Excitement

[Doc Sharptail]

Thanks, Todd. That link escaped me- first I've seen of it. Could be because I'm sort of a single task oriented guy :P

The page on seal replacement, I will keep.

I should have ordered the tub of silicone grease at the same time as the pump- and I remember reading that one elsewhere- and "conveniently" forgot that one. It will have to be on the "next" order. I still have some brake piston lube here, which is supposedly 100% silicone lube that I used on my Ruger springer. Wonder if it will do in a pinch.

I'm going to have another lie down/conk out for an hour or so, and then decide if I'm well enough to tackle the rifle...

Regards,

Doc Sharptail

[Doc Sharptail]

I got the D/V tube on the gun. There were some glitches along the way- the most glaring was the head on that phililp's head breech screw. I had to drill it out, and hammer in a Torx bit to get it off. that screw is gonna stay a Torx head, until I can get a factory replacement. There were the usual burr problems, especially on the striker. Thank god for the dremel. I'd be lost without it. Funny thing, I was getting moderate bite on it with a medium MB file. Must be a shallow heat hardening on that striker. The face seems o.k., with no marks.

I tried the hill pump on it, and managed to get 500 PSI into the tube. The un-sealed fittings are leaking. I'll pick up some teflon tape and try again. Pix to follow...

Regards,

Doc Sharptail

[AirGunEric]

You forgot to use a Chinese-made Philips screwdriver- i.e. something either too pointed, or too dull. No such things as "Standards" when talking about Chinese-made screws or screwdrivers...

[SeanMP]

Sadly it's hard to find any fasteners that aren't made in China now. Even my beloved Holo-Krome has been bought and a second line called Holo Krome International is being made in China.....Unbelievable!

Fortunately they are still being held to decent ASTM Standards on the branded stuff at least. It's gotten so bad I have to sign a form when I order certain fastaners that I am aware of the anti dumping law and that I am indeed using them in the prescribed way.

Re dickless!

[Doc Sharptail]

I come as close as I could with the Brownell's bits- darn near perfect fit- the head simply crumbled away in little chunks. There were no shavings from the screwdriver bit cutting.

Parts source was open late tonight. Grabbed a roll of 69 cent teflon tape. 850 PSI from zero on the gauge, but I think there was still a little in the tube~ took 31 pumps

I'm pretty happy with the pump now.

Back in a bit with some slightly blurred photo's.

It may be a while before I get to shoot. This flu wants the best of me...

Regards,

Doc Sharptail

[Doc Sharptail]

Picture 001.jpg

photo of grandson Bryan with the D/V tube on the 2078

Picture 002.jpg

Me with the same beast.

Picture 004.jpg

Slightly closer look at the rifle

Picture 003.jpg

Do not enter. Grampa's in here chasing his tail around in circles, pretending to work on air guns. Typical cat owner's shredded bed.

Picture 005.jpg

There's the spring I used for the valve. It got clipped a little on the narrow end for a proper fit. It came out of an old 600 amp Fusematic circuit breaker. Those of you familiar with transfer switches should recognize this...

Regards,

Doc Sharptail

[Doc Sharptail]

Just to see if it holds overnight. Dry fired it once, and it sounds like a single-six going off in here.

From the bit of playing around I've been doing, pressure seems to drop by 100-200 PSI by using the bleed screw.

The tube is easy to pump up to what's shown in the photo. I'm one of those 6 ft 140 lb bean-poles with a bad back to boot, but the pump is easily with-in my abilities on a smaller volume like the hpa tube.

I likely won't get a whack at shooting this until late Monday night. Can't wait!

The valve actually touches the support ring at rear. That's good to know. There's three screws there holding that valve in place. They're not head-in-shear, but thick enough for my liking...

Regards,

Doc Sharptail

[sholo]

Looks great with the HPA tube, Doc!

How many pumps to fill? I'm guessing (?) not enough for the pump tube/seals to heat up much - always a good thing!

Must be reassuring to know that even in your sick, weakened state at the moment (and yes, I realize that didn't come out right...but you know what I mean!) that you still find it easy to pump. It can and will only get better/easier!

Now you will have to make some sort of RVA to fine tune and maximize your shot count/power level. The tinkering never seems to end, huh?


Todd

[Doc Sharptail]

I think it was about 37 pumps from nothing in the gun. The spring pictured is a lot lighter than the factory valve spring. The Hill pump seems most effective with moderate full length up and down strokes. I can feel it moving a slight amount of air on the up stroke. Hurrying: eg.- short up stroke and/or forcing the pump beyond a moderate operation speed- seems to be what causes the pump to "warm". I don't really have to lean on it hard to get it to move air.

A few thoughts. I'd like to get a gauge onto this tube- the sooner ,the better. Any ideas on how, and where, it should go?

I'd like to have an RVA, or 3 here. I think this is probably something I'm going to have to buy.

England is not the best place to be packaging dessicated silica gel beads. What came out of the sealed envelope was just about full "indicator brown", instead of white. I think a cost effective remedy for me would be the king-sized jar of Super Dri-Aid, with it's 100% re-usable beads. Just zap them at low defrost in the mike until the indicator beads return to full blue.

How do you guys transport and store your pumps? That "erectile" pump hose seems to be getting in the way a lot. I don't really want to be bending it all the time. Is there a flex hose available that can handle these pressures?

Shooting time can't get here quickly enough...

Regards,

Doc Sharptail

[Doc Sharptail]

I shot it tonight, and I'm a bit further ahead then I thought I would be. More on that in a bit.

As near as I can tell, the tube is holding air well. Only way to be certain sure is to get a gauge on the tube.

The gun is very loud. I've got a bit of a headache from the session I had tonight.

I was worried about the transfer port not sealing properly- I don't know why. Crosmanitis maybe?

I got sort of a couple of strings out of it tonight. Flat strings? Heck, no. Nosedives.

I had better clear up what's been done, and not, before going any further.

The valve spring is quite a bit lighter than the original factory spring. I have no pre-load of any kind on the hammer spring. I cut flow holes on the front half of the valve. They are not that big, and extend about 1/2" up the side of the valve, and are 1/4" wide.

First "string" @ 1500 PSI with the 16 gr. Predator:

1.) 689.7
2.) 685.4
3.) 676.5
4.) 667.3
5.) 662.7
6.) 652.7
7.) 646.5

I didn't like where that was headed, so I stopped, and re-filled the tube to 1600 PSI.

1.) 746.5
2.) 739.9
3.) 735.4
4.) 731.6
5.) 720.6
6.) 715.8
7.) 706.3

40 fps over 7 shots ain't that bad- not for the purposes I'll be putting the gun up to this fall. Wouldn't mind improving on those strings though. It doesn't sound like it's hammer bouncing. Thoughts, comments, anyone?

There was much ado about finding how the gun balanced, and shouldered. There was even a shot or twelve plinking at that soda can pull-ring tab rivet...

...a quite enjoyable session. It's been a while, almost a week!

Now the tweaking begins....

Regards,

Doc Sharptail