Putting a little more power in a $15.00 Daisy

3800fps said:
I just repaired a 1936 vintage model 25 with the air tube missing...a new modern air tube fits...but the flattened end needs to be shortened in such a way that it can be fitted into the end of the metal "plunger" that holds the leather seal....I fitted mine so that the air hole opening near the flat end was fully exposed... set in any deeper and it would encroach on the size of that opening...I got lucky because the length of the air tube happened to be just right...too long a bb won't feed and too short then the gun could "swallow" a bb...(ei get stuck under the seal)....once fitted and the correct length I soldered the tube in place....hope this helps.

By the way...that 1936 spring was still straight and usable and is about as powerful as Cobalt's "power springs" which is to say this spring and his awesome spring is about all these Daisy engineered designs can handle to achieve max velocity.
Click to expand...
That's encouraging you were able to solder the air tube and it holds up. Good job!

The early No. 25 pump gun springs WERE very robust, no doubt about it! They were made from "flat wire", where the width as seen looking through the center of the spring is a little wider than the height of the wire as seen looking through the coils from the side. That allowed more spring rate in the same space. My theory is that Daisy used these springs when the 25 (and all other Daisys) used lead shot, then when they went to lighter steel BBs, the flat wire spring turned the gun into a magnum! Knowing Daisy didn't waste things, I think they continued to use the lead shot springs until the supply was used up, then they went to a less expensive round wire spring having less spring rate.
 
Colbalt...I want to thank you first for all this hard won information you shared over 47 pages here...Thank you sir.
Second I want to praise you for the power springs and new drilled-out air tubes you have available..( after drilling only 2 out...and much cussing I was ready...) ready to buy them already drilled and ....low and behold you came through with ready made airtube and spring sets for sale....
Awesome upgrades worth the price...Thank you sir.
 
Well thank you kindly for that, I appreciate it! I have enjoyed this whole project immensely and I owe a whole lot to the many who have contributed to this thread. It's their interest and support that has made it all happen.

I have had quite a few folks asking for drilled air tubes and I had turned them down because doing them by hand using a cordless drill- no lathe or drill press- I was breaking bits off inside the air tube, scrapping them both in the process, and the long ones are very expensive compared to regular length bits- which are too short to fully drill the tubes. But the drilled air tubes were the one missing piece keeping folks who were unable to drill their own tubes from having the same setup that I enjoy using so much in my own guns, so regardless of the difficulty, etc. I decided to just bite the bullet and do them anyway.
 
So I am new to the world of air guns, but having skimmed the earlier pages of this thread, would this be an accurate summary of what I need to do to get the most out of my newly purchased model 1998?
- remove the trigger reset and anti bear trap springs
-add the larger I.D. air tube and the more powerful spring
-use a bb that more closely matches the diameter of the shot tube. Marksman bbs have been suggested to me as a good option.
Did I miss anything? Get anything wrong?
Please let me know, and thanks.
 
May take a bit for Mark to touch bases here. It'll be worth the wait though.
 
You know I've heard those stories but never owned a Model 25 when I was young.
 
Another question or two-
How to remove the barrel bank without damaging the finish or the forearm?
What lubricant to use?
How to remove the fake tube magazine under the barrel shroud?
Can I mount the peep sight from a Model 25 using the screw that secures the stock?

Sorry for the many questions but I an mechanically challenged and would hate to damage my new rifle.
 
Sorry for the late reply.

The modifications you outlined above are what I do. You can also shim the stock spring 1/2"-5/8" inch and get good results. If you drill the air tube- which I'd recommend doing, or buy one already drilled- be sure to go slowly, use lubrication (I found Tap Magic to work great) and remove the bit OFTEN to clean the chips. I insert and remove the bit as many as 64 times to drill out an air tube by hand. If you hurry the job the bit will snap off inside the tube and that scraps them both. Drill the tube to 3/32" first, then 7/64". Do not try to go straight to 7/64". If a lathe were set up for the job I'm sure it would go easier, but I don't own one.

I'm thinking there's a typo "How to remove the barrel bank without damaging the finish or the forearm?", or if not I'm not understanding- sorry.

I use motor oil.
Oiling a gun is important, but don’t over oil it because that causes the barrel to get oily and oil in the barrel of a smoothbore BB gun just kills accuracy. A couple drops after no less than 500 shots (I routinely go 1000-plus before reoiling) is plenty. I use a needle oiler with 5w20 motor oil to oil all my guns. The oil drained from a few empty quarts after an oil change will last years! The old saw about detergent oil? Forgeddaboudit! It will not hurt a thing, and the fact is, Pellgunoil is a detergent oil used in diesels! You can read the pdf and see for yourself. A nickel’s worth of oil costing $4? NOT!! http://www.crosman.com/media/pdf/msds/SDS-PELLGUNOIL.pdf

I’d recommend you get a .177 cleaning rod with a jag for patches. Regular .22 patches are too big but they can be cut down to work in a .177. A .177 cotton or felt “mop” works great for barrel cleaning too. I use denatured alcohol but you can use 91% isopropyl and it’s cheap, too. Clean the barrel as soon as the accuracy drops off. Search eBay
for .177 cotton mops. These were available for $1.44 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rifle-Pist...hash=item2f2c835015:m:mk5MkMvrGuXnsiLtcCt8NCA

The fake magazine is permanently attached with spot welds.

