Cracked stock (H 135) and soft-bedding question

[mcoulter]

I've had this 135 for about a year and finally decided to take the stock off and check it out.  Unfortunately, I found this crack...

View is looking down into the stock.  This is with a little plastic brace / spacer:



And this one with the brace / spacer removed:



I did notice the last time out that it sounded a little different while cocking the gun.  I'm guessing this might have allowed the action to twist just enough to make that binding sound.  I have some 2-part epoxy in there now with a foam sanding block squeezed in there to push the separating piece back into place. 

I have to admit that (aside from the crack...)  I'm impressed with the fit on the stock.  It has been in the back of my mind to try soft-bedding it when I put it together.  But as I look at how it is assembled with the SAS in the horizontal cross bold, I'm not sure there is even room for the material.  Has anyone had success (or even experience) trying this with a 135?

[SpiralGroove]

Hey Matt,
You're doing exactly as I would have done as far as filling the crack with epoxy .
I also soft bedded my (.25 cal.) Hatsan 135 last summer. Not too hard to do, after putting in the neoprene in strips to float the barrel & trigger assemblies from the stock.  Tighten her down slowly over a few days time so everything compress gradually.  IMO, the 135 needs all the help it can get to smooth the shot cycle .

Kirk

[mcoulter]

Thanks Kirk.  I did shoot it a bit yesterday and did not see too much of a difference.  BUT I also started having issues with my scope:

http://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=99970.msg937933#msg937933

After I took the scope off I did shoot a little bit with the open sights and I was pleasantly surprised that I was at least able to hit my pellet trap at one of my longer distances.  Check this out at 68 yards.  I could hear the pellet hitting the metal box but had NO idea where they might be on paper at this distance.  I Actually couldn't believe how consistent the elevation was.  I think top to bottom spread was 1 1/4 inches and about 6 1/2 inches left to right...  :-)



And this is what it looked like through my 12x scope:



Oh, one more question Kirk, what has been your go-to pellet for the 135?

[Nathan]

I too soft bedded my 135. I bought a bicycle tube from wal-mart, a cheap one, cut it into strips then hot glued them on the stock. One bicycle tire will easily do 5+ rifles and costs like 5 or 6 dollars. The addition of the rubber between the action and wood made re-installing the action more difficult. I used 2 of the padded jaw sliding bar clamps from HF tools  (one in front of the trigger guard and one by the SAS bolt to compress the action. That made getting the screws started much easier. I plan to do the same to my 125 and see how it does.
My .22 135 likes H&N (Beeman) FTS, and AA 16 grain.

Nathan

[mcoulter]

I too soft bedded my 135. I bought a bicycle tube from wal-mart, a cheap one, cut it into strips then hot glued them on the stock. One bicycle tire will easily do 5+ rifles and costs like 5 or 6 dollars. The addition of the rubber between the action and wood made re-installing the action more difficult. I used 2 of the padded jaw sliding bar clamps from HF tools  (one in front of the trigger guard and one by the SAS bolt to compress the action. That made getting the screws started much easier. I plan to do the same to my 125 and see how it does.
My .22 135 likes H&N (Beeman) FTS, and AA 16 grain.

Nathan

Yup, I found an old inner tube and used that too!  I think this was from a dirt bike so it was pretty thick.  I was able to get a couple of strips under the compression tube (one on either side) but could not manage any around trigger / action.  I like the hotglue and bicycle tire suggestions too.

The only H&N pellets I have shot were FTT with 5.53 size heads and the Hatsan didn't like them...  I will definitely have to get some smaller diameter ones to test...

Thanks!

[SpiralGroove]

Mine likes H&N 19.91 best.
My experience with Hatsan .25 caliber barrels has shown them to be slightly over sized.  Larger head pellets have  worked better.

When I used neoprene, I had to clamp barrel & stock with Wood clamp at the SAS & in front of trigger assembly.
I used some PA foam packaging from a recent pellet shipment to cushion between clamps and stock.
Kirk