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Education / Training Methuselah – Part 1 Rebuilding a Markham BB gun

Methuselah – Part 1 Rebuilding a Markham BB gun

by B.B. Pelletier

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Guest blogger
Vince rebuilt a Markham gun for Wacky Wayne, and here’s the first part of that project. If you’d like to write a guest post for this blog, please email me.

Bloggers must be proficient in the simple html that Blogger software uses, know how to take clear photos and size them for the internet (if their post requires them) and they must use proper English. We will edit each submission, but we won’t work on any submission that contains gross misspellings and/or grammatical errors.

Methuselah–Rebuilding a Markham BB gun
by Vince

Wayne is a trusting soul, no doubt about that. Doesn’t know me from Adam, yet he starts sending me all sorts of stuff to work on, including a very old and somewhat rare Markham Model D BB gun dating from somewhere around the turn of the century.

Before I get into the gun itself, a little history on the Markham Model D is in order. But I don’t know any, so I’ll have to confine my remarks to pointing out that this gun seems to follow the standard turn-of-the-century methods of BB gun construction and operation.

I guess that by the 1890s termites had finally gotten the better of the all-wood BB guns, such as the Markham Chicago, and that mass-produced sheet-metal construction had become standard practice. The 1902 Sears catalogue boasts that sheet-metal guns have “no castings to break,” so the cheap way of doing things was being passed off as the better way of doing things. Then, again, maybe castings were a real problem back then.

So, Wayne buys this thing on gunbroker.com and has it shipped directly to my house. Now, I’ve not seen or handled a genuine vintage BB gun before, so I really didn’t know what to expect. In my mind is the whole mythical idea that back in yonder years they made REAL BB guns, not the plastic-y toys you get today. And because they’d not been soiled by the cheap, imported competition and the liability-minded bean counters of modern times, these old BB guns must have been something else.

It was with considerable anticipation that I awaited the arrival of the Markham. When it does show up, the first thing I noticed was that the small box felt empty. At first, I thought the seller had forgotten to put the gun IN the box, but no, it was in there all right–all 1-1/2 lbs. and 31 inches of it. Immediately I’m clued in that this is not at all what I expected. All my presuppositions about the Markham got tossed out the window.

Cosmetically, it’s so-so. The metal parts are all nickle-plated, and it’s deteriorated to the point where it’s maybe 60-70%. The wood is actually pretty good. Almost immediately, I tried to evaluate its operational condition, which means oiling and shooting. It’s supposed to shoot real lead BBs. The original lead BB was shotgun shot–0.180″ in diameter. So, the modern steel shot (0.173″) is a bit too small. The Markham is a muzzleloader, and I was worried about the possibility of a steel BB falling right through whatever was supposed to catch and hold the lead BB and that it might end up rattling around inside the action. I muzzleloaded a .177 pellet, and the gun pops it out at about 135 fps.

Not all that bad, really, and I know that Wayne wanted to make a conversation piece/shooter. I figured that was quite enough, knowing that it would go even faster with modern steel shot because, even though they’re quite a bit smaller, they weigh only 5.1 grains compared to over 9 grains for old-style lead BBs. I also got the bright idea of installing a modern shot tube into it. That way he could use steel shot without a problem because a modern shot tube would be properly sized. If we’re gonna put a new shot tube in it, why not a 499 competition shot tube? They’re only $12, and a match-grade 100 year-old Markham would be a hoot. I ordered a couple to see what I could do.

After a couple of days, I tried the Markham again and found that the velocity had dropped drastically. There’s some black gunk spitting into the barrel. Fearing the worst (almost), I decided that the powerplant had to come apart.

Even though I suspect I’m the first one in there in 100 years, getting it apart wasn’t that bad once I figured it out. Turns out all you have to do is pull out the trigger screw and slide a sleeve to the rear, which relieves the spring pressure. That sleeve didn’t want to move at first, but I coaxed it out without damaging the gun. After that, the rest of the Markham came apart easily.

