Spring gun tuning: Part 1
Spring gun tuning: Part 2 – Building a mainspring compressor
Spring gun tuning: Part 3 – Mainspring compressor continued
Spring gun tuning: Part 4 – Let’s disassemble a gun!
Spring gun tuning: Part 5 – Powerplant disassembly
Spring gun tuning: Part 6 – Disassembly completed
Spring gun tuning: Part 7 – Disassembly of other spring guns
Spring gun tuning: Part 8 – Disassembly of other spring guns, continued
Spring gun tuning: Part 9 – Cleaning and deburring
Spring gun tuning: Part 10 – Lubrication and reassembly
Spring gun tuning: Part 11 – Lubrication and reassembly continued
by B.B. Pelletier
Clean and lube the trigger
Okay, just a few more steps to complete this project. The Rekord trigger will be installed next, but let’s first take a look at how it’s lubricated. I have seen extremes of both over- and under-lubricating from the factory. Look at all the parts through the access holes and remove all the grease you can see. There’s only one point in a Rekord that can be lubricated for better performance, and it applies to all Rekords, whether they are the match type or the standard sporting trigger that you see here.
Rekord trigger uncocked.
Rekord trigger cocked. The rear of the piston release has been pressed down until the sear caught.
Where these two pieces come together is the only spot where lubrication will do any good.
Once the trigger is cleaned and lubed it’s ready to install. First, install the safety button and spring. Hold in the safety as you install the trigger. It takes a little fiddling – no force – to slide the trigger housing into the large slot in the end cap until the pin holes align. I put the front pin (the longer one) in first, and I inserted the pins on the right side of the end cap. On most guns, I can push at least one of the pins nearly all the way through with my fingers. You can release the safety when both pins are through.
The pins slide in, and the trigger is fired.
I am very pleased with the results of my tuneup. The rifle now fires without a hint of vibration, plus it’s easy to cock. I’ll have to do a range test and share the results with you.
B.B.,
Great info and excellent helpful pictures.
On the subject of triggers, is there a reasonable way to adjust the trigger on an older Career 707 (before RWS imported them) to be lighter and/or crisper? I find that even on a hunting rifle the trigger is a bit heavy.
Ehrich
Ehrich,
There IS a way, because Alan Zasadny did mine and got it pretty nice. I don’t know hoiw to do it but I think the A Team specializes in 707s.
845-896-9792
and 914-277-4309
B.B.
Thank you!
Ehrich
Dear BB
I’ve come into possession of what appears to be a new “SureShot” Break barrel air rifle. Being a person of very limited experience I cant seem to get the barrel to break open peroid. I cant seem to find a lever or other release for the barrel.
oh and I’ve had no experience with break barrel guns in the past so I dont know what Im doing to begin with.
SureShot,
I’ve looked up SureShot in the Blue Book and come up empty-handed. So that must be the model, not the brand.
Is there anything else written on the gun?
Also, you call it a breakbarrel, yet it doesn’t break open for you. Are you sure it’s a breakbarrel?
Any descriptive information you can provide will help me track this gun down. There is something tickling the back of my mond about the SureShot name, but I can’t bring it into focus.
B.B.
Ok I got the barrel open, she fires amazingly hard for her age (according to the sticker on the box it was bought in 1978) this gun has cosmoline or some other thick goo all in the barrel which explains why I couldnt get it open in the first place. but a quick tap with a hammer got the barrel down, after 5 or 6 shots its moving like it should be
I double checked and yes “Sureshot” is the name of the company that produces this gun. the only other information on the box besides “High Quallity Steel Airgun” is a small arrow pointing up inside of a triangle (Tula?!). The gun sorta looks like an SKS sans bayonet.
The receiver is thick tube steel like you would see on a sten and the wood stock has a very simillar finish to yugo SKS rifles. It also has a blood line (see SKS foregrip and AKM stocks) running along the foregrip. the sights are like a target rifle, front is hooded back looks like the rear sight from an AKM varient but slightly smaller. and it shoots and kicks rather hard for a airgun
Thats all I know about this gun
That was a big help. The Soviets were frantically trying to make money in the ’70s and ’80s, and one of the things they exported to this country were airguns. They tend to be .177 breakbarrels with wood stocks and they originally came with spare mainsprings, cleaning rods and instruction manuals.
What you describe sounds like a Soviet airgun. I looked under Baikal in Blue Book, because they made most of the guns imported here, but there is no Sureshot listed.
The modern descendants of your gun are the IZH guns seen on the Pyramyd website.
Since you haven’t mentioned any Chinese characters, I’m ruling out Chinese manufacture, but they did make a lot of very similar guns. Their original B3 is very SKS-like.
Okay, let’s get three drops of silicone oil down the transfer port as soon as possible. If the cosmoline they shipped it in has dried out, then the chamber oil has, too. It may have leather seals, in which case regular machine oil is okay, and use 10 drops. But you said it shot hard, and I don’t expect that from a dried-out leather seal.
The kick is probably a result of air blowby causing a partial dry-fire. Maybe the hard kick fooled you into thinking the gun also shot hard. It should be in the 500 to 600 f.p.d. region, once it has been oiled.
What else do you want to know?
You should be surprised by the accuracy. The Soviets really knew how to rifle a barrel.
B.B.
