S&W 77A

[badfish2282]

Hello all. New to the forums here but wanted to thank everybody for the info gathered from reading posts. A special thanks to Ckistner for the OM.

Well, here she is. I've been holding on to this 77A for about 15 years since I acquired it from my grandfather. I must add I had never witnessed it to shoot in my lifetime.  After putting it it the closet for a couple years I broke it out about 10 years ago to see what I could find. There was pretty much nothing on the internet at the time so I started calling around and stopping at gunsmiths for advice. Almost everybody I talked to told me the rifle needed new leathers and that they couldn't do it but to try giving so and so a call, which I did only to get referred to someone else and so on.... So eventually back in the closet it went.



A couple weeks ago I decided to pull her back out again. After I inspected the rifle again I started realizing I think everybody I talked to in the past was wrong. When pumped it seemed like the leathers were working fine but that there was a leak coming from the chamber area. This lead me to believe that it wasn't the leathers but the seals of the valve.  So, once I got a copy of the owners manual (thanks again Ckistner) I decided to tackle the job myself.



Luckily I work at an outdoors shop with a very nice selection of paintball parts and O-rings and had no problem finding an O-rings to fit, even grabbed a couple extra sets just in case. I ended up replacing the valve body and the bolt O-rings with no problem. Thought it was going to be more complicated than it was. Took my time and had it back together in about 45 min. If I had to do it again I think it would probably take 20. I'm not saying everybody should dive into something like this, but if you have any experience tearing things apart and putting them back together you could probably manage.



Anyway, after I got it all back together I cocked her, held my breath and put in a few pumps.... Sweet sweet resistance!!!  She's holding air!    Put 5 pumps in last night and she still had pressure as of 10 minutes ago.

I haven't been able to actually shoot it yet since I'm right in the city, planning on taking her out to my parents tonight to see how she shoots.

Thanks again and wish me luck!
Jon                                                   

[ezman604]

That's one beauty of an example of a S&W 77a!!! It's the second series it looks like, since it has a dovetail. Mine is the first series with no dovetail. I had to fabricate a scope mount for mine.
Great job getting it to take and hold air. These are very powerful pumpers if they are sealed correctly. And LOUD.
Best to take it out of the city to shoot.
Keep us posted. And thanks for sharing. That's one gorgeous piece of airgun history!!!
SAFE & Happy Shooting!!!!
Dave
 

[badfish2282]

Thanks Dave! I am very excited to see this thing operational finally. Luckily the O-rings we have here in shop are usually in $700-$1000 paintball guns which are operating around 350-400psi in places, and in some cases used in our air compressor up to 4500psi, so I think they should seal up just fine. Only time will tell though.

[ezman604]

OH....sorry. 
Welcome to GTA Forums. Glad you found us and joined up!!!
 

[Ckistner]

Jon,

Your 77a looks awesome.  And to be handed down from your grandfather, it doesn't get any better than that.  I am still amazed at the ease of pumping a 77a and it feels like a real rifle in your hands.  I'm sure that once you get to shoot her, you will be very happy with it's performance.

Best of luck to you and thanks for sharing the pics,
Ck

[badfish2282]

Ran out to my parents house after work and unfortunately it was raining. Good thing the garage has a back door!

Wow is all I can say. I can't believe how hard this thing shoots, and ezman, you were not kidding about how loud it is.

I tried to chronograph it with a unit from work but unfortunately the unit we use is made for paintball guns and wouldn't register anything past 3 pumps, 362FPS, this sound about right? Might have to talk the workplace into getting a better chrony. 

I am very curious how fast she's shooting tho. Made short work out of the plywood I set up for a target. 

[ezman604]

LOL
Yepper...loud. And that sounds about right for 3 pumps. Max I got from mine was 715fps with CPHP 14.3gr.



http://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=23618.msg213683#msg213683

Mine was not as nice of condition as yours when I got it. But, it's a shooter for sure!!!
http://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=22091.msg202373#msg202373

[bbv13]

That's one beautiful rifle and it looks like your grandfather took great care of his guns.

Bryan

[tntv]

That rifle looks new,thats in great shape.I have both the 1st & 2nd,the one with the dovetail i mounted a small 4x32 way back,so it would not affect pumping,even though these pump so easy.The older one shoots alot harder then the 2nd varient & it leaks a little out of the muzzle after 2 or 3 pumps,so i pump it up fast.The crazy thing is i get 750-770 with crosman hollow pt 14.3g at 20 pumps.The gun will hold air for months .Those #s are pretty good,do u think they would improve,or by pumping quickly i get what it would pretty much top out at?The 2nd varient shot around 100 fps slower,and when i pumped it sounded like it wasn't taking in the air it should,but it did not leak.I was shooting it a few days ago & it crapped out on me,i would like to have it worked on,a powertune would be great.I was told these rifles were complicated & difficult to work on.I was also told they were very well made,i will post pics when my wife comes home tomorrow.I am not to good with the computer.

[badfish2282]

Thanks everybody for the compliments! It's been just over 7 years since my grandfather passed. It's kinda funny that when he was getting rid of his collections years before, out of all his guns, for some reason this one stood out to me.

tntv, I just ordered an el-cheapo scope to put on mine, we'll have to see how that works out.

Can't tell you much about your questions as I am new to the world of air rifles. What I can tell you is if it sounds like its not taking the air it should you may have the same problem I had which was the main valve body o-ring was allowing air to pass around the valve body rather than into it. As far as working on it, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting from what I had read from other people. I must add that I have some experience in rebuilding fishing reels and paintball guns, so I may not be the best person to say whether anybody should try it or not.  I also did not take the valve apart, just out. I would say if you don't have any kind of experience in anything like this I would let someone else look at it for you. 

Thanks again, Jon

[magnum]

very nice indeed I dont have the one with scope mount but it is a good accurate shooter. thanks for sharing