02-12-09-01
The Markham Model D disassembled.

A couple of side notes. There’s only one casting in this rifle–the trigger, and it’s pretty ugly! Maybe sheet metal construction for the rest of the gun wasn’t such a bad idea. I’m guessing that mass-production spot welding had yet to be perfected since the Markham is actually soldered together! Not sure what solder formulation they used, but it had to be a time-consuming process.

Once I got to the innards, I immediately looked at the piston seal. The piston is made from a piece of square tubing with a steel disk attached to the front of it. The seal (a simple leather disk) is pinned to that metal disk with a copper rivet. The leather seal was disintegrating just as I thought, but it turned out there was a bigger problem to deal with.

The piston assembly was supposed to be held together by two ears that came through the back of the disk and were bent over, but one of the ears was broken.

02-12-09-02
02-12-09-03
Top: The end of the piston showed only one side was intact…the other had broken off. Bottom: The metal disk that fits over the end of the piston isn’t securely held in place due to the aforementioned break.

This is a structurally critical part, as the mainspring bears against the disk, not against the piston. But the trigger and cocking link act on the piston, so when the gun is cocked those ears have to hold the pressure of the compressed spring. If both those ears broke, the disk would slam forward while the piston stayed behind.

After much soul-searching (after all, I had a real reluctance to do ANYTHING to the original parts), Wayne, BB and I concluded that it would be OK to bronze-braze repair the piston/disk assembly. I thought about trying to reuse the rivet (or getting a new one), but it occurred to me that in another 100 years or so Wayne’s great-grandson might be asking my great-grandson to put a new seal in this thing. I wanted to make it easier for him, so I decided to use a No. 6 machine screw, a filed-down nut (so that it would fit inside the piston) and a countersunk washer. Of course, the screw would be trimmed down in length and secured with a threadlocker once it was time for final assembly.

02-12-09-04
This picture shows the repaired part along with a new leather seal, the old copper factory rivet that held the seal in place and the parts I was going to use to secure a new seal (more on that later).

First, I had to make a new seal. The one in the above picture turned out to be a smidgen too small, so a cheap leather belt from Walmart volunteered, and I made my first-ever-from-scratch leather piston seal.

I cut the seal a bit oversized and trimmed it down until I got a nice, snug fit in the tube. I put it all back together.

02-12-09-05
The leather seal assembly topped off the repaired piston.

Now I had another problem. There’s a leather plug that forms the end of the compression tube. While it hadn’t deteriorated as badly as the piston seal, it was obviously on its way out. The plug is made from three leather disks with a tapered brass transfer port sandwiched in there, so I’m back to making more leather disks. Turns out that an almost perfectly sized punch could be made from a piece of 3/4″ copper water pipe, but copper is hardly the best punch material around. If Wayne starts sending me Markhams in bulk, I’m gonna make one out of steel.

02-12-09-06
I made 3 new leather plugs for the end of the compression tube.

It turns out that the brass piece between the second and third disks is what catches the BB. The hole on the small end is about 1/8-inch, so steel BB shot won’t fall through. The breech end of the shot tube fits snuggly into the hole. When a BB is dropped into the barrel, it falls into this plug and wedges itself into that transfer port. It does a fair job of holding it, and a loaded BB will not fall out even if the gun is pointed straight down.

I assembled the new plug and bound it together with a couple pieces of thin bailing wire

02-12-09-07
Bailing wire holds the 3 leather pieces snugly, along with the brass piece sandwiched between them.

When I installed the plug into the gun (it goes in from the rear), I first dropped in a steel washer so the front of the plug had plenty of surface to bear on and was not pressed up against the end of the barrel shroud.

02-12-09-08
The v-shaped transfer port holds the BB so it doesn’t fall into the compression tube or roll out…even if the barrel is pointed downward.

Like the rest of the parts in this gun, the piston was not exactly “precision machined.” However, the rear portion of the cutout was reinforced with some extra steel. The years haven’t been kind to the cocking slot. It took quite a beating over the past 100 years and looks a bit longer than the factory intended.

