I have a few questions, and apologise in advance, but the enthusiasm which clearly still lives strongly on the board hopefully means I won’t annoy anyone!
I have an S200 which I bought at least 15 years ago. Texas Walnut target stock, Harris bipod, brass bolt handle. It has just been handed down to my son, and it was quite painful to do it. He was promised an old air rifle by a friend who sadly died recently and his family claimed the air rifle my boy has been drooling over (every visit) for quite a few years now! Bit sad, so I cheered him up by handing over my pride and joy. I have an FAC so I don’t use it that much anyway, I just love it to bits though even sitting on my office wall!! I did the 10 shot mag conversion many years ago, and it has never missed a beat, until now
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_e_sad.gif)
It really ought to be stripped down and ’serviced’ after so many years of faithful service (with never anything more than a drop of oil!). Before I get to that though...
I noticed it was totally empty and I suspected it had a tiny leak for a few years. I got my dive bottle filled (which took 6 months to find someone near me!) and hooked her up with a new T Bar connector (lost my old one). No joy. Air just squirted out of the barrel. A friend of mine said to give it a short quick blast to close some sort of seal/mechanism. I heard a loud click and hey presto, we have pressure! But I could hear air leaking, so I removed the cylinder (and mod) and dropped some 3 in 1 oil on the ends. It’s leaking both ends, between the black cylinder body and the brass insert/end cap.
I want to solve this issue so my son can start smiling as much as I used to when using this ‘hole on hole’ rifle! I am fairly handy and have a good workshop here with bench vice etc, but I have never taken a PCP apart before so I thought I should ask before diving in (experience is a wonderful thing!!!!)
1. I am assuming there is a rubber o ring or seal inside the end caps, and I assume I need to replace those?
2. I don’t have a tool to remove the end caps and I suspect these will be a bugger to get off given how old the gun is. I spotted this which looks pretty well-designed - https://www.altaros.cz/domu/54-cz200-va ... anner.html. I will probably grab one of those, I really don’t want to scratch up my rifle. Can anyone confirm it works well?
3. I am pretty sure I have removed the stock in the past, many years ago. I don’t remember needing any special tools but my memory is like Swiss cheese these days so maybe I did. Either way, I saw this tool: https://www.air-arms.co.uk/all-items/st ... -s200.html - is that necessary or can I do it with normal workshop tools?
4. I also noticed the o ring on the action end of the cylinder doesn’t look too great (pic below), is that a simple pull out and replace? Where is best to get these parts, I want to get genuine decent stuff only if it’s not silly money.
5. Regulator and gauge - Is a gauge useful? I have heard they are not very reliable so I would also go by the dive bottle regulator reading rather than the gun. My older son has a BSA Ultra SE and his gauge is awful! Is there any real benefit to having a gauge, and either way, is the regulator a useful upgrade? I have never used one but heard they make things more consistent, is that true? (I saw this and wondered whether to start saving for it! https://www.altaros.cz/regulators/10-51 ... _55_ft_lbs)
Sorry for all the questions, getting hooked on air gunning again, now I have given away my pride and joy!
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
Cheers
Martin