BSA Meteor MK7 fettle

flyboy1950 said:
Thank for all your trouble Rob, would be happy at around 8 or 9 ft/lbs as long as it`s well mannered, it won't ever be used for hunting purposes (at least not whilst in my possession) I have others for that. As had been previously mentioned I would be doubtful of the trigger sear coping long term at full power.:cool:
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Ill see what i can do. Hopefully over weekend can test this different spring setup. Accuracy trumps power, just look at how capable the little HW30 rifles are at typical ranges 👍
 
Quite right Rob, however you look at it "A miss is always going to be a miss" Whenever I have been teaching gun safety at my club the youngsters inevitably ask "What's the most powerful air rifle I can have?" I have always replied "You are asking the wrong question, you should be asking what is the most accurate air rifle I can have?"
 
Busy day, not much time or energy this evening but made some good progress/findings.

Here is my hastily rebuilt test video. Again this is perhaps not a true representation of finished firing cycle but 700 fps+ with 8.3. A solid 9 ft lbs. No twang, significantly reduced recoil 🙂

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Goes to show the original spring spec was a lost cause really. I think used in combination with the steel weight in piston to deliver the 'full power meteor' USP. In a light weight 177 break barrel it wasnt pleasant yet did work.

The spring used now was once in a cometa i think but it fits the meteors guide 'well' i had to collapse and grind an open coil and tidy up the ends of burrs. Not sure its the ideal spring but best ive got to hand.

No idea where the little delrin top hat came from but it fits so being used. Slight bit of weight in piston/preload/support.

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sleeve is polypropylene in this pic. 0.6mm 🤔 thick. I decided to remake the sleeve (it was a little poorly fitting and being picky) out of high density polyethylene. Posh for a lenor fabric softner bottle!

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This is a better fit and more durable/slippery.

To make this length spring work i did have to knock up a thick delrin washer.

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I was able to fit the trigger block by hand now but would still advise to use a compressor to be careful.

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This isnt a bad setup in my opinion. Im sure it could be tweaked and improved but ideally it would require a new spring to work with to get more active coils vs the washer/top hat.

Im happy with it so plan is a final clean up, re-grease and build then run it in/ shoot some targets 😊👍
 
flyboy1950 said:
That Lenor spring sleeve looks really posh, pity it can't be shown off when reassembled. Ingenious idea, not seen that before.:LOL:(y)
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I used to work in materials recycling facility.. can you tell 😂 It should do the job nicely. Ive used hdpe plastic to sleeve a few times and its a good material for dampening resonance. Steel is my first choice for strength. Depending on the cocking lever depth in the slot and operating angle whilst cocking. Some rifles will rip up sleeves with use unless seriously heavy duty. With the meteor theres not much pressure on the sleeve from cocking so i dont see it wearing out for a long time 👍
 
All back together and should be job done.

The recoil test with pellet back on rear sight. Its a pass from me!

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Its early days for the chrono but i had between 709 and 721 fps with 8.3 superdomes. 9+ ft lbs. Hopefully it will settle more consistently somewhere around there then. Its not dieseling at all.

Its still a bit snappy (i think thats due to caliber and overall weight) but much more manageable. Whilst its not quite typical sub 12 energy now its still plenty of poke and a lighter/different pellet could yield better performance in speed/cycle and maybe even accuracy?

Ill shoot some cheap lead through it, try some various pellets on the chrono, give the barrel a clean and then back to targets to see how it shoots behind the trigger.

Ill also try and get the opens set at 25m for the spinners at the range so you can have a go at hitting something @flyboy1950 👍
 
Found some (New) but old russian springs and some piston washers again (New) but old and unused, one leather and another a rubber type compound, your welcome to put them in your spares box, never know when they will come in for a job somewhere. Can't have to many bits!
Thanks again for your efforts Rob. (y):D
 
flyboy1950 said:
Found some (New) but old russian springs and some piston washers again (New) but old and unused, one leather and another a rubber type compound, your welcome to put them in your spares box, never know when they will come in for a job somewhere. Can't have to many bits!
Thanks again for your efforts Rob. (y):D
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That sounds great, thanks! I do seem to need springs and seals quite often with the tinkering.

