Help with Hatsan 95 gas ram

[Shawncho]

I'm new to air guns. I have a Hatsan Mod 95 vortex. *fair warning: lots of rookie mistakes here, I'm sure! But a newbie has to start somewhere, right?

Recently, the gun lost all pressure in the gas ram, so I bought a Hatsan hand pump to try to recharge it. I took the stock off, found the port, did a google search for how much pressure to give it, (unfortunately got bad information and pumped it up to almost 200 bar).  Now I can't pump the rifle at all. I've been checking every couple of days in case the high pressure blew the seals but so far the pressure hasn't changed.

After searching for info on depressurizing, I found discussions about a bleeder screw on the opposite side of the air port. But my rifle doesn't have that screw. It just has a closed off port where the screw might go. Can anyone tell me what I can do at this point to lower the pressure? I'm attaching a photo so you can see what I'm talking about.  Thanks!

[Blowpipe Sam]

Honestly your best option is to convert the gun to a springer.  You can order the parts from Hatsan USA although availability can be an issue.  There are several good threads here on the forum about converting Hatsan Vortex ram guns to springers.  Mikeyb is the resident authority on doing the conversion.  You might PM him.

The Vortex ram is going to leak eventually and a lot of folks feel that the spring is a better long term option.

Since your gun lost pressure it may leak down over the next few days.  If so it will need new O-rings.  Replacing the O-rings is do-able but not easy.  Another reason to consider a spring.

[Shawncho]

Honestly your best option is to convert the gun to a springer.  You can order the parts from Hatsan USA although availability can be an issue.  There are several good threads here on the forum about converting Hatsan Vortex ram guns to springers.  Mikeyb is the resident authority on doing the conversion.  You might PM him.

The Vortex ram is going to leak eventually and a lot of folks feel that the spring is a better long term option.

Since your gun lost pressure it may leak down over the next few days.  If so it will need new O-rings.  Replacing the O-rings is do-able but not easy.  Another reason to consider a spring.

@CaptainCarter, thanks for the reply. I'll begin researching the conversion process. Any links to articles are welcome if you happen to come across them!

[Blowpipe Sam]

Uh oh!  Sorry.  Posting links is a bit beyond my computer savvy but just go to the Turkish airgun gate and scroll down.  The mod 95 is a very popular topic right now.

[Madd Hatter]

https://michaeljbernard.wordpress.com/2023/11/12/2023_11_09_hatsan_mod125-177/

[mikeyb]

Thank you. I consider it a compliment when someone references my posts :-)

The newer Vortex air spring for Mod95 rifles does not have a "bleed screw". I'm guessing Hatsan got rid of the port to save cost, prevent leaks, or both.
BIG PROBLEM for us because there is no easy way to de-air a Vortex that has been overfilled.

The "check valve" in these Vortex air springs is a simple gap cut into an o-ring groove. Air ENTERING the Vortex pushes the o-ring over the gap and air flows in. Air trying to EXIT the Vortex pushes the o-ring away from the gap which STOPS the air from exiting. There is NO SIMPLE WAY to get air out of this Vortex.

You CAN take apart an EMPTY Vortex and install new o-rings which "should" last 3-5 years. I've had too many (8+ now) leaky Vortex air springs so now I try to change the rifles back to coil springs. Crosman NPs (sealed nitrogen gas springs) CAN be an alternate spring but that modification requires careful measurements and fabrication of a custom bushing/spacer.

I prefer to order OEM coil springs and 3-hole "tail plugs" from HatsanUSA and make my OWN fitted spring guide and slip-washers.
This link fits this thread a little better.

https://michaeljbernard.wordpress.com/2023/02/18/2023_02_18_hatsan_mod95_vortex_to_coil_spring_conversion/

Cost is NOT cheap
$20 Spring
$10 Tail Plug 3-hole
$10 S&H
$2 custom bolt spring guide

Considering that Pyramyd was just selling the 25cal Mod95Vortex combo for $100 with a -$25 coupon (out of stock NOW), spending another $40 to fix a leaky Vortex is annoying.
I needed to grab one of my Vortex rifles to evict invading squirrels and it was LIMP. Darn Vortex again. That rifle is now converted to use a coil spring and I NEVER have to worry about it going LIMP again. YMMV :-)

[Shawncho]

Thank you both for the links and information! I will start reading it over to see if I can do the conversion.

[dw]

Regarding spring conversions, I've had 5 out of 5 of my Hatsan vortex rifles fail over the years, specifically due to leaking of the gas rams. I rebuilt one vortex piston from a 135 with new o rings and it seems to be holding. However, I've decided to replace all of the vortex rams with coil springs so as not to continue this cycle.

I did my first coil spring conversion this week, a Hatsan 95, using parts I had, and a custom spring guide using a partially-threaded hex bolt as suggested in some of the posts by mikeyb. I found out there's a learning curve, although the rebuilt rifle has come together nicely. I have previously used my spring compressor for gas rams, but never before for coil springs, and I learned a lot (over multiple attempts) about how to control things when that spring is going in. Some of this is related to my primitive home-made spring compressor. I'll surely do much better with my next project. I did learn I could benefit from using a cable tie to hold the safety onto the end plug during the process of loading the coil into the receiver with the spring compressor. First time, I lost the little spring and ball from the safety, had a very hard time finding them in my very messy work area! Always amazed how many parts these rifles have. The quattro trigger was much easier to work with this time compared to my first rebuild project last year (dummy pin and packing tape holding everything together in the trigger block so I didn't have to reassemble everything as I did last time). I was so excited when the rifle cocked properly and fired normally!

1 down, 4 more to go! Waiting on shipment of several spring replacement kits from Hatsan...

Big shout out to all the contributors on this site, especially mikeyb! I would never attempt these projects without all the helpful advice here, and a couple of those Mike Ellingsworth videos on youtube.

[Back_Roads]

[splitbeing]

I've been fantasizing about having someone tune my 95 for me and equip my 362 with a decent barrel in exchange for my urban .22.

[elboyler]

I've seen a method to lower the pressure but hard to say how it's gonna look at 200bar. The point is to remove it from the gun and unscrew the copper bolt - the one that seals the shaft. The problem is the thread covered with glue and it's length is about 20mm. After initial break you must wiggle a lot to rip the internal glue. It should start leaking at 1-2mm i think and i'd be careful not to move too far. Done too fast may lead to destroy the o-ring or in worst case it may just shoot out. I used to wonder if there might be a way to pin the fill-port with something to depressure it but I think I'll find a way the day i'll disassemble my unit