Modski66
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Post by Modski66 on Jul 3, 2023 12:17:41 GMT
Thanks to twodoctors for the usual in depth and well thought out response. I have to confess that, and to my shame, I have very little in the way of mechanical knowledge and ability. So whilst the strip down guides and shimming solutions are probably the way to go I will attempt cutting a deeper rear sight and sacrificing an allen key to raise the front sight. In the longer term I (hopefully longer term) as I will be 70 in 2 weeks I have decided to set myself a target to radically increase my abilities in the world of airgun maintenance, improvement and alteration. Or as my wife will say 'more faffing around'. There are plenty of well put together guides and schematics on this site that will assist me so all I need now is a suitable tool set and a few few sacrificial pistols for disassembly. Any advice on a good all round tool set up gratefully received and if anyone has any old battered pistols (CO2 or spring) lounging in the backs of cupboards and drawers that I can pull to bits, hopefully re-assemble, age and possibly even repair then I will happily buy them. I am not looking for freebies just a sensible fair price to get rid of some of your old defunct kit. At this stage probably not something that is so complex you cannot fix or strip it yourselves. To recap as an end goal I want to be able to replace a spring and various the O'rings, fix leaks, change or replace barrels and cosmetically alter and or age a gun - I will never be going as far as needing a lathe or more intense metal working tools. I am more comfortable at the moment working with wood (not expert) so will also have a bash at making up some cases. Hi Doug, I have a cosmetically challenged Gamo C15 pellet blow-back if you want it? Internally it is the same as a Sig Sauer P226, apart from the co2 loading method, so has all the 'bits' you would find on many blowback pistols. The back of the grip/cp2 cover is missing along with the 'mag-well'- I was going to fashion some replacements but haven't had the time. The slide also had a big dink on one side, so the whole thing could make for nice little 'learner' for you to tinker with, mechanically and visually. I will put some pictures up later.
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Modski66
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Helpful member, Share holder & resident Barrel Smith.
Go ahead, make my day - give me a pie!
Posts: 3,805
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Post by Modski66 on Jul 3, 2023 16:34:37 GMT
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doug
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Post by doug on Jul 3, 2023 16:53:43 GMT
Thanks - it looks a good place to start.
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Modski66
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Helpful member, Share holder & resident Barrel Smith.
Go ahead, make my day - give me a pie!
Posts: 3,805
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Post by Modski66 on Jul 3, 2023 19:36:44 GMT
How does £20 RMSD sound?
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doug
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Post by doug on Jul 3, 2023 19:46:24 GMT
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doug
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Post by doug on Jul 5, 2023 18:46:19 GMT
Thanks Mark
Pistol has arrived - it is a nice solid little pistol which I am looking forward to dissembling.
Next stage is to get some decent appropriately sized tools and any advice on a basic starter kit will as always be gratefully received along with suppliers. I have just bought a couple of magnetic parts trays as I have noticed a tendency for the really small pieces to go walkabout.
I am assuming that many of the screws and roll pins will be a fairly standard size across most of the guns so rather than buying one of the large mixed sets of say roll pins concentrating on a couple of sizes and appropriate punches would be a good starting point.
