BAM XS-B21 finally settling in

[etamme]

Hey everyone.  It's been a while since I posted, been busy moving from NYC to northern Colorado.  I finally got some time in on my bam xs-b21 which has never been a solid performer for me.  My yard here is a double deep lot about 75 yards deep for the back yard, so I set up an air rifle range and did some shooting in our beautiful 60F thanksgiving weekend weather.

I finally figured out why my xs-b21 was never consistent.  One of the screws holding down the rear iron sight was mildly stripped which allowed the whole blade unit to wiggle left/right a bit.  It was driving me nuts!  I'd sight in and be ok for a few shots then all of a sudden way off.  Very frustrating.  So I went to ACE and got some M3x10mm socket cap screws and blue thread lock - problem solved.  I can now hit an apple 50 yards out with open sights pretty consistently - which is great for this gun compared to where I was with it before.

I am not sure I could get any more yardage out of it - even though the gun can shoot further because of the blocky sights.   any way - I am thrilled to have the gun shooting consistently.  Now if I can just get the trigger figured out a bit more.  It is "ok" right now, but its a odd one to tune/adjust.  The adjustments are not entirely independent so it's a give/take process on getting stages figured out.

Interestingly, I don't have any issues with the guns recoil or hold sensitivity, especially since it can sling 14.6 grain .22's at 800fps.  I always hold pretty loosely  but I find its more about trigger control.  I'm hoping to get the trigger figured out and get this to be the forever shooter I always wanted it to be.

cheers!
-Eric

[justintendo]

taking mine apart and polishing everything and adding longer screws did wonders to mine...

[etamme]

i  looked at the trigger group a bit - it looks like it is riveted together.  any comments on disassembly?  also what screws did you use?

thanks,
eric

[mikeiniowa]

to diassemble trigger group all you need do is push the pins out, easest to do with the group out of the action, watch for the spring on the transmission group (part with adjustment screws) some have a small coil spring and others have the type with legs...

[justintendo]

mine had the legs on the spring...i would strongly recommend taking it apart with the trigger group in a large clear ziploc. polishing the slot the safety rides in and adding a bit of moly has the safety going from really tough to smooth. i was happy about that! i took the screws up to the hardware store and found them there...3 0r 4 mm i think...

[etamme]

Excellent - while ive got some people with experience here i'll ask more questions.

As far as polishing goes - can i use a dremel with cloth polishing wheel and some buffing compound, or would you tell me how and what you polished with? 

Any particular grease  I should put on other specific parts of the trigger?  I  got a maccarri lube kit ... so i have moly, light tar, heavy tar, silicon, clear grease etc.

Also does anyone know how much preload is on the spring in this gun?  I had built a compressor but had to get rid of it when I moved, so I'm curious if i'll have to build another to tear down the gun.

Thanks again!
-Eric

[mikeiniowa]

Gonna need a compresser, I use the #425 polishing wheel on the Dremel followed by hand work with 2000 grit. Use moly grease on the bearing surfaces and oil with moly on pivot pins

[etamme]

Thanks a bunch Mike.  Good luck with your shop and the fire next door.

-Eric

[mikeiniowa]

Once we get the shop back on the foundation all will be well....

[etamme]

Got moved into our first house over the weekend and finally got to polishing up the trigger bits.  I pulled out the trigger itself, along with the little bit (sear?) that has the two adjustment screws.

I polished all surfaces to mirror finish.  I can actually feel the first stage now! before it was so gritty it would some times i would get a first stage, some times not.  The trigger needs adjustment now because the first stage is really light and long - so i will get some longer screws and re-adjust.

Strange bit - I found out if i tighten the front stock screw too much, it causes the anti bear trap to bottom out in the stock and then I am unable to cock the rifle to its final stage.  Took a little while to figure out what was going on, but got things snug enough - but not too tight eventually.

-Eric

[mikeiniowa]

if you put a washer between the stock and the action in front and tighten it then you should have clearance, had to do that once for some reason might be the same problem...