You guys never told me.....

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seven08

Member
Oct 14, 2018
366
7
CO, United States
......how much work it would be to own a spring gun. I was shooting off hand at my 100 yd. saw blade target yesterday and noticed a drop in impact. I turned the scope up a touch to compensate. Today more drop with a gritty feel when cocking the new D34 .22. Off to the basement for a look inside. Another broken spring, my third in four months but first with this gun. This was the original spring in this DEC 2017 built gun. My best guess is 5000 shots fired. Not much in my opinion. Fortunately, I have two new Vortek springs and seals in my parts drawer. Now just one set. I just finished up the spring and seal repair but the sun is down for the day. Will get it zeroed in again tomorrow.

Two other things I noticed was a crack in the piston behind the seal. The cocking stem has a little wiggle to it now. Also, the rear trigger assembly cross pin was scored badly from the safety spring riding over it each time. The safety was becoming difficult to disengage. I stoned out the raised metal and lubed it while out of the stock. Seems normal now. Wonder why the crack developed?



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The gun is / was under warranty before I took it apart. Not sure if I could get a replacement piston now. Unless I paid for it. ?? It may have even been cracked when assembled. Not likely, though. It has had a steady diet of 14.3 gr. Crosman and more recently HN 14.6 gr. pellets. Never lighter ones or dry fired without a pellet. Could it get worse over time? I will tear it down at a later date for a look.

Tired Rooster, I made a spring compressor jig similar to many seen on the internet. Drift out the trigger pins and back off on the compression slowly. The broken spring had very little push back. 

Long spring life? I had a FWB 124D .177 that went 25,000 shots on the same spring and seal. It was still strong when I sold it. Wished I still had it.

I bought an OEM RWS spring for my other 34 that broke in 1500 shots. It also has a Vortek in it now.
 
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The gun is / was under warranty before I took it apart. Not sure if I could get a replacement piston now. Unless I paid for it. ?? It may have even been cracked when assembled. Not likely, though. It has had a steady diet of 14.3 gr. Crosman and more recently HN 14.6 gr. pellets. Never lighter ones or dry fired without a pellet. Could it get worse over time? I will tear it down at a later date for a look.

Tired Rooster, I made a spring compressor jig similar to many seen on the internet. Drift out the trigger pins and back off on the compression slowly. The broken spring had very little push back. 

Long spring life? I had a FWB 124D .177 that went 25,000 shots on the same spring and seal. It was still strong when I sold it. Wished I still had it.

I bought an OEM RWS spring for my other 34 that broke in 1500 shots. It also has a Vortek in it now.
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Call Umarex, the stem came out of the piston on my 48 after about six months. I called Umarex and explained the situation, all they needed was a copy of my sales invoice and the parts were on the way. Great people to deal with.
 
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A cracked piston in a 34, you are blessed ( or............).

The loose stem is normal , never had a JM spring last less than 20,000 shots, never. 

Umarex may well warranty that piston. Might not, but they have covered others with the more common issue of the stem coming completely out - not so much on the 34.

One would think yours is slamming the piston hard?



John
 
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I've got a nearly 30 year old Beeman R7 that has a million miles on it and I've only had it re-sprung once, and that was 25 years ago. I'd be investigating the cause of such high maintenance. That kind of damage seems extremely unlikely to me unless there's an avoidable cause of some sort.
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I'm with you Shareef! That's a joke on the D34 guy. Never heard of such poor performance. 

My suggestion. ....buy a better rifle!
 
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I just got off the phone with Umarex...not so good news. Had I got an RA and just sent in the entire gun with out the stock attached (at my shipping expense BOTH ways) they would have repaired it for free under warranty. They would not send me a piston and spring for free. I offered to send the picture of the crack for proof. Not their policy to just send out parts. I did not want to spend $14.00 on an inferior RWS spring, the Vortek is in and the gun shoots great again. So, I have a new piston and seal assembly on the way on my dime...$50.51 total. Have it in a week. That stinks. My two way shipping would have exceeded the piston cost. This is a "limited" warranty for sure.
 
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Interesting. When the spring breaks in my D34, it starts shooting higher due to the reduced forward "recoil". The OEM spring never broke but I only had the gun a few months before switching to a Vortek spring. I am now on my third Vortek spring. They seem to last about 8,000-10,000 shots but I'm trying to keep a very accurate pellet count on this last one I put in a few weeks ago. Had the gun for 2 1/2 years and have well over 25,000 pellets through it. Piston stem is still solidly attached with no wiggle at all. Never noticed any scoring on the trigger unit pins from the safety spring but will check next time I have it apart. Hard to believe with so little tension on that spring. I've had one failed piston seal and one broken trigger sear spring, both easily repaired. Maybe next time I have to service the gun, I will make a video on tear down. I have done a couple videos on disassembling the T06 trigger unit with one detailing how it works.
 
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I have seen your trigger video, good job. A detailed one of the 34 disassembly procedure would be great. The few out there are poor quality. Because I tend to shoot the 34 at extreme distances for a pellet gun, gravity takes over quickly on slower moving pellets. I actually felt that spring breaking down 50 shots prior to feeling the gritty action of a piece winding inside the longer chunk. I purchased that new 34 on Sept. 1st this year. About 5000 shots in 3 months on that factory spring. 

The piston stem is solidly still attached to the piston head. The movement is actually the stem / head assembly moving in the cracked area of the tubing. The crack opened up enough to allow some movement. Those three stakes will prevent it from coming apart, though. I will put the new piston in upon arrival. I will hold off from shooting it for now and use my other 34 when my trigger finger needs attention.

I just got some good news from an Umarex service tech. They are concerned about the cracked piston, not seen apparently. I sent them the photos including my Cabelas receipt. They are cutting my cost in half for a replacement, $25.25 and on the way. My warranty is voided because I took it apart which I fully agree with. 
 
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Half off the cost of the piston is welcome I'm sure. I would love to see one of you guys put out a quality, detailed video on disassembly of the 34. The gun is so widely used and popular and nothing really out there along those lines really. Also I have a question, and I apologize if it comes across as kinda dumb....but I really don't understand what you mean by piston stem. If one of you could show in a picture, if possible, where this is? I'm trying to learn the nomenclature/name of some of these parts being discussed. I Googled it last night and could only find it mentioned, but nothing explained where it is? Thanks.

TR
 
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TR, I believe you mean cocking stem, not piston stem. In the second picture down look at the piston assembly at the bottom. The approximately 3/8" dia. rod that sticks out the left end with T shape is the cocking stem. It runs full length to the front of the piston and is mechanically attached (press fit and crimped) to the seal head. The piston assembly consists of four main pieces....cocking stem, seal head, main tube body and synthetic seal. The stem also acts as a spring guide to keep the spring straight during it's life. It also contains the inevitable broken spring pieces, too. Hope this explanation helps.
 
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