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Accessories BSA Meteor: Part 7

BSA Meteor: Part 7

by Tom Gaylord, a.k.a. B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

BSA Super Meteor
My rifle is actually a BSA Super Meteor.

I’m headed to Las Vegas this weekend for the 2014 SHOT Show, so I’m asking veteran readers to help the newer readers more than usual. And I thank you in advance.

Tuesday’s blog will have something very important. It’s the first day of the SHOT Show, and I’ll show you something brand-new. It’s a pretty big deal, so it’s worth a look. Now, let’s get to today’s report.

Today, we’ll look at the accuracy of the BSA Super Meteor Mark IV that I’ve been working to restore. This report was never supposed to be an ongoing saga. It was supposed to be a quick 3-part look at a vintage air rifle, but the Meteor that I bought at the Roanoke airgun show last September turned out to need almost one of everything. So, I hunkered down and went to work.

I said in one of the earlier parts that fixing up an old spring-piston rifle is a lot like rebuilding an old tractor. Man, was that ever a prophesy! I had no idea that I would have to get down into the guts of the rifle to get it shooting again; but if you’ve followed along on all the earlier parts, you know that’s exactly what happened. Now that the old girl is shooting like she should, let’s see how accurate she is.

This is a vintage spring rifle with open sights, so I like to begin shooting those at 10 meters. Since I have no idea how accurate or inaccurate they are, it’s best to start close. If the groups show some promise, I can always back up to 25 yards and shoot a second test.

Eley Wasp
I figured a vintage airgun deserves a vintage pellet, so I broke out some obsolete Eley Wasps in .177 caliber as the first pellet. The first 2 shots were to sight in, and shot #1 was low, so I tried to adjust the rear sight up using the adjustment wheel. Alas — it didn’t move the sight! The backup plan was to loosen the rear sight blade and slide it higher. I also noted that the whole rear sight unit needed to be snugged down, so that was also done.

Eley Wasp
These .177 Eley Wasps are from the same timeframe as the Meteor rifle.

BSA Super Meteor leather breech seal
Loosen the 2 screws and slide the sight blade up to raise the point of impact.

Before we proceed, a word about .177 Eley Wasps is in order. Many of you know that the 5.56mm (.22-caliber) Eley Wasp is a particularly fat .22-caliber pellet. It’s often the best in vintage airguns whose bores are on the large side. But the .177-caliber Wasp is not an oversized pellet — at least not the ones I have. I often choose these pellets for guns with larger bores such as the Meteor, forgetting that these aren’t the best or biggest .177 pellets around.

I shot only 8 pellets at the target because the group grew to 3.559 inches between centers, and it didn’t seem worth my time to finish. But that wasn’t all I noticed. Most of the pellet holes are ripped out to the right, as if the pellets were not traveling straight. We know from the previous velocity test that this rifle now shoots fast enough to not tear target paper when the pellets pass through, so this tearing had to have been caused by the pellet’s orientation and not its velocity.

Eley Wasp target
It only took 8 Eley Wasp pellets to convince me that this was not the right pellet for the Meteor. Notice the tearing of the paper! It’s all in the same direction. I’m cutting off parts of the bulls in this photo because they contain another group from another pellet.

Crosman Premier lite
These results were enough to convince me to use modern pellets in the Meteor. The next pellet I tested was the Crosman Premier lite. This time, I fired all 10 pellets, and the group was much smaller than before, but it still measured 1.73 inches between centers. That’s horrible for any air rifle at 10 meters!

What was even more surprising is the fact that the Premiers also tore paper to the right of the main pellet hole. In fact, they tore in exactly the same place!

Crosman Premier lite target
It looks like 9 holes, but there are 10 Crosman Premier lite pellets in this group. It measures 1.73 inches between centers…and notice the tearing of the target paper in exactly the same way that the Eley Wasp pellets tore it.

If the pellets were tumbling in flight, the tears would be randomly scattered around the main hole because the tumbling pellet would change its orientation all the time. But because they are all in the same place, it looks like the pellets are tipping as they exit the muzzle and flying straight to the target in that tipped orientation. Hmmm! Have to think about that.

