NP repair and possible upgrade?

[nitroguy]

  I have a Remington Vantage NP, Model R1K77XNP that was previously owned by an old friend and was gifted to me several years ago.  The exterior appearance and condition of the rifle looks very good but the rifle has not been shot in five or six years.  Last week I decided to test fire the weapon.  I followed the loading procedures to shoot the rifle.  I broke open the barrel, inserted a pellet and then pulled the trigger, all I heard was the click of the trigger and a small Pfsst.  It was not a shot and the pellet did not leave the barrel.  This is my first experience with a Nitro Piston weapon; however, it is obvious this rifle needs a new nitrogen piston and possibly some additional attention such as new seals, etc.   I am very familiar with various types of weapons including all types of powder fired weapons as well as BB and pellet rifles and pistols both pump and CO2 powered.  I do all my own cleaning, maintenance and repair on all my weapons.  However, I have no previous experience with any nitro piston pellet rifle so I need some help and have some questions I need answered.
1.  I looked for a video showing a breakdown of the NP rifle but could only find one for the Spring model.  Anyone know of a video on an NP model?
2.  Is there an NP piston that would provide some additional performance over the standard Remington/Crosman model?  If so, what is the source?
3.  Are there any additional parts ( i.e. seals. links, etc.) that I should consider replacing?
4.  Any additional comments on repairs, tuning or other associated NP items would be greatly appreciated by this newbee.

Thanks for any assistance you can provide.  nitroguy   

[Arch_E]

I just ran a search on Google for "repairing a nitro piston air rifle" and got some videos and threads located here.

Best wishes on getting repairs made. And, do follow the safety precautions when releasing the piston.

Archie

[Roadworthy]

If power is that far down you may not need a spring compressor to disassemble the gun but I strongly suggest the use of one anyway.  For a gas strut gun an aluminum bar clamp from Harbor Freight works well.  Just be sure it doesn't slip part way through the process.  Just get the appropriate gas strut from Crosman.  The gun is normally slightly over powered from the factory.  You don't need any more power.  A good upgrade would be the GRT III trigger from charliedatuna.com.   You do not need to remove the barrel to dismantle the gun.

[Back_Roads]

 I would recommend a new piston seal and remember to de bur the cut outs in the piston tube, where the seal has to pass, so you will not nick the new seal as easily on reassembly.

[Horatio]

When you got the old pellet out of the barrel, did one or two pellets come out?

I would replace with a coil spring.

[Privateer]

It uses the same Gas Spring as the Nitro Venom.
Part number BT9M22-00-5A

As Sam mentioned you could go with the wire spring from the 1200 version but I'd look close to see what extra parts you would need to order.
Then be ready to do more work to tame that set up.

You could go with a N-Forcer Gas Spring but I'd highly doubt you'd be happy going that route.

You probably will be very happy with a new Gas Spring from Crosman and doing a few simple mods like new piston seal and maybe the buttons from ARH.
And the trigger mentioned above.

[mikeyb]

I would find the specific part numbers I needed from the diagrams on the Crosman archive. Crosman makes the air rifles branded Remington.

https://support.crosman.com/hc/en-us/article_attachments/201591820/RW1K77X2_-_EVP___PARTS_LIST.pdf
https://support.crosman.com/hc/en-us/article_attachments/202459104/CVAN82W.PDF

CALL Crosman 800-724-7486 and order the part numbers you want. Last time I ordered, the nitrogen gas spring was ~$10 and the older coil spring was ~$6. That's easy, get the gas spring! I'd also order a new piston seal or two (~$1.60) just in case and a breach seal as well.

Add $4 for flat rate shipping. Crosman parts prices are some of the best deals anywhere. They fit and work without any fuss.

The most recent(?) Crosman Vantage NP can be found for ~$75. I actually have a new one in .22 on the way now. If it needed repair after warranty, I would order the inexpensive Crosman parts. I won't spend $55 for an aftermarket gas spring and $20 for a custom piston seal to put in a $75 air rifle.

You will need some type of spring compressor to reassemble the action. The gas springs preload force is high, but the actual preload travel is less than 1/2". IMO that makes it MUCH easier to replace than the coil spring which requires about 2.5" of compression and extra parts.

Plenty of how-to tutorials and videos. That style of Crosman power plant is common to MANY of their older rifles.