ARH springs.

[Keen]

The R9 lost some accuracy, and then more accuracy yesterday. Chrony sez 650 to 780 FPE, tissue test is negative, so time for a new  seal, and maybe a spring too. For those who have installed ARH springs, do the springs fit well on the original guides or is it necessary to purchase a kit with the guides included. There's a Vortek kit in there at the mo, I'm just considering something different. I'll be putting another Vac Seal in there if needed.

[Bayman]

That's a very large extreme spread. Before you order anything I would open her up and see what's going on in there.
What Vortek kit is in there now?
What piston seal is in there now?
Was this gun ever dry fired in it's current configuration?

[Jason_Garvin]

I would recommend the full kit, and a new vac seal.  I would also reinstall the piston liner at the same time coming from the Vortek.

Jason

[nced]

The R9 lost some accuracy, and then more accuracy yesterday. Chrony sez 650 to 780 FPE, tissue test is negative, so time for a new  seal, and maybe a spring too. For those who have installed ARH springs, do the springs fit well on the original guides or is it necessary to purchase a kit with the guides included. There's a Vortek kit in there at the mo, I'm just considering something different. I'll be putting another Vac Seal in there if needed.

My first Maccari spring kit I bought decades ago for my Beeman R10 was a "complete kit" and it worked perfectly for a long time. Since then I've used Maccari (ARH) "bare springs" almost exclusively cutting my own fitted guides for my R9 & HW95.........


I did try a couple of "another brand" of aftermarket springs a few years back but found that they "sagged" after a few thousand shots (consistent for about 2,500 shots) so I reverted back to the ARH offerings ever since. I used to shoot about 10,000 shots per year when I was active in field target and found that I could get about two years of service (lack of velocity robbing sagging) from the ARH springs whereas the other aftermarket spring I used dropped considerable velocity shooting less than one case of boxed Crosman Premiers (four 1250 count boxes = 5000 shots) in less than 6 months.

[Roadworthy]

The ARH spring should work fine on the original guide if you still have it.  If you do not buy the ARH spring as part of a kit you will probably have to either pay them to "set" the spring or be prepared to do so yourself.  Many Vortek kits use an external guide and hence a smaller outer diameter spring.  You may not be able to use the Vortek guide with a Maccari spring.  By all means order a piston seal at the same time.

[Nitrocrushr]

The R9 lost some accuracy, and then more accuracy yesterday. Chrony sez 650 to 780 FPE, tissue test is negative, so time for a new  seal, and maybe a spring too. For those who have installed ARH springs, do the springs fit well on the original guides or is it necessary to purchase a kit with the guides included. There's a Vortek kit in there at the mo, I'm just considering something different. I'll be putting another Vac Seal in there if needed.

Chris, I would purchase a guide too.  But keep in mind that springs do vary.  It’s hard to manufacture a guide at a standard dimension for a particular spring type.  I could purchase 6 identical springs and make a guide to fit.  It might fit well on 3 or 4 of the springs, and be a little loose on the others.  Just using this as an example to show that there will be variance from spring to spring.

Steve

[jmmartn]

ARH kits are hard to beat. Good information here.

[DanD]

ARH Hornet springs have fit the OEM guide tight in the past but I haven't tried the the latest run.
https://www.airrifleheadquarters.com/catalog/item/251488/1256921.htm
Have fun!

[nced]

The R9 lost some accuracy, and then more accuracy yesterday. Chrony sez 650 to 780 FPE, tissue test is negative, so time for a new  seal, and maybe a spring too. For those who have installed ARH springs, do the springs fit well on the original guides or is it necessary to purchase a kit with the guides included. There's a Vortek kit in there at the mo, I'm just considering something different. I'll be putting another Vac Seal in there if needed.

Chris, I would purchase a guide too.  But keep in mind that springs do vary.  It’s hard to manufacture a guide at a standard dimension for a particular spring type.  I could purchase 6 identical springs and make a guide to fit.  It might fit well on 3 or 4 of the springs, and be a little loose on the others.  Just using this as an example to show that there will be variance from spring to spring.

Steve

"It’s hard to manufacture a guide at a standard dimension for a particular spring type."
Yup.........matter of fact the spring ID along the length can vary so "custom guide fitting" can be needed to properly fit snugly, matter of fact, I've found that even the ends of the spring can fit a guide differently. I cut my guides to be tight and I judge tightness by how difficult it is to pull out a guide fitted to the spring. If I can pull a guide out of a spring with a "straight pull" I consider the fit to be too loose. If I twist the guide contrary to the coil wind to open the "coil ID" a bit while pulling and only then can the guide be removed the fit is what I consider "proper tightness" (the preferred fit can vary from tuner to tuner).

If the guide can't be removed even while twisting contrary to coil wind while pulling then the guide is too tight for my liking.