Air Arms Falcon
The next pellet I tried was the Falcon from Air Arms. I selected this pellet because the heads were sized large, at 4.52mm. They have the largest heads of any .177 pellets I have.

They put what looks like 9 shots into 1.863 inches between centers. Once again, several of the holes are torn on the right side.

Falcon target
Nine holes (I swear I shot 10!) went into a 1.863-inch group at 10 meters. And, again, several of the holes are torn out on the right.

RWS Hobby
The final pellet I tested was the RWS Hobby. This is a large wadcutter that sometimes is very accurate at 10 meters. But not this time. Ten went into a group that measures 2.05 inches between centers. They also tore the paper to the right of the main pellet holes.

RWS Hobby target
Ten RWS Hobbys went into this vertical group that measures 2.05 inches between centers. They also tore the target paper on the right of the pellet hole.

What’s up?
I knew something was wrong with the rifle because these pellets all fly at different speeds. There’s no way a tumbling pellet can tear the paper in exactly the same place when they all get there at different times. For even one single type of pellet to do that is hard to believe, but for 4 different types…it’s impossible. The pellets have to be leaving the muzzle tipped on their edge and remain in that orientation all the way to the target.

I know that most of you have guessed what’s wrong with the rifle by this point, but I hadn’t. Of course, I didn’t have someone pushing my nose into the facts like you have in this report. It wasn’t until my buddy Otho came by for a visit. I showed him the targets (because he has an interest in the Meteor, as you recall), and he said, “I’ll bet that barrel needs to be recrowned.”

Oh, my gosh! How could I fail to see that? Of course that was the problem. When I brought out the Meteor for him to look at, he saw it right away. I bet you will, too. The muzzle is backbored by more than an inch; but with a tactical flashlight, we were able to look down inside.

Meteor crown
See the dark spot at 10 o’clock? It appears to be a nick in the muzzle. How it got there I don’t know, but it should be fixed.

The saga continues!
Yep, this Meteor is like an old tractor, all right. Just when you think you have the thing running and looking spiffy — the magneto quits. These days, there’s only one old man in Kansas who can repair them. Actually, I protesteth too much because I really enjoy working on this gun. It wasn’t made in China, yet it has turned out to be even worse than most of the very poor-quality Chinese airguns I’ve tested in the past.

In truth, there’s a lot of great engineering in this rifle, as well as a ton of abuse. You BSA Meteor owners out there know that I’m not purposely beating up your favorite airgun. It’s just that it challenges me at every turn. But that’s a large part of what makes this hobby interesting. After all is said and done, I’m not upset.

OK, take that report on a Friday and run with it! Remember, I’m on my way to Las Vegas and cannot answer as many comments as normal.

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.

74 thoughts on “BSA Meteor: Part 7”

  1. Thou doth protesteth too little.

    Few people with your pedigree would spend so much time and money on a gun that from all indications is so undeserving. You must have spent at least as much money fixing it as you have purchasing it to begin with. If Otho had charged for his welding of the piston, it would be close to the cost of an R7. Your impressive macro photography skills have me cringing every time I look at this abomination. Worse than a low-end chinese, yet made in England? Yikes. That is an excoriating, but accurate description.

    Don’t get me wrong. I love it that you are willing to spend so much time and effort trying to get this old dog to hunt. I have learned alot despite the fact that you couldn’t give me one of these rifles even if it came with a free tin of pellets. You have every right to be a gun snob, and yet, somehow you are not. I knew that already but the depth of your unsnobbery is astonishing.

    BTW- Why did the rats chew on the muzzle to begin with? Was it coated in peanut butter?

    Have fun in Vegas.

