Airguns That You Broke, Received Broken, or Just Broke and You Never Fixed

[Ezana4CE]

Many of us have experienced broken airgun parts, failed parts or consumables (like o-rings, poppets, springs, etc), hamfisted or brain farted a repair or two. It’s kinda how a lot of us learn. Now when these things happen, how many folks just say “eff it” and throw the airgun in the corner somewhere?

I’d like to read your stories about airguns that you’ve given up on that just sit unused and broken. If you broke it, please explain how you broke it. I’m also interested in why you said “eff it” and didn’t get them repaired.


*Before you all get started here, this isn’t a thread to on a member or vendor that sold you a lemon. If you have that sort of issue I suggest that you create a thread elsewhere to warn others, leave a review in the “Feedback” forum, or take it up with the individual that you take issue with in order to resolve your issue(s).

 

[Hold_Over]

I typically don't get to a point where I permanently give up. I may have a f this for now while I think about how to get past a particular issue. In general if I think I am going try something that could be catastrophic in the form of a mod I usually do my research to find out where I can get/ how much the stock replacement part will cost if I need it. Gonna file down a sear ....gonna price out a factory replacement first in case it all goes wrong. Good thread though, am watching this 1.

 

[Firewalker]

Gauntlet Gen 1 in .177.

The seller was stellar, the gun is no fun.
It broke my heart so I took it apart.
Hard to cock and heavy as, well...
Parts all in baggies, in the closet it dwells.

 

[Septicdeath]

Since I collect vintage airguns, I'd say 75% of the airguns I buy are broken.

 

[MikeVV]

I have a Weihrauch HW100 Bullpup, that started leaking.
I've replaced all of the o-rings in the "normal" leakage locations, plus one inside of the valve...still leaks. I like the gun, but...

I had a pistol that leaked. A cut o-ring (square ring). But that was a simple fix, and one time was all it took on that one.

Been working on a new car (drag race car), so my airgun repair time (and even shooting time) has been limited lately.

That's my problem gun.

Mike

 

[Struckat]

I bought a 1300kt from the Crosman custom shop in 2020.
Wore out the pump linkage twice. It became part of the Crosman part s inventory.

I bought a HW70 but didn’t realize how old it was. The sear is junk and no longer available.

 

[manabeknives]

A FX Indy
I had a lot of fun with this little bullpup.
I thought it was the answer to unlimited shooting without buying any additional air supplies.
Just pump up the rifle, and you had 10 good shots before you had to repressurize the tank.
The Big problem with this rifle is that if you live in a humid environment, you are adding water into your system everytime you pump it up.
I had a problem with water accumulation in the internals ...rusted everything
could have "maybe" been fixed, but i still live in same area and the same things will happen again since there is no way to discharge the water accumulating in the internals.
so i never fixed it..
I would love to use it again, but it seems like a money pit

 

[Gerry52]

Dave, I bought a Hatsan Carnivore .30 (one of my early "learning guns") that I tried to work on but above my pay grade at that time (hammerspring Adjuster, trigger sear & stuff I've forgotten). Sent it out for repair to someone who f'ed it up WORSE, sent it back to me & then denied even having communication with me. I tried all manner of things to make it right and in the end, gave it to a friend. 7 years later it's STILL sitting in a box in the same condition in which I gave it to him. I DON'T miss it or the aggravation it caused! If he ever gave it back to me I'd use it as a target for my FX Boss & shoot the sh--t out of it

 

[ba49]

When I bought my latest house I was doing some work up in the attic and I found an old Daisy air rifle in the eves under the insulation. It look old but like a copy of a 1894 Winchester bb gun. It was pretty rusted from being in an unheated attic. I tried taking it apart to clean it up and derust it but it was just too far gone, so I threw it in the trash. I probably should have saved the parts that were salvageable. The house was built in 1955 so no telling how long it was up there. I'm guessing the rifle was from the 60s.

 

[maxtrouble]

Purchased a used R7 a couple of years ago. The barrel shims on both sides of the barrel assembly and the rifle tube had disintegrated into little pieces. Every time the rifle was cocked, the shim bits would dig into the barrel assembly and the rifle tube.

I purchased a new spring kit and had planned on rebuilding the rifle. Turns out the rifle tube took most of the damage from the disintegrated shims and the gouges are very deep. I tried to smooth out both surfaces but now the rifle shoots about twenty degrees to the left now even with about 10 barrel shims.

I no longer purchased used springers.

 

[GeneT]

SK-19. Though I haven't really given up on it, I just haven't gotten around to repairing it. It started to leak under warranty and I took it back to AoA. It came back well sealed and worked until I had some brain fade and fired it with the loading gate open, which caused an immediate, audible, leak. I fixed that one and it held air for a while, but then it started to leak again (slow leak that progressively got worse). I set it aside and just haven't gotten back to it. Too many other guns to have fun with and not yet had the motivation to get back to it, but plan to - eventually.

GsT

 

[rcarlisle]

I've got a 1377 that I've been modifying. I got a particularly bad barrel from Crosman and the old one was shot out with BBs. It's sitting patiently awaiting a LW barrel that I have yet to source. I didn't really break it, I'm just a little stuck getting it to where it I want it. Thankfully, I've other guns to shoot until this one gets its makeover.

