It's been a little bit since I originally posted this. Please know I've experienced a lot of frustration with this 95.
DISCLAIMER: I don't profess to be the sharpest tack in the box on air rifles but I do use a common sense approach. I am mechanically inclined and have seen my fair share of mechanical problems in other things over the years. I am reporting solely from common sense of what should and should not be falling all to pieces. So if some of this appears to be said in ignorance feel free to flame, correct, and educate this fella.
The background- This rifle is almost 3 yrs old and has seen light use. It initially showed signs of binding on the barrel cocking cycle and actually had a brief period of locking up/crunching heavily. Twice in its lifetime it has magically slammed back up to lock. This rifle has seen less than 1500 rds total shots.
Tools Used- Screwdrivers (slotted and Phillips), punches, micro files, sandpaper (400 grit and 1000 grit),small hammer,Air Venturi RailLock Spring Compressor, cussing(this was used liberally throughout this project and is a tool we all have available), frustration (best used with the cussing tool), Shaming the rifle into submission (this is best used after the cussing tool and after the frustration tool- eg. "you suck, why are you giving me such a hellish time you piece of garbage"). At any rate I hope you find this informative and also humorous as that is the only way I made it through this.
Some obvious negatives I've discovered so far during this project:
1) The screws and pins used in my particular Model 95 are very soft. This is a problem in my eyes as the screws/fasteners and the pins that hold things together should be of a better grade than what this rifle shipped with.
2) Quattro trigger assembly pins should be secured by clips or have one end larger/flattened. These pins are extremely easy to fall out and will really ruin your day when that happens. Its not a question of it will happen but more WHEN, and usually that is right as you try to re-install it after servicing the powerplant.
3) Piston Galling- My piston was galled rather badly on the skirt. There was NO factory Moly on the piston or any other lubricant/antiwear product.
4) Horrible piston seal/rough installation at factory. My piston seal was frayed around the lip and had numerous metal shavings embedded. There was a nice black burnt edge and the molding marks were horrible. (will get to what I did later)
5) Mickey Mouse Guide and washer. EL Cheapo washer that is shedding its metal. It's literally whittling itself away this washer mentioned. I can not tell if the piston originally had a washer inside it also because there are spring grooves inside there. If it WAS a washer there it is GONE now. There still remains the soft Mickey Mouse washer between the spring and guide that is made of some sort of dollar store cap gun looking material.
Some Pros I discovered:
1) The piston from the factory has a really nice beveled and rounded skirt exterior. The interior of the piston itself was rounded also. Now it could have been that the shooting done it but I will try to give this to Hatsan as "intended and factory produced" .This was a nice touch I thought.
2) Compression chamber looked really good considering the piston had heavy galling on 1/4 of the skirt. Surprised me.
3) Barrel crown looks good
4) Quattro trigger HAS potential once you learn it and can conquer the falling pin problem and other annoyances. They used decent material with the internal components of the Quattro trigger compared to other triggers I have seen in air rifles.
Some things I learned/ the cussing parts:
1) When re-assembling the Quattro Trigger and reinstalling it onto the rifle you MUST set the sear in a "ready to fire" state. You MUST used either a small piece of Wooden dowel pin of proper diameter and length to go through the sear pin hole and keep it in place. When re-installing use the factory pin to push from the side that has the safety rest mechanism on it. WATCH THOSE trigger Pins closely. If you must tap the 3 pins that secure the trigger assembly to the rifle for reinstall then make a couple light taps and re-check trigger pins again and center them. They will pop out easily and give you a large headache and force you to use the cussing tool.
2) I did NOT have a new piston seal to use. Really did not want to spend any money at this point so I resurfaced it. Cleaned off with 91% rubbing alcohol, then used 400 grit sand paper on the burnt edge. Removed all the burnt then worked on the seal face (lip) that was frayed until those little imperfections were gone. It was very slight and light pressure was used. The factory seal is rather crappy so use care. This was done with the seal on the piston and by hand. Sandpaper was placed on table and I turned the piston with steady light pressure. It did not take very much at all.Retain that sharp edge on the lip, do not dull it. Be careful in other words.
3) Piston galling was taken care of by using the sandpaper again. Worked with 400 grit first and finished with 1000 grit. Again, very light pressure and a bit of time. Mirror finish. about 5 mins work.
4) Removed burrs in piston cocking slot. Used micro files to true it up, making the edges square without the burrs. Just remove the burrs.I used a square micro file. Followed with 400 grit and 1000 grit.slick as a button afterward. Also had to work on the pot metal cocking arm that engages that surface as it had dang near ate itself to death. Re-trued the edge on the cocking arm. Followed with light 400 and 1000.
5) Receiver cocking slot burr removal. Removed burrs and sharp edge. Also removed sharp edge from piston re-installation edges. Melted the edge with files and sandpaper. These are the sharp little parts that snagged the seal at the factory. No longer an issue on this receiver.
6)Cleaned Compression chamber with 91% alcohol until cloth/paper towel came out clean. This was the second time I had done this as the first time before any work by me netted a lot of metal fragments and shavings. I take it this was a combination of the piston gall shavings and the cap gun pot metal washer mentioned above.
Now this is the point we go into dangerous waters, where numerous people will say "that guy is an idiot". Well maybe so but it is what it is. I used MilComm TW25B grease on the piston seal edge and on the piston. Also on the spring. No Moly was on hand, and TW25B is fully synthetic with PTFE. No it is not Krytox or Ultimox but for this test it was all I had. It smoothed things up and the seal seems happy on installation. The old talk about 2-3 lbs of resistance is about what it was on reinstall.
I'd like to say I had tried to get the gun cocked for DAYS without it working. It would get at the bottom and just hit a brick wall. This brick wall was the sear.. And because I did not FIRE the trigger after the trigger had been reinstalled onto the gun. So remember that it MUST be in a ready to fire state on installation back into the receiver BUT pull the trigger to fire it before you try to actually cock the barrel after your work is done.
Only been able to shoot 2 pellets through it because got it done tonight well after dark. I had no detonation(no boom, no crack like a 22 rifle) but did have some smoke.So i take it that TW25B will diesel. OR it could be the small amount of silicone oil I used on the piston seal to seat it on the knob after removing it for full inspection. We shall see when I get more daylight and time.
What's left to do:
- The front stock screws are still missing. I've decided since this is a beater now I will jury rig something up. Tonight for the 2 shots I used a 1/4"x20 threaded rod and two nuts. Just temporary. But hey, it worked for proof fire test. The plan is to hunt up a bolt that is preferably hex or torx head and that will fit a wee bit more snug (will need to be metric) and cut her down to 1-5/8" long and top it off with a nut embedded into the hole in stock that is already there.Yep, full on jury rig madness. But the soft metal Hatsans just don't cut it and who knows how much they want for that special stuff.
That is where I am so far with this, and at least the thing shoots again. No idea on grouping/consistency yet. Must get that front stock screw problem solved before any meaningful shooting can take place to see.
