Category Archives: maintenance

maintenance category

Blemished airguns — what’s the deal?

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

This report covers:

  • Refurbs, too
  • Different standards
  • What buyers notice
  • The 4 Cs
  • No flawless diamonds
  • The average guy
  • What does blemished mean?
  • What if the blem was missed?
  • What about bad parts?
  • Refurbished airguns
  • It’s gonna get scratched anyhow
  • Summary
  • Why this blog today?

I’m writing this report in response to reader GunFun1 who asked about it after I made a comment a few days ago when I installed a blemished barrel in an airgun to save money. He wanted to know whether blemished guns are a good deal or not.

Refurbs, too

I’m also going to include refurbished guns in this report, because I think they fall into the same category. Many people look at them online and wonder whether the cost savings are worth it, or are they just buying trouble? I hope I can answer that question.

Different standards

I have to begin the report with a qualifier. Every company has its own standards, I will try to address them in the report, but if you do business with a company whose standards are not what I am describing, your experience may be different. However, what I’m about to present is sort of an industry standard for blemished products. read more

Compressor talk

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

This report covers:

  • PCPs are becoming mainstream
  • The price has dropped
  • Disco
  • Economic hostage
  • DON’T BUY A CHEAP AIR COMPRESSOR!!!!!!
  • Inexpensive compressors you can trust
  • AirForce E-Pump
  • Value compressors
  • Stand-alone operation
  • Commercial compressors
  • Even higher?
  • Consider your probable use
  • Some simple thoughts about air compressors
  • Summary

Air compressors are a product that many of us want and some even need, but they aren’t airguns, so many people dislike having to buy one. Let’s face it — for many of us a high-pressure air compressor isn’t a necessity. But it is a huge convenience.

PCPs are becoming mainstream

Ten years ago, precharged pneumatic airguns (PCP) were considered special, and by many they were called the Dark Side. Too much was uncertain about them, there were too many fears and not enough reliable information.

Most shooters knew that a PCP wasn’t as sensitive to the hold as a spring gun was and they had the potential to be far more accurate than most springers, but they seemed too complex. What fill pressure is right? Did you want a gun with a regulator? How many shots do you get on a fill? What is meant by the power curve? Could a high pressure air tank hurt you if it’s stored in your house? read more

Tuning BB’s Diana 27: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • Teardown
  • 25 years?
  • Krytox!
  • Petroleum archaeology!
  • Grease to oil
  • Spring is fully scragged
  • Grease formed plugs and solidified
  • Start cleaning
  • Removing the barrel
  • Surprise!
  • Piston out
  • And rust!
  • Diana peened the blind pin in the piston head!
  • Cleaning done, time for the Krytox
  • Lubed the mainspring
  • Assembly
  • The rest of the parts go in
  • Finishing assembly
  • The verdict
  • Did I do it wrong?
  • What should I do now?
  • Don’tcha wanna know how it works?
  • RWS Superpoint
  • Air Arms Falcon
  • Summary

Today is the day we learn whether Krytox is the miracle lubricant that both fixes and quiets spring-piston airguns. I have been hounded by people for more than a decade to try this stuff, and I had dug my heels in real deep, but then it dawned on me that Gene from Pyramyd Air had been after me for an equally long time to try Almagard 3752 — the grease that turned out to be Tune in a Tube. We all know how that went!

