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Ammo Ruger Air Hawk combo: Parts 1 and 2

Ruger Air Hawk combo: Parts 1 and 2

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

Ruger Airhawk Combo

Ruger Air Hawk combo

This report covers:

• Why the Ruger Air Hawk?
• Impressions of the rifle
• Before the test
• RWS Hobby pellets
• JSB Exact Heavy 10.34-grain pellets
• Trigger-pull
• Firing behavior
• What to do now?

I’m testing the Ruger Air Hawk combo today, and I’m also starting something new. I’m combining Parts 1 and 2 into a single report. Part 1 has always been a general description of the item being tested, and Part 2 has been the velocity test. But you can follow the links embedded in the report to the Pyramyd AIR product page and read the specs, so I don’t have to dwell on them very long. Just give you my impressions and then check velocity, cocking effort and trigger pull. If this works, I will do it this way from now on if the gun isn’t overly complex and if there’s nothing unique about it. If not, I’ll return to the conventional format. For that reason, I’m calling this both Parts 1 and 2.

Why the Ruger Air Hawk?
Most of you are aware that Ruger doesn’t make airguns. They have them made by others to their specifications. In today’s case, the Air Hawk is made in China. It’s imported and distributed by Umarex USA.

I chose to review the Air Hawk because many readers have asked me repeatedly to do so. At the time of this report, there are 114 customer reviews on the rifle and it’s rating is about 4.5 stars out of 5. That bodes well. I won’t read those reviews before I examine the rifle, just to keep my opinions honest.

The Air Hawk is a straightforward breakbarrel spring-piston air rifle. The one I’m testing is in .177 caliber, the only caliber they come in. Mine is serial number 00474874. It has a conventional coiled steel mainspring, a wood stock and blued steel finish. The fiberoptic sights are constructed mostly of plastic, though the rear sight does have some metal parts. And the rear sight is adjustable in both directions.

It has been said that this is a copy of the Diana 34. I do see the resemblance, but there are also differences. The trigger isn’t the same, nor is the cocking linkage.

So here we have a very traditional breakbarrel rifle. What’s the attraction? The price, I suppose. This combo that also includes a 4X32 scope retails for $130. What makes this Ruger Air Hawk such a bargain? One word: Power!

The Air Hawk is a 1,000 f.p.s. rifle — according to its manual, or a 1,200 f.p.s. gun if you believe what’s written on the box. One velocity is probably derived with lightweight lead pellets and the other with lead-free pellets. We shall see in a moment. The point is that velocity sells airguns these days. New shooters need to experience all they can with high-velocity spring guns before they’re willing to explore the rest of what’s available. And, with 4.5 stars from 114 customers, it sounds like the Air Hawk really delivers the goods. Again, we shall see.

Impressions of the rifle
The Air Hawk is heavier than I was expecting. It weighs a tad over 8 lbs. and feels stout in my hands. The stock proportions are generous without being oversized. This is a large air rifle. They rate the cocking effort at 30 lbs., and the test rifle cocks at 30 lbs. on the nose. I did have to try it several times before getting it down to 30 lbs., so there’s initial stiffness that has to be worn away; but that’s part of every break-in.

The finish of the wood and metal parts is smooth and even. The metal parts are matte black and the wood has a shine. The contouring of the wood is well done, although there’s no checkering. The comb is Monte Carlo-shaped, and there’s no raised cheekpiece. Since the automatic safety is located at the rear of the spring tube, this is a 100 percent ambidextrous rifle.

The cocking linkage is two-piece and articulated in the middle. The rear piece slides on a channel cut in the wood stock. Unlike many Chinese spring rifles, this Air Hawk sits centered perfectly in the stock, with no canting of the action! That’s a plus because it means there’s no rubbing of the cocking linkage parts against the wood.

The barrel detent is a ball bearing, similar to a Diana 34. I do have to slap the barrel slightly to break it open, so the ball is under a lot of spring tension. The base block that holds the barrel is held to the action forks by a bolt — meaning that barrel tension can be adjusted. That’s a huge plus in any breakbarrel.

