R1 woes, continued

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binfordw

Member
Aug 28, 2015
107
2
Indiana
So I picked up an old San Rafael R1 a year or so back, from a guy on a firearms forum. Got what I thought was a hell of a deal, so I couldn't pass it up. Turned out the spring was busted, so I bought a Vortek kit for it and installed. 

It was zinging CP lites (.177) 1060+ (Man this things a smooth firing hammer!, the Vortek kits are pretty darn nice) so I tried cp heavies, and a few other heavy .177's. Never got decent groups, and each session would wind up with safety issues, or failure to cock properly. Wound up spending alot of time sitting in the cabinet.

I have been finding a little time to shoot lately, and busted it out here and there. Still can't get decent groups, and still had troubles with the safety, cocking. I took it apart this morning and had another look. I think I may have found the issue, the sear spring wasn't in place correctly, it had missed the retaining pin on install, and was "loose" in the trigger group. I reassembled, and tested by cocking/holding barrel, squeezing off trigger a few dozen times. Seemed to be fairly correct, time will tell.

I'm going to grab a better scope than the 2.5x blue ribbon it came with and see if I can't get it to shoot well. Would really like to knock a few squirrels down with it this fall! Its all too easy to get sucked into pcp's and forget where we came from. I have a soft spot for rifles like this, I spent years oogling them in Beeman catalogs when I was a kid.





 
I too remember wishing for an R1 when I was a kid. I was fortunate in that my neighbor had several high end German air rifles that I was allowed to shoot with him at his sportsman's club. He taught me many lessons with these rifles including the ethics of hunting and later shooting range rules and regulations. He was a true mentor molding me into a marksman and guiding me into adulthood with firearms. He was a Doctor in our community and served us well for many years. When he passed away I was given an R1 from his gun locker as per his will. The R1 is a cherished shooter that I maintain today. Still accurate with practice and dependable.
He lives today in my memories when I ready the R1 for a shooting session. I look to his wisdom when I have my grand kids and the neighborhood kids over at my range for some shooting fun and shooting education.
Nice rifle binfordw
 
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My scopes and pellets came in the mail today, After getting it hitting about zero, I noticed shot after shot was going in the same place. The 10.34gr JSB Heavies really seem to be the ticket, I bought some Kodiaks too, but might not even open them now!

I sat a 1 1/2" spinner out at 40 yards with fresh paint, and drilled it with authority a half dozen times. The hits all look great too, aside from some vertical stringing where I was guessing POI at that range, they were centered nicely. All smiles now!!

The safety feels harder to turn off now and then, If I recall I think this is a trigger adjustment issue? I might look into it later.
 
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binfordw,
I put a vortex spring in my R1 two years ago, due to the fact that my spring was all used up. Got the gun used at the store in Santa Rosa in 1989. The R1 was at about 600 fps before the new spring. After the new spring cp lites are at 980 to 1000 fps. I have found that if you buy any of the cp pellets in the tin they can be all over the place from tin to tin, but in the 1250 box they are very consistent, although they foul the bore on my rifle faster than most JSB and H&N pellets. The safety on my gun was getting kind of sketchy, before the new spring, but cleaning all the parts during the rebuild put it back to a nice smooth click. I don't see how it could be involved with a trigger adjustment, mine was just full of gunk before the rebuild.
Noel
 
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When I got the gun the safety didn't work- When I looked into info then I believe that's what I was told. Not enough main sear engagement won't let the lever that the safety push button actually blocks move far enough forward to fully clear the safety push button. Sounds right in my head. 

If I cock the rifle, while holding the barrel- holding some pressure on the barrel, the safety releases much easier. If I don't put any pressure on the barrel, just have my hand there for safety, its much harder to push the safety off. Its still an annoyance, but the rifle is shooting really, really well for such a powerful springer + me using it. I had tried the 1250 boxes of CP heavies, but it scattered those too. The Heavy JSB's are perfect for this one.

 
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