02-12-09-09
No precision machining on this piston, but it did have some reinforcement.

02-12-09-10
The cocking slot was chewed away over the past 100 years, making it a bit longer than when new.

The cocking slot lengthened as the cocking link pulled the piston back against the mainspring. Since that spring is undoubtedly softer than it was when the gun was new, I expect that the slot isn’t gonna wear much more. The link was getting jammed in that slot extension, so I opened it up a bit with a small rotary file.

The spring that came out of this gun is old, so I figured it might be wise to replace it. And since the gun was going to be used, I wanted to install a softer spring that might put a little less stress on the rest of the parts. I tried a common hardware store spring.

02-12-09-11
The longer spring is the new one. I had to cut about 3″ from it to get it to fit…yet it wouldn’t be used.

The old spring didn’t appear to be broken. I think the spring ends “as cut” from coil stock and not flattened look exactly as they did when the factory put this thing together, although I imagine the spring was longer and straighter! Unfortunately, the new spring produced such low velocity–about 125 fps with steel BBs–that I didn’t end up using it. The original went back in, but in its weakened condition I believe it’ll still be relatively gentle on the rest of the action.

As I mentioned earlier, the only piece of cast iron I’ve noted in the whole gun is the trigger, and it doesn’t speak well for Markham’s iron casting techniques. The trigger spring is also pretty beat and will be replaced, but the trigger pin looks fine.

02-12-09-12
Trigger disassembled.

The sear at the front of the trigger didn’t look bad at all, so I suspect the metalurgy of the casting is better than the aesthetics. I didn’t work the sear angle in the hopes of getting a sub-1-lb. competition trigger out of it!

About the only other thing I did was replace the rear cocking pin/screw, which was bent, with a new one. It’s shinier than the rest of the gun. If Wayne doesn’t like it, he can put the original back in!

With the Markham back together, it’s doing about 170 fps with steel BBs. I actually tried a 5-shot group at about 16′ and got a group just about 1.25″ (rested). I thought that was pretty doggone good with no rear sight (it had broken off) and with the lead BB barrel still in place. By comparison, that’s less than half the group size BB got from a new Mendoza BB gun he tested a couple years ago.

Anyway, the remaining tasks are to install some sort of rear sight (the original had broken off) and adapt the Daisy barrel. Since the barrel hadn’t arrived yet, I decided to start playing with the sight first to get some idea how much rear elevation it would need and how difficult it would be to fashion something. You’ll have to wait for part 2 to find out how that and the rest of the project turned out.

author avatar
Tom Gaylord (B.B. Pelletier)
Tom Gaylord, also known as B.B. Pelletier, provides expert insights to airgunners all over the world on behalf of Pyramyd AIR. He has earned the title The Godfather of Airguns™ for his contributions to the industry, spending many years with AirForce Airguns and starting magazines dedicated to the sport such as Airgun Illustrated.

62 thoughts on “Methuselah – Part 1 Rebuilding a Markham BB gun”

  1. BB
    I took the surveys and it said I’d already taken them (twilight zone time)
    VINCE
    great write up,I like that you were cool enough to do such a thorough job for someone you don’t even know.
    what type of lubes do you plan for this gun? Makes me want to try opening up the broken red ryders:)
    LOL word veri.is cringess
    JTinAL

  2. I reposted corrected survey links in the blog. You can take each survey only once. You may have to refresh the blog page in order to get the edited links. If your ISP caches pages (many do), you may have to close the blog in your browser & come back in a few hours to see the new links.

    Edith (Mrs. B.B.)

  3. Vince,

    You possess that “tinkerers” curiousity and ingenuity that I envy.

    It certainly appears that you’re the first one inside that gun in over 100 years. Can’t help but think of that little boy that owned the gun when it was new looking down on you with a big smile while you revitalized a toy that brought him great joy and undoubtedly admiration from his friends.

    kevin

  4. Really Interesting restoration! Can’t wait to read the rest and see the finished rifle.

    Keeping in mind that you’re the first one in there in a 100 years, I would suggest the following titles:

    Deflowering the Markham

    or

    The 100 Year Old Virgin

    🙂

    Mo.

