Benjamin 342 lever link rivet replacement

[feech]

Anyone  ever replace the lever link rivet on an old Benjamin?  I recently bought an old Benjamin 342 "project" gun and apparently a previous owner replaced the rivet. Not sure what he used,  but there are excessive wear groves on the lever arm where it's pinned to the metal channel in the forearm.   I'm keeping it lubricated with sauce for now, but considering drilling out the rivet.  I have a spare Mac1 rivet, just wondering if someone could share any do's and don'ts from their experience.

Interested in replacing the rivet only, not planning to replace the entire assembly. This is apparently not done often, as my searches come up with very little information.

Thanks,
Feech

[bantam5s]

I have done it, I don't know if Mac1airguns offers just the rivet, but I his seal kits come with them.
You need to know the age of your gun so you know if it's a keyed rivet or not.
The keyed rivet is round on one end and what looks like a small rectangle on the other.

[eeler1]

What David said. 

Plus, depending on how wallowed out the hole in the link and pump arm is, the replacement rivet may or may not solve the problem.  If the rivet fits well, then you can buck it from either side.  I usually start at the flat side, turn it over at some point, maybe a couple of times.  It's a good idea to put a piece of flat stock in the slot, same thickness or a bit thicker than the lever, so if you miss or get too aggressive you don't flatten or squash  the lever.  And as you are bucking the rivet, move the lever into different positions, fore, aft, etc.

There's a link spring under the rivet, so you gotta figure out how to compress that while inserting the rivet into place.  The link spring keeps the pump lever closed so it doesn't flop around.

If the wallowing has gotten so bad that the replacement rivet doesn't fit, i.e., too loose, then you are best to just buy a replacement lever and toss the old one.  It's a big job to fix a pump linkage that needs a custom rivet and bushing.

[feech]

Bantam5s,

It was born in 1970 according to the serial number off the Crossman website.  The rivet looks to be of the rounded variety as the hole on the right side (looking down the barrel) is round and not rectangular like my keyed Sheridans.

Eeler1,

You have some very good advice in your reply. I'm sure others will benefit from your reply in future. It's funny, as part of this project, I just replaced the link spring using Timmy Mac's method. After doing it, I guessing it would be easier to install the rivet first followed by the link spring.  I can't imagine fighting that spring while trying to buck the rivet.  Unfortunately, I can't tell if the hole is wallowed out on the left side as the head of the rivet has been pounded flat about 1/2" in diameter.

At this point, I'm going to keep the existing set up lubed with sauce and run it to failure.

Thank you both for your excellent advice,
Feech