The trigger blade is metal and very straight. I like the angle of the blade, as it suits my hand quite well. The trigger-pull adjusts for the length of the first stage, only. A screw in front of the trigger blade controls this.

My overall impression is that this is a well-designed air rifle. More importantly, someone is in the Chinese plant assuring adherence to quality standards.

Okay, you can get the rest of the specifications from the product listing I’ve linked to above. Now, I’m going to test the velocity and trigger-pull.

Before the test
I shot the rifle before the test and noted that the first 5 or 6 shots were detonations (loud bangs, like gunshots) with oil droplets coming out of the muzzle. So, the rifle is lubricated heavily at the factory. I shot the rifle several more times until the detonations  seemed to end.

RWS Hobby pellets
The first pellet tested was the RWS Hobby. I use the Hobby as my reality check with some airguns, because not only is it a pure lead pellet — it’s also often very accurate. I’m going to show the entire string here, for reasons I will explain.

Shot       Vel.
1…………1093
2………..1499
3………….789
4………….797
5………….766
6………….803
7………….810
8………….755
9………….769
10…………806
11…………750
12…………771

Pretty obvious what’s happening. The gun was detonating on the first 2 shots, then it sort of settled down for the next 10. I’m not going to give any averages here because I don’t believe the rifle has completely settled down yet.

People always ask me how I break in new airguns. Well, that depends on the gun. I thought I would show you with this one.

JSB Exact Heavy 10.34-grain pellets
Next up was the JSB Exact Heavy 10.34 grains pellet. If Hobbys are going in the 700s, then this pellet is too heavy for the powerplant; but when a gun is detonating, a heavier pellet will help burn off the excess oil. The rifle was still spewing out a cloud of oil mist with each shot.

Shot       Vel.
1………….659
2…………757
3…………665
4…………534
5…………553
6…………536
7…………550
8…………593
9…………555
10………..546
11………..631
12………..581
13………..559

As you can see, the gun is still burning off excess oil. That’s where those faster shots come from.

Another way to burn excess oil is to shoot a very light pellet. It makes the gun detonate, which is probably needed here. So, I switched to RWS HyperMAX lead-free pellets.

Shot       Vel.
1………….882
2…………970
3…………892
4…………904
5…………854
6…………835
7…………816
8…………877
9…………814
10………..799

The rifle is still burning oil, but it’s calmed down a lot by this point. I returned to Hobbys to see where things were.

Shot      Vel.
1…………630
2………..644
3………..677
4………..722
5………..720
6………..699
7………..706
8………..1080
9………..790
10……….1089

Okay, at this point I know the rifle is still detonating a bit and dieseling on every shot — as it’s supposed to. All spring guns that shoot over 600 f.p.s. diesel with each shot, according to the testing that was done in the 1970s by the Cardew father/son team.

Trigger-pull
The trigger adjusts for stage-one length of pull, only. This one feels good where it is, so I’m leaving it there. The trigger releases at 3 lbs., 6 oz. Stage 2 is fairly crisp. I think this will be an easy rifle to shoot.

Firing behavior
The Air Hawk I’m testing has a quick shot cycle with some recoil and some vibration. But during the few shots of this test, the rifle became easier to cock and the firing cycle smoothed out. So, I think this is a rifle that will improve with time. Also, I now note that the barrel no longer remains where it’s put after being cocked. So, the pivot joint needs to be tightened. I’ll do that before the next test, which will be an accuracy test using the open sights that come on the rifle.

What to do now?
This is where a lot of newer airgunners are stumped. If they have a chronograph, they may feel their rifle is broken or that they’ll hurt it by shooting it more. But the 98 percent of shooters who don’t own a chronograph will just keep right on shooting their airgun, which is what I plan to do.

Next comes the accuracy test. I’ll test the rifle at both 10 meters and 25 yards using the open sights, then I’ll mount the scope that came with it and test it again.

After I finish the accuracy testing, I’ll return and look at the velocity once more. I’m guessing the rifle will have settled down by then.

