Benjamin 310 restoration

[bbv13]

Hi guys,

I picked up this old Benjamin 310 a couple months ago on Craigslist. There's no serial number so I know it's a early one. It has some barrel separation, needs a front sight and a reseal. I've been looking for a front sight for it and I figure I'll never rebuild it if I keep looking so I'm going to fabricate one out of brass bar stock. I need some help from someone that has one of these rifles. I don't know how high to make the front sight? I need to know the height of the front sight measured from the barrel. It also would be nice to know how your rifle shoots with the sight on it and would you want it to be a little higher or lower?

If anyone has a front sight for a 317, 310 laying around and would like to sell it that would be great too.

Thanks ahead of time.

Bryan

[TooJung2Die]

Send an email to Bryan & Associates or call. I needed a front sight for a Crosman 101 and they had it.

[bbv13]

I called about a month ago and asked Ron if they had one and they didn't. I haven't been able to get in touch with him recently?

Bryan

[TooJung2Die]

I called about a month ago and asked Ron if they had one and they didn't. I haven't been able to get in touch with him recently?

No front sight? Bummer. Ron always has called me back, eventually.

There are other vintage airgun sources to try. Rick at Precision Pellet is very helpful. http://www.airgunshop.net

JG Airguns comes to mind. https://www.jgairguns.biz

Have you tried Baker Airguns? http://www.bakerairguns.com

These guys will point you to a source if they don't have it.

Jon

[amb5500c]

Tim Smith is another great resource. http://wwwsmithairgunrepair.com
Richard

[bbv13]

I've already talked to Tim and Sue Smith with no luck.

Thanks I'll get in touch with these other guys. Maybe I'll get lucky?

Bryan

[dennis-baker]

I have these parts. Give me a call.  Dennis Baker  Baker Airguns 937-935-4887 We're on the Vendor page www.bakerairguns.com

[Bicycleman]

Bryan, I measured the front sight at the top of the barrel and found it to be 5/16 of an inch. 

The Benjamin Franklin 310 that I have came to me new in the mid-'50,  It still shoots at 720 FPS and is as accurate at it can be with BBs.

Good luck with your fabrication.

Mike

[bbv13]

Thanks for all the replies.

I ordered a front sight and a reseal kit from Dennis Baker Saturday. I'll post some pictures of the rebuild as soon as I get the parts and the time to work on it.

Bryan

[bbv13]

I got my parts and started tearing it down this weekend. The stock had been painted and I had to use a stripper on it. It didn't have to sit long before the paint bubbled up and came off really easy. I washed the stock with water to keep the stripper from getting in all the tight places. The forearm has a crack that I'm going to have to deal with. I stained everything and I'm going to glue the forearm before I rub it with poly. I really don't want to replace it because it's the one the gun came from the factory with.

The tear down went pretty good except for the hammer being damaged and getting all the gunk out of the gun. I remember reading one of Tim's post about how much of a pain it was to clean Pelgun oil out of old guns and now I know what he was talking about. The barrel was in bad shape. I broke out the torch and practiced soldering and found out that I not so good and decided to use JB weld to attach the new front sight and repair the barrel. I know some purest will not like this but I would have made a mess with a torch and for me now it just isn't worth the chance of ruining the gun. I'm going to paint it so in the end it will look just fine and will last a long time.

Here's some pictures.

[bbv13]

Well I finally got it done. I haven't run it past my Chrony yet but it shoots really strong. I need to thank Dennis Baker at Baker Airguns for a quality rebuild kit and Bryan and Associates for the hammer I ordered from them.

Here's some pictures.

Bryan

[bbv13]

.

[Bicycleman]

Bryan, it looks like NEW!  I would be interested in seeing the crony numbers.

[bbv13]

Bryan, it looks like NEW!  I would be interested in seeing the crony numbers.

Thanks

I had reservations about painting it but it turned out really nice. I really didn't have any choice because I just don't have the skill to solder it with the barrel being separated back to the rear sight. I'm afraid I would have ruined it if I had tried. I sent JBweld a email asking them how long I can expect their product to hold? Their advertising say it's a permanent weld but I want to know what they consider permanent? Either way I'm sure it will out last me. I'm going to get my Chrony out this Thursday if the weather is good and I'll post the results. I shot some steel bb's at one of those thin 1/2" phone books and it blew right through but it sprays them all over the place. It seems to like pellets and shoots them better than I thought it would.

Bryan

[avator]

Good lookin gun. You did a nice job. I need another 10 or 12 of these old guns for my collection...... lol

[Bicycleman]

Not mine, Bill; it goes to my son/grandsons in a few years.

Bryan, when Tim Smith finished with my rifle, he shot it over his chrony and it did 720 Feet/second with eight pumps.  <---just something for you to go by. 

[avator]

Oh, they're out there to be had. Just got to look around and be patient.

[bbv13]

Oh, they're out there to be had. Just got to look around and be patient.

No doubt they are out there. I tried to buy a 312 at a estate auction about a month ago but the bidding got out of hand. I'm hoping to find a few project guns at the Hickory show and I would love to find a decent 312 to restore.

Bryan