Spring removal question

[RedFeather]

Been meaning to tear into one or three guns which need, at the very least, relubing, and am going to build a compressor.  One thing's not quite clear to me, though.  When you remove the end cap and place the barreled action into the compressor, do you need a large dowel or something run up against the rear to help ease out the pins or, when re-assembling, to support the spring?  

Yeah, yeah, I shoot 'em more than actually work on 'em.

[speedturtle]

If you will look at Gene's design of his spring compressor He uses a small wooden rod (my estimate is about 2" in length or less) with a cylindrical wood handle. With a Crosman air rifle you would definitely need it since the plastic end cap is also locked in place by the rear locking pin. With the gamo all you need is a wooden rod that would have enough diameter just to push the butt of the rear spring guide without touching the cylinder tube. In my experience you need to position your spring compressor (the one that pushes the rear spring guide) to have a least 2 - 3" of horizontal clearance so the piston spring can be safely decompressed. I made a wooden spring compressor almost similar to Gene's but modified some parts since its all I have at home to work with.

http://www.gatewaytoairguns.com/airguns/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=16084&mid=130678#M130678

Hope this helps.

Speedturtle

[RedFeather]

Thanks, Speed.  I wasn't sure about taking the end caps off.  The old Milbro G46 (like a Diana 27) has a steel end cap and I don't know if it is screwed in or not.  I guess the flat block on your compressor works for those where the end cap is held by the pin.  On others, do you need to put a cylidrical piece in between to ease it out?

[speedturtle]

Depending on the design of the rear part of your chamber Redfeather. I have only experienced disassembling a Gamo Big Cat and a Crosman G-1 Extreme so my knowledge is quite limited too. If you have a gut feeling that the end cap can handle the pressure of the spring while being de-compressed then just go ahead. If in doubt try to examine the mechanism thoroughly first before proceeding. Better to be safe than sorry. Just my suggestion. With the Gamo Big Cat i would say yes you need to use a cylindrical piece (wood is preferable) to safely take out the rear locking pin. Just be careful though, What I did is my left hand is supporting the wooden dowel while my right hand is rotating the long steel screw to push the dowel to the rear spring guide.

Speedturtle

[howie1a]

most of the time my socket set has a socket of the right dia. that will work howie