Only Part Way Home on the Daisy 717 Trigger Upgrade

Been meaning to get this post up for quite some time, but I didn't get the results I'd hoped for.  No mistake, the trigger is better than the stock 717, but it's not as good as the trigger I found in Matt61's  747.














Bought a new 747 grip frame, a 747 trigger, trigger spring, trigger adjustment screw, and a trigger adjustment plate.  I think it all ran around $20, maybe $25 shipped.  In all, it was a modest amount of money.

With the grips removed, the grip frame differences are apparent.

Hmmmmm, the bosses aren't tapped for the grip screws. 

Fortunately, the grip screws are "self-tapping".

Used a good screwdriver and made sure they went in straight.

The new metal trigger, two trigger springs and two trigger adjustment plates.

Tapped out the old trigger pin--it's a knurled press fit into the grip frame. The trigger spring fits like so--looks like I could've used the old spring on the new trigger.

The trigger adjustment screw.

Installs from the inside.

Used a small screwdriver to thread it back into the grip frame.

Like this.

Just a pic of the cocking link in case I need a reference for reassembly.  I swapped over the cocking linkage, trigger disconnector and sear to the new grip frame.  It's the same procedure previously covered here.

The plate fits against the adjustment screw.

The extra plate shows the correct orientation. 

Reassembled.

Test fired the gun, but it's not quite what I'm after.   It's not as crisp--nor does it have the same adjustment range--as the trigger in Matt's 747.  I didn't replace the sear (part number 15 on Daisy's schematic), and that might have made a difference.  When I looked at the print, I thought that my sear looked like the one on the drawing, so I omitted that part from the order.  Except I forgot that the base of my sear was slightly modified in the "Nygord" trigger job.  Next time I make a parts order with Daisy, I'll pick one up and swap it into the gun.

Daisy 747 rebuild

Sorry about the dearth of postings lately.  I recently made a career change and found myself working two jobs for a couple months before taking the plunge.  There was simply no time for anything else.

One of my friends sent me a Daisy 747 to have a look through.  The valve wasn't sealing properly on the compression stroke of the lever.  You can generally assume that's the problem when the air is coming out of the barrel during charging or immediately after.












It's Matt's 747!

The basic tear down is identical to the 717 and 727 guns that Nick and I have previously covered. 

I cycled and dry fired it a few times.  It was immediately apparent just how much better this adjustable trigger is compared to the trigger unit in my 717 model.

The adjustable piston head had the typical chewed up notches.  Daisy should really make this from something more robust than a zinc die casting.

Left panel removed.

Pump lever removed.

The compression tube is aluminum.  I'll have to check my older 717, but I think the older guns have brass tubes.

Piston head.  I don't think this seal is bad, but it still gets replaced. We're this far, so why not?  This o-ring is a #115, by the way.  

Injection seam from the mold.

This flashing is the problem with using a die casting.  I found pieces ranging from dust sized to this throughout the compression tube.  Most of it was on the piston.

Chucked the head in the Taig and took a clean up pass to remove the seam.  Also cleaned up the adjustment notches.

Here's the likely leak offender--the valve stem seal.

I stoned off the face of the valve both to square it up and remove any potentially loose casting material. 

This o-ring seal is also not really suspect, but like the other, it gets replaced.  And like the piston head seal, it's also a #115.

I used a grease on the o-ring seals.  Should last longer than the oils that are typically used.

Matt supplied a repair kit when he delivered the pistol.  The valve stem seal is an earlier design. 

Looks like it's been sitting around for a while.  It's probably 20 years old.

Fortunately, I bought several replacements from Daisy when I was fixing my 717.  Because one is none and two is one...

New style on top, old on bottom.  My guess is that they're actually interchangeable, but I'd prefer to take one more variable out of the equation.

Reassembly was simply a reversal of the procedure.  Did grease the cocking linkage with moly as well as re-stake the cocking lever pivot pin.  (It was so loose, it fell out of the cocking arm at one point)  Not shown:  Polished and cleaned up the trigger pull a bit more.  After all this, the gun still had a tiny leak when initially charging the gun.  Went back in and reseated the valve stem seal using some minimal pressure to get it to conform to the valve seat.  A week and 100 shots later, there's not even a tiny hiss of air when charging--all the air is now going (and staying) inside the valve. I still want need to chrony the gun before sending it home to Matt.

Really astonished at how superior this trigger is compared to the one in my gun.  Looks like the grip frame is different as well as the trigger itself and trigger return spring.  I'm calling Daisy and upgrading the parts in my gun next week.  The 747 is absolutely worth the $40 premium it brings over the basic 717.

Thanks for checking in.

Match Grips for a Daisy 7X7 Part 3 Final

With the palm shelf more or less attached to the right grip, and tired of sanding, I stained the left side grip and the shelf.

Used two coats of Varathane American Walnut.

Producing this.

Got out the Dasco Pro scratch awl and sharpened the tip.

Let the stippling begin. There are plenty of ways to texture the wood using punches or a Dremel tool. For whatever reason, I gravitate toward doing this the hard way.

tap, tap, tap.... It's a laborious process.

Left side done.

Finished up the sanding on the right grip and stained it.

Just need to stipple the right grip panel.

There's a lot more surface to stipple on this side.

A couple evenings after work while watching late night TV got the grips to this point.

I liked the look, but I'd missed the mark. After 50 or so shots, it was apparent that the palm shelf needed to adjust upward a bit more. I was slightly less than thrilled considering how much time I had into the project at this point. Felt kinda stupid. I should have shot the gun more after getting the shelf fitted--before staining and all the stippling. After thinking about it for a while, I thought there might be an easy fix.

I decided to make the shelf taller rather than make a completely new one . Cut an outline of the shelf from a piece of 1/4" walnut scrap--always looking for the best part of grain.

I was thinking that if I dress it up enough, maybe it won't be so bad.

Cut a sliver of thin maple.

For, uh, contrast. (or maybe height)

Sanded off the wood stain from the top of the shelf and went looking for the Gorilla Glue.

About four hours later in the clamps. Together (hopefully) forever.

Sanded and re-stained. Made every effort to not get walnut stain on the maple.

Success! Got the needed height and I like the added visual appeal of the spacer.

















Nice burl to complement the left side. The height problem turned out to be a rather fortuitous mistake.

Well, these certainly beat the old plastic grips. I'm calling it on this one. Took 3 posts and a couple weeks of working here and there. I need a different project next that doesn't involve so much sawdust.