Daisy 853 Pilk-mod weirdness

[cole5169]

My wife is studying for finals, so last night I was told to "do something quiet and by myself" for a few hours.  That ruled out shooting (and TV), so I went over my long-delayed list of mods that I've been meaning to get to.

I have an older Daisy 853 that I got off the classifieds a few years ago, and I've always meant to do the Pilkington trigger mod, so I dived in last night.  No problems, but I noticed something weird...

One of the steps in the mod calls for cutting an 0.10" deep recess - or "shelf" - in the forward 0.15" of the trigger arm.  No sweat, but on reassembly, I noticed that this part of the trigger does not contact anything; sear, spring, safety...nothing.  

So, why the cut?  Do I maybe have a sear (or trigger?) of an older design?  Missing a part?  Losing my mind?

The mod is pretty easy to do (easier than reassembling the rifle!), and the trigger pull is noticeably improved, but still quite heavy.   I think I need to hit the hardware store for some springs, next.

[ac12basis]

Cole
I did only 1 of the 3 Tom Johnson trigger mods, and it was like a 1000% improvement.  All I did was to deburr the trigger sear and matching part on the hammer.  Used a #600 wet/dry sandpaper and just removed the burrs, did not "polish" the sear with a stone.  What was happening was the trigger sear was actually getting stuck in the the burrs, making the trigger pull feel like it was 15 pounds.  Deburring the trigger lets slide w/o getting stuck, which also dropped the trigger weight.

What Tom Johnson recommends is to get a few spare springs (available from Daisy), then cut the spring 1/4 coil at a time until you get down to the desired trigger weight.  The recommended weight seems to be 2 to 2-1/2 pounds.  From a few coaches, I understand that the trigger is not reliable if you drop the trigger weight down to 1-1/2 pounds.  The spare springs are if you cut too much.  But as I mentioned, deburr the trigger FIRST, as that will drop the trigger weight.

[ccjr]

I have a 953 that I did the mod on.  Maybe the early ones were different.  That is the part of the trigger that contacts the safety.  Without that cut, when the adjustment screw is turned in, the safety either jams the trigger (if it was on) or is blocked by the trigger and cannot be applied. Either condition can cause the safety to fire the gun. I was REALLY glad to be doing dry fire practice when I discovered this.

[cole5169]

I tore it down again last night, to swap out the hammer spring with a shorter, lighter one from my neighborhood Ace Hardware.
Then I backed out the adjustment screw, and re-set the pre-travel.

The difference is nothing short of amazing, what a nice trigger it is, now!  By comparison, anyway.

One unexpected benefit:  cleaning all the mystery lube out of EVERYWHERE (even the valve was full of "snot") upped the power noticeably.   My pellet holes are actually circular now

[TCups]

The Daisy 853 with a trigger job is a sweet little shooter, indeed.  It will hold its own with 10-meter guns several times more expensive.  Mine shoots RWS Hobby 7.0 grain pellets very well, but also shoots the heavier (8.3 grain?) Vogel Greens very well.  You should try her out in the 10-meter fun matches.

[ac12basis]

I would not use a lighter hammer spring, are you sure you don't mean trigger spring?
I hope you are using some lube in there.

[cole5169]

There's no way the spring in my gun was original equipment.  Someone back in the ownership chain of this gun changed the spring.  Why?  Maybe they thought it would "dump more air (gas)" like a CO2 gun?  I dunno...
You know the channel that the hammer and spring ride in?  Yeah, this spring is 1.125  inches LONGER than the channel (cylinder, whatever).  And man, is it stiff!
Cocking the bolt on the 853 was more difficult than cocking the bolt on my 1971 rocker safety Blue Streak.  That's not right, and that's a lot to ask of a plastic bolt.

The new spring is not OEM either, but it is the right length, and much lighter.  This 853 cocks very lightly and smooth now, and the gun is actually shooting harder now (because of all the oil I swabbed out of the valve).  I've got a 953 in my project stack, and I will be interested to see what its factory spring looks like...

Lube:
This gun's action was full of Moly paste (!), and the valve/pump were full of oil (looks like motor oil but I don't know).
I cleaned up and dried everything.  The action got a light coat of silicon spray lube in a non-petroleum carrier, and the pump and all o-rings shared a couple drops of Crosman Pellgun oil.  

The rifle is shooting great, the cocking and the trigger are a real treat, compared to before.  Still some things to do, but they are mostly cosmetic...

[ac12basis]

Yes, it does sound like someone was in there doing "something."
Contact Daisy for replacement springs.  Their replacement parts price is surprisingly reasonable.
About the silicone spray. Check it carefully, some silicone sprays are not very good lubes, but better as a protectant.
Lithium white grease is supposed to be OK for internals.  But for the "hammer" (really a striker) you want something light, so as not to create drag on the hammer.