68 thoughts on “Ruger Air Hawk combo: Parts 1 and 2”

    • I give a serious second to that, I love the ruger hawks, they are the best for the money. The trigger is crisp and just over 3 pounds STOCK, that says it all. A little work and your kicking a feather. I had the thumbhole synthetic stock version but I think Im going to the wood stocked plain Jane. It is a really nice rifle and I feel it will be taken a little more serious in traditional furniture. Good to see the numbers since I still don’t have a chrony, even though there barely ballpark with the break in just startin. BB, if I ever asked you a favor, let me ask to buy this airhawk when your done testing it? I would be so very very happy to do that, Im looking to buy one anywho….

  1. Does it have that Yucky Chinese springer smell?It looks like they paid attention to how it actually looks this time and Ruger musta talked to someone about how to go about locking the action up.I won’t be buying this gun new but I’d like to know what it is before they hit the used market

    Reb

  2. I learned a valuable lesson the last couple weeks, practicing off hand only shooting is best while your Strong hand isn’t operable. My hands been in a cast so it’s off hand pistols for me this month and while I’ve practiced this in the past actually only having one hand made it apparent I cheated here and there during this practice. It’s been an educational couple weeks. Also if anybody out there hasn’t mounted targets inside a tire and shot at it rolling down a hill give it a try. It’s great fun and great practice.

  3. Well they were close on the velocity claims when the gun was dieseling anyway. Maybe that’s how the Chinese test them to get those high numbers. All lubed up and rock and rollin. And since they make Fireworks maybe they think the crack sounds neat when they detonate.

    Ok I will stop now. And I will have to say that the wood looks nice though. And as always I want to see how it shoots.

    And I think that’s a good idea to combine parts 1 and 2. That way you get to the shoot’n part of the test quicker. 🙂

  4. BB,

    This format works for me. With your traditional format you give me an appetizer and then I have to wait forever to start in on the meal. I get pretty hungry sometimes.

    As for the Air Hawk, I had one of these that I had picked up last year at a yard sale and sold at the last Roanoke show. Overall, I thought it was a fairly decent sproinger, especially for what I paid for it. I did have a serious issue with the trigger though. Most of the time it had what I would consider a long and creepy 2nd stage with a sometimes consistent let off, but then it would surprise you with a very short, crisp, light let off.

    I was able to adjust the parallax on the scope to where it was usable at 25 yards and once I did that it was actually a decent little plinker. I probably could have worked on the trigger some and improved it, but I knew there were better out there, so I took it to the show and sold it and picked up my 1906 BSA. This one is a keeper.

    • RidgeRunner,

      I dislike having to qualify a gun by saying something like “it’s good considering what I paid for it”. I’ve had more than a few of those in the past. These days I just don’t waste my money. Sorry, I got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning.

      G&G

  5. I picked one of these up cheap at a big box, my first and last springer after I sell off a Nitro Venom. The scope failed after the first tin but the irons work fine for the distances you can shoot with this gun. 8.2g Meisterkugelns shoot best and the gun is capable of one-hole accuracy out to 10 meters. After over a 1000 rounds though I still get the same erratic readings over the chrono that you’ve gotten on your test unit. I can understand a few fps difference, but several hundred? Any idea why? I routinely see 300 or more fps jumps between shots like last 4 rounds in your third string.

    • DD,

      Too much oil is the problem with the rifle I’m testing. And if the Chinese used a thin grease on the mainspring like Weihrauch used to do, it will break down and keep migrating forward. So the problem will continue until the powerplant is cleaned and lubricated properly.

      B.B.

  6. The piston seal is cut and it is allowing lube into the chamber. It may settle down after 500 to 1000 shots, I have worked on hundreds of this model under another label and found almost all of them have grooves and chunks cut out of the seal during assembly. They are capable of accuracy as good as the Diana 34 but need to be worked on to be their best. As it is detonating the barrel will need to be cleaned again after around 200 shots to get the fouling out. If this is not done it will throw pellets all over the place, if you look down the bore now you will see fouling building up already.

    • Mike – are the damaged piston seals due to poor deburring of the spring tube? Or just careless assembly?