  5. Note: Kevin responses that I should repost in the current thread.

    B.B. and anyone else who is interested,

    For Christmas my son received from his grandparents, two Crossman M1’s in their original boxes with documentation and both are near perfect! Even the boxes! They are plastic stocked and the finish on the plastic as well as the metal is a near perfect! My son would like to sell both and put the money towards another air gun or possibly a real rifle. I would post pictures but I do not know how. p.s. I own Winchester 425 .22 that is missing it’s rear sights, can anyone help me?

    Mark

  6. Vince,
    Great post! I think you are a talented man. I also vote for a finished full-length foldout photo (to hang on my bedroom wall). I was thinking, when I saw your opening parts breakdown pic, that I wished to have seen the before pic.
    -Chuck

  7. JT in AL,

    As for lubes – BB guns are notoriously un-fussy as there’s no issue of dieselling. On this I’m using 30wt non-detergent on the seal and I will be using a fairly light-bodied sorta-sticky grease (Mystic) on everything else.

  8. JT in AL – You live in Moulton huh? Seems like I was there less than a year ago (I’m thinking sometime around Easter 08) at a little event known as the Alabama Chicken and Egg Fest watching 70’s folk rock powerhouse Pure Praire League perform some of thier greatest hits including one of my alltime favorite tunes “Aime”. I think I have a t-shirt around the house someplace!! Any chance you were there???

    FrankB – That was one hell of a nice offer, and I just might take you up on it!! Next time I come down I’m going to hit you up first and have you scout out the Gander for me so I know how much money to bring!! I’m not sure when I’ll be down again though. The company I work for is closely tied to General Motors and Delphi and they’ve put a halt on all corporate travel so it may be awhile, but I’ll definately let you know.

    Every so often I get really amazed at what a small world it is!!

    -Aaron

  9. Vince,

    Very impressive work as always. Half of the fun with airguns is getting to know the master gunsmiths.

    I’m reminded by free association of the phrase from Huckleberry Finn: “I don’t care if he’s the Methusaleh numskull of all creation….”

    Matt61

  10. Mr. and Mrs.BB
    Thanks for checking on those links so quickly.It let me take both surveys but one said I’d already done it.No big deal for me but I wanted to be sure everyone’s opinion was recorded.

    Aaron
    chicken and egg fest been there done that got the jacket:)
    ’07 was better for me cause Dr Hook was there.
    We have really good Indian festivals too.Better come with someone who knows the area though cause some of ’em are up the Mt. and down the backroads.If you’ve been here you know how rural(redneck)we are.I love it!

    Vince
    Thanks for the tip about bb guns not being picky about lubes.I’m bound to grind that pin off and tear into one of these things just out of curiosity,maybe I’ll learn something in the process.

    JTinAL

  11. Vince,

    Wow, it’s nice to have the photos and story behind the repair job!!

    Boy am I glad I made contact with you!! You’re all around skill set is perfect for all the different type repairs on the old clunkers I’m sending you.. this is really fun, were creating a special one of a kind collection..

    Vince, your writing skills are very impressive.. thanks for a great view into the workings of a historical air rifle..

    Wouldn’t it be fun to have a bunch of these under 200fps collectors for folks to use in a parlor type setting..

    B.B. What is the traditional distance for parlor shooting? And what was it all about? What speed did they shoot at?.. (I know you did blogs on parlor guns, maybe a link to that question.. are we creating a spider web effect… each point connected to the whole?)

    Mark,
    Email me, I can make a trade with you.. wayne.burns@naturalyards.com

    I’ll take your stuff and your kids can buy at PA. and I’ll pay for it..

