Mystery Beeman build

[DIYEngineer235]

Just picked up a mystery Beeman for a project.
Came with an interesting camo paint job that will need removed.
My initial plan is to restore it to original. After that, I may make some modifications.

It looks like its in pretty good shape. Just needs a good cleaning and fresh oil.

So far, I've gotten it tore down. Rebuilt the trigger assembly with a quick clean and fresh oil. The tube and plunger look good. Doesn't look like it leaks. The spring was cut down but I'm not sure if I'll replace it, or leave it as is. I did find some damage to the plastuc spring alignment tube and washer, but it was easy enoigh to flatten the washer and smooth out the mangled plastic with a little sanding.

Next step is to remove the bad paint.

 

[Fuciliere]

Is that tube a stainless finish

 

[DIYEngineer235]

Is that tube a stainless finish

I think so. I haven't tried to take the paint off yet, but the scratches show silver.

If you happen to know the model, tell me. I've looked all over and haven't found it yet.

 

[Fuciliere]

looks like a Beeman Sportsman 1000 series https://www.gunsamerica.com/993435744/Beeman-Sportsman-1000-Air-Rifle-17.htm

 

[DIYEngineer235]

looks like a Beeman Sportsman 1000 series https://www.gunsamerica.com/993435744/Beeman-Sportsman-1000-Air-Rifle-17.htm

I agree. Looks identical to what I've got. Even the markings with the serial number look the same.

 

[DIYEngineer235]

I have positively identified my mystery Beeman as an SS 1000 T.

Also went and designed myself a spring compression block so I can use my arbor press to hopefully compress the spring enough to get it all back together.

Finally, I did a little more of a tuneup on the trigger assembly. Polished the slidding surfaces to get rid of the gritty trigger feel. The trigger is an adjustable two-stage I believe, but the adjustment screws were so loose, I'm surprised they hadn't fallen out. Probably would have except for the dirt. Added a little thread lock to keep them. Got the trigger adjusted to give me a real nice break at the second stage. Not quite a hair trigger on the second stage, but close.

 

[DIYEngineer235]

Finally got the paint off. Wouldn't you know it, there's a rifle under all that paint! I highly recommend this "2 Minute Remover" for getting rid of paint. Was coming off as soon as I applied it. I even got the scope and hardware cleaned up. Not a bit of paint left.

Now that the paint is gone, I can see a little more cosmetic damage. The finish was scuffed up for the paint, but not very well. I may see if some clear coat can fill in those scratches. The barrel did have a significant gouge in it, but I think I can grind it smooth.

I forgot to take before pics for everything but the stock, but you can definitely see an improvement.

 

[Fuciliere]

that looks really nice and clean, are you still gonna strip that stock to bare wood?

 

[DIYEngineer235]

that looks really nice and clean, are you still gonna strip that stock to bare wood?

I'm considering it, but its in really good condition. Just some scuffing that I think a little clear coat will fix. If that doesn't work, I can strip it down later, orveven build a new stock all together.

 

[Fuciliere]

if it was me, stripping would be nice, because the small scuff can be remove and flattened. and oiling the wood always makes the grain pop out, if you didnt like the outcome, you can always paint it with something.

 

[DIYEngineer235]

if it was me, stripping would be nice, because the small scuff can be remove and flattened. and oiling the wood always makes the grain pop out, if you didnt like the outcome, you can always paint it with something.

It is amazing how nice a little oil can make wood. I have a knife wth a walnut handle, all home made, and all I did to finish the wood was add a little vegetable oil and buff it with leather.

We'll see how my plating experiment goes. If it turns out great, I'll strip the stock to make it really pop.

 

[Fuciliere]

Maybe if you dont mind posting some of your custom knife works, love to see it

 

[DIYEngineer235]

Got a bad case of itchy trigger finger, so I threw my Beeman Sportsman SS1000T back together to test it out with the old cut down spring. No, I did not use a spring compressor. No, I will not tell you how I actually did it for safety and legal reasons.

Anyways, I lubed the seal with some white moly grease I have on hand for other hobbies. Once I got the the trigger, spring, and tube all re-assembled, I decided to test it to make sure everything worked smoothly before I finished assembly. Cocked it, did not load, sat it loose in my lap and pulled the trigger. First, it is a very sensitive trigger after my little modifications, so it was very smooth and quick. Second, I apparently used too much grease on the plunger seal. My kid's water table got a nice half dollar size spray of white moly grease on it. lol. No damage done, but a nice reminder about pointing guns in safe directions. Anyways, I dry fired it a few more times to get any more excess grease out. I now have a lubed barrel. haha.

To finish, I got the stock and scope mounted and took it out for a quick zeroing session. Did not take my shooting table as I intended this to just be a few pellets to check the aim. (Yeah, right!) All I took was my shooting chair to act as a quick shooters rest and sat on the ground. At 10 M I was getting a 3-inch group. Keep in mind, I'm not the best shot at the best of times and this was not my best positioning.

For my target, I chose to use some packing paper from when we moved house. The movers left a ton of it unused and since they charged us for it, we kept it. I slapped a couple of high-vis bullseyes on the sheet and hung it on my gallery.

I used the bottom target at 10m and the others at 25 m using the chair as the rest. Didn't do too bad. The first one went wild, but I blame the barrel being full of excess grease. A few more shots cleared it out. The first group, down and right of the target was before I adjusted the scope. The shots on target were after. As you can see, about 3 inches. So, I moved back out to 25 to try. Took aim and the first few also went wild, until I remembered this scope has parallax adjustment and a zoom. Set those and was hitting the target. Again, the large grouping was on me more than the gun. At least I managed to drill dead center at least once. The left side I tried doing different positions, but it was just too loose. So, after a few more shots plinking at the spinners visible, I called it. (A few shots to zero, HA!)

Now for the punchline. I get back inside and start to put the gun away when I realize that I forgot to tighten down the front scope mount! You have NO idea how tempted I was to get back out there and try again, but the sun was just too much. Still, it was fun testing it out. Can't wait to try it with an uncut spring and iron sights!

 

[DIYEngineer235]

Maybe if you dont mind posting some of your custom knife works, love to see it

This is the only picture I have left. I still have most of the knives. They're just burried in a trunk somewhere.

 

[Fuciliere]

Nice knife there, did you create the blade from stock metal?

 

[DIYEngineer235]

Took it back out today to re-zero the scope. Did pretty well. I was getting 3-1/2 inch groups at 25m. I admit, I was hoping for better, but I'm not too unhappy.

 

[DIYEngineer235]

Decided to roast myself yoday to try out some different pellets at 25 m. Didn't find a conclusively better pellet.

Also realized I never posted a good picture of the rifle reassembled.

 

[Fuciliere]

Nice restoration, looks clean and bright, maybe you need to polish the barrel and see if effect makes a difference