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Post by HeadHunter on Jul 5, 2023 20:23:41 GMT
Thanks Mark Pistol has arrived - it is a nice solid little pistol which I am looking forward to dissembling. Next stage is to get some decent appropriately sized tools and any advice on a basic starter kit will as always be gratefully received along with suppliers. I have just bought a couple of magnetic parts trays as I have noticed a tendency for the really small pieces to go walkabout. I am assuming that many of the screws and roll pins will be a fairly standard size across most of the guns so rather than buying one of the large mixed sets of say roll pins concentrating on a couple of sizes and appropriate punches would be a good starting point. To be honest Doug, the pin punch sets are pretty cheap on ebay for a steel set of the more common ones that you'll need, so I wouldn't bother with going for individually sized ones; www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325029915950?A solid wooden block with a hole in it, felt lined at the top (to protect your work) will be handy for driving pins out and a very small hammer, something like a 1oz ball pein hammer would be perfect for knocking the smaller pins out too, the bigger pins will need a bit more 'persuasion' but I'm sure you've got something suitable for those already. Screwdrivers are/were the bane of my life for a good while, as it's important not to chew the heads up the screws with badly fitting screwdrivers. I ended up getting some of the micro styled Philips/Posidrive headed screwdrivers, but they were expensive but nowhere near as expensive as trying to replace weird sized screws that have non standard threads & pitches. I bought a set of US Gunsmith screwdrivers by Grace, rare in the UK but they do come up every now and again. You can get cheaper sets of similar screwdrivers but I opted for reliability over 'unknown' quality. Zip lock bags are wonderful, one of my best friends ! If you're taking something apart and it's going to be sitting for a while then bag up all the small parts, all the trigger group in one bag, all the hammer action in another, etc., and the big bags are great for taking stuff apart that has hidden springs, just pop the thing in a bag and manipulate it through the bag, when the spring boings out it's trapped in the bag rather than shooting around your workshop like the 'snitch' from a Harry Potter movie, lol. Use your phone, take pictures as you go, that way you'll see exactly where everything went to begin and which way round it was and anyway, how are you going to post those pictures to the forum and keep us updated if you don't take pictures, lol. But the most important tool is YOUR brain ! Don't rush anything, be prepared to take a break and think about a suitable solution before diving in the deep end, there's a lot of thought that goes into a suitable solution to any problem well before you even pick up a tool. And if all else fails, take an 8lb lump hammer and hit it repeatedly, it won't solve the problem but boy will it make you feel good, lol !
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doug
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Post by doug on Jul 6, 2023 10:13:26 GMT
Thanks Mark Pistol has arrived - it is a nice solid little pistol which I am looking forward to dissembling. Next stage is to get some decent appropriately sized tools and any advice on a basic starter kit will as always be gratefully received along with suppliers. I have just bought a couple of magnetic parts trays as I have noticed a tendency for the really small pieces to go walkabout. I am assuming that many of the screws and roll pins will be a fairly standard size across most of the guns so rather than buying one of the large mixed sets of say roll pins concentrating on a couple of sizes and appropriate punches would be a good starting point. To be honest Doug, the pin punch sets are pretty cheap on ebay for a steel set of the more common ones that you'll need, so I wouldn't bother with going for individually sized ones; www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325029915950?A solid wooden block with a hole in it, felt lined at the top (to protect your work) will be handy for driving pins out and a very small hammer, something like a 1oz ball pein hammer would be perfect for knocking the smaller pins out too, the bigger pins will need a bit more 'persuasion' but I'm sure you've got something suitable for those already. Screwdrivers are/were the bane of my life for a good while, as it's important not to chew the heads up the screws with badly fitting screwdrivers. I ended up getting some of the micro styled Philips/Posidrive headed screwdrivers, but they were expensive but nowhere near as expensive as trying to replace weird sized screws that have non standard threads & pitches. I bought a set of US Gunsmith screwdrivers by Grace, rare in the UK but they do come up every now and again. You can get cheaper sets of similar screwdrivers but I opted for reliability over 'unknown' quality. Zip lock bags are wonderful, one of my best friends ! If you're taking something apart and it's going to be sitting for a while then bag up all the small parts, all the trigger group in one bag, all the hammer action in another, etc., and the big bags are great for taking stuff apart that has hidden springs, just pop the thing in a bag and manipulate it through the bag, when the spring boings out it's trapped in the bag rather than shooting around your workshop like the 'snitch' from a Harry Potter movie, lol. Use your phone, take pictures as you go, that way you'll see exactly where everything went to begin and which way round it was and anyway, how are you going to post those pictures to the forum and keep us updated if you don't take pictures, lol. But the most important tool is YOUR brain ! Don't rush anything, be prepared to take a break and think about a suitable solution before diving in the deep end, there's a lot of thought that goes into a suitable solution to any problem well before you even pick up a tool. And if all else fails, take an 8lb lump hammer and hit it repeatedly, it won't solve the problem but boy will it make you feel good, lol ! Thanks for the guidance - I have ordered the punch set, emptied the kitchen drawer of the zip lock bags that my wife has in for the freezer and am searching round for some good quality screwdrivers that I will keep apart from my more general tools.The wooden block is one of those brilliantly simple ideas that will be created today. I bought a replacement shroud for my Webley Hurricane and a trigger screw for the Premier from the Country Store so have discovered it as a resource for some parts and more importantly schematics. Are there any other similar sites I should be perusing to create a stock of O'rings, pins and a selection of screws. I am searching for a few slightly longer screws in black to attach the wooden SAA grips as I seem to have 1 silver and 1 black on one of my pistols.
