Ruger Air Hawk

[longhunter]

another thing. if it's "groaning" when you cock it, it means that it needs to be lubed. if you're capable, tear it down and give ti a t least a good lube tune. that'll quiet things down.

[TooJung2Die]

another thing. if it's "groaning" when you cock it, it means that it needs to be lubed. if you're capable, tear it down and give ti a t least a good lube tune. that'll quiet things down.

That was the Air Hawk I returned. It had a defective barrel so it went back. Most likely the groan was a tight piston seal. They don't bother to fit piston seals at the factory. Judging by how it dieseled there was no lack of lube. Moot point anyway.

the second screw mod is worth every penny. i have it on mine and you wouldn't believe the difference.

I didn't know you could buy the second screw mod. I'll mod it myself if I decide to go that route. It's easy to do.

It's going much better with the current Air Hawk. The trigger job eliminated the first stage creep. Second stage is nice and crisp. I replaced the large trigger spring with a shorter, lighter spring. It's grouping well with CPHP but the groups open up after a couple hundred shots. Running a couple of goo-gone patches through the bore brings out flakes of lead and the groups tighten up. I think the leading with subside with time and after a JB bore paste treatment or two.

The muzzle needed a new crown. It looked like the bore was rifled after the muzzle was crowned.    Every groove had a tiny burr protruding outwards. The new crown is sharp and bright.

I decided to try the 4x30 scope that came with the Air Hawk before mounting the Bushnell. Discovered there was some droop, about 8" at 15 yards. Instead of compensating with the scope mount I elected to bend the barrel. Didn't take much to bring the POI in line with the POA.

The stock screws were loose from the factory so they get Loctite after the stock goes back on. I really like the wood and the color of this stock but the finish was very thin and dull. I'm applying several coats of Tru Oil and Armor All. It looks awesome after just a couple of coats.

I have the front sight off since working the crown. I'm undecided whether to leave it off, put it back on (it's visible through the scope), or put on a muzzle brake I have from a Remington Summit. I found the breech pivot screw had come loose so that went back together with Loctite.

Unlike the first Air Hawk this one has a properly shimmed breech seal. After I'm satisfied with the basics it'll get torn down. I have a selection of Vortek piston seals if needed and I plan on calling Mike Melick for one of his top hats.

I was looking for a project and now I have several. In addition to this Air Hawk there's a Crosman 101 all torn down waiting for parts on my bench and a '74 Sheridan Blue Streak stock I said I would refinish for a friend. There's always some thing that I want to do to nearly every airgun and that doesn't include the WWII firearms I began collecting recently. I hardly have time to shoot!

[Kowboi]

I have two Airhawks and both are very good shooters. I can shoot paintballs off of golf tees at 30 yards all day long with either one.

[avator]

As most know, Betty Lou and I have several pairs of guns and we like to have little competitions. We bought the airhawks last year on Black Friday. We have several guns that we like very well, some more than others. We put the Mike Mellick Top Hats in and reversed the piston sleeves. Cocking and firing was real smooth. The triggers were quite heavy. I did the front screw on mine because I like a much shorter pull than Betty Lou does. We didn't do the back screw or spring or anything else for that matter, Just basic clean, deburr and lube. These guns fell down our list of favorites for the simple fact that Betty Lou struggled cocking hers. After 10 or 12 shots she was always ready for something easier. After all, airgunning should be fun and not work. Betty Lou is, by no means, a weenie nor a complainer. We have just as much, if not more, fun plinking at shorter distances (20 ft out to 25 yds.) We have a Crosman Mendoza RM377 and Betty Lou likes it a lot and I went on a search for something compaired to that and I think I've found it. We will be replacing the Airhawks with a couple Flying Dragon basic tuned XS-12's.

[howie1a]

Hi the B25 or air hawk is a clone of the RWS 34 but their is some difference the stock is not interchangeable ( I make stocks ) you will need to do some mods to be able to use a B25 stock on a rws 34  or a RWS 34 stock on a B25 they are close but different the cocking slot is different and the cocking linkage is a2 piece on the B25 and a 1 piece on the RWS that changes the slot in the stock also the B25 needs a shelf for the cocking arm to ride on that is not in the 34 , It is close but their are some differences in the trigger group too like the 34 trigger is plastic and the B25 is aluminum, It is a very good gun but I still feel the 34 is better. Howie1a

[TooJung2Die]

Bill, I agree with your assessment of the cocking force. It's equivalent to the Diana 34 I have even with it's articulated cocking linkage. My shoulder felt it after a full day of cocking and shooting.    I think it'll be a little powerhouse. I have yet to chrony the new Air Hawk but the first one clocked 900 fps with 8.3 gr Superdome. Gotta go put on some more Tru Oil... 

