Loaded Hatsan 87 Vortex QE - will not fire!

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ironlion269

ironlion269

Member
Mar 10, 2017
773
78
North Central Indiana, United States
Hey y'all, I'm in a pickle and need some sage advice. Three weeks ago I began having problems with my Hatsan 87 Vortex QE (.22) wherein the gun would properly cock, auto-safety engaged, barrel returned to fire position, and then no action when trigger pulled. I found that simply breaking the barrel again and returning it to fire-ready would reset the trigger action and the gun would then fire. This problem has become more noticeable in the last week or so.

Two days ago the gun misfired as I was again breaking the barrel in an attempt to reset the action. I'm talking a full-on, almost peed myself, if-it-is-made-by-man-it-will-fail-at-some-point dry fire. The barrel was not in the fire position; if it had been I'd have lodged a .22 pellet in my attic space above my garage. This destroyed my scope, the Hatsan freebie which actually did well by me; a few follow-on shots demonstrated that the POA and POI were totally screwed as well.

Long story short, I decided to try the gun out once more this afternoon and after 5 successful shots, the action locked up again. Only this time the action, while seeming to reset with each new barrel break, refused to fire. To be clear, the gun is loaded with a Benji Discovery 14.3 gr pellet, is fully cocked, and will NOT fire no matter how many times I've tried to reset the action by breaking the barrel. I have very, very carefully removed the entire action from the stock and have tried to reason out the problem but am stumped. I have secured the naked action and ensured that any firing of the action will result in the pellet going straight into a proven trap of 20 lbs of shredded rubber.

Any suggestions to aid me in clearing the action on this gun? It is certainly going back to Hatsan for work but I can't ship it until I've defanged it. Can someone help me figure out how to do so?
 
This sounds like a trigger adjustment issue. You could remove the barrel. That will "defang" the beast. Honestly though you sound like you have the danger of the problem well understood. If you can safely put the action in a vice with the barrel still attached and pointing in a safe direction you might try adjusting the trigger screws. Mind you make darn sure that you are ready for the thing to go off.

http://www.hatsan.com.tr/assets/break_barrel_air_rifles_manual_en.pdf
DO NOT TRY TO DISASSEMBLE THE RIFLE WHILE IT IS COCKED. DO NOT TRY TO DISASSEMBLE THE RIFLE WITHOUT A SPRING JIG.
Go slow and be safe, mate.
 
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Thanks, guys. The text in all caps (oldspook, above ^ ) is what I have been keeping in the forefront of my mind since this issue came up. I have no jig/compressor to use in disassembly. Honestly, I am tempted to force the pellet out of the barrel (knowing the dang thing could dry fire on me - thank G0D it's a break barrel) and then start taking out pins and springs from the trigger assembly until.... MOUSETRAP! and it goes off. I'd gather them all up in a zip-loc baggie and send the whole shootin' match to Hatsan USA for a resolution. Either that, or force out the pellet and then just write the gun off using a sledge hammer to sign my name all over the stinking action. One seems much more reasoned and sane, while the trigger disassembly just seems crazy. We shall see.
 
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Brief update, the gun's action has been safely cleared... using a standard 12 oz. hammer and the judicious conversion of potential energy to kinetic energy. Basically, I broke open the barrel, lay the action down on the landscaping bricks outside the garage back door, picked up said hammer, and gave the trigger assembly a, shall we say, sharp, weighty, and convincing argument to cycle the piston. Bonus! The pellet, though well out of the path of the escaping air column, was jarred loose so no concern about shipping a "loaded gun". Not pretty but given the complete failure of the safety and trigger assembly I'm not tearing up over the result.
 
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I have a Hatsan Striker Edge Vortex in .22 cal. It also has a similar problem. Now knowing that these two rifles have different triggers it may have something more to do with the auto safety. When I cock mine and disengage the safety it feels normal. When I pull the trigger it feels like the safety is disengaged. (you know that slightly different feel the trigger has between the safety being on or off) The trigger bottoms out and the gun doesn't fire now comes the malfunction. Either it fires when I reset the safety and flip it off again or it just fires when it wants. I have disassembled it yet and I do not know how the safety and trigger are linked together but I think the linkage between the two is binding up. Also I should have noted I have the top rear safety. Not sure if there is a difference model to model.
 
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Interesting. I double-checked the online images for the Striker Edge Vortex and confirmed that the safety on the model is the thumb button that must be pushed "in" to enable the gun to fire. The Mod 87 I have has the other type of Hatsan safety, the vertical button style that must be pulled "out" to enable the gun to fire. Yet the problem you detail above is exactly the same as the problem my Mod 87 was having before it finally seized up. Time to take this to the next level, I believe. I wonder who else/how many others have had this problem with Hatsan gas piston guns?
 
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