Help with Walther LG55 reassembly

[Murdock]

Good day to all.

I purchased a Walther LG55 a few years ago that quickly proved to be in need of repair.  The rifle would cock and shoot, but the pellet barely got out of the muzzle.  It obviously needed a new seal, at minimum.  I was able to diassemble the rifle with minimal difficulty, identified the needed parts, and installed them with minimal difficulty. 

Reassembled, the gun would not cock.  Despite many tries, it appears that I am not getting the transfer bar/anti-beartrap linkage installed properly.  I have learned that there are two, sightly different transfer bars for the LG55.  Mine is the type that has an upturned bit on the trigger block end.   

All of the information on these classic rifles I've found seems to focuse on disassembly.  Then the next thing in the article is how well the gun is working, just like it all went together so easily it's not worth mentioning.  This makes me crazy enough that I keep putting the gun aside before I resort to Murphy's First Law of Mechancs ("If it doesn't fit, force it, because if it breaks it needed to be replaced anyway"). 

The German language information I have found is way beyond the one semester of it I took in college many decades ago, but it would appear there is substantial discussion on just this topic in that language, which is out of my reach.  The photos I have found on a couple of airgun sites have led me in the right direction, I think, but don't show detail sufficient to help my "monkey see, monkey do" learning style.

I guess what I'm looking for is, "Hold it this way, jiggle it that way while making sure you are holding your mouth right" kind of guidance.  I's much too nice a gun to sit idle.  It just can't be this hard.

Any help or guidance is appreciated. 

[Pneumatic-Addict]

I'm unfamiliar with the two variations of transfer bars that you mention, but hope the following info will be helpful, if you haven't seen it already.

https://www.ctcustomairguns.com/hectors-airgun-blog/archives/02-2021
https://www.airgunforum.ca/forums/topic84224.html
https://anotherairgunblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/walther-lg55-overhaul-part-1.html

[lefteyeshot]

I'll be following this. I've seen some videos on it on utube. I have bought since the first of the year a LG 153, LG 55 with double set triggers and a 55 in a Tyrolean stock. I want to replace the spring and seals and see if they all have the lead weight in the stock forarm. J&G Air Guns has the weight and little spring for the weight and seals. AGH has a spring they describe as high power. And I'm curious if the lead weight are the same in the 53 and 55. We shall see.

[Murdock]

Yes, I've been into those.  The top link has been the most useful.  My beartrap link looks a bit different from the one shown, in that mine has an extra little kink at the trigger end, which I understand is one of the two vatiations in these links.  I don't know if this extra turn in the end of the link is complicating reassembly.

I'm trying to reassemble in the reverse order to the disassembly.  When I took it apart I removed the trigger block before I removed the link from the mainspring retaining nut on the tube.  So I've tried putting the link back into the retaining nut, then tilting the trigger block at the same angle used in the removal.  No joy; the gun won't cock when I do this, telling me I don't have the hook of the anti-beartrap link behind the trigger thingy.  I've tried to just slip the link into the trigger block before putting it back into thr rear of the tube, but that doesn't seem to work either.

[Pneumatic-Addict]

Greg,

I'm thinking it may need to be cocked when you fit the transfer bar.  With the trigger block/housing out, can you cock the trigger using the piston or a screwdriver?

Did you do anything to the trigger assembly?  I foolishly took one of the cross pins come out, and immediately regretted it.  Had a lot of fun (not) getting the pieces that it held in place back together.  Still didn't work, because one spring tail was in the wrong place; but once I figured that out, it worked fine.  Here's a link to the things I encountered with an LG55 purchase:  https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=176047.20   

[lefteyeshot]

If you removed the anti bear trap bar would it cock and shoot?

[Swissairgun]

Hi,
You do not have to cock the gun to refit the anti-beartrap lever!
It's a bit finnicky to reassemble but if you take a moment to work out how the lever interacts with the trigger mechanism to block it, then it will become a lot easier. Take the trigger unit and find a path for the lever to enter into the trigger unit from the front. There are 2 versions of the bar, and I believe that the difference is the orientation of the arm/hook. It looks like your bar goes in on the right side of the trigger unit, but you will see when you insert it if the hook fits over the end of one of the trigger unit levers. The hook is what engages with the trigger and locks it when the bar is pushed back during the cocking process.
The bar obviously is held in place by the retaining nut that passes through the slot.
Too late for now, but a tip for the future is to take photos of a mechanism before dismantling it!
Good luck!

[Pneumatic-Addict]

Hi,
You do not have to cock the gun to refit the anti-beartrap lever!
<snip>

Thanks for clearing that up.  Bad memory on my part.

[MDriskill]

If you removed the anti bear trap bar would it cock and shoot?

Not without some other significant mods to the trigger module. The "default mode" without the bar in there is a locked trigger.

The darn thing reminds me of those "Chinese wire puzzles" I had as a kid...100 different ways to turn it, and 99 of 'em are wrong! I few years ago I rebuilt a couple of LGV's (model that followed the 55); Never woulda made it without an assembled one to look at whilst working on the other. 

[oldair]

Years ago I assembled a couple 55's from leftover parts of the Navy Arms Egyptian importation.  Because there were no 'devil bars' in the parts pile, I installed a bent wire on the trigger box to permanently pull forward the lever that would be actuated by the bar.  It worked fine, apart from forfeiting the anti-beartrap feature.  Not a problem unless one is foolish enough to pull the trigger while closing the barrel (same as many barrel-cockers).

Don R.

[Pneumatic-Addict]

Somewhere out there is a photo of a trigger housing modified by threading a small hole in the sheet metal housing, and a using a grub screw to keep the part which is normally controlled by the devil bar, permanently in the "fire" position.

[Murdock]

Thanks to all.  Fnally got it figured out.  Found a photo on another site that show the insertion angle into the trigger block as well as its final position.

A Chinese puzzle indeed.

[MDriskill]

Years ago I assembled a couple 55's from leftover parts of the Navy Arms Egyptian importation.  Because there were no 'devil bars' in the parts pile, I installed a bent wire on the trigger box to permanently pull forward the lever that would be actuated by the bar.  It worked fine, apart from forfeiting the anti-beartrap feature.  Not a problem unless one is foolish enough to pull the trigger while closing the barrel (same as many barrel-cockers).

Don R.

Thank you Don! As seems to be typical of my aging memory, I remembered someone had solved the problem...but no details of who, when, or how!