      Also… I’ve found that (historically) the RWS34 series suffers from improper breech seal shimming, and every one I’ve looked at improved when this was corrected. I noted the same thing with the first Airhawk I had (although to a lesser extent than most Diana’s). Have you noted the same thing?

      • yes the tubes need to be cleaned up and they just shove the piston in when assembling, told the folks at the factory more than once…breech seals can leak, need different material or better machining…a shim or a new o-ring usually does the trick…

    • mikeiniowa,
      The black tar I found in the bore of my QB-36 told me this might be an issue with it. Being a fixed barrel I know it’s gotta come apart to be thoroughly cleaned anyway.I assume it came with enough power to cause detonations after perusing other reviews and after seeing inside BG_Farmer’s I really wanted to get in it. Today is day 2 of building a spring compressor,I don’t get stuff done nearly as fast as I used to(never was my strong point but now,not a chance).It slowed down drastically after finally putting out some decent groups.Thanks for sharing your findings here today!

      Reb

  7. Glad I’m not the only one to note inconsistent performance. BB – you say the trigger is different. The ones I examined had a copy of the T05. What does this one look like?

                  • I have not had any problems with the plastic blade in the Diana rifle, however one person did post on the Dianawerks collective that the blade broke…must have really jserked on it to get it to break or it was super cold out that day…

                    • Funny how that one story – which, frankly, I doubt – seems to have spawned such a reputation.

                  • B.B. and Vince,

                    As I commented yesterday, I just bought the Remington Express XP

                    It clearly is the above rifle but with checkering (quite nice) and definitely NOT a T05 or T06 trigger (the guard looks like the 2-holed T06 guard, though). It looks like a Rekord-based unit except with a curved black steel trigger between two recessed adjustment screws. Also, mine has a very quick shot cycle with no vibration at all. Except for everything below, it feels like a tuned breakbarrel, smoother by far than my Walther LGV Challenger, which twangs like a banjo.

                    The trigger is giving me fits. I want a light, relatively long first stage followed by a medium-light, CRISP second stage. I lightened the second stage weight adjustment a half turn (in 1/8 increments), and it has become a bit lighter, but it is a creepy second stage — I can clearly feel it travel a bit if I slowly squeeze it.

                    BUT, get this, the first-stage travel screw in front of the trigger is FROZEN tight, will not budge in either direction. It is indeed what serves first stage travel adjustment a la a Rekord as when I apply the screwdriver to it, it presses the entire trigger down slightly into the housing.

                    The first stage, which of course I am unable to adjust, is VERY short and as sloppy as a drunk lying in a gutter.

                    I reread Vince’s report on the Rekord and its BAM copy. So I made sure the rear trigger guard screw was tight, and loosened the front trigger guard screw a half turn (also in 1/8 increments). Did nothing.

                    I also noticed, now that I had the rifle up on my workbench with bright light on it, that the stock inletting along the barrel has both a slightly bubbled wood finish and some small screwdriver gouges in it, almost as though someone at the factory (not a Refurb/Reman rifle) tried to tighten the fork without taking the action fully out of the stock.

                    Also, this is officially the loudest air rifle I own, despite it’s being a springer that is no longer dieseling, is shooting subsonic, and has a moderator on it. It is, my wife verified, louder than a multipump and louder than the Gamo SOCOM Extreme I was basically given a few years ago.

                    So, how can one “persuade” a frozen trigger adjustment screw to budge?

                    Michael

                    • If you can get it out where nothing else will get hurt, Apply heat to the female threaded part.Beware plastic & rubber parts as well as any oil that may melt or catch on fire, also do not heat “pot metal or”die-cast” only steel.
                      I have a little pencil torch that’s good for about 3 minutes.
                      Reb

                    • You might have to pull the gun at least partially apart to see what the parts are doing and how. The standard Rekord trigger assembly (and the copy on the old B20 and B26) could be cocked and “fired” when completely removed from the rifle. Made it easy to play with…

  8. BB,
    When you say “someone is in the Chinese plant assuring quality”, it reminded me of my days as a Supplier Quality Engineer, working for an American company and supervising Asian suppliers. Lots of work to do, and the general feeling was that, if you turned your back, they would change something and not tell you.
    But if you kept your eyes open, and made clear what you expected, they would make your products exactly like you specified. This seems to be the case with this airgun.