I got all the gunk out of the barrel by running a q-tip through it coated in Hoppes 9 bore cleaner then followed up with a dry q tip and then one soaked in silicone oil. I was very careful not to get the bore cleaner on the seals. (which appear to be made of leather) I will be buying a can of machine oil shortly to properly oil the seals. currently I just put some 100% silicone oil on them.
the rifling is the deepest I’ve ever seen on any airgun. I may have been fooled into thinking it shoots hard because of the recoil and loud report but I’m easily hitting a tree branch 2 1/2 acres away using a tasco scope. so I’m going on how my other guns shoot (1077, american classic, gamo combat, nightstalker, Droidz)
all of which are very accurate at shorter ranges (100 feet or less) but cannot reach out as far as this gun can. ( or produce a hole as deep as this gun can at those ranges, compare 1/2 inch penetration to a small ding)
I’ve also noticed that after each shot quite a bit of smoke is coming out, this has slightly been reduced after I cleaned it out but its still there.
I’ve got it pulled apart right now down to the receiver tube. with the stock off theres a number of cryllic letters on the tube and pump arm that pushes the sear back.
P.S thanks for the information BB
Sounds like you might have a good find on your hands, how much did you pick it up for? And I agree with the Russian track record on barrels, my IZH is honed from the factory for $90. Suddenly I want whatever you have too…
Mr Watch
Great help and articles. Do you know if there is a tool to remove the small buttons on the HW85 Sleeve type end cap? There are four in total and they have to be removed before the barrel can be rotated. They are pressure fitted but are in very tight and probably with some locktite as well. Thanks..
Hello,
I did a search on the Viper Express and noted that you said you should maybe do a review on it.
Any plans to do a write up?
Viper Express,
Yes, I will get on this now.
B.B.
HW85,
Please be careful! This rifle is dangerous unless it’s in a compressor.
This rifle is the same as a Beeman R9. The spring tube is too thin to have a threaded end cap, so they made it a slip-fit. Those four tabs hold the the cap in the tube. If you look closely at the end of the cap, you will see what I’m talking about.
Your headstock needs a pusher block that can take some tension off the mainspring. You won’t see any movement but the tabs will come out easier. This is a spring gun that can kill a person, if those tabs are punched out with no restraint.
What you need is an Allen wrench with a very short leg. The first time you punch the square tabs out, they stick a bit, but after that they go pretty easy. The secret is choosing an Allen with just the right length on the short end. Then you can rock it inside the trigger housing slot. They aren’t really pressed in, but the newness of the gun, plus tension from the mainspring makes them feel that way.
Be sure to have the end cap safely restrained with some inwards pressure to take the mainspring tension off. The cap is a sliding insert in the mainspring tube – not a threaded cap.
B.B.
Russian gun,
I’m glad you took the steps you mentioned.
Soak the piston seal in oil for a day or two. The smoke you see is normal and okay. All powerful spring guns diesel, which produces the smoke. What you DON’T want is a detonation, which sounds like a rimfire shot. You may get one of two of those after soaking the seal, but it should go away quickly.
Leather seals need more frequent oiling. If you shoot a lot, try five drops every 3 months. If you shoot infrequently, 10 drops every six months. Adjust these numbers as you learn the gun more.
If you have the gun apart, you might try some petroleum grease on the mainspring. With that, you may never need to oil the piston seal again. Do oil the breech seal twice a year, however.
B.B.
I picked the russian gun up for 30 dollars at a antique store with the plastic wrapping still over it, orignal 20 meter targets are with it as is the booklet which only refers to the gun as a “High quallity Airgun”.
I’ve got it down to a point (Think of lifting the receiver/barrel out of the stock) I can see the mainspring and everything else inside the steel receiver tube but I don’t want to go any further. But as described in your maitence article theres thick black greese all over the mainspring from what I can see. So for now I plan just to stash it away and keep the seals oiled.
Thanks again for the helpful information
Hi B.B.,
I haven’t fired my Diana 48/52 in a long time, and I can see the compression spring looks dry as a bone. I’d like to make sure everything is properly lubricated before I resume shoot it. I also need to correct a problem I created, but it’s a long story so I won’t go into that.
I’m wondering if you’d take a moment or two and describe your experiences, with reassembling sliding chamber and anti-beartrap mechanisms after they’ve been lubed. In other words, do you have any non-obvious “Look out!”, tips, tricks, additional lubrication points, or whatever, for after-tuning reassembly of underlever and side lever cocking airguns?
Thanks,
GH
GH,
One tip for RWS Diana rifles is to watch which pin you insert first in the action. As memory serves, it’s the front pin first. I have a 50 percent chance of being right about thet, I’m on the road and can’t consult my notes.
Other than that, the rest of the assembly is straightforward.
B.B.
Thanks for the tip, B.B.
I’ll pay close attention to that during disassembly. Maybe that will give me a clue that improves the odds. {grin}
Dianawerk used real long pins in the trigger assembly. Is that typical of the Diana model air rifles you’ve seen?
Cheers,
GH
P.S.- I hope you’re having a good safe road trip.
GH,
I was at the Roanoke Airgun Expo, so the trip was great!
Watch those long pins in the trigger. On some guns they will fall out when the trigger unit it tipped to the side.
B.B.
Oh man! I’m jealous ’cause I’d love to go to an Expo… never been to one.
I was searching for that kind of info. no more than two weeks ago, but didn’t find a thing about upcoming events. Just found info. about past events. Makes it hard planning to go to one.
Thanks for the cautionary note, B.B. Those trigger assembly pins do have a fairly loose fit. I’ve got some small rubber bands I can loop around them, to hold them in place.
Cheers,
GH
GH,
I will publish a calendar of 2007 events.
B.B.
B.B.,
That would be great! Thanks.
Cheers,
GH