    Wacky Wayne
    Ashland Air Rifle Range

  12. JT in Al – Dr. Hook? Are we talking about the “we take all kinds a pills that give us all kinds of thrills, please Mrs. Avery,and Roland the roadie” Dr. Hook? Man I would have loved that!! To be honest with you I thought Pure Praire League stunk other than that one song!

    “Roland the roadie loves Gertrude the groupie, but Gertrude the groupie likes (one-hole) groups!!”

    That’s awesome

    -Aaron

  13. Boy! I go to the rifle range for four hours and you guys turn into a bloody shark tank. The very idea of trading Mark’s son out of those two Crosman M1 Carbines without me getting my hands on their first.

    Why, I otta…!

    Well done, Wayne.

    Mark, that’s why Kevin told you to post on this current blog. Kevin and a few other can see all the postings, but the guys YOU want to meet are always here.

    That 425 rear sight may be available from Pyramyd AIR — this very website. They have a Jillion Diana parts they got when they purchased Airgun Express.

    Call them and ask for Stacey in the tech department. She can check on the rear sight for a Diana model 25, which is what you have.

    B.B.

  14. Chuck

    RE: Daisy 953 & POI moving for different pellets

    In regards to the POI for pellets shifting up and to the right. Do you have a scope on the 953 or are you using open sights?

    Herb

  15. Vince,

    Parlor shooting has German/Swiss origins. Probably at first the ranges varied and 50 feet was about right, but by 1900 they were codified to 15 meters.

    /blog/2006/11/nothing-new-under-the-sunthe-zimmerstutzen/

    /blog/2008/02/what-came-before-the-10-meter-rifle-part-2-zimmerstutzen/

    B.B.

  16. Herb,
    I have a scope on it. I zeroed the crosshairs as per B.B.’s post on such. I zeroed the scope POA with B-Square Adj rings, and the JSB hit the bull with no additional adj. Everything else was high and right. After shooting everything else I went back to the JSB and hit the bull.
    -Chuck

  17. BB.,
    This is Ian, Mark’s son. Like my dad said, I’d like to sell the guns, and I really would like to get a rifle, BUT, I’m not old enough and would put the money in the bank or use it for Boy Scouts. I also know how much you like these guns and wanted to offer them to you first, but you don’t have a private email to send a message to.
    I can send you serial numbers if you want. ps. how do I contact you?
    Ian

  18. I’m thinking about another blog – accurizing the Marksman 1010! Of course, ‘accurizing’ is a relative term when applied to this thing. When he tested it BB was able to get (with BB’s) about a 3″ group – at 6 feet, which is about what mine was doing (or worse).

    And I already know what I’m gonna call it…

  19. Vince,

    Great work. It looks like a gun that some little boy got a lot of pleasure out of, and I’m glad you and Wayne are going to keep it shooting. Also, I’m still impressed you aren’t trying to make it shoot 900fps:).

    I enjoyed your observation about the frailty of the gun. In some ways, the stuff we consider junk these days is made a lot more solidly than some of the golden oldies (only the better stuff tends to survive), but then again, it was still working 100 years later!

  20. Ian (ChosenClay),

    BB would probably be better to answer this, but my thought is that you might earn as much (or more) interest by hanging on to those guns as an investment than you would earn in the bank (and you wouldn’t be tempted to spend it).

    🙂

    .22 multi-shot

  21. Ian,

    What a darned decent thing to do! I am so proud of you for making that offer. As a member of the human race, it’s always a pleasure to see someone like you who has been brought up well and has good manners.

    Thank you for thinking of me, Ian. I think Wayne, who is also on this blog, would love to own your two BB guns. I have dealt with him before in a trade and I can tell you that he will be completely honest with you and give you a great deal. Now that he knows what you want to do I’m sure he is formulating a special deal for you.

    Thanks, again for your generous offer. I would like to see Wayne get your guns, if that’s okay with you.