  9. BB,
    I’m with Mike — bad piston seal letting in oil. The blackhawk (same powerplant) I had lasted a little bit (100 or so shots) before it started spitting stuff out and had a harsher firing cycle. I realize that I am not a professional airgunner with a chronograph, but I could tell something wasn’t right :). Looking at your low (non-detonating) numbers and high (detonating) numbers, that seems consistent with the problem. Accuracy goes into the weeds at that point, I think.

    Otherwise, I already knew mine had runout by the point the seal blew, and it had to be returned, so I didn’t tear into it and went what I thought was the safe route and traded up for a 34P (w/T06), but I’ve not been happy with the choice, as the BlackHawk handled much better and shot every bit as well (runout did not affect groups) if not better until the piston seal failed. I pay extra-meticulous attention to the Diana’s cosmetics, because when I have the time to deal with it, I intend to sell it and buy another BlackHawk and work through any issues. I thought the 34P would grow on me, but I hardly ever shoot it (as I prefer the 36-2 to the 34, but I liked the Blackhawk better).

    The xhawk trigger is allegedly a TO5 clone with a metal blade. At one point Diana 34 TO5 users were buying them to replace the plastic bladed TO5. The real TO6 is an improvement, but it isn’t big enough to make a difference between the two overall for me. The barrel is maybe 1mm thinner than the D34, the piston stroke is slightly shorter (but parts interchange more or less with D34’s, supposedly). The articulated cocking link is a HUGE improvement over the D34. I’ve also read the hawks have a sleeved mainspring. My blackhawk was really smooth before it blew a seal.

    The only place the D34 is functionally better by design in my limited experience is the hood on the front sight. I think the wood stock on the Airhawk is clunkier looking than the one on the D34, though. The blackhawk has a slimmer synthetic stock than the current 34P and is a joy in use.

    Anyway, check for bore runout, too! Up/down is not a huge issue, but left/right is pretty much unfixable unless you always shoot at fixed ranges.

    • BG_Farmer,

      Long time, no hear! Welcome back.

      As for the T06 trigger being better than the T05 — I don’t see any difference, other than the metal blade that I could do without. Remember — I tested one for you guys several years ago.

      The T06 is good, but so is the T05.

      B.B.

      • BB,
        I’ve been reading as always but not having much to add on a lot of stuff that is out of my realm of experience (e.g. PCP’s), but I’ve been looking forward to this one since you said you’d do it!

        The Blackhawk despite two very bad issues left me with a very good impression. I think Diana could improve its product by looking at the clone in many respects…

        We agree, I think, on the TO5 vs. TO6. I do think the TO6 is very slightly more precise in feeling (at least comparing the clone TO5 to the real TO6), but I didn’t think the TO5 clone was any impediment whatsoever to shooting well, and I didn’t try to adjust it, so it could possibly have been just as good as the new Diana trigger is/was out of the box. The metal blade is nice — I guess the way I look at it is if someone asked me whether I wanted my rifle with a metal trigger blade or a plastic one, I’d go for the metal, but a plastic blade isn’t necessarily a bad thing. One would hope the trigger pull is light enough that at least it won’t break even a plastic blade :).

        • The best shooting, heck, the best EVERYTHING breakbarrel springer I’ve ever shot is my San Anselmo-era FWB 124, and it has it’s original plastic trigger. If it lets off at a crisp pound or so. At that pull-weight, a balsa-wood trigger would suffice.

          I feel whether a trigger is good or not has to do with its mechanics and ergonomics, not the material the blade is made of.