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Post by HeadHunter on Jul 6, 2023 12:26:04 GMT
To be honest Doug, the pin punch sets are pretty cheap on ebay for a steel set of the more common ones that you'll need, so I wouldn't bother with going for individually sized ones; www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325029915950?A solid wooden block with a hole in it, felt lined at the top (to protect your work) will be handy for driving pins out and a very small hammer, something like a 1oz ball pein hammer would be perfect for knocking the smaller pins out too, the bigger pins will need a bit more 'persuasion' but I'm sure you've got something suitable for those already. Screwdrivers are/were the bane of my life for a good while, as it's important not to chew the heads up the screws with badly fitting screwdrivers. I ended up getting some of the micro styled Philips/Posidrive headed screwdrivers, but they were expensive but nowhere near as expensive as trying to replace weird sized screws that have non standard threads & pitches. I bought a set of US Gunsmith screwdrivers by Grace, rare in the UK but they do come up every now and again. You can get cheaper sets of similar screwdrivers but I opted for reliability over 'unknown' quality. Zip lock bags are wonderful, one of my best friends ! If you're taking something apart and it's going to be sitting for a while then bag up all the small parts, all the trigger group in one bag, all the hammer action in another, etc., and the big bags are great for taking stuff apart that has hidden springs, just pop the thing in a bag and manipulate it through the bag, when the spring boings out it's trapped in the bag rather than shooting around your workshop like the 'snitch' from a Harry Potter movie, lol. Use your phone, take pictures as you go, that way you'll see exactly where everything went to begin and which way round it was and anyway, how are you going to post those pictures to the forum and keep us updated if you don't take pictures, lol. But the most important tool is YOUR brain ! Don't rush anything, be prepared to take a break and think about a suitable solution before diving in the deep end, there's a lot of thought that goes into a suitable solution to any problem well before you even pick up a tool. And if all else fails, take an 8lb lump hammer and hit it repeatedly, it won't solve the problem but boy will it make you feel good, lol ! Thanks for the guidance - I have ordered the punch set, emptied the kitchen drawer of the zip lock bags that my wife has in for the freezer and am searching round for some good quality screwdrivers that I will keep apart from my more general tools.The wooden block is one of those brilliantly simple ideas that will be created today. I bought a replacement shroud for my Webley Hurricane and a trigger screw for the Premier from the Country Store so have discovered it as a resource for some parts and more importantly schematics. Are there any other similar sites I should be perusing to create a stock of O'rings, pins and a selection of screws. I am searching for a few slightly longer screws in black to attach the wooden SAA grips as I seem to have 1 silver and 1 black on one of my pistols. To be totally honest there's a good few online suppliers that specialise in fixings but I've found them to be too expensive when you're only after a few rather than a case of 1000 ! So I use ebay a lot, it suits my needs far better than any dedicated supplier would. It's surprising what you can find on ebay if you're prepared to trawl through listings (do a search, trawl through the listings & then find what you're after, works for me). To quote Mark Novak ( THE Gunsmith Guru)," If you're not making mistakes, you're not learning nuthin !", so be prepared to drop the odd clanger, but more importantly 'learn from those mistakes', realise what went wrong and how to rectify it for the future. My own opinion is that we should NEVER make the same mistake twice, once is okay (we are after all only human) but doing it twice is the definition of stupidity. I actually spend more time thinking about what I am going to do, planning it out in my head (sequence of events) than I ever do working on a job, there's always something that you cannot plan for but generally I find that things work out far better with a bit of pre-thought thrown into the equation, going in all gun-ho can often times lead to regret, more work and a negative mindset afterwards.