The 25 peep works, sort of. Adjusting the height so the sight can be used with the front sight may take small washers or some shim system to get the rear sight higher. At least that's what I had to do on a Buck that I used a 25 peep/vee flip sight on. The peep hole may need opening up, depending on how the sight picture looks to you.

I'll try to stop back more often, and again- sorry for the late reply. But there are some very knowledgeable folks on here who can answer questions as well as I can! (I'm looking at you, Chris) haha
 
Airguns yes many years ago. BB guns ( Daisy ) almost none.
I'll help were I can but don't want mislead someone. You've done a wonderful job here. Thanks for all your help.
 
Thanks everyone for your helpful responses. And yes, there was a typo. How to correctly remove the barrel band was what I meant to ask.
 
Now that you said "band" it's so obvious! But it went right over my head before- I was thinking maybe it was barrel "blank" possibly in reference to the shot tube. shm! lol

The band can be carefully driven forward off the forearm. I'd remove the forearm screw, then press the front end of the forearm towards the barrel to try to gain some clearance. It might be on tight enough that this doesn't make a difference but it's worth trying. Then to remove it, I use my thumbs, first pushing the top of the band, then the bottom, alternating until it is loose enough to be guided off the gun. If it's on too tight for this to work, you can use a wooden driver- something like a chopstick or BBQ skewer- to remove it using a mallet or light hammer to tap it off.
 
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cobalt327 said:
Now that you said "band" it's so obvious! But it went right over my head before- I was thinking maybe it was barrel "blank" possibly in reference to the shot tube. shm! lol

The band can be carefully driven forward off the forearm. I'd remove the forearm screw, then press the front end of the forearm towards the barrel to try to gain some clearance. It might be on tight enough that this doesn't make a difference but it's worth trying. Then to remove it, I use my thumbs, first pushing the top of the band, then the bottom, alternating until it is loose enough to be guided off the gun. If it's on too tight for this to work, you can use a wooden driver- something like a chopstick or BBQ skewer- to remove it using a mallet or light hammer to tap it off.
Click to expand...
 
A buddy of mine in the CO Rockies sent me a photo of a simple but effective modification he came up with for helping to keep the rods of a spring fork tool located correctly on the end of the spring. I haven't had a chance to dremel these notches into a spring fork to try it out, but he says it works well. So thanks, SS!

ETA- This tool modification hasn't been tried on a flat ground spring end like found on the HP spring or a current production Daisy spring, but I'm thinking it should work okay. Where it should really help is on the round wire spring ends found on earlier Daisy springs.

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cobalt327 said:
A buddy of mine in the CO Rockies sent me a photo of a simple but effective modification he came up with for helping to keep the rods of a spring fork tool located correctly on the end of the spring. I haven't had a chance to dremel these notches into a spring fork to try it out, but he says it works well. So thanks, SS!

ETA- This tool modification hasn't been tried on a flat ground spring end like found on the HP spring or a current production Daisy spring, but I'm thinking it should work okay. Where it should really help is on the round wire spring ends found on earlier Daisy springs.
Click to expand...
I just spoke to the fellow who came up with this, his screen name here is “wayside2”, and he said the sculpted spring fork legs don't work as well as a flat end leg when compressing a spring that has flat ground ends.
 
This is a little off the beaten path, but I thought y'all would like to see what a fellow from Daisy Talk forum has come up with for the Daisy model 880 and related guns- a steel bolt handle! He also makes custom wood buttstocks for them. He has a metalworking shop and can do media blasting and fabrication, among other things. It's neat that he has airguns as a hobby! A thread at Daisy Talk is here: http://forum.daisymuseum.com/large-thumb-finger-tab-on-bb-door_topic9595.html#40606

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I finally got my Red Ryder prepped for a new seal. It took several hours of alcohol and WD-40 swabbing to get the old leather pieces removed. I should have used a 12 ga mop but a 20 ga mop worked OK. Chucked a cleaning rod segment in my drill and went to town. Now just waiting on parts and hopefully will be able to shoot my eye out soon :)
 
Good for you. Hopefully the old BB Blaster will be back in perfect form when your done.
 
I am still working my way through the vast pile of info in this thread! Much thanks to Cobalt, hienz and all the other contributors to this remarkable thread! It was this thread that was responsible for me joining the forum and I haven’t left it yet! It has been days reading and dreaming! Has inspired me to get to Dad’s house and find my original cub (circa 1968) and it’s upgrade (no sure if model, it was larger with a plastic stock and fore end). I’m excited to apply the research hear to those old gems! Again thank you for all the work that you all have done to pave the way for me!
Be well
 
Ok folks, just got back from Dads, found the 2 guns from my youth! What I mis-remember as a cub turned out to be a #102 model 36. The other, my first upgrade, is stamped a model lll. Any precautions before I even cock these old boys? Maybe soak the seals in ATF? Think I read that somewhere. So what do think I could get out of these? Are they good candidates for the upgrades being discussed here? Again thank you all for the research, time, effort, and money you all have put into this effort!
Be well
 
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