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Service
What happens when something needs service?
Well, I got an e-mail from Bob this
week. Bob owns a Barnes Pneumatic Chaparral 25 Pistol. Bob drains
chest high 6,000 psi Nitrogen tanks with said Chaparral Pistol.
Bob has his own pistol play world where he enjoys his semi-retirement.
Take a look later... Bob buys
#3 buckshot from Hornady in five POUND boxes (that's 1,477 ball
per box) ... and has a standing order at the local gun shop for
a couple of boxes a week!
Bob either shoots a heck of alot ...
or he really, really likes boxes of buckshot. ;?)
So, Bob's mail tells me the pistol
is leaking alittle down the barrel when he fills it. We e-mail
back and forth for details. I give him some "do this"
type of things to check. Eliminate things like "is it plugged
in?" ... ;?) ... and say ... send it up here.
FedEx drops it here the next day. I
tear it down within the hour. It's a V-Twin series product. Made
to be serviced. Made for efficient assembly and disassembly.
Most people are afraid to use the guns
... afraid they'll get all crappy, scratched, worn down. Want
to see a crappy old worn out Barnes pistol as it came in? Here
ya go ...
Yes ... I was appalled too ... `;?)
The service look-see revealed a failed
secondary O ring on the internal firing valve. It left the gun
leak above 1,000 psi during fill. I replaced it with a new composition
ring I like better now. I proceeded to look thru the entire pistol
... knowing this Barnes had been shot more than any other PCP
I'd ever placed in the field.
It was great. Rifling crisp and clean.
Everything tight. Wood just glowed. Finish was great. Tiny spider
web scratches on the polished billet here and there from handling
and changing scopes, etc. I buffed the receiver since it was off.
I'd declare the gun to be too close
to new condition to tell any difference. I reassembled all. Filled
it. Took a pistol scope already on simple coin screw clamps from
Wally World ... clamped it on.
That's the first three #3 buckshot
after reassembly. Simple 4X scope - grabbed at random from a hard
case of scopes and clamped on. Not too bad.
I have a new 25 caliber 31.5 grain
slug. I clicked the scope over and down, and sent a few new slugs
down the barrel. That's 3@12 yards.
There's a shop card of the string of
the new slugs from a fill, as the pistol was set up. This is not
necessarily "floored" ... it's the way it came in. For
match shooting, this would tell me to fill to about 2,900 and
shoot six for the real "cream" of this string at this
setting.
For more pics of this pistol ... Chaparral_Pistol.html
Today, having these new 32 slugs for
my Victory, Heritage, Appaloosa, Ranger customers. (That qualifies
as service too ... continued development after the sale). I'd
sent a few slugs out for testing. I remembered that the Nautilus
was cased ... and a few minutes with shop ledgers verified that
the new slug (as sent out) should be about right for the Nautilus
as well!
I actually found it ... ;?) ... checked
the charge (it was fine ... smile). This gun is a long term test
project of my Tri-Valve Fabricated Butt Flask with over-fill regulator
and quick fill.
You remember the wet molded and hand
stitched leather covered butt flask with pistol grip quick fill.
I established that the gun liked the
slugs with the peep sights, then decided ... what the heck ...
I grabbed the scope off the Chaparral and clamped it on one of
the accessory rails. As you can see ... the brass peep unit remains
mounted. This long eye relief 4X just looks right around it. You
see only the most vague smear which is easily ignored.
Here's two different slugs I've developed
over the last few months. The gun likes them both. The bottom
group is the latest 53.8 grain slug. The Nautilus has various
power settings. I thought there were five. I forgot myself - when
I took it down to reset it ... I realized there are seven. These
slugs were shot with it set on the lowest setting. At that setting,
it was smooth, quiet, and shot forever on air. You remember, I'm
only running this Nautilus on a 2,000 psi fill. The slugs on this
lowest setting were shot at about 650 fps.
What can you do with that?
Click, click ... verify aim, post a
penny, fire, examine penny crater, find penny and slug eight yards
back. Smacks pretty hard for being smooth, quiet, and getting
a ton of shots.
Prior to changing the power, I'd chronoed
this same slug on "yellow" at 905 fps. The power progression
is green, blue, yellow, orange, red, blank, and blank. (Those
are the two thermonuclear settings I'd forgotten about ... ;?)
I don't know what top speed is ... sorry ... you'll have to suffer
along with me til we find out.
It was back to work on a Delta 32 Magnum.
Drilling and tapping.
This a pair of guns. Some of the parts
in it's build tray on the furniture dollies. You note many other
project boxes with their build sheets on the other dolly as well.
Onward and upward.
Thanks for reading.
Gary
`;?)