AA tx200 stock screws working loose
- Thread starter cgriff20
- Start date
I havent found that, I have machined many stocks and walnut has always been more difficult. You guys must have harder beech than my experiences
Upvote 0
There are different grades of walnut, some harder and some softer. Also the grain structure has a lot to do with how tough it is. We have an exotic wood lumber store in our town and my youngest son is a woodworker ( his woodshop is awesome) and he is friends with the guy at the exotic wood place. There explanation is that beech is much harder to finnish and stain due to its grain structure, while it is a hardwood, the difficulty in refinnishing makes some folks think it is really hard, where the walnut is much easier to finnish due to grain structure making folks think it is softer. All I can say is I have owned 4 AA walnut stocks and have never had the wood compress under the screws like I have in the beech stocks that were sent in for repairs. In my experiences the walnut has stood up much better, and the beech is so much more prone to swelling and shrinking from moisture and humidity.
Upvote 0
It’s like saying stone is harder than concrete. Sandstone or Granite? The heartwood of Walnut is very hard. As is the same for Beechwood. The closer to the pith the harder the wood gets. The closer to the the sap ring the softer. Another consideration is new growth versus old growth. As a whole Beechwood is harder than Walnut if taken from the same location in the tree. Also, harder doesn’t automatically translate into stronger. Harder can also mean “brittle”. AirShot is right in that Walnut is more stable and takes on less moisture than Beech. Hence the loosening of the screws.
Upvote 0
I was wrong, but it seemed it didn't take as much sanding. 1220 on the Janka scale, what do I know. LOL
English Walnut | The Wood Database - Lumber Identification (Hardwood) (wood-database.com)
Upvote 0
Has anyone experimented with epoxy/glass bedding a spring gun action? Something like this might address the issues associated with stock screws coming loose. The epoxy is used to make a non-compressible attachment point in the stock as well as lock the action in place so no movement happens in any case. What do you folks think?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF8hr8-jFVI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF8hr8-jFVI
Upvote 0
Some have claimed that bedding works in springers, I have never had a need to try it. All of the springers I have owned over my 40 plus years of airgunning, loosening of stock screws has never been an issue. They have always had nice smooth firing cycles, and with proper addition of a tiny drop of loctite never had screw issues. I know that many folks have had issues as they sent me their rifles for tuning work. After returning them I have never had any further complaints. I also replaced most factory screws with more precise industrial grade screws, which was also a big help as there is much less play in the threads.
Upvote 0
Agree entirely with AirShot. Also, hardening the wood could make it brittle. Causing the whole area hardened to break loose from the stock. I use a brass nut, turned down on a drill press to fill the hole and use a flat head screw to flush at the stock. Then can visually see to not over tighten. Degrease both male and female threads with lacquer thinner and a TINY drop of Loctite. Weihrauch makes the insert on all their single mounting screw models and I never understood why they do not on the rest. Never been an issue after this. Looks better also.
Upvote 0
Looks like the inserts I use to make, I used brass when the gun had other brass accessories but used blued steel on rifles that had no other brass details. Appearance thing I guess....in my experience the AA guns had better quality screws than the HW rifles. Always had much better sucess with quality screws being used to replace the sloppy thread HW factory screws.
Upvote 0
AirShot, I do the same thing except use antique brass blackening formula to blacken the brass. Easier to make out of brass. Then also chuck in the screws and drop the heads down on 400 grit / 600 grit / 1500 grit paper. Then cold blue the screw heads. I think you may be as anal as me! Lol
If I considered getting as aggressive as to harden the wood , I think I would score a couple grooves on the outside of the brass cups and JB Weld them in permanently first. No need though.
Upvote 0
Just barely made out the edge of the brass retainer.. Depending on customer wants, I sometimes made them larger or smaller to make them less noticible. Onevtime a fellow sent me an HW77 that had lots of brass accessories, so I made the screw caps larger so the polished brass was noticible. Even made some from aluminum one time to match customers other aluminum accessories on his rifle. Sometimes I used aluminum and sand blasted it, then clear coated it, made it look like satin stainless steel..
Upvote 0