Today reader RidgeRunner, tells us more about the Falke model 50 breakbarrel he got at the North Carolina airgun show. Ridge wanted the title to read “Blame it on Siraniko,” but since we have thousands of readers in foreign countries who are translating this blog before they read it I titled it “Part Two of the Falke model 50 series.” That way I think it makes it easier for them to follow what is happening.
If you’d like to write a guest post for this blog, please email me at blogger@pyramydair.com.
Take it away, RidgeRunner
Falke model 50: Part Two
by RidgeRunner
Falke model 50.
This report covers:
- Why is it his fault?
- Nothing I could do
- Front sights
- Rear sights
- I just cannot leave them alone
- Blame it on Siraniko
- BB adds
RidgeRunner’s title was “Blame it on Siraniko,” so it opens with an explanation of the title.
Why is it his fault?
After BB posted my little blurb about the Falke model 50 air rifle I picked up at the NC Airgun Show, Siraniko posted a comment that maybe the reason it seemed to be shooting high was that the barrel was bent from some young’un firing it when the barrel was still down.
I took a quick look at the barrel and the bore and it did not seem to be bent, but the barrel did seem to be pointing upward a tad. I looked a little closer at things and it seemed that the top of the barrel block just might be worn down a bit. This would give the barrel a slight upward tilt.
Nothing I could do
Well, there was nothing I could really do about that. That is just something I would have to learn to deal with. This did get me to looking this little thing over a bit more though.
Front sight
When I took a close look at the front sight on this, it was obvious why it was shooting off to the side. Wait a minute!
The tip of the front sight seems to have been filed down. No wonder it shoots a little high!
It looks like someone may have taken a file to the front sight tip. No wonder it is shooting high.
Rear sight
If you take a closer look at the rear sight, you get the idea that someone was trying to compensate for the filed down front sight.
Kinda droopy, huh?
I just cannot leave them alone
I cannot leave those sights alone. I should be able to straighten that rear sight out some without too much difficulty, I hope. That front sight is bothering me a bit though. I don’t know what to do with it, yet.
Blame it on Siraniko
If Siraniko had not made me take a closer look at things, I would have likely just stuck it away and learned to live with it on those occasions I did pull it out. But no, he had me take it out and take another look at it. Now, I cannot stand it! Oh well, add it to the round tuit list.
BB adds
I have looked into bent airgun barrels to some extent. Read the series Bending airgun barrels to see what I have found.
Based on what RidgeRunner says today, I think I may know his difficulty in seeing why his rifle’s barrel is bent — if it is. Airgun barrels can bend in different ways, and one of them is very difficult to detect.
The entire barrel can be bent in a slight U shape. That one is easy to see. The other way barrels can bend is sharply at the front of the barrel block where the barrel emerges. If they bend there, and if the bend is slight, the barrel looks straight when you look at it, yet when you hold the rifle to shoot the front sight seems higher than it should be. Allow me to illustrate.
The upper barrel is bent sharply at the end of the barrel block. The lower barrel is bent in a smooth curve along its length. The upper one is the most common but it is difficult to see.
The bottom barrel is what most folks look for but the top barrel is what usually happens. The barrel will appear straight along its length but the slight sharp bend at the front of the barrel block is what affects it. These drawings have been exaggerated to illustrate the point. The actual bend is very slight.
“I cannot leave those sights alone.”
Yeah, RidgeRunner, she’s a cool little rifle; she deserves a good fixin’ up. 😉
RidgeRunner,
The link below has some photographs that might be of use:
https://www.baerauctions.com/auctions/10063/lot/71695-falke-model-50-air-rifle-177-cal
shootski
shootski,
Mine looks a lot better than that, though that dude very likely got a sweet deal.
RidgeRunner,
Not quite sorry for the added work. When open sights don’t work as they should that tells me something is wrong. Maybe JB weld can be used to build up the front sight (unless you are planning to do brazing/welding to increase the height)? I do sort of wonder why the previous owner needed to do what he did. At least the breech seems tight. Unfortunately it has been recently reported on Facebook that the leather seal isn’t something easily replaced. Good thing this one seems to have been properly maintained.
Siraniko
Siraniko, if I had to guess, someone tried to zero the rifle for longer range shooting, and realized the gun doesn’t have the power for the distance. Or possibly the front sight got a chip off the top, and it was filed even. Like I said, a guess.
OhioPlinker,
Your guess would be as good as any. Although why anybody would force this rifle for long range by lobbing projectiles to the target is beyond me. Sure it could be fun for a while. Then he realized it gets boring and bends the rear sight to compensate for the low front sight. Nice to make speculations with little evidence though.
Siraniko
Siraniko,
It is all your fault!
If this thing was not so fun to play with, I would just pass it on and walk away. I have already straightened the rear sight and drifted the front sight over. As you and singleshotcajun have stated, I just may have to do a little brazing on that front sight.