    B.B. Pelletier
    AKA Tom Gaylord

  22. Vince, I’d go for the accurizing the 1010!!
    My son (who is 8) shoots his at about 12′. We’ve figured out that if you aim about a foot low and 6″ it the right you’ll get somewhere near the bull (‘somewhere near’ being a relative term in this case).
    It is teaching him handgun handling, but he finds it frustrating because at 20 feet he can nail the bull (Crossman air rifle target) 3 times out of 5 with his Red Ryder.
    He has already started to covet my Umarex PPK, so I have a feeling I know what will be under the tree for him next Christmas.
    CowBoyStar Dad

  23. Ian,

    I agree with .22 multi shot..

    I think you should be a collector and a shooter, like me..

    If you don’t want to be a collector, I’m happy to have a chance to make a deal with you..

    But if you do want to start a collection, and have the space to keep them safe and dry for a long time.. then..

    I have a proposal for you:
    I too am impressed by your jester to my friend Tom, or B.B….. so if you want..

    I’ll bet that you could earn a little money working for your friends parents.. if you think you want to, and it’s ok with your parents, then I will lend you the money to buy something at PA…. that YOUR parents think YOUR ready to learn to shoot..
    You can mail me a payment every month, if you can, with no interest.. because I get a discount when I buy at PA.. So you could start payments and make them as your cash flow allows..

    Your credit is good with me.. for $200 anyway.. with a lean against your collection of air rifles… So are you ready for the business world young man?

    Think about it, those rifles NIB (new in box), will be worth an incredible amount of money when you give them to your kids… if you can think that far ahead..

    I know it takes some time and special energy to start a business selling your labor.. maybe your up to it.. maybe your not..

    But my advice is; a savings account and a collection of air rifles are both good investments.. do them both if you can young man…

    Wacky Waynes loan services…

  24. Wayne,

    You are a true captain of industry. We should send you to the White House to show them what’s what.

    .22 Multi-shot, I must tell you that I discovered why my rc plane kept crashing. I think I was up to crash number 11 which totaled my repair job of superglue and toothpicks. It was really quite simple. I had assembled the wings on the wrong side and upside down. That will do it. I’ve purchased more superglue. And the moral is not to start disassembling airguns….

    Matt61

  25. Ian, since you’ve got 2 of them perhaps you’d want to split the difference – sell one to Wayne (it’d be in good hands) and keep the other. That way you’d still be able to have one as a keepsake and still get a decent rifle for yourself.

    And when it comes to picking a new rifle make sure you ask around here. You might get a recommendation or two…

  26. Wayne,
    I’m still curious about the Fulton. What is the barrel length and are the chokes marked? If so, what do they say? Finally, I’m curious about that crown/D marking — any chance its Damascus steel? I believe I would take it into a gunsmith before shooting it any more, even light loads.

    I’m not sure about the price on the 870, but I would consider it if it has a 3″ chamber and screw-in chokes.

    Matt,
    You’ve got a long way to go to screw up as many things as I have…don’t give up on your dream of being a super-tuner yet:). Good judgement comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgement:).

  27. Wacky Wayne
    You sir are living proof that good people still exist in an uncertain world.My hat is off to you.(just kindly disregard the bright light shining off the unseeded bare area:)
    You and the rest of the great helpful folks on this blog keep me coming back frequently.My thanks to all of you!

    Aaron
    When you get back down to Delphi you will be within @ 5 mi.of swann creek rifle range.Haven’t been there for a while, if it’s still open we should go burn some powder.
    It’s a nice outdoor open range,but it’s closed during duck season.Maybe we could talk FrankB and others in the area into making an airgun meet and greet.might be a good way to “shoot” the breeze for a day.
    JTinAL

  28. Jt in Al,I’m all about shooting the breeze,it’s where I get the most consistent groups.seriously though,if I’m in Huntsville when you meet,nothing will stop me from attending[‘cept wrong directions!]just ignore my jokes,I have a high fever…FrankB

  29. Matt61,it seems you’ve invented a ground detector!!!the first step to fixing lots of things is to exume the unopened directions from the circular file…I’ve made lots of money off that fact!glad you sorted it out,now post some vid’s!FrankB

