The Old 125th

[prodigalSON]

  Finally getting my 25 cal 125th closer to a hunting machine. Got the barrel choped to 13 1/2" and recrowned. I must say it really changed the whole look of this gun. It doesn't look like a toy goose gun anymore.
  Then I needed a way to carry it so I made a paracord sling and tapped the stock for a sling mount. Tomorrow I'm going to take the stock off and wet sand it to get rid of that gosh awful shiny black finish. I thought about painting it but figured the paint would scratch and peel and look like &^^&.

I have to say I love this freakin gun!

[SpringerMan]

  Finally getting my 25 cal 125th closer to a hunting machine. Got the barrel choped to 13 1/2" and recrowned. I must say it really changed the whole look of this gun. It doesn't look like a toy goose gun anymore.
  Then I needed a way to carry it so I made a paracord sling and tapped the stock for a sling mount. Tomorrow I'm going to take the stock off and wet sand it to get rid of that gosh awful shiny black finish. I thought about painting it but figured the paint would scratch and peel and look like &^^&.

I have to say I love this freakin gun!

Please post pics of your work on the stock. Mine is very shiny, also.

[prodigalSON]

  I will post pics. I've wet sanded cars after painting them so my plan is to start out with something around 320 grit and work my way to finer grits to get rid of the scratches.
 I also need to strip the internals out and clean them up but I been putting it off because Ive never removed the spring out of one before. Anyone got any tips for this?

[SpringerMan]

  I will post pics. I've wet sanded cars after painting them so my plan is to start out with something around 320 grit and work my way to finer grits to get rid of the scratches.
 I also need to strip the internals out and clean them up but I been putting it off because Ive never removed the spring out of one before. Anyone got any tips for this?

I'm looking forward to seeing how the stock sanding works out.



You'll need to use a Spring Compressor to remove the spring. I don't know of any that are commercially made. Most people make their own. Do a search for "Spring Compressor" and you should get some ideas there.

Be VERY CAREFUL !

[WHITEFANG]

http:/http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?p=2&q=CLAMPS
/www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=Bar+Clamp%2FSpreader+

Here is what I use. I have the home made one but this works very good. The come in different lengths. Works with barrel on or off.

FANG

[WHITEFANG]

Rustolem bedliner Spray paint will stick to the poly stocks and dries hard. Has work grat for me.

FANG

[prodigalSON]

   I finally got around to sanding the stock down. I used a scotchbrite pad wiping the dust away with a wet rag and then rubbing until the the water started to dry. Once you start you can really see how rough the finish is on their plastic stocks. It takes forever with the scotchbrite but does a good job.

The only area in the picture completely smoothed is the cheek piece. I went ahead and took a picture at that point to show the before and after picture. I post up more pictures when I'm done.

[prodigalSON]

.

[SpringerMan]

   I finally got around to sanding the stock down. I used a scotchbrite pad wiping the dust away with a wet rag and then rubbing until the the water started to dry. Once you start you can really see how rough the finish is on their plastic stocks. It takes forever with the scotchbrite but does a good job.

The only area in the picture completely smoothed is the cheek piece. I went ahead and took a picture at that point to show the before and after picture. I post up more pictures when I'm done.

I had a thought.

What about using an abrasive cleanser, such as COMET ( aka "scrubbing powder" ) in combination with the Scotch-Brite pad or very fine Steel or Brass Wool ?

[prodigalSON]

The best way would be start with some 320 grit and then work your way up to finer grits until all the scratches are out. I was too lazy to go to the store. But sanding the stock makes it look a million times better. The part I got done looks better than the stocks on my deer rifles.

[SpringerMan]

The best way would be start with some 320 grit and then work your way up to finer grits until all the scratches are out. I was too lazy to go to the store. But sanding the stock makes it look a million times better. The part I got done looks better than the stocks on my deer rifles.

What are you thinking of doing about the shine in the areas where the checkering is ?

[prodigalSON]

The best way would be start with some 320 grit and then work your way up to finer grits until all the scratches are out. I was too lazy to go to the store. But sanding the stock makes it look a million times better. The part I got done looks better than the stocks on my deer rifles.

What are you thinking of doing about the shine in the areas where the checkering is ?

i was thinking about removing it completely with a DA and then smoothing it out. But I don't really care for checkering on a synthetic stock.

[prodigalSON]

   I tried numerous different grits and methods sanding the stock. Even tried to wipe it down with fingernail polish remover to knock the shine off. Bad,bad move cause acetone eats the plastic pretty quick. I tried wet sanding up to 2000 grit. What I found was wet sanding to 800 grit left the best finish. Anything past that that polishes it to a cheap high gloss plastic. So the easiest way f gritor the best finish.
   Dry sand with 150 grit until all the black shine in gone. It should look like this.