          Michael

    • BG,
      I’ve read the blog on your rebuild many times and will be using it as a reference as I work my way through my QB-36, I feel the gun is worth salvaging and wish I coulda just left it alone until I got the parts to fix it with but I don’t think I really cost myself any more money just more work.I’ll be stripping the finish off while I’ve got it torn down, It looks like pretty nice wood under the laminant finish,everywhere it’s been gouged and torn off it shows a nice red grain.Having to pull the trigger and cocking linkage has me reluctant to dive in it. I’ve done it before on lesser guns but that was 20 years ago and nowhere near this extent.
      Time to get back on it
      Reb

      • Reb,

        You will find the 36 trigger assembly to be a fiendishly elegant nightmare of parts minimization, and if you get the trigger return spring back correctly the first time in under 1 hr., you will be a hero :)! That said, it really isn’t bad as long as you keep track of all the pieces and take your time.

        Give me a shout if I can help you. The beauty of the real old school Chinese rifles is that almost anything you do is going to be an improvement, and they will show you some gratitude and results. Just make sure as much as possible to be sure the barrel is decent and functionality is safe, then you can fix most anything else.

        • BG_Farmer,
          Thanks for your support, I’m sure you’ll hear from me as I’ll be checking in from time to time to try to keep myself outta trouble. I intend to take my time.The only thing is I’m doing the initial work with the compressor outside and will be hauling parts inside as I pull them off, they’ll be placed on my coffee table on a towel for the massaging part.

          Reb

    • My blackhawk, elite, did not have a sleeve but all the action parts were very fitting, good tight tolerances., no jangling. My piston had one little nip in the face but the outer edge was clean all around. My friend won’t sell it back to me, which Im glad cause I want the wood stock and the work was cake. Glad to see another Hawk lover.

  10. FYI all, my 6 yr old AirHawk 17cal, after 1200 rds through it now shows:

    1) New scope: replaced by factory after the first one QUICKLY failed
    2) Trigger runs a smooth 2.1 lb pull
    3) Velocities of (all six shots or more, pellets not weight-sorted):
    a) CrSSP 3.5gn 890fps @ 2.1%RSD
    b) Raptor 5.2gn 1086fps @ 0.6%
    c) H&N ‘Cuda 10.2gn 770fps @ 1.0%
    d) THawk 7.8gn 864 fps @ 2.2%RSD
    e) Benj Disco 10.5gn 740fps @ 0.8%
    f) Bmn Kodiak XHvy 10.5 745fps @ 0.4%
    g) Hobbys 876fps @ 0.1%

    As for accuracy, the best I’m getting is 0.70–0.55″ 5-groups at 75’, using various THawks, BenjHvy, CrowMags, and “Cudas. —Barrika

      • B.B.,

        Well, it’s a bad deal that your rifle isn’t working out for you. I’d say that I lucked out getting a ‘perfect’ one except that they’ve been so highly rated by other purchasers. I bought mine new for $75 at a box store and that might color my view a bit–I mean value is value.

        I’ve shot at least 2000 pellets…and maybe as many as 3000 pellets through mine, and it still shoots harder than any other airgun that I have (Judged the old-fashioned way by shooting into a board). I had two shots that sounded like detonations…and after that the gun calmed considerably. I cleaned the barrel, but it wasn’t particularly dirty. The trigger is very crisp, and it shoots one-hole at ten yards and nickel-sized groups at 20 yards. Best pellets for me have been Gamo Tomahawks (pointed hollow points)–this was totally unexpected as they are such a cheap pellet and of lighter weight. Second best (and better at longer distances) have been the Crosman 10.5 grain domes (Ultramagnums…though they are difficult to press into the breech and need to be deep-seated). A lot of folks recommend the JSB Heavies you are trying. I haven’t tried those, so I’m anxious to see how they do.

        The Biggest problem I’ve had is loosening screws, but I fixed that with Blue Loctite. I don’t know anything about the piston seal, but I THINK you might have a problem with a too-thin Breech Seal. I didn’t have the issue, but a great many people have reported changing it and getting much more power. Maybe try a new seal, and see if that doesn’t help. Another thing, when you shoot for accuracy, I will say that my Air Hawk has a narrow breech and after clipping pellets I began been deep seating all of the larger ones with better results.

        If you do have problems with the piston seal/etc, I’d love for you to do a tear down of this rifle. I know you don’t want to, but about a billion people have a variant of this rifle and it seems to be an ‘average’ springer…so very helpful for all if you do.

