About a year ago, my best friend brought over his Crosman 766 pump rifle and asked me to take a look at it. The barrel was badly bent and it was missing a spring that controls the bb feed. Apparently, he tried to take it apart and lost that spring. A 3/8" x 1-1/2" hex head bolt was screwed into the hole where bbs are inserted into the rifle. The original cap was broken long ago. The pump cup was obviously not working as it did nothing when you tried to pump it up. The metal tube was rusted all over on the outside, too.
He told me the story of how he remembers riding his 10 speed to the hardware store, buying it, and taking it home strapped to his bike.
When I took it apart, the seals were completely melted likely because it had spent a lot of time in his attic.
The gun was one of the earliest production models and the valve was redesigned and improved not long after he bought his.
This makes sourcing the proper parts nearly impossible. Trying to find a video on a phase 1 rifle has also proven to be frustrating.
I advised him that if I could fix it, it would cost more than buying a new rifle with the same features and left it disassembled in my storeroom ever since.
Recently, I decided to see if I could get it running. His birthday is coming up next month and I thought it would be cool to help him relive some childhood memories.
Risking destruction of the valve, I was finally able to get it apart and tried a seal kit that was supposed to be for this model, but it lacked one of the necessary o-rings. My efforts to seal the valve piston resulted in failures until I got a second kit with a new piston. Twice I thought I had it, but upon firing the first shot under pressure, a seal would become dislodged disabling the valve.
I did my best to straighten the barrel, cleaned everything up and grabbed an assortment of small springs and common sized o-rings to complete the project. Found a spring for the bb feed and the correct o-ring to replace the one lacking in the reseal kits.
After reassembling, it passed all function checks so it was time to test fire. Shot about a dozen pellets through it to adjust the sights then about as many bbs.
The only thing that still bothered me was the missing bb cap. Some searches yielded an airgun shop in Western Canada that had some in stock and they ship to the USA, so it should be here later this week. It should look pretty close to new when I give it back to him.
I will post some pictures once the cap comes in and it is completed. I think he will be pleasantly surprised when I give it back to him.
He told me the story of how he remembers riding his 10 speed to the hardware store, buying it, and taking it home strapped to his bike.
When I took it apart, the seals were completely melted likely because it had spent a lot of time in his attic.
The gun was one of the earliest production models and the valve was redesigned and improved not long after he bought his.
This makes sourcing the proper parts nearly impossible. Trying to find a video on a phase 1 rifle has also proven to be frustrating.
I advised him that if I could fix it, it would cost more than buying a new rifle with the same features and left it disassembled in my storeroom ever since.
Recently, I decided to see if I could get it running. His birthday is coming up next month and I thought it would be cool to help him relive some childhood memories.
Risking destruction of the valve, I was finally able to get it apart and tried a seal kit that was supposed to be for this model, but it lacked one of the necessary o-rings. My efforts to seal the valve piston resulted in failures until I got a second kit with a new piston. Twice I thought I had it, but upon firing the first shot under pressure, a seal would become dislodged disabling the valve.
I did my best to straighten the barrel, cleaned everything up and grabbed an assortment of small springs and common sized o-rings to complete the project. Found a spring for the bb feed and the correct o-ring to replace the one lacking in the reseal kits.
After reassembling, it passed all function checks so it was time to test fire. Shot about a dozen pellets through it to adjust the sights then about as many bbs.
The only thing that still bothered me was the missing bb cap. Some searches yielded an airgun shop in Western Canada that had some in stock and they ship to the USA, so it should be here later this week. It should look pretty close to new when I give it back to him.
I will post some pictures once the cap comes in and it is completed. I think he will be pleasantly surprised when I give it back to him.
Prior to that when it was still working (before it needed fixing), it took out at least a dozen pigeons in a boat shed I was working in.