Many moons ago I posted some nonsense about modifying a Beeman P17 (hence my noob nicname) to be a sort of laser-sighted steampunk piece... which was supposed to still shoot pellets. Turned out I had a serious of seal and mechanical difficulties, so that one's shelved for now, though the intention is to get back to it when patience is available. That'll mean some significant machining challenges... so maybe not.
Anyway, my intentions for my newly acquired, near-mint Gamo Center springer pistol are not nearly so bizarre. Almost everything I want to do with this pistol will be reversible to factory spec, with the exception of making and installing a safety switch of some sort. More on that later. I picked this gun up from a fellow forum member yesterday, and was immediately impressed with the condition; only minimal rust spotting, most of the finish intact, and the plastic grip is in as-new condition. The worst damage is a non-fatal crack running right through the windage adjusting wheel, which I've knitted together using Hot Stuff CA from Lee Valley. Looks fine now. Running some pellets through it today showed astonishing power for what must be at least a 20 year old pistol which obviously hasn't been shot much. I'll be taking it down for tuning of course, but before getting into that want to figure out what else needs to be done for this one to be truly 'mine.' Here's the list:
- new muzzle break, or sight base/underlever lock, or whatever it's called (now complete)
- crown barrel end as it was rather rough/sharp (finished to high polish)
- design, build and install some sort of safety switch
- replace plastic one-piece grip with custom hardwood grip (done this before on a Crosman using Koa with a French polished finish and it still looks sweet after 20 years)
- adjust, add spacers/washers, bushings, whatever is needed to make the underlever less sloppy side-to-side (currently about 1/4" total lateral movement just below bearing seat)
After those I'll inspect the guts and consider whether anything needs fussing, like a new seal maybe, though from the potency of my test shots this seems unlikely to be necessary. I'm seeing penetration through 7 layers of corrugated cardboard in a loose stack at 2metres, with hollow-points and with wadcutters, the pellets bursting but not coming out the 8th layer. Seems impressive enough for a novice-level air pistol!
So here's my new muzzle thingy. It's carved from 6061 T6 aluminum, 3/4" x 1-1/2" bar. I decided not to try and emulate the original nylon piece's side flanges, so it takes a bit more dexterity at this point to guide the sprung bearing on the lever arm into its nesting hollow. That hollow is bored into a stainless machine screw with a domed head, so the bearing spring compresses as it hits the edge, then drops into the hollow nicely. Nesting it into the aluminum would have worked, but worn out in a few thousand shots I should think. The press-fit isn't too hard, as I wanted to secure it with set screws anyway. There are two along the top, one longer and with the last 3mm turned down just below the threads for a smooth finish. That's the fore-sight for now, though it's about 1mm lower than the original 14mm above barrel centre where original was 15mm) as I might add a coloured blob of plastic or something else bright for contrast against targets.
Now I have a couple of questions, hope there are folks around here with one of these things who've done some modding and might lend an idea or two. The most obvious has to do with safety, mine and that of whatever might be in the vicinity when I'm shooting. See, today while making this muzzle thingy I managed to do something stupid. Since the underlever only pulls away from the barrel about 1.5" at the front end when un-cocked, I wanted the underlever out of the way while driving the friction-fit muzzle cover home with a mallet. So I cocked it. Brilliant. I mean, I knew there was no safety catch, had made a mental note earlier not to do anything STUPID because there was no safety catch, but there I went, banging with a wooden mallet on a block of aluminum at the end of the barrel... my left hand firmly wrapped around the barrel and the stock against my belly. What do you think happened?
The second whack with the mallet released the sear. Whap, right across my index finger, middle bone, which was closest to the fulcrum at about halfway down the barrel. Thought I broke it at first. The swelling was immediate and very painful, but I gingerly flexed the finger to test for a break and found it intact. Ran to kitchen freezer and grabbed a gel pack and wrapped it up, within 10 seconds of impact. Thank goodness for gel packs (or bags of peas, whatever works). Swelling went down after an hour and I was able to finish the mod without further stupidity.
So anyway, I want a safety switch on this gun. I don't want to deface the finish any more than minimally necessary, just a neat little hole with a button sticking out somewhere, or a discrete lever behind the trigger. For reference, here's a couple of pages displaying a part diagram and side views of the pistol:
http://www.aceros-de-hispania.com/airgu ... airgun.htmhttp://www.muzzle.de/N3/Druckluft/Gamo_ ... enter.htmlI'm tempted to put a switch under the trigger guard, a stop of some sort which could catch the hollow trigger end until released. But it could be that something added higher up around the release mechanism would prove more reliable and more easily accessed. Any thoughts? I have a TAIG lathe and basic metal working fittings for that, including the mill head. And I'm a violinmaker and long ago put in a year as a machinist and welder, so fabrication can be somewhat complex if needed.
I may add to this list, such as doing a better job finishing the aluminum and having it anodized black... but that seems a lot of fuss, when it looks sort of cool in raw aluminum and will of course grey with age and handling. Scopes aren't something I've ever tried, but that nicely machined pair of grooves makes it tempting to put something up top. Maybe a laser? But really I just want this already nice pistol to be that much nicer. Replacinging the plastic tip felt like a satisfying start, and making everything solid and safe to shoot should set me up for years of fun plinking. Any help would be appreciated. Falcon users may have insights as well, as they're virtually the same gun.