        Thanks,
        Rob

        ps. I like the new format

  11. I have one of these which I’ve had a long time. One of my successful squirrel hunting guns. Only problem I’ve had with it is that the front fiver optic fell out and I had to find a replacement.

  12. Just got tagged while digging for hardware, feels like three on my right hand and wrist,I didn’t take the time to see yet what they were yet. I’ll be coming back with wasp & hornet spray to get even after they settle down.

  13. If there is so much oil in the gun that it detonates when you fire it would the very next thing you do is run a few patches down the barrel if not tear the whole gun down to remove the oil? And why are they using petroleum based oil in the gun assembly when dieseling is known to be hard on airguns?!?

  14. Well, the QB-36 is about as apart as I’m comfortable with,the only injury sustained was 3 yellowjacket stings while searching for hardware. Looks like good news on the seal, mine’s leather and at first glance appears to be OK! The spring is another story,it’s in 2 pieces, the coils intertwined for about an inch on the spring guide. Maybe I couldn’t tell the difference because I’ve been cocking it with my weak arm I’ll definitely need a new spring.
    Would compressor oil be safe to soak this seal in?
    Reb

  15. Nevermind, here it is 30 weight Non-detergenthttps://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB0QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.homedepot.com%2Fp%2FHusky-16-oz-Air-Compressor-Oil-HDA10700AV%2F100096995&ei=mRvPU_fjCeXr8QGF7IH4DQ&usg=AFQjCNGBY67GKpRy9NZ6Vag93PxsMMAiZQ&sig2=EfSD2XZlSWrPgllf16xt4A&bvm=bv.71667212,d.b2U

  16. Vince,
    Back to this gas spring fitting. Now that I have the gun apart I have a little more understanding of what needs to be done;Fabricate new breech plug(eliminate spring guide), assure proper tolerances? I don’t want too much power, just smooth and reliable. Is there one that’s a direct fit? I’ll have to save for a .17 cleaning rod & if no gas spring,QF-2 kit.

    Reb

    • You’d also need some sort of “top hat” to keep the forward end of the gas spring centered in the piston.

      The piston stroke on this gun is only about 66mm, and the total compressed length of the OEM spring is about 5.1″. The actual tension on the spring starts out at about 95 lbs, and winds up (when fully cocked) in the vicinity of 175lbs.

      Mcmaster has a gas spring (part #9416K24) that looks like it might work out. Force is listed as 130lbs, so I’d expect power to be down a bit. Ends are threaded, I’m guessing it would be expedient to use the threads on the rod end, but cut them off on the cylinder end.

      I don’t know if these generic industrial gas springs are good for spring gun use – they might be self-dampening to some extent, which means they might not expand quickly enough when released.

      Perhaps we’ll find out. I just ordered 2 of them, along with some nylon stock so I can make a new rear spring retainer…

  17. BB
    Your knowledge is amazing. I am considering buying a Ruger Air Hawk and as soon as I considered it I went to see if you had done a review on it. I truly do value your opinion on air guns because it isn’t just an opinion,it’s based
    on facts that you back up. Even a somewhat newcomer to air gunning like me can follow along and understand. I just wanted to let you know you are a huge help to me.
    I also have a side question for you. At 55 and eyes that sometimes seem older,I have a couple air pistols that have black front sights and was wondering if you could instruct me on how to paint them white,maybe just a white dot. Thanks for any help you can give this old guy.
    Have a blessed day.

    • White dots or other may not be of any help… You just get a big blurry greyish object.

      For a decade or so I’ve had my “daily wear” glasses configured with right-eye distance, left-eye computer.

      This year I had that swapped — the computer distance (arms length) also supports seeing the sights of my carry pistol. I’m also have prescription lenses made for my last two shooting glasses inserts in distance/distance (for scoped guns) and distance/computer (for iron sights). I need to have a gunsmith drill and tap the Winchester 64 my father turned over to fit a tang peep sight (since that takes out the need to align a rear sight, and in bright light the target aperture disk provides enough depth of field to see the front bead).

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