  2. I’m happy that the Meteor saga continues.. I really appreciate your time and money you put into the project to bring the riffle back to the old golden glory. In my country that reformed fast in civilian security regulations, brings a brand new European riffle flew high away beyond average air gun enthusiast ability. To restore and old Meteor about $300 worth to try than pay $900 for a new Weihrauch, because the labor cost and material considered cheaper here. Your detailed writings and photographic illustrations (I’m agree with your impressive macro photography skill and wonder what camera you used) help us here to consider the problems we may have on the go. The more problems you have, the more we learn here.

    • Pancanaka

      “The more problems you have, the more we learn here.” That is precisely correct. You said it better than I did.

      Where is ‘here’? What country are you from? I like to know which corners of the world are reading BBs reports, and my jibberish.

      I hope I did not offend with my disparaging comments of this rifle. I am lucky enough that I have access to many kinds of airguns, at what many would consider very reasonable prices in comparison to where they live. I was not allowed any airguns when I was growing up, and would have felt blessed to be able to shoot this rifle, even more so to own one. I hope that an R7 finds its way into your hands some day.

      • None taken SL. Hope BB too. Just passing by on my blogger buzz and commented right bellow your post. No defensive act intended to.
        I’m monitoring from Indonesia. As other countries in the South East Asia region, we can’t legally or at least feel secure to have air gun. But lucky enough here in Indonesia we can produce or afford a local made air riffle in .177′ (and no pistol) with lack of quality control (I’m not saying they can’t make it good). But the regulations today is getting stiffer but still some how permissive due to terrorism activity. Getting a quality air rifle from European or US with “reasonable” price considered as a smuggling. Because the authorized importers have to pay massive taxes. So getting old quality rifle from the golden period of airguning in Indonesia (70’s to 90’s) considered the cheaper way. That makes me interest in BB’s vintage rifle posts.
        And I’m satisfied with my HW 77 and a couple of old pneumatic dogs. Still working on my local break barrel rifle to make it better.

        • Pancanaka

          Well, an HW77 is probably at least as good as anything I have got. I would love to get my hands on one. Glad to hear it, and good for you. And the pneumatic dogs aren’t so bad. I have a few I really like.

          Keep at the breakbarrel. Necessity is the mother of invention…or ingenuity as the case may be.
          Best wishes from America to South East Asia my brother.

  3. Too bad that this turns up at the last minute. Who knows what has been jammed into the barrel over the years .
    We have gone one step beyond the “consistent corkscrew” and have arrived at the “consistent keyhole” .

    twotalon

  4. As SL has pointed out, just because it was “made in England” does not mean it is top quality. Neither does the name BSA. Most of the issues he has had with this air rifle stems from the fact that BSA did everything they could to keep manufacturing costs as low as possible so as to allow Wentworth to buy his son Nigel an air rifle for Christmas. It is also apparent that Nigel did not know anything about the proper care of an air rifle. How in the world do you mess up a recessed crown?

    I will likely be in the market for another oldey this Fall, but you may rest assured it will not be a Meteor. Thanks BB, keep ’em coming.

        • B.B.,

          Yes. Better finish. Better trigger. Slimmer stock design. Better balance. Good accuracy.

          Just make sure to buy one with a rifled barrel not a smoothbore since they were made both ways.

          kevin

      • I probably would. With most companies, you have a product come out. With the first production model, many of the issues show themselves. With the second production model most of the issues are corrected. With the third production model, they start finding ways to reduce production costs. Unfortunately, that usually means quality is also being reduced.

  5. As some of us said at the beginning of BBs epic analysis of this gun this particular mark of Meteor was a product of the dismal days of the 1970s when cost consciousness was everything (the British Leyland business model, after the deservedly long defunct car manufacturer). It was of course intended as a cheap plinker, a first gun for budding airgunners before moving on to something like an Airsporter (generally always good, even in their cheapo 70s incarnation) or a Webley Hawk (another dire product of the 1970s), I am delighted that he has got it thus far through so many issues.

  6. Have fun at the SHOT Show. I have heard about a few of the new things that will be introduced but I am sure there are a lot more that I have not heard about at all.

