Going to be refurbishing Dad's old Red Ryder carbine, circa 1956, and the one I grew up shooting. It's in sad shape - the stock and forend are cracked/warped/melted, finish is mostly rubbed and chipped off in most places, and didn't shoot worth a crap anymore, the BB would only trickle out of the barrel. Unless I can find replacement furniture for cheap I think I'm going to try my hand at making my own wood pieces. Haven't decided whether I'm going to try to strip and re-blue the rest, or just stick with a paintjob.
Disassembly was completed last night. Turned out the stationary seal at the front of the compression chamber was no longer stationary - it was stuck to the piston seal and riding back and forth along with it during the cocking/firing motions, so no air pressure was being built up. This is the same symptom that was described in the treenut.net blog. Wondering if I should also flip the front seal around as he did, or just put it back in the same position. They seem to have formed the same shape, but I don't know if that's how they're supposed to be, or if they just got that way from being compressed together for the last half century.
The air tube attached to the piston looks like it's taken a beating for the past 58 years too - the front of it is sorta smashed and definitely not concentric anymore. Does this tube strike the BB at full stroke? or I wonder if it is just off-center slightly and hitting the back of the shot tube... I've not seen any place that advertises parts for these old guns - someone have a line on any?
Was wondering if anyone has done any tuning on the Red Ryder? I've got no experience with any air gun tuning, but have been reading about it. Is there anything worthwhile to do, such as shimming the spring? polishing surfaces? spring tar?
Disassembly was completed last night. Turned out the stationary seal at the front of the compression chamber was no longer stationary - it was stuck to the piston seal and riding back and forth along with it during the cocking/firing motions, so no air pressure was being built up. This is the same symptom that was described in the treenut.net blog. Wondering if I should also flip the front seal around as he did, or just put it back in the same position. They seem to have formed the same shape, but I don't know if that's how they're supposed to be, or if they just got that way from being compressed together for the last half century.
The air tube attached to the piston looks like it's taken a beating for the past 58 years too - the front of it is sorta smashed and definitely not concentric anymore. Does this tube strike the BB at full stroke? or I wonder if it is just off-center slightly and hitting the back of the shot tube... I've not seen any place that advertises parts for these old guns - someone have a line on any?
Was wondering if anyone has done any tuning on the Red Ryder? I've got no experience with any air gun tuning, but have been reading about it. Is there anything worthwhile to do, such as shimming the spring? polishing surfaces? spring tar?