I am 1 of those guy who loves to tinker. Last week I cut 1 coil off the spring in prep for this project. Today, we find out if I can make a spring guide from delrin worth having on a wood lathe...yes is the aanswer.i sold my wood lathe years ago, but still have access to 1. I bought a cheap parting tool off amazon. it arrived dull, with a light aluminum handle. Sharpened up ok. Unscrewed the handle, and filled with spent lead from my pellet trap...now it actually feels like something worth trying to work with. Cuts surprisingly well, internet claims the 65mn steel is basically Chinese 1095...maybe? makes quite a mess, but delrin is easy to cut ....really helps fill out your beard though the base on mine is about double the thickness of the original. Adding back in some spring tension, while still allowing enough room to engage the sear. rifle is back together. I have only shot it once as proof of function. Definitely has a different feel to it. Cocking cycle is quieter because of how the sear engages. Before you would bottom out the stroke, hear the sear click into place, then feel/hear the piston move forward a bit before staying locked in place. Now that forward motion is gone. We shall see if this is a good idea or not tomorrow. Should be able to chronograph, and hit a few targets to see where things are at.