It is a very good gun but I still feel the 34 is better. Howie1a

No argument here. I haven't had to touch anything on the Diana 34 and it is a great airgun. The Air Hawk is a project!

[avator]

Jon,
 There is no question that they are powerhouse guns. Well built and good looking too. This, along with price, is what made us buy them in the first place. I have zero complaints with them other than the situation I've discribed. When we shoot 35 to 50 yds, we always grab our FD-PCP rifles as well as for pesting. The airhawks didn't have a home and I hate to see a gun neglected. These 2 little XS-12's are going to see alot of action. BTW... I am not comparing them to the airhawks, they aren't even in the same class. I even considered keeping mine and moving Betty Lou's but, I am a fortunate man to have a shooting partner that loves this as much as I do and I intend to do all I can to promote that. Give your airhawk a little TLC and you won't be disappointed.

[TooJung2Die]

New crown, a couple of JB bore compound treatments and over a tin of pellets through it I think it's time for a look inside the Air Hawk. Here's one of the latest targets. This is encouraging!

Jon

[jfrey]

That a very good result !!   Thanks for doing such a nice job writing about your air hawk project.   

[deweytastic]

whats the distance on that group for all we know it could be a few feet or a few hundred yards?

[TooJung2Die]

whats the distance on that group for all we know it could be a few feet or a few hundred yards?

Sorry I forgot that important detail.    Range 20 yards, bull is 1.5 cm diameter. Shooting my go-to pellet, RWS Superdome 8.3 gr.

[TooJung2Die]

I needed to get a baseline before taking the Air Hawk apart for a tune and possible mods so I hooked up the Chrony, cable and laptop.

RWS Superdome 8.3 gr:
896 avg fps, 13 spread, 14.8 ft/lbs

RWS Basic Wadcutter 7.0 gr:
984 avg fps, 12 spread, 15.0 ft/lbs

That's close to the advertised velocity of 1000 fps with (light) lead pellets. I'm like'n this cheap air rifle more every day. 

[TooJung2Die]

It's a good thing I took a look inside before shooting the Air Hawk any more. It could've been heading for catastrophic failure. I found a number of minor things wrong but the worst was the piston. The head of the piston was very loose and rattling around in the piston body. The piston rod was wobbling. I tack welded the head to the body in several spots, then ground down the welds and smoothed it out. It's not loose anymore! The rod wasn't perfectly centered so a whack with a rubber mallet fixed that.

The original piston seal was scored in several places and a tiny chunk taken out of the edge during factory assembly. I have a couple of Vortek seals, a ProSEAL28-Red and a ProSEAL28-Black. Think I'll use the red one first, it's harder. You can see in the photos the new seal was larger than the old seal so I had to fit the new one. I turned it down until it was .010" larger in diameter than the old seal when mounted. I left extra material because the compression tube will be honed and to leave room for error.

The trigger assembly sides were bulging outwards, causing a lot of side to side slop slop. I gently squeezed it in a vise and made the sides flat. I stoned all the sear surfaces. Replaced the inner sear spring with a softer, shorter spring. The front stock mounting bracket was loose so that got red Loctite.

Put it back together with moly grease on the spring ends, SuperLube with PTFE on the piston skirt and mainspring, and Krytox 106 on the piston seal and in the compression tube. Cleaned the barrel, gave it a few passes with JB bore compound for good measure and took it out to shoot.

Here's where I need help. The velocity dropped. A Lot. It went from 895 to 815 with the same pellets. The spread went from 12 to 22. I shot it a couple hundred times hoping the new seal just needed time to seat. No improvement so I took it apart and inspected the seal. It had seated and the diameter decreased to where it was now the same as the original seal. The compression tube now looks like it was polished with a hint of cross-hatch.

Maybe I overlubed? So it went back together with the same lubes applied very sparingly. No change, same low velocity and wide spread. Can you tell me what I did wrong? I never had something like this happen.

Maybe it doesn't like the red seal? Unless someone replies real quick I'm changing out the red seal and putting in the black soft seal without fitting it. I may even put the damaged original seal back in just to get more data.

Hope you like photos 'cause here's some.
Jon

[jfrey]

Jon,
I also had a loose piston that needed to be welded.