I promised to become the number one Krytox cheerleader if the stuff really works as advertised — by some airgunners, not by Krytox, themselves. But, I will also be only too happy to poke a hole in the Krytox balloon if it turns out we have been hoodwinked. read more

Tuning BB’s Diana 27: Part1

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • Bias
  • The deal
  • Krytox
  • Diana peep sight
  • Cheap peep
  • Same idea — more elegant
  • The best
  • Ebay
  • BIG teaching point
  • On with the Diana peep
  • So, what?
  • My 27
  • RWS Superpoints
  • Air Arms Falcons
  • Discussion
  • Summary
  • Sad news

Today’s report isn’t quite what the title says. I am going to tune my Hy Score 807/Diana 27 for you, because, after the success I had with Michael’s rifle, I felt it was time to strike while the iron is hot. But reader comments entered the picture as I was extolling the virtues of Tune in a Tube. One reader said he had his best luck with a lubrication product called Krytox, and then several more readers piled on, saying similar things. So, the subtitle of this report could be “The Great Krytox Experiment, or Krytox versus Tune in a Tube.” Because that’s what I plan to do — tune my Diana 27/Hy Score 807 with Krytox to compare it to a Tune in a Tube tune. read more

Tuning Michael’s Winchester 427: Part 9

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Diana 27
Michael’s Winchester 427 is a Diana model 27 by another name. The rifle pictured is my Hy Score 807/Diana 27.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • Historical baseline data
  • Preparing the rifle
  • Michael’s 427 shooting RWS Superpoints
  • Air Arms Falcons
  • RWS Hobby
  • Discussion
  • Cocking effort
  • Trigger
  • Michael’s barrel is choked
  • What have I learned?
  • A hidden gem
  • Summary

Today we look at the velocity of Michael’s Winchester 427/Diana 27. This will be the end of this report.

I used to think that Tune in a Tube (TIAT) grease increases velocity but now I know from testing that it decreases velocity. Yes, it is a type of grease, but it is so tacky that it slows things down just a little. In rifles of medium power (.22-caliber rifles shooting 750-900 f.p.s.) it can drop the velocity by as much as 40 f.p.s. I haven’t really tested it in a Diana 27 before, so this test will be an eye-opener. read more

Tuning Michael’s Winchester 427: Part 8

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Diana 27
Michael’s Winchester 427 is a Diana model 27 by another name. The rifle pictured is my Hy Score 807/Diana 27.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • Recap
  • Tune in a Tube
  • But the rear sight…
  • The rifle is fixed!
  • Breech seal shim
  • Pivot bolt locking screw
  • Accuracy
  • Air Arms Falcons
  • RWS Hobby
  • Then I read…
  • Michael’s rifle is accurate
  • The big surprise!
  • Next

Today was a long time coming — much longer than I anticipated. But I learned a lot about problems with the Diana 27 that I have never encountered before, and I now believe I can tune one with ease.

Recap

Just so you remember, I am tuning reader Michael’s Winchester 427 that is a Diana 27 by another name. It looked good on the outside, apart from missing things like the rubber button on the butt and a locking screw for the pivot bolt. The rear sight was a kluge of backwoods “repairs”, but that didn’t impress me until the very end of the job. In fact, I will tell you now that I should have started there first. It was the main source of the rifle’s issues. read more

Air Venturi Seneca Aspen .25-caliber precharged pneumatic air rifle: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

Seneca Aspen PCP
The Air Venturi Seneca Aspen precharged pneumatic air rifle.

This report covers:

  • Important links
  • Filling
  • Benjamin domes
  • Test 1
  • Discussion 1
  • Power
  • Back to 3600 psi
  • Test 2
  • Discussion 2
  • Power on low
  • Pumping effort
  • Trigger pull
  • Summary

Today we look at the performance of the new Air Venturi Seneca Aspen PCP. Before I get to that, though, I will remind you that in Part 1 of this report (the one on this .25-caliber Aspen) I showed the links to the first 5 reports on the .22-caliber Aspen. I’m not showing those links today because they will become too confusing. If you want to see them, click on the link to Part 1 of this report and they are all at the top of the report that comes up .

Important links

Those links are important to me because I am testing this .25-caliber rifle in the same way that I tested the .22. That test was ideal to discover the performance parameters of that rifle and it will do the same for this one. I expect to see differences today, but this test will tell us how the .25 performs, relative to the fill pressure. With that understood, I am ready to begin. read more