Gunsmith for a Slavia 618?
- Thread starter mark k
- Start date
Disassemble it. There are instruction for this here: https://sites.google.com/site/cherrytwist/slavia631tune-up
It is unlikely the lever end will be worn or broken, but check this.
The trick is, when you reassemble it, make sure the metal spring clip that holds the cocking lever up is in place. This is a sort of "w" shaped flat spring that sits in a pocket in the middle of the stock groove. If this is missing, broken or upside down, the lever will not engage the mainspring. When you place the receiver back into the stock, you have to hold the cocking lever up into its engagement slot at the same time. You can do this by keeping a finger in the slot back from the pivot to hold it up in place until the receiver is seated. It takes a little patience.
It is unlikely the lever end will be worn or broken, but check this.
The trick is, when you reassemble it, make sure the metal spring clip that holds the cocking lever up is in place. This is a sort of "w" shaped flat spring that sits in a pocket in the middle of the stock groove. If this is missing, broken or upside down, the lever will not engage the mainspring. When you place the receiver back into the stock, you have to hold the cocking lever up into its engagement slot at the same time. You can do this by keeping a finger in the slot back from the pivot to hold it up in place until the receiver is seated. It takes a little patience.
Need some clarification of the problem.
When you say that "it won't stay cocked", I take that to mean that the cocking action is pushing the piston back, and engaging the sear, but the sear is not holding the piston back as you return the barrel to battery? If the piston is not remaining in the cocked position, either the trigger sear, or the sear hook on the piston rod are worn, or broken.
When you say "the cocking lever appears to skip over the mainspring", this is not unusual in an older springer - the cocking foot will contact the mainspring if the spring is badly canted. This may mean that a new mainspring is needed.
The trigger mechanism appears to be fine. With the action out of the stock, I can push the action bar down towards the mainspring and it will catch and hold. If I try and #### it without pushing it towards the spring, it just skips over the point where it needs to compress the spring.
Mount Sweetness
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Ontario
I once had one that needed a popsicle stick wedged under the forearm to keep the lever arm in contact with the spring. Try slipping something in there.
The cocking lever is not supposed to act upon the spring to #### the gun, it is supposed to be pushing against the piston.
From your description, it sounds like one of two possible problems:
A) The foot of the cocking lever is missing - either broken, or worn away, and therefore not engaging the piston as it is supposed to, but rather, is engaging in between the coils of the mainspring.
Can the cocking lever be lifted out of the slot easily - ie - with the gun laying upside down on the bench, can the cocking lever just be lifted out of the slot that it fits into, with no resistance?
If it can be, the cocking foot is definitely gone, and you'll need to replace the lever.
B) The rear section of the piston is split open, and the cocking foot cannot engage it, but just slips past it. A replacement piston will be needed if this is the case.
A matter now of opening it up and having a look inside.
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