Hope the rifle meets your approval now mate and my pleasure to look over it for you.

Ill update the thread again soon 👍
 
The Prof said:
Brilliant thread! I have an unruly Gamo and the internals look identical. Will be trying much of what you shown here on it.

Especially impressed with the recoil test!
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Thanks. Certainly worth having a look at your gamo, you dont have much to loose trying and a sleeve costs nothing. Easy to make too.

There are a few positives to the internals here if yours are the same. A 25mm piston/workable seal. So many air rifles are designed for operating above the UK limit and choked down. This one is isnt.
 
Backgardenplinker said:
Thanks. Certainly worth having a look at your gamo, you dont have much to loose trying and a sleeve costs nothing. Easy to make too.

There are a few positives to the internals here if yours are the same. A 25mm piston/workable seal. So many air rifles are designed for operating above the UK limit and choked down. This one is isnt.
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Yes, mine's 25mm and I've already replaced the spring.

Didn't help much, pellets still go everywhere 🤣. First few you put throught it will group, after that it's like they've had an argument in the tin and want to be as far from each other as possible 🤣
 
The Prof said:
Yes, mine's 25mm and I've already replaced the spring.

Didn't help much, pellets still go everywhere 🤣. First few you put throught it will group, after that it's like they've had an argument in the tin and want to be as far from each other as possible 🤣
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Accuracy i cant comment on thus far really. The opens work ok at close range. I do think it might be closer too a 4.50mm barrel and favour that head size pellets. Not expecting it to be a real tack driver but you never know!

I will try and get round to trying a scope on it too for some groups before i hand it back to @flyboy1950 👍
 
Small update.

Shot maybe 30 unknown cheap pellets into a backstop. Took off stock and checked the piston sleeve just in case. Looks unmarked and probably went a bit OTT with advanced moly around slot area anyhow.

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Some chrono checks.

As is often the case its not untill you start trying different weights/sizes/brands of pellets that results can start to get interesting.

Im taking all results with a pinch of salt still as things are bedding in and efficiency is up from yesterday. Only 5 shot strings too. I confess i find it quite boring 😆 but valuable data here so worth doing.

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So a few of the mid weight domes are high 9s/ low 10s. The cheap econ 2 wadcutters if the 7.4 grain claimed weight is correct. Pushing onto 11 ft lbs. These produce max energy in my 177 hw77 barrel also.

Much healthier than i initially thought!

Cleaned the barrel after with pull through and patches. Little grubby, onto shooting next 👍

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Interesting the 5 shot spread on the 3 best pellets, JSBs =7ft/sec, Air Arms= 9ft/sec and Superdomes =9ft/sec a great achievement, a lot of pcps would have a job matching those figures. Well done Rob. (y)

If you think the Meteor a challenge, just wait another week and see what I have dug up from the past. Haha:LOL::LOL:
 
flyboy1950 said:
Interesting the 5 shot spread on the 3 best pellets, JSBs =7ft/sec, Air Arms= 9ft/sec and Superdomes =9ft/sec a great achievement, a lot of pcps would have a job matching those figures. Well done Rob. (y)

If you think the Meteor a challenge, just wait another week and see what I have dug up from the past. Haha:LOL::LOL:
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I would like to think it may shoot a little more consistently after more shots through it but thats not bad yeah.

Sounds interesting somthing dug up from the past! 😁👍
 
Just had a few shots on paper. Its a real improvement but im tempted to make a small adjustment to the preload. Its not got lots of recoil yet it still delivers it quite abruptly.

Cocking could be a little easier too.

Im being very picky here, i am known for it 😂
 
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