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Had a win

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220
Cattle Driver
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Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 11:11 pm
Australia

Had a win

Post by 220 » Tue Jul 26, 2022 4:51 am

Decided to try and get a couple of pistols that I have that had suffered breaks and ceased to function back into service.
First was a browning buckmark that decided to stop working, stripped it down and the fault was obvious. Firing pin was in 2 pieces, thought it would be a simple fix given it has only 1 pin holding it in place. A quick search turned up the first problem, it is pre 2000 manufacture that use a different firing pin arrangement to everything manufactured post 2000 and no longer available from Browning. A lot more searching turned up a number of businesses manufacturing after market replacements at very reasonable prices but no one that will export them. I assume they would be fairly hard given the pounding they take so finding material suitable to attempt to make one was a challenge. In the end I settled on a old power hacksaw blade I had that was very close to the correct thickness. Luckily the shape is fairly simple with only one small slot for the retaining pin. I was able to cut it without generating much heat and hopefully have kept the hardness in it. Used a honing stone to reduce the thickness, radius where needed and polish it up. Not sure how it will hold up long term but it is operational again and I put a box of ammo through it without a malfunction.

Next up I decided to try and get a German manufacture Rohm PCP air pistol back in service. Air cylinder had stopped holding air, given the age of the cylinder no one will service it. New cylinders are not available, I did find a business in the UK that will modify new cylinders from other manufactures to suit but again export is a problem. Given all that I thought I had nothing to loose trying to fix it myself, Thought it might be as simple as a O ring on the valve, I made a tool to help hold the valve assembly that screws into the end of the cylinder that worked very well but trying to find something that would grip the anodized alloy cylinder without damaging or marring it proved impossible. In the end a pair of old gloves covered in bees wax and propolis proved to give enough grip with a 2 handed hold to get it apart. The inside of the cylinder was perfect with no signs of any damage or corrosion, The problem proved to be even less complicated than a O ring with the valve simple stuck open. Some very gentle persuasion got it freed up and holding air. No pressure drop from 200bar after 48hrs, I am guessing I may have been a little heavy handed screwing it onto a dive cylinder to fill and forced the valve open a fraction more than it is designed to open. The cylinder has been screwed gently on and off the fill fitting over 20 times without a problem. Wife and I both shot 60rd air matches with it over the weekend.
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North Country Gal
Firearms Advisor
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Joined: Thu Apr 07, 2016 12:46 pm
Location: northern Wisconsin
United States of America

Re: Had a win

Post by North Country Gal » Tue Jul 26, 2022 11:14 am

That's great news on the PCP. Just the nature of PCPs to need maintenance to hold air. Old models can definitely be hard to service. We picked up a vintage Daystate at an estate auction that wouldn't hold air. Fortunately, we were able to send it in to Airguns of Arizona for a refurb and rebuild, since they are that stateside Daystate dealer. Well worth the hassle and expense, though. Amazing gun.
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JEBar
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Re: Had a win

Post by JEBar » Tue Jul 26, 2022 12:39 pm

nicely done .... I certainly admire your ability to manufacture parts and make the repairs
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BrokenolMarine
Ranch Foreman
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Location: South Central Oklahoma in the mountains
United States of America

Re: Had a win

Post by BrokenolMarine » Tue Jul 26, 2022 4:19 pm

Good job. I love the feeling of identifying the problem, then creating a solution on my own.
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220
Cattle Driver
Posts: 746
Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 11:11 pm
Australia

Re: Had a win

Post by 220 » Tue Jul 26, 2022 6:08 pm

Certainly some satisfaction in solving it yourself although with these it was due to there being no other option not a desire to do it alone.
With the PCP I did find the internal seals were all still available so will be ordering a complete set. Should be cheap insurance against the gun being put out of action by a 50 cent failure. It would have fired tens of thousands of rounds on the original seals so even though a full set will run to $50 or so next to nothing when you look at the round count.
While I was having some success with the DYI I stripped down my 4 stage 300bar hand pump for a inspection, clean and relube, a little preventative maintenance never hurts.
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Ernie
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Location: Southwestern Lower Michigan
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Re: Had a win

Post by Ernie » Tue Jul 26, 2022 7:51 pm

Happy for you. It is a great feeling to find and fix a problem. Helps to be handy when you have to be creative.
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