Replacing the leather seal does not really scare me. From what I understand there is a little trick to taking these apart. Making another leather seal is no biggie. I have made stuff from leather before and put a new leather seal in my 1906 BSA. Like I said, no biggie.
Maybe I’m not understanding the sight issue. If the gun is shooting high you want the pellet impact lower on the target. Rear sight needs to be moved lower- closer to the barrel. Does the rear sight slide adjuster not move?
I think the picture shows the sight raised so you can see the bend in the leaf
paco,
Ade C “hit the nail on the head”. The adjuster does indeed work. One of the previous owners apparently did try to bend the rear sight downwards to raise the impact point a bit.
paco,
My bad. I should have said lower the impact point, not raise.
RR-
Got it. The next easiest thing to do is raise the front sight. In similar instances I have cut an appropriate sized sliver of steel banding like is used to secure items to pallets. Good tough spring steel and I have a couple drawers full of various sizes. After cutting the strip close to size- I leave it plenty long, I then epoxy it onto the rear face of the sight. Shoot and fit/file/cut til you raise the group impact to your line of sight.
paco,
I could most definitely see how that would work for the short term, but I will want a little neater solution that would work for this “”old gal” for generations to come.
My go to fix to modify front sights is to braze them up and file to suit. When I was younger I liked small bead or inverted V front sights but with age I needed flat top post front sights even after cataract surgery with implanted corrective lenses. You can blacken the brass with Birchwood Casey brass black.
ssc,
That is exactly what I was thinking.
Well everybody, It looks like there is likely going to be a “Part Three” to this Falke 50 saga. I have taken a closer look at this little jewel and using a rubber mallet and a large diameter drift pin, I was able to move the front sight over a bit and was able to straighten out that rear sight. Fear not, I will show some pictures.
I now believe that the front sight was not filed down, but had been buggered over the years. Singleshotcajun has stated the solution I myself was thinking.
As for the barrel bend theory put forth by BB, I suspect he is at least partially correct in that the barrel may be bent where it enters the barrel block. There is a little bit more to it than that I strongly suspect.
If you take a long, hard look at this very poor photo, you may notice that the barrel block it not in a true alignment with the compression chamber “fingers”.
What has happened apparently over the years is the top edge of the barrel block has become mashed up a little as can be better seen in this very poor photo. Take notice of the very shiny part.
Whether all of that was caused by someone pulling the trigger when they should not have or normal wear and tear over the years, I do not know. Can I fix it? That I also do not know. Can I compensate for it? Probably. Will I? More than likely. 🙂
A pic of my Falke60. This guy just barely survived. If you notice the separation you can surmise it had a rough life.
I had owned RR’s Falke 50 for little over an hour before he talked me into selling! My plan was to have the 50 and my 60 sitting proudly next to each other.
Breeze,
I notice in your picture that though the “chisel” is located in the compression chamber end as is the 50, the transfer port seal is apparently located in the barrel block.
I have not forgotten that I owe you a photo of my “Benjamin Franklin” pistols. I will very likely have it on the way in just a little bit.
Breeze,
You do realize that you are starting to make me feel bad. Not much. Just a little.
I will send this to you directly as I had promised at the show, but I thought I would share this with the gang here.
Aww, family portraits!
Nice. I would say the wood grips is the oldest.
Just a little?
Ya think?
Don’t get too frustrated trying to achieve perfection, RR – FM has found out the hard way that most of the time, good enough is good enough. Do what you can to make things better and enjoy your little gem as a fun plinker. Otherwise you’re going to run out of Round Tooits.
“Do what you can to make things better and enjoy your little gem as a fun plinker.”
Sound wisdom, FM!
I think RidgeRunner will do well by this rifle…he’s a pretty smart fella. 😉
Yeah, I am a pretty fart smeller, I mean smart feller.
Pretty?
RG,
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Are you referring to yourself or the farts? Or are they one and the same? ;o)
One in the same.
“Pretty” just doesn’t print to mind in any case. Sorry.
;o)
You just have to think about things differently.
LOL! =)~
FM,
You do have a point there. How much is enough? When I get my new garage built, I may actually have a place to use up some of those round tuits.
A fun gun to shoot is bound to be more fun when the sights are able to be adjusted to your needs and satisfaction. And, for me at least, I get a lot of satisfaction when I am able to tinker and make improvements to items that need some attention. Keep up the good work RR. Thanks for the report!
I’ll try. At least as long as the Lord let’s me, and our host.
RR,
Keep in mind that you can distort or reshape metal with some hammer blows or staking blows with a punch. You may be able to move metal around. Pinching the front sight may raise it some but it would obviously be thinner and a few blows to the top of the barrel bloc, in a slowly increasing manner and not to destroy other attachments, or the bore, may mushroom out some metal to replace what has worn out. Just something to think about. It won’t look the same, but it may help it function better.
Just a takeoff on stretching and shrinking metal in auto body work.
