Gene hit the nail on the head. You dented the piston sleeve. It can be fixed, but I would recommend just getting Mike at Flying Dragon to send you a Delrin tophat and then just remove the sleeve entirely.
That's it. Just make sure when you put the new one in that you place the split of the casting pipe on the opposite side of the cocking slot of the piston.Gene
Generally on the Ruger there is a thick washer under the casting pipe. That may be what Paul meant. It is sometimes hard to remove. Plus you need a lathe to machine the top hat/washer and the spring guide.My suggestion is to just replace the casting pipe and leave it alone. Or send it to a pro tuner for a tune.Gene
A piston sleeve is actually pretty useful in that it:-1) helps stop lube migration off the spring2) reduces lateral movement of the spring within the piston body (reduces noise & vibration)3) stops the cocking foot bouncing along the spring coils so cocking is smoother4) tends to make things a bit quieter5) the sleeve is probably a smoother surface than the inside of your average Chinese piston.My B26 + B25 both came with piston sleeves and i saw no reason to remove them.I put a sleeve in my TF99 made from stainless shim and it's quieter than ever.All that's needed is a steel washer to cover the end tabs of the sleeve, then a delrin slip washer for the tophat to bare down on. If you then put a delrin washer on the spring guide (i.e. at the other end of the spring), the spring can slip at both ends and will negate any torque and adds a little preload, resulting in smoother operation and increased power.A lot of guys here in the UK are making sleeves from 0.25mm PTFE sheet, which is pretty cheap & easy to get hold of
I noticed that the join screw (the screw that the breech pivots on) was very loose, so I removed the stock in order to tighten it. Previously, the barrel would simply drop to the cocked position if I were to let go of it before securing it in the locked, firing position. As I adjusted the screw, I broke the barrel so I could feel that amount of friction I was adding. In doing so, I accidentally let the rear cocking arm come out of the slot in the compression tube, where it contacts the piston. I put the arm back in place (or so I thought) and reassembled the gun.Now it makes a loud ratcheting spring noise when I attempt to cock it, so I apparently didn't reassemble it properly. I've removed the action from the stock several times, now, attempting to correct my mistake, but I just can't see what I did wrong.Any ideas?Thanks!Dave
You just can't imagine how dumb I feel right now.