to re-install a WFH muzzle thing

[JonnyReb]

Hi guys, just curious if anyone has installed a wfh/talon muzzlebreak. I'll call it a MB for lack of a better term. Cocking aid might be better. Anyways, when I removed the MB from a bent barreled .25 it took me hours of boiling water and several thousand taps with a mallet. Almost threw it away but I kept tapping away till I got it. I installed a .22 barrel I received from Ed(Shadow) and tried the boiling water/mallet to no avail. It almost seems like the factory either forms the MB to the barrel splines while its hot in the mold or they have some kinda hydraulic sleeve to push the thing on.. Or both.                                                                                      So i'm curious if anyone has successfully put one of these on and how you did it. My next option is to ream the thing out to a larger i.d. and epoxy it on the barrel. Any suggestions would be welcomed. J

[fazuli]

seems heating would expand the material, try super cooling both the break and barrel . the minute contraction could be all you need , then try boring , just an observation

[Muppit]

put the barrel in tne freezer overnight and then put the break in the oven if its not plastic for a while on say 400 degrees. thats how i get   press on bearings on some of the snowmobile engines i work on. the cold contracts metel while the heat expands it making for a easy slide on and then everything comes back to same temp its tight....dave

[WHITEFANG]

No luck getting it off and salvaging it. If your wanting the site There are some out there. Getting one that will fit the OD of the barrel is the deal. The brake that PA has for the RWS guns will fit the barrel. It is not the large pro compac brake.

[bradyman1]

You could try reaming the first inch or two a bit bigger and leaving the rest of it the same diameter. That may help getting it started. Or you could sand the end of the barrel, same idea just a different execution.

A little grease, oil, or soap may help it slide on a bit better also.

[JonnyReb]

Thanks for the suggestions, I think i'll try all suggestions, partial ream, superheat(compared to boiling water) and freeze the barrel. One way or the other i'll get it :-), will post how it turns out.  J

[yoshi800]

I think there's an allen screw you have to take off the brake first.  Then heat it up (put the brake and barrel in boiling water).  Next stick the brake in a regular vise (not a gun vise). Wrap it in a towel to prevent marring and carefully twist/pull the barrel off (hold it at the breech end). 
To put it back on - stick the brake in boiling water, then put it on the barrel and shove it on.  I just use a concrete floor and use my body weight to push down with.  To adjust the sight - stick the brake in a regular vise and twist the barrel to adjust it.  Remember to put the allen screw back on.

[Mike 4888blues]

Muppit had the best ideal #2 post. if the  hand brake is plastic just used heated hot water
 I am sure the gta member knows all about the Allen screw and everything else

[JonnyReb]

:-).  Yeah I did remove the allen screw first. I any of ya'll have ever actually tried this I think you'll know how hard this is to do. I did do the boiling water to get it off, but as it softens the plastic, the plastic MB will try to bend when reinstalling. The i.d. is smaller than the barrel id though, so stretch has to take place, and at normal temps there is just no stretch. I thank everyone for their replies, i'm gonna ream the bugger and epoxy it on, and give the gun to my dad. I will also never remove a hatsan MB again :-).  Jeff

[yoshi800]

Good luck.  There's a lot of airgunners here who aren't exactly happy with hatsan.   

[bluzjamer]

Jeff use that little tube of anal ease that hatsan put in with the instructions. I think that is why they put it in there but I don't really know!

[Mike 4888blues]

:-).  Yeah I did remove the allen screw first. I any of ya'll have ever actually tried this I think you'll know how hard this is to do. I did do the boiling water to get it off, but as it softens the plastic, the plastic MB will try to bend when reinstalling. The i.d. is smaller than the barrel id though, so stretch has to take place, and at normal temps there is just no stretch. I thank everyone for their replies, i'm gonna ream the bugger and epoxy it on, and give the gun to my dad. I will also never remove a hatsan MB again :-).  Jeff

 long story short  they were not designed  to come off, that's for sure.

 heating things up requires a balance,  you want expansion but not parts to break down and  stretch etc.  I am thinking there were ribs on the end of  the barrel as well, did you see any?
pretty sure another member  mentioned  his had ribs  on the end  of the barrel underneath the muzzle brake

[JonnyReb]

Yes sir it is ribbed and splined both. Still haven't installed the thing but will get to it soon. I agree, those things (mb) were not designed to be removed. Fantastic rifle though. J