    On the Yellow I have read about a couple of things about Crosman:

    “There’s an interesting announcement on the Internet stating that in December 2013 Prospect Capital Corporation provided “$40 million of senior secured floating rate debt to support the recapitalization of Crosman Corporation by Wellspring Capital Partners”. ”

    And, “The company has the support of US Senator Chuck Schumer in an initiative to bring back the assembly of more air rifles from China to the US. Apparently this is for 30 – 50,000 airguns (a year???) within 3 years and would result in the creation of an additional 9 to 25 jobs in Crosman’s Bloomfield NY plant in that period. ”

    Can you give us any idea how these announcements will impact the US airgun community?

    Have a great trip,

    David Enoch

    • I wish every gun related industry company would move out of NY,NJ,MASS.CONN.etc. and go to a
      gun friendly state,Kahr Arms did and Magpol from COLO.Who would trust Shummer with anything
      in the gun industry?I was shocked wheh Henry Arms moved to NJ an anti gun state if there ever
      was one.I wrote the president of Henry and he responded by stating they manufacture half in
      Wisc.to placate me.I think if Remington,Colt,and the rest follow suit it would teach them a lesson
      and hit them in their pockets,which is the only thig that would make them get off our backs.
      You people in other countries aren’t the only ones that are that are loaded down with bad laws
      in certain places here they are too. I was luckey and moved out of the undemocratic non peoples
      republics of the east.

  7. Without going back and reading I think the crown of the gun was talked about.

    And Dave E. That is interesting news. When I hear the words more jobs it always makes me happy. But even more so if it means producing more airguns here.

    And BB I hope you get on them and tell them to make us some cool guns this year.

      • Call it what you will. We always call it the lead in crown or lead in chamfer.

        But look at the Air Force barrels and some of the other brand gun barrels. They have the lead in chamfer. I always thought that was supposed to help not tear the head of the pellet up when you load and also help seal the skirt when the air charge gets released.

        Maybe I’m wrong but I think it would help. Oh and that is not causing your pellet problem I just thought I would suggest that to maybe help the pellet load more consistently.

        If you look at the crown in your last picture at the 10 O’clock position it looks to me like there is a flat or flag burr kind of rolled into the opening of the barrel. I think that’s the problem of the mysterious sideways flying pellets.

  8. This is a great saga, BB!

    We not only get to see a rifle with lots of troubles, but we get to see your fixes too and thereby learn in the process! Despite the false economy of it, it’s a good project for the tinkerers here to follow because you’ve run up against just about every problem one can have on one gun. Well worth the time and effort as a teaching tool if nothing else!

    /Dave

    • /Dave,

      The work on the BSA Meteor reminds me of the British TV show “Wheeler Dealers.” They calculate the cost of buying the car and all the parts, but they don’t include the biggest expense: Edd China’s input. His labor is probably many times the cost of the car and repair parts.

      We’re doing the same thing with the BSA Meteor. Of course, I’m guessing we’re not going to make any money if we ever decide to sell it.

      Edith

      • Edith,

        There is no way we will ever break even on this gun — labor not included. This one was a hobby project to show what can be done.

        Had I known how bad this gun was, I would never have bought it. That’s a case for shooting before buying — especially with used guns.

        With Dianas I can usually tell what shape they’re in by cocking them and releasing the piston slowly. I’ll have to revise my criteria for older BSAs.

        B.B.

      • Yeah…. We can’t do everything for money…. Some stuff is just plain fun and entertaining! My TF99 was a good example of that too. It needed everything to get it to shoot acceptably. I’d never get my time and money back out of that one… The LG55 that I’m currently working on is another. It’s showing some promise, but I keep running into small snags (mostly due to my own unfamiliarity with this model…). But it’s entertainment for me at the least.

        /Dave

          • Might not want to hold your breath on that, RR… 😉 I’m playing with the hop up for steel bb’s too. And somehow on top of it all, my archer-itis is acting up something fierce. Such problems…..

