Initial impressions of the tune up
Well, my tune up experience was a learning experience.
For a guy (lowly biologist) who's never taken a gun apart beyond field stripping to clean it,
it was a challenging (
) experience to be sure.
Most of it went smoothly, even with a few sketchy spots.
(I'll try to post some notes about the re-assembly soon ... busy week ahead, though ...)
But just for now, my initial impressions about the results based on about 100 cycles with an empty rifle.
First, the tune up did improve the smoothness. No doubt about that.
I still don't call it "silky", but it's a full two notches more smooth than before.
Also, based on the experience of taking the action fully apart, when I cycle the action,
I can visualize what's going on inside, and intuit where the rough spots are.
I'm not sure I have the ability to smooth them out any more - that's probably a job for a gun smith -
but at least I know where the bumps are.
Right now, I'd say there are still four spots that I'd like to see made more smooth. In a rapid cycle, they aren't noticeable. But when one cycles the action very slowly and deliberately, there's a noticeable increase in energy required to get past these points that makes it less "smooth". It may not be possible to smooth it more, but I'm betting there are ways that competent smith could make it feel like it's been cycled over 10K times.
1) The first movement of the lever away from the stock as cycle begins. Still takes more effort than I want it to.
I want it to be as smooth as a trigger pull in a SW 686 in SA mode: move my hand a smidgen, and the lock releases.
2) The point in the cycle where the lever is about an inch off the stock and the bolt engages the hammer.
There's a momentary disruption in the cycle there that requires more energy than it should for smoothness.
3) Immediately after the lever reaches full forward (open) position, and on the way back toward the stock, the bolt hits the ejector. At that precise point, the bolt still meets significant resistance against the ejector in its forward travel. Once past that point, the bolt moves very smoothly until ...
4) The final action in the cycle, which is to me the most annoying resistance because it disrupts the fluidity of the cycle: that click to seat the lever back against the stock, at the end of pushing the locking bolt up into the slot in the bottom of the bolt and locking the lever into place against the stock. In a slow stroke (oh, baby), that extra little "push" requires that one squeeze the lever with the fingers. If it was just a little smoother, it would click in naturally without effort.
OK, that may require some editing tomorrow,
but I think that captures the essence of it.
Oh, was the tune up worth the time, effort, confusion, frustrations and headaches?
Yes. Unequivocally, yes. For the learning experience alone, if nothing else.
Nem
