GTA
General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => China Gate => : cole5169 May 18, 2010, 09:03:23 AM
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I got this neat little TF-41 as a partial trade a couple of years ago, and it has been sitting in the project rack until now.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/P1010496.jpg) (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/?action=view¤t=P1010496.jpg)
The TF-41 (or B4-1) is a .177 sidelever, medium-powered rifle in a very rough stock. The action is similar (but not identical) to the QB-88. Like the QB-88, it has short dovetails, and a really short receiver. The gun is bigger than it looks at first; just under 42 inches long with a 14-inch length of pull. The 18-inch barrel is a little much (I'd prefer 10 to 12 inches), but I'm loathe to chop it just yet.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/cockingarm.jpg) (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/?action=view¤t=cockingarm.jpg)
Look at all that lacquer. The finish of the stock is tacky, if not-quite sticky, and I'm itching to sand it off. Doubtful if the wood beneath will be nice enough to take a stain (these cheaper guns usually have a lot of filler putty underneath the lacquer), but it might be a good candidate for painting, or bedliner-ing. Looks like the buttpad could benefit from refitting, at a minimum, or even replacement. This is a cheap-as-free project, so I won't be spending much, in the early stages.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/P1010504.jpg) (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/?action=view¤t=P1010504.jpg)
Right away, though, I know I need to change the rear sight configuration. This assembly has nice, positively indexing clicks for fine adjustment, and except for the leaf it is all steel, but the sight leaf is too far back on the receiver and too narrow and shallow for me to get a good sight picture with the hooded front post. It actually is about as far back as I would put a peep sight, so I think that the first fix I'm going to try is just converting this into a do-it-myself peep.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/P1010508.jpg) (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/?action=view¤t=P1010508.jpg)
So off it comes. The base of the rear sight is clamped to the dovetails with a single Phillips head screw.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/P1010511.jpg) (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/?action=view¤t=P1010511.jpg)
Here's an exploded view, in preparation for cleaning the parts.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/P1010512.jpg) (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/?action=view¤t=P1010512.jpg)
At first, it looked like the "hold-down screw" and the elevation adjusting screw might be interchangeable in the base, but they have different threads. Oh well... It would have been nice to have that option, if I found that the sight was way off to the right or left, because reversing the base might have evened out some of the manufacturing misalignments a little. No harm done though.
This is what I plan to use to convert this into a peep sight. It's clearly the ubiquitous, mid-1980's sight that came with Crosman pumpers and CO2 guns. I have a box full of bits like this. I think this one came off of a 2289 Backpacker or a 1300 Medalist... In this closeup, you can really see how narrow and shallow the sighting notch is on the TF-41 sight.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/Sights01.jpg) (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/?action=view¤t=Sights01.jpg)
The plastic of the TF-41 factory rear sight is soft enough to self-tap if a pilot hole is drilled. I found out that the notch in the leaf is actually narrower than the hole diameter in the Crosman peep -- 0.051" on the sight blade, 0.060" for the peep hole. So in addition to drilling a hole, I'm going to cut the notch wider, and deep enough to allow me to "bottom-out" the peep blade in its adjustment slot.
This fix is so easy, there is not really anything to show. I used a 1/16" bit in a Craftsman drill to bore the pilot hole, and an X-acto hobby knife to enlarge the sighting notch in the plastic blade. I also cleaned up the factory sight. Here's the finished result:
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/sight04.jpg) (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/?action=view¤t=sight04.jpg)
Putting it back on takes only a few seconds and ... success! That's a much better sight picture! Not bad for an hour of screwing around (mostly camera time). Next, I need to see if I can get it to group, and then I can move on to tuning the action and refinishing the stock.
If you stuck with me this far, thanks for taking a look!
-JC
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Perfect AG for a project. No sense starting on a really nice AG as a first project. Try cutting the barrel back. I have a Crosman with a 12 inch barrel that is as accurate now as when the barrel was stock factory length. Made for a much handier AG.
Bogey
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Beware if you chop the barrel. I just chopped a TF-6 and the hole is REALLY bad off-center. It will be really tough to re-crown, in fact I'm going to replace the barrel 'cause this one is just too bad.
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I hear you, Toolmaker. I've had one good, and one really badly off-center bore on two B3's that I chopped.
For what it's worth, the "good" B3 turned out really nice, and the off-center one is not bad, just can't use off the shelf muzzle-brakes!