            /Dave

            • I understand. I have been feeling a touch of archeritis myself lately. I bought a cheap 30# recurve to teach my wife to shoot once the weather gets a little nicer. My goal will be to pick up or make a nice long bow.

              • I haven’t picked up my compound in years and it kept mocking me from its hook in the basement, so I put it in a case above my reloading bench thinking that would at least tone it down, but all it did was get louder. I made the mistake of getting it out and sawing it. Which was followed by throwing a few arrows through the chrony, which resulted in some sore muscles and a burning flair up of the archer-itis… Just found a nice traditional archery shop close by and paid them a visit along with another bow range pretty close to me too. Now I’m thinking I need a recurve to play with along with my old Golden Eagle wheel bow….

                Just what my wallet needed. Another leak….

                • Maybe so, but where is the satisfaction of having built it yourself. Have you looked at the price of a nice long bow? For that price I can buy enough material for several. If I mess up one or two during the learning, I still come out ahead. I can see me building a Virginia long rifle.

                  • I neglected to say that another factor is your skill at doing this kind of thing. The price of one longbow couldn’t buy enough material for me to screw up with. 🙂

                    Matt61

              • I drilled 2 holes at a vee on top of the barrel of a new, plastic-y 760 smooth bore and brazed a couple of nuts on for screws to drive the rubber into the bore while still trying to retain some adjustability. Haven’t had a chance to do any shooting with it yet. Life got kind of busy this past couple of weeks in spite of thinking I had time off…. If I find that it makes a difference, I’ll do a guest blog on it if BB would like, although this isn’t something that the average airgunner is going to do (Or any sane airgunner for that matter…).

  9. Hello B.B. et all,
    It sure looks like the barrel is terribly fouled and needs brushing. Something in the target photos really stood out to me. Look carefully at the pellet holes in each target. You can see the dirt stains ringing the circumference of each hole. In some cases you can clearly see regular dots along the circumference of the hole from the crud that the head of the pellet has scraped out of the rifling grooves. That’s sure what it looks like to me.

    You have a very good photo setup that yields good lighting and especially proper focus on closeups. Seeing details like this can make a big difference.

    • Now that you mention that about the dirty barrel you can see the dirt on the target from all of the brand of pellets used. I thought maybe it was the older wasp pellets causing it because they had some old oil or something that maybe thickened up on the pellets after time.

      You can see it on the target of the other brands fired also though. Something’s definitely got the barrel dirty.

  10. Hi Tom
    I’m waiting on a pair of lightly used 1995 diana 34’s that I purchased online. From the pictures and description they both appear to be in very good shape, however one has a stripped screw-head on the large trigger-guard screw that assists in attaching the action to the stock. I assume that I’ll have to drill a pilot hole down its center and back it out with some kind of extraction bit. I’ll know more when they get here but was wondering if you had any pointers.

    I was also hoping to find a sling band for the barrel at Uncle Mike’s but the bands listed on their site appear to be either too small or slightly too big. I haven’t made an actual barrel measurement since I don’t have the rifles yet, but I believe it is .625. Any other solutions or sources that you know of? …FYI I do use a leather shotgun sling on my Webley Vulcan but I had to have the muzzle side of the strap shortened at a boot repair shop so that the pad would ride properly on my shoulder. The excess length on this non-adjustable side of the strap is due to the fact that the loop/snare was designed for the larger diameter shotgun barrels.

      • I received my matching pair of ’95 Diana 34’s and was able to get the stripped forward trigger guard screw out and replaced with a screw from Pyramidair. On my first attempt to order the screw I was told that that screw was no longer available. Frustrated, I called back a couple days later and was told they had plenty in stock and weren’t sure why I was told otherwise. The missing detent plunder on the rear sight is another issue… I went ahead a stole one off of a winchester 425 that has a crack in the rear sight’s plastic base. At some point I will buy a new rear sight for the 425 so no great loss.

