Frank B's FWB 124 Tear Down and Rebuild Part 1

Amazing.  After over five hundred posts on airgun butchery, we've never torn down a Feinwerkbau 124.  Nick and I both own 124's, yet still nothing on one of the most iconic spring guns ever made.

Luckily for us, airgun purveyor, rock legend, and hall of fame co-chair, Frank B, happened to have a 124 that needed some attention--and he thought it was high time to set this blog to straight.  We also figured I needed the practice and a couple more blog posts.

Frank separated the barrel/breech block assembly from the gun for ease of shipping in a shorter box.  Many folks would be hard pressed to reassemble a spring gun if they had to re-seat the cocking lever and install the barrel pivot bolt while fighting the detent spring.   So maybe keep that in mind if you're packaging something up for sale.















You know I was stuck right here until I popped the entire sheet.

The stock is one used just for shipping--we were mainly concerned with protecting the trigger.  I'm contractually obligated to disclose that Frank had absolutely nothing to do with refinishing this poor piece of wood.

Removed the stock screws and set the lumber aside.

Reinstalled the barrel assembly to the compression tube.  This is where the tear down really begins.

This is one of the few guns that I gotta use a spring compressor to disassemble.  The chunk of wood bearing against the end cap is relieved to clear the safety lever. 

An 11mm wrench fits the lug.  A slight amount of pressure on the end cap takes tension off the lug.  It should unscrew pretty easily.

As the end cap is backed out, the safety falls out along with the trigger return spring.

The return spring is directly above the trigger blade.   It pulls right out.

Roughly 4.5" of factory spring preload.

Weird.  Hey, uh, where's the grease? 

Like it's right out of the parts washer.  Where does he find this stuff?

The trigger is unitized into the end cap with the spring guide.  Also squeaky clean.

Removed the lock screw from the pivot bolt.  It works by expanding the end of the pivot bolt in the threaded hole.

The pivot bolt was unscrewed.  Note the expansion slot.  One on the opposite side of the bolt, too.

A single pivot washer on the right side of the breech block.  Note the counter bore machined into the breech for the washer.   Anyway, with the pivot bolt removed, the barrel assembly is pulled free--the end of the cocking lever also comes right out of the cocking shoe.

The piston still won't come out quite yet.

The rear of the cocking slot is enlarged to permit removal of the cocking shoe.

Remove it....

and the piston will come out.

Still no grease.  Maybe someone soaked the gun in a vat of kerosene before sending it out.

There's a tiny nick in the seal--no doubt it was cut on the cocking slot. 

No grease inside the piston body, either.  Why would someone tear the gun completely down, replace the seals and then reassemble without even using axle grease?

Not sure what's going on with that breech seal either. 

I don't think this is any good.   Fortunately, Frank thought ahead and included several Maccari parts for reassembly.  I think he sent the "Pro-Mac kit".

Give me a couple more days and I'll finish this up in part 2.

Tech Force TF79 / AR2078A Upgrades--Part 11 Final

Finally, finishing up the TF79.

Started with a thin coat of Tru-Oil rubbed into the stock, but it wasn't laying down well.

Thinned the Tru-Oil with mineral spirits. About a 50/50 mix.

This burnished into the wood much easier. Was able to get about two coats per day.

The end grain filled beautifully.

After several coats, I rubbed the stock down with Birchwood Casey Stock Sheen and Conditioner to remove the gloss and high spots in the finish. I then switched to Arrow wood finish and quickly applied several super thin coats. This consisted mostly of rubbing a few drops of oil into the stock with the heel of my hand.

With a finish on the stock, it was time to fit the base plate that bridges the gap between the stock and the buttplate.

Some dykem on the plate shows my scribed line.

The belt sander let me grind to the line. I kept a bucket of water at hand and dunked the plate whenever it got too hot.

Eyeballed the angle at the heel and toe. Good enough.

Pulled the plate one last time...

...and added the threaded nut into the stock.

Then screwed the base plate back on and added the adapter.

Like so.

Attached all the buttplate components to the adapter. The three wide lower blocks will likely need additional fitting. Set the accessory rail in place and ran the screws home.

Added a simple handstop I had waiting in the parts box.

Last look back. Here's the stock just before I started this whole mess.

And now...

Well, it's done for now. No doubt, there will be additional tweaks as I shoot the rifle. Did a quick two minute set up to get the cheek piece set and the vertical height of the buttplate more or less dialed. It now comes to shoulder and immediately aligns my eye to the diopter without any neck strain. I can see where the blocks on the buttplate will need to be narrowed slightly. I expect that I'll eventually taper them, too. Next up is a FWB 124D tear down and rebuild. I've already got most of the images for the first installment. I should have a post ready to go in a couple days. Please check back in.

You Can Shoot Airguns Too!

I’m still working on that Crosman 500. Today some friends showed up for an afternoon of plinking.

Isaac takes aim with a Slavia 620. Ethan is using a Crosman 760 and Kiko is shooting the Benjamin 317.

Isaac loading a pellet.

Jeremy liked the Crosman 120.

Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.