It's the luck of the draw with cheap guns :)
I'm going to hold off on the TF-41 until I decide what I want from it. The compact stock really suggests "carbine" to me, but we'll see.
I did the sight late last week, and sanded the stock over the weekend. Finally got around to shooting some groups tonight (it's been raining for days here).
Lots to do, and I still need to give it a debur and a lube tune.
-JC
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Chronologically, I'm skipping ahead, but I wanted to show the results of having a peep sight (of sorts) on my TF-41. Despite the rain yesterday, I managed to shoot a couple of groups by putting my trap inside the garage and shooting from the back porch. The measured distance from muzzle to trap was 46' 9", which is almost 14.5 meters.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/3shotgroups.jpg) (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/?action=view¤t=3shotgroups.jpg)
I consider this to be pretty good, especially since my eyes aren't too great, and my shooting is worse :) Also, I haven't been inside the gun yet, so it's got some potential. The group on the right was shot first, then the rear sight adjusted down as far as it would go. This adjustment included sliding the peep leaf down in its slot as far as it could go, and I think I may have canted it right a little before shooting the last group (left).
Before this, with the unadulterated factory rear sight, I could only shoot 2" groups at best. So for me, this is definitely an improvement.
These groups were shot last night, but previously, over the weekend, I attacked the varnish:
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/P1010523.jpg) (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/?action=view¤t=P1010523.jpg)
This is about half-way done. I used a Black & Decker random orbital sander with an "Ace Hardware" brand 120 grit disk.
Derrick from http://anotherairgunblog.blogspot.com/ gave me some tips for next time, including using garnet paper.
I get a lot out of his blog, I wish I could do a 10th of the things he and Nick pull off!
If you pay attention in the pic above, you'll spot the TF-41 action lovingly laid on my wife's carpet, and just in front of my homemade spring compressor...
Another pic below, this time after getting 90-odd percent of the lacquer off. Also...after getting chewed out about leaving my "greasy gun junk" on the carpet (notice the action is missing in this pic?)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/P1010527.jpg) (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/?action=view¤t=P1010527.jpg)
The wood is not too pretty. There are a lot of chunks missing, and a good many spots of filler. To shoot the groups last night, I reassembled the rifle with the stock in the state you see above. I gotta say, I kind of like it; it looks dirty and mean... Still, I have to finish it somehow or it will end up a cracked, nasty mess. I'm experimenting with some paint and (of course) bedliner on 2x4 scraps in the garage.
Worst case, I can buy a TF-41 replacement stock (or QB-88 stock, if it will fit, hmmm...) from Compasseco for $25. But I'm considering that the last resort at this point.
This next picture is pre-sanding, but check out the inletting; done with a sharpened spoon, I think. :) ...not a very well-sharpened spoon, though.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/beartrapreleaseinside.jpg) (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii102/cole5169/TF-41%20Project/?action=view¤t=beartrapreleaseinside.jpg)
Next step will be putting a finish on the stock, then I'll be tuning it.
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Sharp spoon??? Looks more Stone Tools. Very crude work there. Poor doings even for Chinese.
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Okay, am I missing something?
I tried out some Rust-o-leum truck bed liner on a piece of 2x4 scrap, and after 2 pretty generous coats, it just looks like black paint on a 2x4...
To you guys who have successfully bedlinered a stock: how many coats did you put on to get that pebbly, plasticky finish??
Thanks, I'll throw some (rather disappointing) pictures up later this afternoon.
-Joel
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I tried that rust-o-leum truck bed liner and had to put 4 coats on my gun to get a textured finish.
Its sorta like sand mixed with paint.
I've seen some here that used TBL and it looked like their gun was dipped in rubber, it had a way better finish than this stuff did.
Ray
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Thanks for the input.
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Hey Cole, those old Chnese guns are just fantastic project guns...:) I had the B-3 project gun and the B-57 and just loved working on them to make them shoot good and look great.. Best of luck and when you are done, lets see a bushel of pictures...:)
Here are three that I worked on. Love em...;)
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I love the B3's, they've got a lot of personality (and they're cheap!)
You've got some nice examples, good work. I think I may steal an idea from you, and "black-out" the forearm groove on one of my project guns :) Looks good!
I think I've decided to skip the bedliner for the TF-41. I tried another finish (a Rust-O-Leum textured spray) and I think I'm going to go with that, if the temp and humidity ever cooperate around here.
I've got a test 2x4 that came out really well. If I can get it in some good light, I'll take a pic and post it tonight.