I think during the repair something changed in the way the piston and the compression tube interact. 

Can you describe a little more about how, where and why the  "The compression tube now looks like it was polished with a hint of cross-hatch."       Are there now wear marks, or scratches on the inside of the compression tube?     Do they run the full length of the compression tube or are they near one end or the other?       Any signs of new wear on the piston at the skirt or up near the head where it was welded?

     

[TooJung2Die]

Can you describe a little more about how, where and why the  "The compression tube now looks like it was polished with a hint of cross-hatch."       Are there now wear marks, or scratches on the inside of the compression tube?     Do they run the full length of the compression tube or are they near one end or the other?       Any signs of new wear on the piston at the skirt or up near the head where it was welded?

The compression tube smoothed out during the break-in of the new seal. The seal diameter became smaller and the rubbing of the seal polished the inside of the tube. There does seem to be some wear marks on the skirt of the piston, nothing by the head and seal. I think this is due to wear during cocking. I can install nylon buttons made from nylon screws. Cocking the gun is much quieter than before. No rubbing or scraping sounds.

I took out the Vortek hard red ProSEAL28 and installed the soft black ProSEAL28 without fitting it. It went in really tight. Tighter than I would like. Much of the velocity came back. It went from 812 to 863 with the tight fitting seal. With proper fitting the velocity may be fully restored. Or shoot the snot out of it and hopes it wears in.

I'm thinking the red seal got worn down by the cross-hatching to the point it barely seals. I measured it off the piston and it is 1.100" which is exactly the diameter of the compression chamber ID. It went from snug to loose. It is .003" out of round. I wouldn't think that amount would be significant on a flexible seal. Maybe due to the compression tube being out of round by the same amount? I honed the cylinder with a Harbor Fright three stone brake hone for less than a minute under soapy water. Don't know what grit that is.

Does anyone know a source for OEM piston seals for the Air Hawk or XS-25? Umarex wants too much for a seal.

[jfrey]

Glad to hear the velocity is coming back.   I'm sure flying dragon has seals but Mike's out of the shop for a while.     I put an Apex seal from Air Rifle Headquaters in my air hawk,    it fit very nicely.   Might be an option.

http://www.airrifleheadquarters.com/page/page/251327.htm


Some day I'm going to hone my compression tube.  thanks for the tip about the soapy water.   

[TooJung2Die]

I've concluded that the red seal became too loose during break-in. I didn't 'think' I made the compression tube too rough with the hone but the seal was a lot looser coming out than going in. Comparing the red seal to the original seal out of the gun the red seal is now smaller in diameter and it started life off much larger in diameter.

While John was posting his reply, I was on Air Rifle Headquarters ordering a batch of large Apex and Tesla seals. I wrote to Mike Melick about getting one of his top hats and maybe a seal or two.

In the meantime I'll take the Air Hawk apart and we'll see if I can size this seal properly without botching up the job... Again. 

Jon

[Benwaller]

I've seen that "looseness" in every AirHawk I've ever taken apart.  I think it is there for a reason.  If you think about it you'll note that the piston head is crimped into place, it is not welded.  By virtue of this fact the piston head is free to "find center", sort of, in the cylinder.  This loads the piston seal fairly evenly in that cylinder.  Welding it down puts that piston head in a permanent position, which in all likelihood is not dead center.  Your seal then wears unevenly because it is loaded unevenly and your power drops.

Makes sense to me anyway, which is why I have never attempted to correct what appears to be intrinsic to the design.

Or I could be totally FOS.  That is entirely possible, too, as I am very new to all this and only have my farmer brain to help me.

And all the rest of you, of course.  I have learned a boatload of stuff from this forum and I do appreciate it.

Ben

[TooJung2Die]

I've seen that "looseness" in every AirHawk I've ever taken apart.  I think it is there for a reason.

That never occurred to me. Let's see what others have to say.

I think the low velocity problem is solved.     RWS Superdome 8.3 gr. I turned the soft seal down to 1.120". It gained a little over the stock seal.

[Benwaller]

Yeah, well, I have some experience with being FOS so I am ready for what flames may come. 

Cool that you got the velocity back up.  These really are good guns, kinda' sleepers really, they push pellets deeper into my test block than my TR77 NPS and that one is a ruckus rifle.  One of these days soon I'm going to have to buy a chrony.  But then that might just drive me nuts as I'm starting to obsess on this stuff a little bit as it is, obviously, so maybe I'll wait a little longer.

Probably not.

Ben