[SpiralGroove]

For someone without a lathe or equivalent tools, just buy a kit (ARH or Vortek) and make tuning "simpler" .
Lots of other things to work on -n- shooting consistently.

If you live in Washington state - just come over to my house .

[Yogi]

Don't mean to highjack, but one of my guides is pretty loose.  I turn the spring upside down and the guide just falls out.
As a stop gap measure, would wrapping the spring guide with HD Gorilla tape be a temporary solution?  Would electrical tape be better?
Any other "easy/temporary" fixes?
I know 3M makes tape for helicoper rotors, I do not have any of that...

[Jason_Garvin]

Don't mean to highjack, but one of my guides is pretty loose.  I turn the spring upside down and the guide just falls out.
As a stop gap measure, would wrapping the spring guide with HD Gorilla tape be a temporary solution?  Would electrical tape be better?
Any other "easy/temporary" fixes?
I know 3M makes tape for helicoper rotors, I do not have any of that...

These would not be recommended.  I tried years ago a high strength shrink wrap on a steel guide, it was chewed up in no time.

[Robert 5mm]

Don't mean to highjack, but one of my guides is pretty loose.  I turn the spring upside down and the guide just falls out.
As a stop gap measure, would wrapping the spring guide with HD Gorilla tape be a temporary solution?  Would electrical tape be better?
Any other "easy/temporary" fixes?
I know 3M makes tape for helicoper rotors, I do not have any of that...

These would not be recommended.  I tried years ago a high strength shrink wrap on a steel guide, it was chewed up in no time.

Same thing on wrap - had a FDAR Beeman R7 with the wrap that got tangled - not a good idea in my opinion

[Yogi]

So just live with the twang?

-Y

[Jeff Marshall]

Any other "easy/temporary" fixes?

The "shrink tune"

Cheap polyolefin heat shrink tubing glued and shrunk onto the guide in an oven is cheap, easy, and works very well.

If the tubing fails it normally does so quickly and (probably) wasn't installed properly.

I have been using this method for 20ish years, on many guns, and with a huge shot count.

It is a very viable method for some circumstances, people, or guns.

[Yogi]

Don't mean to highjack, but one of my guides is pretty loose.  I turn the spring upside down and the guide just falls out.
As a stop gap measure, would wrapping the spring guide with HD Gorilla tape be a temporary solution?  Would electrical tape be better?
Any other "easy/temporary" fixes?
I know 3M makes tape for helicoper rotors, I do not have any of that...

Never mind.  I found a Vortek kit hidden away.  With both tight inner and outer guides it should not twang at all.

-Y

[Keen]

OK. Thank you all for the input. An ARH kit and Vortek seal it is.

I'd love to stop by Kirk, but I'm inconveniently located in upstate NY

Must admit to being intrigued by the "shrink tune". I have a test mule gun I may try that with.

[nced]

Don't mean to highjack, but one of my guides is pretty loose.  I turn the spring upside down and the guide just falls out.
As a stop gap measure, would wrapping the spring guide with HD Gorilla tape be a temporary solution?  Would electrical tape be better?
Any other "easy/temporary" fixes?
I know 3M makes tape for helicoper rotors, I do not have any of that...

When I used to do tuning work I would occasionally find remnants from a "heat shrink tune" jammed between the spring coils and pieces inside the receiver.
If you would like "shreds of junk" mixed with lube inside your receiver this often reported "fix" is a good way to do it!

[Nitrocrushr]

Don't mean to highjack, but one of my guides is pretty loose.  I turn the spring upside down and the guide just falls out.
As a stop gap measure, would wrapping the spring guide with HD Gorilla tape be a temporary solution?  Would electrical tape be better?
Any other "easy/temporary" fixes?
I know 3M makes tape for helicoper rotors, I do not have any of that...

When I used to do tuning work I would occasionally find remnants from a "heat shrink tune" jammed between the spring coils and pieces inside the receiver.
If you would like "shreds of junk" mixed with lube inside your receiver this often reported "fix" is a good way to do it!

I’ve seen the same with the soda can sleeves.  Fragments of aluminum everywhere when you pull things apart.

Steve

[KWK]

Don't mean to highjack, but one of my guides is pretty loose.  I turn the spring upside down and the guide just falls out.
As a stop gap measure, would wrapping the spring guide with HD Gorilla tape be a temporary solution?  Would electrical tape be better?
Any other "easy/temporary" fixes?
I know 3M makes tape for helicoper rotors, I do not have any of that...

My fwb 124 came with a toasted seal so I broke it down and found it had some unknown aftermarket spring in it. I put it together with this loose spring and new seal to find it does twang mildly. A while later I opened it up to see if I could make a guide for it but it would have to be too thin. So I gave the spring a "spyder web" coating of euro tar. Worked great. Produces just over 12 ft lb. I don't normally want to build a "grease gun" but it does shoot really nice now. At the current temperature. Cold weather will likely bring a POI change. JM claims to have a better fitting spring that I may install later.