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doug
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Post by doug on Jul 7, 2023 15:03:22 GMT
Thanks for the guidance - I have ordered the punch set, emptied the kitchen drawer of the zip lock bags that my wife has in for the freezer and am searching round for some good quality screwdrivers that I will keep apart from my more general tools.The wooden block is one of those brilliantly simple ideas that will be created today. I bought a replacement shroud for my Webley Hurricane and a trigger screw for the Premier from the Country Store so have discovered it as a resource for some parts and more importantly schematics. Are there any other similar sites I should be perusing to create a stock of O'rings, pins and a selection of screws. I am searching for a few slightly longer screws in black to attach the wooden SAA grips as I seem to have 1 silver and 1 black on one of my pistols. To be totally honest there's a good few online suppliers that specialise in fixings but I've found them to be too expensive when you're only after a few rather than a case of 1000 ! So I use ebay a lot, it suits my needs far better than any dedicated supplier would. It's surprising what you can find on ebay if you're prepared to trawl through listings (do a search, trawl through the listings & then find what you're after, works for me). To quote Mark Novak ( THE Gunsmith Guru)," If you're not making mistakes, you're not learning nuthin !", so be prepared to drop the odd clanger, but more importantly 'learn from those mistakes', realise what went wrong and how to rectify it for the future. My own opinion is that we should NEVER make the same mistake twice, once is okay (we are after all only human) but doing it twice is the definition of stupidity. I actually spend more time thinking about what I am going to do, planning it out in my head (sequence of events) than I ever do working on a job, there's always something that you cannot plan for but generally I find that things work out far better with a bit of pre-thought thrown into the equation, going in all gun-ho can often times lead to regret, more work and a negative mindset afterwards. Thanks for all of the useful input - for me the big lesson and learning curve will be your last point - planning before leaping in which I confess to often doing.
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doug
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Post by doug on Jul 8, 2023 12:17:09 GMT
An instance of the previously mentioned benefits of planning before leaping has just occurred - the drift punches which I ordered straight away have just arrived. Good solid looking things however the only gun they are going to work on at 1/8th to 3/8th is a Howitzer.
Double check before you hit buy.
Anyone got a Howitzer they would like to offload.
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CaptDAR
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Post by CaptDAR on Jul 8, 2023 12:32:26 GMT
An instance of the previously mentioned benefits of planning before leaping has just occurred - the drift punches which I ordered straight away have just arrived. Good solid looking things however the only gun they are going to work on at 1/8th to 3/8th is a Howitzer. Double check before you hit buy. Anyone got a Howitzer they would like to offload. Sorry but I don’t have anything as small as a Howitzer.
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doug
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Post by doug on Jul 8, 2023 12:50:23 GMT
That will do nicely
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CaptDAR
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Post by CaptDAR on Jul 8, 2023 13:01:43 GMT
USS Missouri forward turret 16” guns. Visited her when I was in Pearl.
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Modski66
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Helpful member, Share holder & resident Barrel Smith.
Go ahead, make my day - give me a pie!
Posts: 3,805
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Post by Modski66 on Jul 8, 2023 13:46:58 GMT
I wasn't sure at first if you were stood next to one of your special 0.22 rounds David... 😜
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