Bob M,
Your thoughts on metal stretching are where I was thinking on going with this little “old gal”. I will not likely “mash” the front sight any, but I am seriously considering taking a hammer to the barrel block.
Singleshotcajun had the suggestion of brazing a little brass on top of the front sight. That is what I might just have to do. What would be real nice from my own point of view, pardon the slight pun, would be to slim down the front sight a bit and add a little brass bead to the top. I am a real sucker for those old perlkorns.
RidgeRunner and B.B.,
Please forgive the OFF TOPIC. I was doing some search for more pneumatics knowledge and found this new term: UKTs (Unnecessary Knob Twisters)
It made me think of all the hand wringing by some aigunners new to PCPs; if you and readers are interested in a more in-depth understanding of the phenomenon check out this link: https://www.pneumatictips.com/rid-your-packaging-lines-of-ukts-unnecessary-knob-twisters/
Some of the methods and causes for UKTs investigated are priceless.
shootski
shootski,
Although that is an infomercial, there is a bit of knowledge in there. I have found that over the years many PCPs have become quite complicated. A prime example is the Avenger/Avenge-X line and the FX line. Even the AirForce line can be more than most “newbies” can deal with. There are just too many things that can be adjusted that really should not be.
Part of the issue is not understanding the how and why fully to begin with. I hate to admit such, but I myself have had this issue many times throughout the years messing with various airguns, not just PCPs. This is why old, fat, baldheaded geezers like myself act like we think we know everything, but very quietly and secretly continue to learn more every day.
I myself have found that I am blessed/cursed with a VERY high mechanical aptitude. Blessed in that I can very quickly grasp how something works and cursed in that I think I can do better. What keeps me going is sometimes I may even be right.
What does all this gobblty-goop mean? Not much really except for you newbies to just leave that knob alone until you see how it works at that setting. Then if you are a real masochist, give it a twist.
RidgeRunner,
“Although that is an infomercial, there is a bit of knowledge in there.”
A wise observation. As with most things on the Internet FREE information is never ever truly free; even Tom’s Blog is not without some pom pom shaking that pleases his Bill payer.
There is another Linked White Paper on the web site that has some information about Gas Springs and what they can be configured as and the why behind it. I really liked the digital diagram of a controlled Gas Spring for rate and throw.
As far as a good first PCP gun that does all (most) the work for the UKTs (Unnecessary Knob Twisters) Air Arms has a few that do it electronically; i just hope they have a FACTORY SETTINGS RESET button for when the MS (Menu Savages) mess up!
shootski
shootski,
BSA also makes some that you cannot do much with except use it as it is. Those are really the best kinds.
RidgeRunner,
Did you post the overall length and length of pull for this?
I may just lack enough imagination, but I’m having a hard time getting a handle on how small this little gem is.
Thank you.
Bill
Think kid-size.
billj,
It is small. No, I did not give an overall length or length of pull for this little gem. I may do such in “Part 3”. It sounds like there is far more interest in this “old gal” than I had anticipated. To give you a quick idea, go to “Part 1” and there is a picture of it laying beside an HW30S I have. It is tiny compared to such.
Ridge Runner,
Part 3 sounds like a good one for the UKTs (Unnecessary Knob Twisters) and MS (Menu Savages) to see that not much is actually needed to have some FUN!
shootski
shootski,
The UKTs and MSs should K.I.S.S. until they know a good bit about what is fun and what is not. I personally think I am regressing. I do not need or want a bunch of things to adjust. You end up using a lot of time, air and lead if you twist too many knobs.
RidgeRunner and Readership,
The problem today’s crop of UKTs and MSs are faced with is the Internet experts that provide lots of conflicting information; that is true for the rest of us as well but to a lesser degree.
I have a tidbit for Decksniper and others who worry about Silicone oil/grease in regulators. The Ninja Company which has been big in the paintball world for decades recommends Silicone grease when you rebuild their regulators; as always the Owners Manual/technical service guidance from your particular Regulator manufacturer should be followed.
I remember talking with Dennis Quackenbush about getting a “SIMPLE“ hammer/striker spring adjuster once he finally started supplying them as an option; it took some time to convince him that i wasn’t a UKT.
Folks just got to follow your and other informed and experienced airgunners to know the purpose you want the airgun for. I own a few Swiss Army knives as well as a few Multitools but most of the time a single purpose tool is what i reach for; usually get the job done better too!
shootski
RR,
Nice work in describing how you’re going about making this Falk 50 ready for fun shooting. The stock has a unique shape and I think I like it a bunch! The butt is nice and low so there is space for your eye to comfortably line up with open sights. The wrist is very straight, so the shooter’s wrist has to be bent almost to the end of travel, but that seems OK too. This makes me think of fast acquisition of a feral can and snapping off a pellet to set the can spinning, in one smooth move.
That’s just me daydreaming, please tell us what the rifle is like to shoot, after you have repaired and set the sights.
Regards,
Will