 

[Hold_Over]

I've got a 1377 that I've been modifying. I got a particularly bad barrel from Crosman and the old one was shot out with BBs. It's sitting patiently awaiting a LW barrel that I have yet to source. I didn't really break it, I'm just a little stuck getting it to where it I want it. Thankfully, I've other guns to shoot until this one gets its makeover.

If it's the stock length barrel I have an extra sitting around in good shape. You pay for the ride I will just send it to you to use while you wait for the lw

 

[Dairyboy]

Evanix Air Speed. Jammed so many times, piss poor accuracy I could never get it to work. I through the barrel and action away and literally sold the rest for parts.

JTS Airacuda .22. Actually a good little gun, got a prototype for testing and really enjoyed it. Had to drill out the end cap due to clipping. No big deal. However I dropped the gun and bent the end of the shroud real bad. I did cut the shroud off and made it work OK but not to how I wanted to do it. It's been sitting for a year probably. Should get around to it.

 

[thumper]

FWB124 with a detent wedge that fell out of the compression tube. The wedge is a different junkier steel than the tube and it's hard to weld properly. Tried a few other tricks with limited success and stuck it in a corner for parts or a rainy day.

Another FWB124 with a weak lockup (weaker than usual). Filed the breech and got it a little better but it still sucked. Sold it locally so the guy could see that it sucked, and the poor guy had "read about them on the Internet" and still just had to have it.

I bought a damaged HW77K that had the barrel/breech plug assembly broken out of the receiver tube. I squared it up, welded it back together and the barrel turned out to be worthless. Typical oversized .22 caliber Weihrauch bore, but this one was unusable. Cut it back open and removed the barrel, ordered a blank to machine to fit it, and ended up using the blank on something else. Saved the trigger and the piston and cylinder and put the rest in the garbage. Gave the stock away.

I have an HW35E from the 60s that the stock inletting is all jacked up on. Looks awesome from 10 feet and shoots okay, but the stock is trash. Might try bedding it if I get time.

An HW30 with a bad lockup from bad geometry somewhere. Probably just use it for parts.

Another MK2 .22 HW77K from Hull Cartridge with a sorry oversized bore that's kinda sorta accurate. May rebarrel it or something one day.

I have plenty of other guns that shoot good to waste my time reviving these. I may get to em sooner or later. Or not. I'm over em lol

I've found PCPs are much easier to work on and modify. They don't seem to ever end up in the junk pile. I've salvaged a few that had major accuracy issues but haven't had to give up on one yet.

 

[specie]

...I bought a new HW35E from AOA...piston seal was damaged...sent it back...was "repaired"...then the cocking lever wedged between piston and receiver bore...replaced the piston...wedged again...beautiful wall hanger now...next stop the dumpster...?

 

[Hold_Over]

...I bought a new HW35E from AOA...piston seal was damaged...sent it back...was "repaired"...then the cocking lever wedged between piston and receiver bore...replaced the piston...wedged again...beautiful wall hanger now...next stop the dumpster...moral of the study: only buy 10m guns!

That hw35e sounds like the kind of thing I would have a go at. I wouldn't give up on that just yet....

 

[JimD]

I've had some anxious periods on a couple but all 6 of mine are currently working. When I got my first P35, the 25 caliber, I decided to knock the pins out of the trigger housing to see what the parts looked like. Thought I might polish them. They were very smooth without my help and I had a heck of a time getting them back in the right spots. Prayed several times on that one.

My latest gun is an Air Maks Caiman. It arrived with two issues. One is a design weakness. The path for the washer area of the regulator to get to ambient pressure depends on some clearance between the plenum piece and the regulator and then leakage through the threads where the plenum piece screws into the air tube. Fortunately another member already had that issue and posted a fix and that partially solved it for me. He said to put a little notch with a file in the end of the plenum piece. Helped but I also had to use a diamond bur to remove a tiny section of thread under the hole in the airtube before it would shoot right. When the washer stack doesn't vent, the pressure acts like an additional spring holding the regulator closed and your velocity keeps getting lower and lower. A couple reviewers on youtube observed this but did not know the cause. Once that was fixed, the regulator would still fluctuate quite a bit. It's a Huma so I didn't think it should work worse than my SPA guns. So I took it apart and found an excessive amount of silicone grease on the washers. With that removed, it worked for a little while but then decided to totally quit working. That turned out to be not enough silicone grease on the O ring close to the white sealing disc in the regulator. Works now. A time or two I just gave up on it for a day. I like the gun but didn't expect this many issues at this price point. The trigger was also horribly adjusted but that was easy to fix. TONS of creep. Takes a few seconds to adjust once you get the stock off. Utah Air was helpful.

 

[rcarlisle]

If it's the stock length barrel I have an extra sitting around in good shape. You pay for the ride I will just send it to you to use while you wait for the lw

Stock length is what I would prefer. That's a mighty kind offer! I'll follow via PM shortly.

 

[ba49]

I also have an Alfa Proj that had very little use but has a fill issue that I have been unable to figure out. It won't accept air in the filler. I have had it apart several times and as of yet no luck fixing it. I usually bring it out when I have some extra time and and end up frustrated and put it back in the safe for a few months. I think I am finally done with it though LOL.