You know, after working on one,...cursing it, belly-acheing about parts unavailability, etc, etc, I think I've come to a conclusion here,....perhaps I've been a bit off 'following the crowd' as far as theseweapons are concernned. Maybe they're not as bad as alot of folks percieve them as,.....So here's my story.
I bought thisDaisy PowerLine1000 rifle from Ronbeaux. Not a bad $60 purchase for a 'beater' rifle,...so what can you do,...try to improve it of course!!!! Nowthe only thing Ron did to it was fill the stock with spray foam. It wasn't long before I tore into this beast to see what made her tick. It's a fairly basic rifle utilizing the same mechanics and design of most springers made. Only this one looked and felt a lot more heavy-dutier than your typical Crosman/Gamo shooter. At first glance, the internals weren't as bad as I've heard others remark about them. A bit rough around the edges, but on line with the competition as far as the deburring aspect goes in tuneing. The pistonis amonster in sizecompared to other B-18/19made formats. And unlike the G/C pistons, the seal is set, and the entirepiston isfree to turn inside the compression chamber, as opposed to the G/C's where the seal can turn freely but the piston has to remain aligned with the cocking slot groove. Call it an even trade off.
ThePiston seal onthis rifle was in asad condition. Nice big gash to the side ofit,....almost a burnt look to it. So I tried the Loc-tite remedy on the seal during the firsttune on the 1000. It worked for a brief time,....but then she started smoking from the slot once again. Tore the gun back down and the seal was even worse than it was to start with. For a little back-ground history,....I did order some replacement seals for this rifle,...but they didn't match up with the factory seals. I think I posted this earlier,...but not sure where. After a long unsuccessful search forthe correct seal, as well as un unsuccessful bid for a custom made seal, I said to hell with it,...let's see what we can do to make the replacementseal work. Snapped it on the piston, and you could see where the seal didn't completly rise to the top of the piston. Somehow the idea of the pistons metal end slamming the end of thecomp chamber didn't look too swift. Going on the "neccesity is the mother of invention" theory, I decided to shim the rear of the sealto bring it to a more acceptable position on the piston head. I ended up placeing the piston in a vise, and tightly wrapped 8# monofilimentfishing line until it filled the void between therear of the seal and the seal seat on the piston.Tied a knot in it andcontinued with the re-re-asssemblyof this rifle. Next time I'll try a rubber type washer and trim it as needed.
After a few shots to clear out the majority of the lubes in the comp chamber, she was shooting in the mid 900's with CPHP's.Even better,...no smoke/vapor eminating from the cocking slot!!!!! Finally,...got something to work right!!!!! Now for the trigger.
After researching thesetypes of rifles,...I stumbledon a web site that shed yet a little more light on the Hatsan made rifles. Now the trigger wasn't much worse than the Gamo/Crosman style triggers,...only harder to pull, with the same goofy/unpredictable sear release. But in all realitythe Hatsan trigger is in my opinion a far better and superior mechanism than the Gamo/Theobin design. I'll admit that these triggers are a PITA to assemble back to the action, but with a few tricks of the trade, it's a breeze now. Another thing I liked about these triggers is that they are solidly mounted into the action,...no sliding into place and anchored buy a single bolt. But held in place by a cross pin through the trigger into the action. The heavier components of the trigger assembly really impressed my alot. Very easy to polish and re-assemble,...except for that little spring between the sear levers. But once I found the trick to it, it's as Macarri states on his web-site,...."not an issue"! LOL's
For some reason, I could never get the adjustment screw adjusted to make any difference in the trigger pull. Turns out that when I had the trigger group in pieces, I saw that the screw never extended passed the trigger blade! Well no wonder there was no difference pittling with the adj screw?!?!?! Duh-Huhhhhh So I replaced it with a longer screw (polished end)and things sure did turn around for this rifle "Real Fast"!!! It took a while, but with some tweeking,...and probably a little 'over-tweeking' I can literalyset the trigger pull (sear release) down to ounces!!!! While it's set at a more or less "single stage" trigger,....with this kind of smooth shooting rifle with a much improved trigger,...who needs a second stage anyways?!?!?!Find the target, andfire at it. This has cut down on aim time as well!For safety sakes, I did adjust the trigger to a more healthier pull.
Other mods,...I ripped the butt-stock pad off and removed the spray foam. I replaced the this with a heavier and denser packaging /memory foam, and to me this absorbs more of the recoil. Found a good use for the Loc-tite "Extreme" glue as well!! With a simple lube tune, the recoil is nowhere nearas severe as an out of the box condition Hatsan rifle.
So here am am with a powerful, vastly much improved rifle. So how's the accuracy you ask?
Dead On!!!! I can make a quartersized group off the picnic table at 28 yards with a cheapo Tasco scope on medium rings, and occasional 'one holer' if I really try. Not to shabby for a non FT shooter like me. The best fitting and accurate pellet I've found with the PowerLine 1000 is the JSB exactsat 8.4 grains. It's averaging 890 to 920 fps's. But since the JSB's are a bit pricey,...the next best pellet seems to be the Beeman FTS's. Sure the velocity drops to the 870/890 fps range,...but I can accept that,.....who wouldn't?!?!?!?!? Top fps I've recorded is 968.5 with 7.9 grainned CPHP's. That's afterapost breakin. Got 1140 fps on the fourth of fifth shot after the tuning assembly,..nearly wet my pants!!! LMAO
So it seems I've changed my tune about the Hatsan rifles. Yes they are a universal PITA shooter toget parts for,...but once you figure them out, with a bit of patience and perseverence, they turn out to be as good,...if not even better, than any Gamo/Crosman springer made! Think I'll call her the "Black Death",.....like the plague,...a real killer.
Well that's my take on this rifle and it's maker. Hope you've enjoyed my story. Happy Shootting, Thomas
PS I'll post some pix later,...right now we're going out to play!!!! HeHeHe tjk