seem to remember. I stuck the old spring from the '35 that I'm currently working on in the mini vice and had a go at cutting it with the mini discs. Wow! They made really short work of it. Very, very impressed!

And I now finally have a bench grinder, too. It's an early present from my wife for Valentine's Day. Had a quick play with that on the spring end, too.

Can't wait to get this '35 finished and then it'll be the turn of the old school '50.

[Waddy]

So Paul, I have done one before. Reading all the advice prior to doing it, it looks like it's preferable to force the loctite into the void and then "pull" some of it back under vacuum. Mine went slightly differently.....I used JB Weld Perma Lock high strength threadlock. I blocked the TP up. Got some of the thread lock into the edge of the cylinder plug and then compressed it with the piston and old seal. I seem to remember that I used a bit of wood between the piston rod and the end block so that the piston was held under compression for 24 hours. Then removed the piston and cleaned the area up. Prior to the work the rifle had an old style leather seal piston fitted with a Knibbs convertor and parachute seal. Mick, T20, very kindly did me an "exchange" later piston. The later piston is lighter, gives a little more stroke and, obviously, takes the synthetic seal. Power rose to over 11ft.lbs in .177. But because I had done the leaky breech fix and fitted the newer piston and, also, the previous piston seal was really tight when I removed it, I am not sure which of the three operations gave the power increase. Maybe a combination of all three.

Ah, that all makes perfect sense now, I can picture it in my minds eye. Good result !

I would have had a go again at doing the breech myself, but with Nick being happy to do the work, and with him having much more experience and the correct workshop environment, and doing at a very reasonable rate for me, I thought, "why not let the master do it". I know it'll be spot on then. Just reassemble and sorted.

That's defo the logical way about it, having the right environment to do the work in makes all the difference & a job like that is always best done by someone with good experience of doing it.



.

[Waddy]

Yes, I remember the safety playing up at Doncaster, Paul. All fun and games, eh? It must be a little bit frustrating and disappointing with these issues, and then now seeing the internal cylinder finish, as I seem to remember that it was a tuned action that you bought. One would have expected everything to be spot-on.

I do hope that with a little more inspection and fettling time you get to the bottom of the trigger issue and get the cylinder to your liking, as it'd be so nice to just get using and enjoying it. Hope all goes well.


On a slightly more upbeat note.....I managed to have a quick play in the shed / ex-playhouse earlier.....last week I bought some mini diamond cutting discs for my Aldi sourced rotary tool. The discs were very cheap. Something like £3 from Boyes, I seem to remember. I stuck the old spring from the '35 that I'm currently working on in the mini vice and had a go at cutting it with the mini discs. Wow! They made really short work of it. Very, very impressed!

And I now finally have a bench grinder, too. It's an early present from my wife for Valentine's Day. Had a quick play with that on the spring end, too.

Can't wait to get this '35 finished and then it'll be the turn of the old school '50.

I'll be off upstairs soon to have another go with the 35 I've got a spare safety that I can try.

That sounds like the Boyes mini cutting discs I use for cutting springs, I use them in my old Black & Decker model drill. It's great little drill that's no longer available that's found all manner of new jobs fettling air guns

I wish your wife would have a word with mine about gifts for blokes

There's always another rifle to sort out isn't there, how old is that 50 ?


I managed to get to the range on Sunday with the .177 97 & .22 95, the 97 with the new scope & the 95 with it's lightened & glided piston. The new scope wouldn't zero, one of the mounts is .4mm or so taller than the other Fortunately I've got a spare pair of Sportsmatch ones that are the right size.

Well I thought I'd got a spare set but a new Victoptics scope arrived today (bargain on the bay) that also needs the same size mounts I've got two other sets of 30mm mounts but they are both low, no idea where they came from or what I got them for

The 95 was very good but has started twanging again, but at least the seal & delrin band are run in, now & powers up from 9.5 to 10.6 so it doesn't need a bigger spring despite the piston weight loss.


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[TonyL]

I'll be off upstairs soon to have another go with the 35

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That almost sounded rude, Paul.


(I wish I had a proper indoors gun / tinkering room, though).