        Both Diana 34s are complete and in beautiful shape. Neither appears to have had more than a tin shot thru them. On one of the rifles, however, there is a subtle “click” when cracking the barrel for loading. The click occurs about one third of the way thru the cocking stroke. I believe that it is the spring making a slight adjustment as it compresses, but that is just a guess. FYI, all three action-to-stock mounting screws are tight, and everything appears to be properly lubricated. I hope that with repeated shooting the “click” during cocking will disappear. Any suggestions? Thanks

    • FWIW, I robbed a magazine tube front sling band from a Marlin 336 ( .30-30 ) to use on my Diana 34 ‘s barrel. It has worked out well. You of course need the screw in stud for the butt stock. Get the bit to drill the stock . Uncle Mikes brand is the one I used.

      • Unless you are going to carry it a lot, you may want to look at one of the slip on slings. One that has a loop for the barrel and another for the stock. It can also be move from gun to gun. I have one from Uncle Mike’s that works well.

        Mike

  11. I have used brass shims to attach loose sling bands to rifle barrels. If the band does not completely encircle the barrel, I carefully fit the shim to the band. Loctite or epoxy can be used to prevent “shim shift”. Plastic or other thin metal strips can also be used . I hope this helps you put sling bands on your rifle(s). Ed

    • Thanks for the suggestions. I am also looking for a detent plunger that goes under the 34’s elevation/screw for the rear sight. The tech at pyramid told me that simply using a small ball bearing will work as well, but the purist in me would prefer the original part. Umarex doesn’t have it either. Their solution was a complete new rear sight.

  12. Oh yes, crude and cheaply made, but… Its functional, and possible to get to shoot good if you dont push it too far, and clean up all thats been done by time and previous owners.

    If nobody else appreciates them, thats good for me, prices will keep low 😉

  13. I tried to put an O ring breech seal in my Milbro Diana 27. I tried 2 different O rings , and got the same clip at 6 o’clock in both O rings. Mine was worse and it looked like a half moon , and a piece of the ring was cut out. How can I chamfer, or countersink the transferport without having to remove the barrel? Ed

  14. So how do you recrown a couonterbored barrel except by counterboring it even deeper?

    Thanks, B.B., home is the range. 🙂 But picking up my IZH 61 last night for the first time in weeks, my shooting was awful. It took me most of 60 rounds to regain my form. In part, this was from the layoff. But I wonder if it was also from shooting firearms. This would lead to the conclusion that firearms degrade shooting skills from airguns while airguns raise the shooting skills from firearms. Why would this be? Perhaps because the bangboom (or power) that is so appealing about firearms disrupts the fine control one develops in airgunning. The fact that heavy caliber firearms like the .45 ACP need some adjustment after airgun training is not really in conflict. It’s possible that one must learn to consolidate shooting skills against the noise and recoil of firearms, but one doesn’t really add anything to the skill set, at least not anything as good as airgun training.

    Unfortunately, given that almost all of my shooting is with airguns, I don’t have all the data. Someone who does a lot of shooting with firearms and airguns and moves rapidly between them is in a better position to say whether airguns really improve skill with firearms and are degraded by them.

    Matt61

    • “So how do you recrown a couonterbored barrel except by counterboring it even deeper?”

      Like doing a regular barrel. Put a small chamfer on the diameter were the pellet comes out.

      There is no need to go deeper unless the bigger counterbore diameter is not perpendicular to the pellet bore diameter.
      Kind of like looking at a (T). If the top line of the T was slanted at a angle to the straight up and down line that would be like having a bad crown. It would be like the chamfer being to big on one side and to small on the other.

      That would be the only reason I would go deeper is to correct what I just said with the counterbore. But I would definitely make sure I would corner brake (chamfer) the pellet bore diameter if I went deeper with the counterbore.

        • You have to chuck the barrel of the gun up as deep as you can in the chuck jaws on a lathe. The end that you are going to crown/chamfer ( that’s what I use anyway a lathe).

          Then you have to make sure you indicate the barrel as close to zero run-out as possible. (when you spin the barrel by hand in the lathe it should read as close to zero as possible when you rotate it around) then there is a live center you can put in the drill chuck to make sure its centered to the pellet bore diameter. Then you take it out and put in your center drill in the drill chuck. The whole idea is to get everything centered to each other before the tool goes in to cut.

