Just some of this and that

I see this is post #450. Not sure if it's any kind of milestone, but congrats to my friend Nick nonetheless.

I've been working on airguns here and there, but don't have much that I really consider noteworthy--mostly because it's stuff covered previously--or it's just rather mundane. Probably even mundane stuff previously covered. Oh well, gotta go with what you've got.

Number ONE

7/8" HSS double-ended ball mill. Need it for one of those "future" projects. Bought it a few weeks ago because it was the right price for what will likely be one-time use. Problem? I don't have a machine capable of using it unless it's single-ended. About an hour (and three cut-off wheels) later, I cut through it without somehow hurting myself. What a super deal.

Number DOS

Looked at some guns online again (this passes for research) and finally settled on what I want grip-wise for the old Crosman 150. As I've been meaning to make grips for this gun for four or five months, this is a positive step forward.



It's a Bolivian rosewood.

Number Thrice

Didn't like the glossy black Crosman grips on this one. But I wanted black grips. Those guys on the Crosman Forum are right. Truck bed liner, TBL as they call it, feels great.



Two coats and the grit in the finish feels much better than stock.

Number Four

Didn't care for the bolt handle on a beater Crosman 2040. Knurled a scrap of 0.250" diameter drill rod.



Turned down here and there for breech slot clearance.

Cut the #8-32 threads.

All blued up and installed. The sharp-eyed will notice that this is not the same gun pictured 5 or 6 images above. I sprayed these grips with TBL, too.

450 airgun posts! Thanks again to all our readers.

More good stuff in a few days.

Benjamin 3030 Reassembly, Part 1

Putting it back together…for now…

Drilling the exhaust seal.

Turning the OD.

Facing.

Boring for the screw.

Cut off, next to old seal.

Not too happy with the face.

Inserted a new o-ring in the valve body.

Reassembling, used a spent CO2 cart to push the innards in.

All together. It works…but not well. The valve is staying open far too long, leading to that dreaded “braaap” sound and only yielding 10 shots per cartridge.

I forgot the screen,maybe that’s the problem? Nope. Didn’t change how it behaved when I replaced it.

The barrel comes back pretty far to knock open the valve. Perhaps I’ll try a shim between the hammer and valve and see if reducing that depth helps.

Also the valve seat is worn, probably a good idea to clean it up.

The holes the piercing pin makes in the cartridges is pretty large, I think reducing the hammer strike will also limit that hole, which could be good or may not matter. It’s possible the pin is sticking in the cartridge as well.

The main spring has a rough end. Maybe it’s a replacement?

I substituted a shorter spring. It behaved exactly the same. So at least I know it isn’t that?

I’m wondering if an even shorter spring would be good as that’s how much preload there is – the bolt hole still isn’t visible in the slot. But I think that the valve face could be the culprit. We’ll see.