[TonyL]

I've got a spare safety that I can try.

That sounds like the Boyes mini cutting discs I use for cutting springs, I use them in my old Black & Decker model drill. It's great little drill that's no longer available that's found all manner of new jobs fettling air guns

I wish your wife would have a word with mine about gifts for blokes

There's always another rifle to sort out isn't there, how old is that 50 ?

.

I hope '35 tinkering went okay, Paul. Be nice to have it as it should be very soon.

Sounds like your old Black & Decker is a trusty and favourite companion. It's nice how we can get attached to certain tools that make our lives easier. I've had this Aldi sourced (Dremel-esque) rotary tool for years now and hardly ever used it. Having seen what a great and versatile little thing it is (and I have a wide selection of other tools for it - mainly for grinding and polishing), I'm sure it will see a lot more use in the future. It'll save so much time compared to hand filing etc. when I get round to finally attending to the cocking levers of a few 30s and 99s. Recently, when using a hand saw or file it sets my tendonitis off too, so using this will be a godsend.

Tell you what.....I'll get my wife to talk to your wife about gifts etc., and you get yours to talk to mine about granting me a room or clearing my previously prepared "man cave / shed" of a load of clutter so I have a proper workspace.

I'm not quite sure how old this 50 is. I'll have to check that out. But it is the older style one with the screw-in end block and 25mm bore, as opposed to the later one which we know as the 99 over here but is called the 50 elsewhere. I seem to think they probably stopped making them around the mid to late 80s, but couldn't be sure. I'm going to guess that it's a later example of this type. I've not shot it for years. And that was just a few quick shots to try it out. I seem to remember it being a bit twangy, so that will need addressing. And it has the less than perfect "Perfekt" trigger fitted, but I've had a Rekord waiting in the wings for years.

[TonyL]

I managed to get to the range on Sunday with the .177 97 & .22 95, the 97 with the new scope & the 95 with it's lightened & glided piston. The new scope wouldn't zero, one of the mounts is .4mm or so taller than the other Fortunately I've got a spare pair of Sportsmatch ones that are the right size.

Well I thought I'd got a spare set but a new Victoptics scope arrived today (bargain on the bay) that also needs the same size mounts I've got two other sets of 30mm mounts but they are both low, no idea where they came from or what I got them for

The 95 was very good but has started twanging again, but at least the seal & delrin band are run in, now & powers up from 9.5 to 10.6 so it doesn't need a bigger spring despite the piston weight loss.


.

So, some new mounts to treat yourself too, eh? You WILL eventually get used to using that new scope in anger!

What did the spring to guide and top hat fit seem like on the 95, Paul? If loose, there's your answer and you'll need tighter fitting ones. If they're not loose but just a bit too easy a sliding fit, an extra little helping of tacky moly grease should help. OR.....as you have a little bit of wriggle room with the power output, you might well find that a little more preload might help. It might also assist in the piston bounce department if that has increased with the lighter piston if there's not quite enough inertia in the piston at the onset of piston bounce. I bet the cycle feels lovely and quick though, doesn't it?

[TonyL]

94 to go, peeps.


BOING!

[Waddy]

So, some new mounts to treat yourself too, eh? You WILL eventually get used to using that new scope in anger!

What did the spring to guide and top hat fit seem like on the 95, Paul? If loose, there's your answer and you'll need tighter fitting ones. If they're not loose but just a bit too easy a sliding fit, an extra little helping of tacky moly grease should help. OR.....as you have a little bit of wriggle room with the power output, you might well find that a little more preload might help. It might also assist in the piston bounce department if that has increased with the lighter piston if there's not quite enough inertia in the piston at the onset of piston bounce. I bet the cycle feels lovely and quick though, doesn't it?

One end of the spring is oval, it's worn the guide down considerably, I swapped the end round so the oval end was in the top hat & added moly but that fix hasn't lasted long.

I'm probably not the best person to describe the shot cycle but it's a very accurate rifle. Looks like time for another drop in kit, the question is which one

I'm a bit short on time this morning, the 35's woes will have to wait lol.



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