Canadian Airgun Forum

So there I was plinking away happily at GTAC last night when I started missing. Further investigation showed that I wasn't just missing, I was shooting blanks - the clip had stopped indexing. When I stripped the gun down this morning I found that one of the two links in the indexing mechanism had snapped clean in half. I've ordered a replacement for the very reasonable price of $2, and I'm hoping it arrives in time to shoot the December round of the UBC rifle comp'. Otherwise I'll have to use the single shot tray, which is amazingly fiddly once you slap a big scope over the top.

I'll bet there isn't any pot metal in a HW100.

What airgun would that be?

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Walter

A Daisy 953.

Not another Word, From Me.

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President and CEO of Procrastinator Unlimited.

Arsenal..
Kraft Marshmallow Pump and Shoot Rifle.
GoodYear Gatling Gun rubber-band shooter.
PEI Potato PCP Rifle.

Glass ..12" Dobsonian Reflector.
Shooting for the Stars.

If you pay peanuts, you get pot metal.

I hate pot metal with a gun-blued passion, too. Give me forged steel anytime.

I'll even make do with high-quality investment casting (such as the components of Ruger firearms which are very durable) or even metal injection molding, but never with pot metal.

Great, now you have me worried. How many shots went through till it broke?
At least it sounds like a cheap, easy fix. Assuming of course that this $2 pin didn't come with a $25 "standard" shipping fee plus a $10 small order fee.
When you get the pin can you please do a DIY on how to replace it (with plenty of pics for those of us don't yet have a handle on all the lingo). May came handy for the many 953 owners here.

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No, no, it was bigger than that! It looked like a weird monkey-dog thing!
COG First Class Recruit
Gears of War

I wouldn't be too worried, there must be countless thousands of pellets put through the multi-shot 953 and 853c rifles and if this was a common failure I'm sure we'd have heard about it. I was wondering how many shots I've put through mine, but it's not something I keep track of. Best guess is probably around 2000.


Daisy service are extremely reasonable. I ordered two of the parts that broke plus a spare of the part that it connects to, and the whole bill including shipping was around $10. I always mean to do the photo write-ups but invariably don't. It's surprisingly time consuming, and one of the things I have almost none of is spare time. (the other is spare money). No worries - it's a dead easy gun to work on and there are plenty of links for how to take it apart. Once you have it out of the stock and take the top receiver off, the bolt and indexing parts are all simple lift out/drop in fittings. You can't go wrong.

Jim

Thanks Jim, for the clarification. 2000 shots isn't much and no one else seems to have had that problem, guess it was just your bad luck. Besides, with all the guns I've accumulated and the almost non existent time to shoot much if any, it will be a while till either of the 953s see that high a number.
Good to know too that Daisy has decent customer service and a good place to get parts from without the feeling that your wallet is being held hostage.
Did you managed to fix the 5 shot clip issue with the 853? How do you find the peep sight in it?

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No, no, it was bigger than that! It looked like a weird monkey-dog thing!
COG First Class Recruit
Gears of War

You mean when I swapped out the barrel and received a single shot one? Yes, Daisy sent me a replacement with the correct valve body/lower receiver attached - that's this gun that's just failed.

I love the peep sights, but don't actually use them. Which sounds bizarre, but this 953/853 hybrid is the most accurate rifle I have, so I like to use it with a 10-40 scope for cutting cards, shooting .22 cases and for the UBC competitions. I'm still trying to work out what to get to use with peep sights. Another 953 would be an obvious solution, but it seems a bit boring to have two of them. Something home-made is appealing, but my track record for that is extremely slow. I'm thinking an IB 2078a might be a good way to go. I'd swap out the barrel for a .177 and have fun tuning it up.

My replacement indexing lever arrived yesterday, so today I set to and rebuilt the 953 (for some reason non-working guns always seem to end up in pieces in my workshop - there will be another post explaining why).

Here's the broken lever, along with the new replacement and a spare of the other link in the indexing mechanism, just in case that should fail too.



Here's a close-up of the break. There's some sort of circular do-dad in the casting which creates a weak spot.



Sure is nice to have it back together again



Happy shooting!
Jim

I believe the circular do-dad mark in the cast part is from the ejector pin. After the part is cast and the mold separates, the ejector pin(s) move forward to push the part out of the mold.

It's disconcerting that it would cause a weakness in the part. I wonder if that's a common fault, or just a rare unlucky failure.

Ah, that's interesting. I couldn't work out why it was there. I guess they ejected the part before it had fully set, creating stress and fracture lines all the way through. I hope it isn't going to be a common failure, or I'll end up having to fabricate one out of something stronger.

Look at all these poor decapitated jacks and kings. isn't that from 7m away? Gotta try doing that sometime, although it may take me 100 shots in order to have the laws of average hit one.
What's that monster scope?

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No, no, it was bigger than that! It looked like a weird monkey-dog thing!
COG First Class Recruit
Gears of War

Jim is that your actual 953 if so I'm impressed,
great photo to.

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"A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle"

10m in this case, but we do it at 50 feet at GTAC too That was four for four. Ok, 3.5 for four Scope is a zOS 10-40x50. It helps.



Yes, that's my rifle - thanks!