Just a couple of improvements that make these great guns even better.
1) The trigger is abnormally far forward and has a very long first stage. Some will say to bend the resting tab rearward similarly to a Rekord unit. This is not sheet steel, but a cast soft metal, zink? These tabs break off easily. Instead, drill and tap a 4-40 set screw in and you can set the trigger as far back as possible without preventing the safety from engaging. You can set it much farther back if you like but you will no longer have a safety that engages. I also remove one coil from the rear weight spring.
2) The rear sled has a ball detent that rests in a hole in the rearmost seated position. This makes it difficult to unseat the ball without transferring significant force against the stock. A common fix is to install an o-ring or two so the ball doesn't completely seat. I have also done this in the past and it does work but now I cut and polish a relieved "ramp" into the plate. This allows a very smooth transition of the ball up onto the plate. The result is much less feeling is transferred to the shooter during firing. I also remove one coil from the ball detent spring so there is more thread available for the stock mounting screws. I also replace the stock mounting screws (6mm) with cap head allen bolts. The factory ones have a lead with no threads for the first few mm. These are into a bronze material that is very soft. Getting as many threads as possible to engage is good insurance.
Before:
Channeled and polished:
Re-blued:
3) finally a new Vortek "steel" kit was installed.
This was the first time I used one of their newer steel kits. This is beautiful. There is an inner delrin guide and a very heavy outer sleeve. The result is absolutely no twang or vibration at all. I will definitely be using more of these in the future.
Piston and breach seals were also replaced and the outside of the compression tube was polished. The cocking mechanism and sled were adjusted to my liking and the internal sled forward steel was removed from inside the stock. The final result is an easy to cock 56th with a great cycle and almost no felt movement. The trigger now breaks cleanly right at one pound and velocities are right at 12FPE. Next I will tend to a few dings in the stock, mount a scope and see how it shoots.
1) The trigger is abnormally far forward and has a very long first stage. Some will say to bend the resting tab rearward similarly to a Rekord unit. This is not sheet steel, but a cast soft metal, zink? These tabs break off easily. Instead, drill and tap a 4-40 set screw in and you can set the trigger as far back as possible without preventing the safety from engaging. You can set it much farther back if you like but you will no longer have a safety that engages. I also remove one coil from the rear weight spring.
2) The rear sled has a ball detent that rests in a hole in the rearmost seated position. This makes it difficult to unseat the ball without transferring significant force against the stock. A common fix is to install an o-ring or two so the ball doesn't completely seat. I have also done this in the past and it does work but now I cut and polish a relieved "ramp" into the plate. This allows a very smooth transition of the ball up onto the plate. The result is much less feeling is transferred to the shooter during firing. I also remove one coil from the ball detent spring so there is more thread available for the stock mounting screws. I also replace the stock mounting screws (6mm) with cap head allen bolts. The factory ones have a lead with no threads for the first few mm. These are into a bronze material that is very soft. Getting as many threads as possible to engage is good insurance.
Before:
Channeled and polished:
Re-blued:
3) finally a new Vortek "steel" kit was installed.
This was the first time I used one of their newer steel kits. This is beautiful. There is an inner delrin guide and a very heavy outer sleeve. The result is absolutely no twang or vibration at all. I will definitely be using more of these in the future.
Piston and breach seals were also replaced and the outside of the compression tube was polished. The cocking mechanism and sled were adjusted to my liking and the internal sled forward steel was removed from inside the stock. The final result is an easy to cock 56th with a great cycle and almost no felt movement. The trigger now breaks cleanly right at one pound and velocities are right at 12FPE. Next I will tend to a few dings in the stock, mount a scope and see how it shoots.