  30. Kevin, Matt61 & JTinAL
    Thanks for the kind words..

    I'm one of those seventh generation thinkers… plant seeds for the future.. some love being workers and some love creating work for others to do… My mom always call me "pain-in-ass).. because I was always making extra work for her.. some things never change..
    We need some seeds of new business to grow… and learning how business works at a young age can be a very good thing for some young people… I personally think a lot more people need the chance to learn it for real.. WHEN I WAS A KID::)).. kids could have a paper route or mow lawns and do yard care, now it's mostly adults doing that too! Maybe kids need to get back some market share again!!

    And so that's what's behind my offer..planting seeds of a new forest..

    The secretary of the US treasury was on the radio, and said that any economy, village, city, state or country needs 35% of their groups income from manufacturing something and shipping it out, bringing money into the community from outside..

    EVERY DOLLAR THAT COMES IN FROM THE OUTSIDE CIRCULATES SIX TIMES IN THE COMMUNITY !!!.. it just won't work on the long term with out it..

    I just think we need to teach young people to learn how to add value to things around them… especially creating things people need or want… duh!! yes, but someone has to do it!!!

    Ian,

    Your a wise young man to think about a thing like that offer.. Think as long as it takes to feel good about it in your heart.. don't do anything until then..

    The offer is also designed to make you think in a new way.. that has already been done, has it not?

    Wacky Wayne

  31. Matt61,

    Wow, wings upside down! Reminds me of the time I drove my dad’s old truck on the freeway in 2nd gear (the gear indicator was a little off). I remember something bad happened (not catastrophic), but not the details!

    Like BG_Farmer noted, we learn from our mistakes.

    Let us know how it flys after you get it back together.

    .22 multi-shot

    (word verification “gibre” – you’ve heard of that terrorist group Al-Gebra right?

    A public school teacher was arrested today at John F.Kennedy International Airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square, a slide rule, and a calculator. At a morning press conference, the Attorney General said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement. He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.

    “Al-Gebra is a problem for us,” the Attorney General said. “They desire solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in a search of absolute value. They use secret code names like ‘x’ and ‘y’ and often make reference to ‘unknowns,’ but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country. As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, ‘There are 3 sides to every triangle.'”

    When asked to comment on the arrest, Senator said, “If God had wanted us to have better Weapons of Math Instruction, he would have given us more fingers and toes.” leaders told reporters they could not recall a more intelligent or profound statement by the Senator.)

  32. I do think the gun community is quite different from the rest of the country. With everyone saving their money and bringing the economy to a halt, I can hardly find the ammo I want with all the shooters buying it up, and now here Wayne is with his vision of commerce. We will pull through yet.

    Yes, Ian we love to recommend guns to people. If you go ahead with this deal we will find a way to maximize your investment. In addition, I’ve found that guns are a great vehicle for meeting very unusual people–great shots, master shooters, people with all sorts of expertise and points-of-view. I don’t expect you’ll come across another deal like this.

    Ha ha, regarding the airplane that was pretty dumb, but almost worth the laughs in retrospect. Confidence is again riding high. We’ll see about the videos. I have some from the ill-fated maiden flights but we won’t worry about those. I will spare no preparation for the next effort and will log many hours on the simulator. This is another very neat device, by the way. I’m going to try landing in the Hudson River without engine power.

    BG_Farmer, thanks for the encouragement, but there’s no rush to develop my tuning when there are people like Vince and Rich from Mich out there. In fact, I feel bound to rave about another discovery from the tune that Rich gave my B30. Not only did he give the much-lamented trigger a very crisp let-off, but he retained the adjustment feature. So, now I am adjusting that rifle to real perfection.

    Matt61

  33. Vince,

    Just got a chance to read your blog! When is part 2 coming?

    BB,

    Not only do we get to learn from you, but all the secret airgun craftsmen on this blog! I’m very impressed with all the talent that resides here! And it is getting shared – I think that is great!

