My gun grew while disassembled ?

[woodbutcher]

I disassembled my new Trail XL. Replaced the piston seal, installed Gene’s new bushing . Deburrd & lubed according to the info I’ve collected here at GTA. . I reassembled. But now the hole for the stock link pin doesn’t line up. I disassembled and reassembled and disassembled reassembled ... ect. Well you get it. The Tube Cover would not screw in all the way either. It seams like the workings have grown in length almost an  1/8 in.
Side note: According to the  schematic there is one Plain Plate between the Gas Spring and the Back Spring Guide. Mine has two. ?   But even with one removed didn’t change enough. Besides it lined up with the two before I took it apart. I have tried assembling with & without the trigger assembly...

[Roadworthy]

All I can offer is keep at it.  I had a bear of a time last time mine was apart.  I don't remember what I did to make it work but I've never had that much trouble before.  In my case everything seemed to fit fine if I left out the trigger assembly.  I think I finally just got everything into perfect alignment and it all pulled together.  Cool off.  Stay patient.  Relax.  It will come together - it came apart, didn't it?

[OleTomCat]

Take some pictures and post them up...

[woodbutcher]

I just don't get it. Everything goes back in the way it came out. I filed out the pin hole (That I shouldn't have) The tube cover won't screw all the way in, which moves the entire works forward in the stock so no mounting holes line up. The tube cover screws all the way in with the works out.

[woodbutcher]

I put the new seal on the piston, lubed and slid it in with the piece of coke can method. Cleaned up the gas ram, installed Gene's guide, a little lube and slid it in. I put the plain plate inside the back spring guide ( dap of lube to hold in place ) centered  the gas ram on it and slid it in. Then the final rear adjustment washer. Everything feels like it is going in solid. I screw on the tube cover and oups, something's wrong. ?

[OleTomCat]

One picture, that doesn't show a whole lot, isn't enough, pull it all out and take some pictures so we can see what you have in there that isn't fitting correctly......

[woodbutcher]

There's not much to show. There's the line up as everything going in. The piston is half in the compression tube. I already have the new seal on it and didn't want to run it past the threads again. The new seal is from Air Rifle Headquarters, the Walther Talon- Hunter -Mag -Turkish Guns-( Piston Seal ) It looks the same thickness and the factory one. If it was thicker that would move everything back. But that's not it.  The seal is the only thing I've changed.

[56S]

Is by chance the OD of the new guide bushing larger than the ID of the piston?

[Treb37]

It looks to me like you have to compress your gas strut with a bit of preload to get the pin in? I've only worked on non-xl versions and I know there are some differences....

[woodbutcher]

Each piece feel like it seats well when I slide them in. Be fore the tube cover screws on I stand it on end and tap it with a plastic hammer to be sure everythings seated. I've built a couple of blown big blocks. I know how it feels to tap a new piston it till it seats. I can't believe these 6 parts have me baffled !

[woodbutcher]

That may be it Treb. Maybe just crew the tube cove in with more force. I tried putting a cloth around it and using pliers.
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Treb led me in the right direction. The only way to compress the ram a little is to screw the tube cover in more. I found a wrench from my hand grinder fits the tube cover perfect. Screwed right in. When I disassembled I was a able to remove it by hand. I was trying to reassemble the same way. I think I was being a little to gentle. THANKS ! I'll post tomorrow and let ya know how the first firing goes. I never trust it's assembled right till that first shot. WOW ! I'ver been toying with this for 3 days. GTA IS GREAT !!

[woodbutcher]

Evidently it takes less force to remove the cover when relieving pressure from the ram than installing the cover and compressing the ram. I waited a couple of days till I posted cause I knew it would be something simple. JUST SCREW IT IN ! What do ya think the dang threads are for? hahaha

[Treb37]

I have to use a bar clamp to compress it on other NP models. then there is a cross pin that has to line up perfect. Sounds like you have no cross pin just a threaded end cap....

[woodbutcher]

The XL has only about 3/8" of pre-load. The threaded end cap takes that up. After a frustrating hour everything finally slipped together. I got it finished about 9:00 at night. I had to cock it to make sure I had everything installed correctly and couldn't wait until morning. WOW ! It worked great ! But of course I didn't want to leave it cocked over night so I loaded it and went out on the deck to shoot it into a far hillside. Being a fresh lube I was expecting the usual first round loud crack. What I wasn't expecting was the small flash out of the muzzle. Took me back to my black powder days when we'd over load powder at night just to see the flame. The next shot was much quitter and the third was nearly normal. Luckily I don't have any close neighbors.
Thanks for all the responses. I wouldn't have even turned a screw on it if I didn't know I had GTA behind me .

[Sfttailrdr46]

The XL has only about 3/8" of pre-load. The threaded end cap takes that up. After a frustrating hour everything finally slipped together. I got it finished about 9:00 at night. I had to cock it to make sure I had everything installed correctly and couldn't wait until morning. WOW ! It worked great ! But of course I didn't want to leave it cocked over night so I loaded it and went out on the deck to shoot it into a far hillside. Being a fresh lube I was expecting the usual first round loud crack. What I wasn't expecting was the small flash out of the muzzle. Took me back to my black powder days when we'd over load powder at night just to see the flame. The next shot was much quitter and the third was nearly normal. Luckily I don't have any close neighbors.
Thanks for all the responses. I wouldn't have even turned a screw on it if I didn't know I had GTA behind me .

When all else fails ask and these guys will help they are a wealth of AG and mechanical skill knowledge all in one helpful package and some of them can shoot pretty well also