[prodigalSON]

   Then get a bucket of water and some 800 grit wet/dry and wet sand until all the scratches are gone.

[prodigalSON]

   Now that the stock is finished next on the list is to disassemble, degrease and clean up all the internals. Before I start this venture I have a few question.

1.I read about putting a shim cut from a pop bottle between the spring and the piston. Is this beneficial or a waste of time?
2.When you re-lube after cleaning how much lubricant do you reapply? Like how much grease to the spring? Oil to the piston and seal?

Plus anymore tips or tricks anyone has would be great. This will be the first time I've ever had a springer apart so this is all a learning experience to me.

[Paul68]

   Now that the stock is finished next on the list is to disassemble, degrease and clean up all the internals. Before I start this venture I have a few question.

1.I read about putting a shim cut from a pop bottle between the spring and the piston. Is this beneficial or a waste of time?
2.When you re-lube after cleaning how much lubricant do you reapply? Like how much grease to the spring? Oil to the piston and seal?

Plus anymore tips or tricks anyone has would be great. This will be the first time I've ever had a springer apart so this is all a learning experience to me.

Look in the GTA library and read the basic tune guides.

Although some folks like to use pieces of bottles, cans etc and shim their guides, I would never do it. I've seen internals on guns where this was done, and they had nice crumpled pieces of bottle plastic and little bits n pieces everywhere. Besides, do you really want to stick cut up pieces of trash inside your $200.00 gun? Stick to a good cleaning, deburring and lube instead.

You do not use grease or oil inside a springer. It can cause deiseling and detonation.

Moly past is used very sparingly on parts where metal to metal contact may occur (thin film on piston behind seal and around the end etc), Black tar is used to coat the spring to reduce buzziness, twang, and to smooth the shot cycle.


The tuning guides in the library cover the basics and are a good place to start for a newbie to servicing.

http://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?action=library

[prodigalSON]

Thanks a bunch. I've read so much stuff on tunning a springer it just all starts getting confusing. I'll just stick with the molly paste. I've read everything from synthetic  motor oil to marine grease. Google is a good tool but it also has quiet a bit of bad info. What I read about putting the pop bottle shim in was suppose to reduce twang but I thought it didn't sound right. From now on I'll just get all my info from this site where its been tested and proven.

[Paul68]

Thanks a bunch. I've read so much stuff on tunning a springer it just all starts getting confusing. I'll just stick with the molly paste. I've read everything from synthetic  motor oil to marine grease. Google is a good tool but it also has quiet a bit of bad info. What I read about putting the pop bottle shim in was suppose to reduce twang but I thought it didn't sound right. From now on I'll just get all my info from this site where its been tested and proven.

I've cleaned up a lot of guns, not nearly as many as some of the vets here, but more than a few. Never had to shim a guide with any plastic or anything else to get rid of twang. The spring guide is a high stress area, and any plastic shims you put in there WILL eventually deteriorate, more often than not, quickly.

I've found that very good results are had with the Hatsans by removing the plastic button washer inside the piston and replacing it with a metal tophat, polishing the spring ends and the trigger block washer, and tarring the spring. The tophat is the most difficult part as it is a custom piece you either make yourself or have someone else fabricate for you.

[SpringerMan]

Thanks a bunch. I've read so much stuff on tunning a springer it just all starts getting confusing. I'll just stick with the molly paste. I've read everything from synthetic  motor oil to marine grease. Google is a good tool but it also has quiet a bit of bad info. What I read about putting the pop bottle shim in was suppose to reduce twang but I thought it didn't sound right. From now on I'll just get all my info from this site where its been tested and proven.

KRYTOX - It can't diesel or burn.

[prodigalSON]

   I haven't been on lately. Been chasing coyotes and working on a hunting cabin. But an update on the Hatty, here it is finished, excuse the crappy phone pics. I have an uncle that builds cowboy action and blackpowder guns and he showed me how to cut and recrown the barrel. For those who haven't done it before, after he cut the barrel, he checked the end with a small square and used a flat file until the end was perfectly square. The bit he used to crown it was a diegrinder type bit that was shaped like a ball. He said that the counter sink bit I was going to use was the wrong angle and the ball bit makes it easier to cut the crown the even. The paracord sling worked out awesome. It turned out to be more comfortable than any of my other gun slings and Bushnell Sportsman shotgun scope has held up well after 500 shots. A clean and lube really brought the gun to life. When I first got the gun I shot it at a 55gal steel drum from 25 yards and it barely dented it. Now that its finished it shoots completely through and dents the other side.