    Thanks all!
    .22 multi-shot

  34. BG_Farmer,

    The barrels are 30″ when removed from the stock..
    On the underside of the removed barrels, the numbers are 138016
    there are squares on each barrel with capital M with a capital P in side the M. under the “v” of the m is A on the left and Co with a line under the small o

    The same numbers are on the receiver and forearm. I can’t find any other way of telling what the chokes are.. or where to look more closely..

    Under those squares are NP on each side… then below that on the barrels the right barrel has the D with crown and the other has, I think, the same D with crown, but it’s missing a little and it might be an L instead..

    I got the lower link to work, but not the top one… thanks for helping me on this, that info on how to fix a stuck cocking latch was great.. what goes around comes around!!

    Wayne

  35. BB,

    Would you do a blog on pistol scopes/scoping a pistol (i.e. what is different between scoping a pistol and rifle, what kind of eye relief do you need, what kind of magnification do you want, without a stock for a cheek weld how do you get consistancy)?

    By the way, I’m looking at this from a hunting (pest elimination) perspective.

    Anyone else interested?

    Thanks,
    .22 multi-shot

  36. Hey Everyone,

    Here’s a great experience by ANONYMOUS with a 1077.

    Anonymous said…
    I got my 1077 6 years ago from a friend; it’s a may 1995 model. When I got it, it had a few 1000 pellets through it with no maintenance (not even pelloil). For the past 6years I didn’t even know it what a 1077 was. I just shot tin cans with cheap lead and no pelloil; it was fun.

    Last week I started finding info on the 1077 online and became more interested in it. I cleaned it, oiled it, shot 300rnds of cheap lead through it with pelloil on every loading. Then I put a gamo 4×32 scope on, and it shot 1.25″ 3rnd groupings at 22yds with RWS 8.2gr “Meisterkugeln” Professional Line Flat Points.

    Last night I decided to try my hand at a DIY barrel stabilizer. I removed the front sight, put a few drops of superglue on the outside of the barrel tip, reinstalled the front sight, and let the glue cure. I did this thinking that bonding the barrel to the front sight would provide better support and damping at the barrel tip than delrin stabilizers, plus it didn’t cost a dime, and prevents the barrely from rolling too.

    An hour ago I tested my “superglue stabilizer” and managed to break off 3rnd groupings were dime size at 22yds, three times in a row. Not center to center either; the holes were completely covered by a dime! btw, this was with the same can of RWS flatpoints.

    On a side note, the jam clearing function still works 100%. Just have to remove the screw from the front sight, then it slides freely foreward and backward like before (not that I’ve ever had to use it).

  37. Wayne,

    I’m not familiar with LC Smith/Hunter Arms but I do want to try and help.

    According to the LC Smith site, serial numbers on the LC Smith/Hunter Arms guns are confusing and records are incomplete. That being said if your gun is hammerless it was probably manufactured in 1933.

    As to your chokes, the stamps are confusing or maybe it’s because it’s late and I’m not reading your description correctly but are you sure that it’s a P stamped over the M and not an F?

    kevin

  38. Kevin,

    Yes, it is a P for sure, it’s more like a logo of sorts.. and there are no hammers on the outside of the gun..

    I can email you some photos tomorrow.. too late tonight..

    Thanks for helping

    Wayne

  39. .22 multi-shot,,

    Both you and Dr. G., I believe, have asked about pistol scopes. I am no expert (few people are) but I will give it a go.

    Hear that, Dr. G.? I will answer you on why pistol scope of greater than 2-power are so difficult to find.

    B.B.

  40. Wayne,

    I’m pretty sure the MPACo/NP symbol is a proof mark, as I saw it here (first picture and elsewhere):

    http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/19686599

    NP should mean nitro (smokeless) proofed.

    Since you can’t see the other link, the crown/D seems to mean Jean Delcour-Dupont and Canons Delcour S.A. a Belgian barrel maker (supplier to Hunter Arms. There’s also a picture of the crown/D mark in the album linked above.

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