Match Grips for a Daisy 7X7 Part 1

Still tweaking the Daisy 717 that Nick sent me. It's shooting fine and all, but you probably already know how I feel about the plastic grips. I've been using electrical splicing tape to keep them from moving around. It's invisible and it works, but they're still plasticy.

Made a stop at Terry Lumber and found a nice walnut board.

Sort of traced the original plastic grips, then made the requisite changes to make it more of a true 10-meter grip profile. Cut the grips our on the scroll saw. Tried to get the figuring in a semi-prominent location on the left grip.



I'll still need a spacer and a palm shelf. Later.

I need to have the guys at Terry keep an eye out for more pieces of walnut like this.

Sanded the top of each grip flat to get a tight fit against the 717's frame.

Then, using a transfer punch, marked the location for the grip screw.

Drilled the screw hole.

There's a protruding stud on each side of the 717's grip frame. Needed to counterbore the inside of each grip to fit over it.

Went just deep enough to let the grips seat flush.

Like so.

Counterbored the outside of the grip to recess the head of the screw

A little extra material all around. I noticed that the pin holding the sear in the grip frame extends just beyond flush. This was what I was after--a second point to anchor the grips to prevent rotation/movement.

Seating the grips left a small 1/8" round indentation on each side from the pin. I drilled each grip approx. 1/4" deep at that point.

Then found a piece of hardened 1/8" rod. Scored it with a carbide knife in the lathe.

Then ground it to length. Left it about 1/2" longer than the original pin.

Pressed it in and the old pin pushed right out.

Another view. The pin will keep the grips from rotating--well, the pin and the tight fit at the top of the grip frame against the receiver.

And the sanding begins.

Used about anything on hand to make the wood removal go faster.

As always, this is a trial and error fit. I sand until the grip fits my hand.

Most of the sanding was done using various sizes of sanding drums. Much of this work is identical to other grip projects I've attempted. I added a label to those archived posts so you can now search for "grips" to find them easier.



Remember to wear a mask when working with walnut, as it's a lung irritant.

Starting to look like something.

Test fit.

Adding a groove for my palm.

Man, that's a lot of dust. More to come.

Quick Fix--The Smith & Wesson 78G from the Findlay Show

Fifteen minutes after getting back from the Findlay, OH airgun show, the S&W 78G sprang a leak. The seller had just gassed it up last Thursday and it was still holding two days later.

I've been looking for a clean 78G on and off for about a year. Mostly off. Friday night before the show, I put this gun at the top of my list. There were probably half a dozen S&W 78/79Gs and Daisy 780/790s there. This one looked well cared for and the price was very reasonable. I assumed when buying it that I'd need to replace all the seals anyway--that's just par for the course when buying a vintage CO2 gun.

Nick has brilliantly covered 78/79G rebuilds before here. Sorry for the redundancy, but maybe a few new pics will help someone--besides, the grip project I'm working on isn't quite ready for prime time.

Unscrew the threaded end plug below the barrel--S&W calls this the "sleeve retaining screw"and remove the "power adjustment extension" rod.

Removed the casting assembly screw.

Had some difficulty getting the extension sleeve out. A #2 pencil--eraser end first--pulled it right out.

The orientation.

The extension sleeve looked slightly peened on the ends. Perhaps this caused the difficulty in removal. With the lathe, I took a few thou off each end.

pulled out the bolt stop pin. It was a very slightly bent. I gently straightened, then polished it.

While the bolt was out, I replaced the bolt o-ring. Forgot to write it down. I think I used a #6 viton.

Removed the valve body screws. One on the left side,

Another pic.

Two on the right.



Brass valve assembly pulls out. This one was a bit stuck. Decaying o-rings sticking to the die castings.



S&W calls this the "cartridge connector". Uh, OK.

When I pulled out the valve body plug, the source of the leak was obvious.

The o-ring had the consistency of a gummy bear.

Took a bit of time to scrape it all out of the groove.

Another pic. Used a #12 viton o-ring as a replacement.

Might as well replace these, too. Used #6 viton o-rings on the "cartridge connector".

The valve stem seal looked fine. A bit of Crosman pellgun oil on all the o-rings and it was back in business. Refer to Nick's original posting series for reassembly. There are no surprises or tricks. It's a very straightforward design.

Soon: match grips for a Daisy 7X7.