          Then you use a center drill that has a a smaller pilot diameter of the pellet bore so you don’t rub it on the rifling of the barrel. Dykem the bore with some marking dye then just come in with the center drill till you touch and make a little 3 or 4 thousandths chamfer and your done.

          How well the chamfer is centered to the pellet bore is determined by how good of job you do indicating the barrel in and the cutting tool to each other. Then I take some scotch-brite by hand and make sure there isn’t no burrs left in the pellet bore.

    • Shooting airguns helps a lot in maintaining skill with firearms. I shoot both often. I shoot airguns more in the winter than firearms but as the weather clears I do much more with firearms. At the end of the day it is still all about sight alignment and trigger control. With firearms I just have learned to ride the recoil and concentrate on the basics.

      Mike

  15. BB How would you prevent the transferport from damaging the breech seal? How can I remove the burr or high spot on the port without damaging the face of the compression tube ? I do not want to remove the barrel. Thank you, Ed

    • Ed,

      I don’t know how to do it without removing the barrel. Any time machining has to be done, you need access to the parts and surfaces. I think the breech needs to be machined, unless there is an obvious burr on the transfer port. The barrel is replaceable, but the transfer port is the gun.

      B.B.

  16. Yep, you are going to be needing a new seal before too long on this little gem. We anxiously await your finding a solution to THIS issue and await the next issue with anticipation. Seriously.

    As has been stated, this has been a wonderful learning experience for all of us. I have been presented with the opportunity to dive deep into the guts of one of the iconic vintage air rifles and see solutions to various problems that can arise with these things. And I did not have to buy it myself.

    I feel your pain though. I had to go back into my BSA a couple of times before she was happy. No, you will not directly profit financially from this investment, but the knowledge gained may help you and others in the future.

    • That always gets me too. You think you have seen everything then some new little issues pop up.

      Same thing with the cars when I was drag racing. We had to make brackets and adapter plates to mount engines and transmissions and other various things that came up. That was the difference from the car working right or being like a redneck race car. (BB said that just recently so I stole that line from him)

      If it was my gun I would have to try (magic word TRY) to figure out a way to address the issues. But maybe that is just one of the flaws you have to live with on a break barrel gun. Maybe you just need to keep a bunch of extra breech seals around for when it gets tore up.

  17. BB hope the trip is going well.
    Will you be reviewing the new Makarov “Ultra” when it becomes available?
    /product/makarov-ultra-blowback-co2-pistol?m=3356

    If it’s as accurate as the other one and with blowback if it can have better trigger and single action it will be a must buy!

    J-F

  18. On my meteors, I experiment with sealh heights(shimming and trimming) to get it to seal good without getting cut on the transferport. Polishing up the breech face with 240-400 paper helps, and then getting the right seal height.
    Some guns are more difficult than others, but if you try a few different seals (the new Gamo BSA seals are soft, the HW seals are pretty hard, JM’s seals are another option) I have been able to get all my guns to seal good without damaging the seal.

  19. RE: “If the pellets were tumbling in flight, the tears would be randomly scattered around the main hole because the tumbling pellet would change its orientation all the time. But because they are all in the same place, it looks like the pellets are tipping as they exit the muzzle and flying straight to the target in that tipped orientation. Hmmm! Have to think about that.”

    To nit pick I don’t think “tumble” is the right word at all. Tumble to me implies end over end. I think the pellets are precessing. Each pellet is getting nudged the same way, and the precessing rate is roughly the same. The distance to the target is the same, so all the pellets hit the target tilted to the right. It seems that these targets were shot at 10 meters. If you shoot at 8 and 12 meters too, then I’d expect the location of the tear would move.

    In studying projectile yaw I cam across US Army studies where they modified the barrel to bump the project as it exited the barrel. The purpose was to induce a yaw angle so that the effect of yaw could be studied.

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