Air Match 600

This is a relatively rare 10-meter match pistol.   It's an Air Match 600.  It's an Italian made, single-stroke .177 cal pneumatic. Picked this up yesterday from Precision Airgun.  It's been languishing in a display case for a while.  Apparently, it fell over in the case at some point and the front sight blade broke off.  The owner handed it to me and ordered, "fix it".   Since there's so little information out there on this gun, sharing some pics and impressions seemed entirely appropriate. 












Assume that the owner gave it to me because he knows I have a weakness for 10-meter paper punchers.  I just like them.  Besides, for all I know, he probably broke the sight off on purpose when he saw me pull into the parking lot.  Cagey.  Anything to get me to just take it home and try it.



 

Stippled grip with an adjustable palm shelf.  The shelf has minimal vertical adjustment.  I believe that the grips came in three different sizes.  If that is the case, these are likely the mediums.  My size large hand just barely fits.  There's no rake adjustment to the grips.

The only ergonomic malady is the sharp bottom edge of the trigger guard.  The right rear portion digs into my middle finger.  If it was mine, the corner of the guard would absolutely have to be relieved.  Though I didn't adjust it, the trigger has a multitude of adjustment screws.  The blade is movable fore and aft for position.  There are also screws--presumably for first and second stage travel as well as pull weight.  Trigger is currently breaking just a bit over 500 grams.

Underside of the pistol has an aluminum rail that accepts various weights.

This small pivoting lever connects/disconnects the compression chamber to allow for dry fire practice.  Here, the lever is set in the normal position.  Rotating it forward, then cycling the pump arm sets the trigger but does not charge the compression chamber.  Interesting.

The gun has a removable front sight extension.  The added length should provide greater accuracy.

Side lever cocking--like a Daisy 7XX pistol, but no inexpensive casting here.  The lever is solidly built from a billet of aluminum then anodized.

It swings out almost parallel to the muzzle to set the trigger.

When the lever is open, the barrel pulls forward with a linkage to expose the breach for direct loading.  Closing the lever takes considerably more pressure than the similar Daisy.  The Daisy 7XX guns do have a longer cocking lever though.

I remember when this pistol first came into the shop, it didn't work.  Borris, at Pyramyd Air, repaired/replaced the seals, though I don't know which seals--or how many--he changed out.



Fired the gun across the chrony using RWS Hobby pellets.  The velocity ranged from a high of 382 to a low of 376 fps over ten shots.  Six feet per second is a pretty small spread.  Probably no surprise, but I'm going to hang on to this one after I finish it.

I'll fix the front sight next time around.

Kessler Air Rifle Disassembly, Part 3

On I go…

Like the Rochester I did, I had to desolder the valve from the pump tube.

Desoldered valve assembly.

The valve stem pushes that ball off of a rubber gasket inside the valve body.

There’s a thin copper washer for sealing and as I have read, “timing” the assembly position...

Inlet valve removed.

Looks just like the Rochester part.

Seals are shot. This is partly due to some overzealous heating on my part.

Nut inside that captures the valve washer.

Nut removed.

Washer dug out…

I have some Kessler seal kits that came with my Rochester purchase. The pump cup looks very different so I’ll have to make/hack a new pump rod probably. So I’ll clean everything up and try and reseal it soon.

Kessler Air Rifle Disassembly, Part 2

On I go…

The hammer unscrews.

It’s a nice hammer.

Rear sight.

This screw holds the bolt bushing/cam in place.

Removed.

The bolt.

The valve stem.

Unlike the 101/Rochester, it pulls out.

Valve stem.

Bolt sleeve.

Sleeve again.

Hammer spring and nut.

The sear/hammer tube. “Hammer Barrel”.

The barrel is removed.

Small dimple that locks it in place.

Setscrew hidden inside the takedown threads. It holds the valve assembly in.

Looks like a Bristol Spline head, but I was able to remove it with a hex driver.

The entire tube and valve assembly removed from the receiver.
More to come…

Kessler Air Rifle Disassembly, Part 1

I was offered this Kessler and couldn’t resist it.

Better looking than a 101/Rochester with essentially the same underlying power plant.


The receiver is an attractive casting.

Not sure which model of Kessler this is (and I suspect it’s a “frankengun”).

The front sight blade is broken off.

The rubber butt pad does not look original.

Knurled takedown screw.

The head is painted.

With the screw removed the action comes out of the stock.

Trigger spring and follower/guide.

It’s funny how a simple casting change can fundimentally alter the appearance.

Odd nut for the pump arm linkage.

Thankfully I didn’t have to make a spanner, it unscrewed easily.

Pivot pin & nut.

The barrel band/end cap just pushes out of the tube.

Spherical bolt seal. Setscrew above needs to be removed.

Screw removed.

End cap.

Pump assembly removed.

Pin removed.

Looks like the owner glued some felt in as it seems modern.

This doesn’t look like a Rochester/Kessler pump cup assembly, more like that found on a Crosman 140. I’ve asked those who may know and will edit as needed.

Another view.
More to come.