Trigger Shoe for a Crosman 13XX/22XX or...

Crosman hasn't been selling their trigger shoes lately. They've halted after-market sales on many of the parts used on Custom Shop 2300's. Too bad, as a trigger shoe widens the trigger blade and typically makes the trigger feel slightly lighter. Mostly though it's an ergonomic improvement. Try one and it's hard to not like.

Anyway, I bought a Crosman 150 at a gun show a month ago and figured I'd make a few changes to make it better suit my needs and preferences. Obviously, due to the title of the post, the narrow trigger had to go. And since I couldn't buy one, I had to make one.

Started with a piece of 1" diameter scrap knurled aluminum.

Faced it off and turned down about 0.5" of length just enough to remove the knurl.

Cut a groove 0.1255" wide--a hair wider than a Crosman 13XX/22XX trigger blade.

Test fit the trigger blade in the groove. Took the groove to a depth of 0.091".

Drilled the center out with progressively larger bits...

...then switched to a small boring bar.

Left about 0.100" of wall thickness at the bottom of the groove.

Radiused the inside edge.

Cut off with a hacksaw. The ring was about 0.5" OAL. Not shown--faced down to 0.430".

Back to the vise and the ring was cut in half.

Two trigger shoes for the price of one. Offset (intentionally) the slot to leave more metal on what will be the right side of the shoe.

Another test fit. Note: Crosman triggers are squashed at the very bottom of the blade to make them slightly wider. It's much easier to make the trigger shoe fit if you remove the extra width with a file or a grinder first. If I hadn't, I'd have had to make the slot in the shoe even wider to accommodate--and the shoe would have canted slightly when tightened down.

Did most of the shaping with a small sanding drum in the Dremel tool. Mostly thinning and contouring--especially the edges. Finished it with 400 grit emery cloth on a wooden dowel.

The lack of material meant there wasn't much metal on the side to fit set screws of any substantial size. Spotted and drilled 2 holes with #50 (0.070") drill bit.

Tapped #2-56.

I didn't have any setscrews in that size, and didn't recall seeing any that small at the local hardware stores. Cut the head off a #2-56 phillips head screw, then used an Excel jeweler's saw. I slotted the end for a small flat blade screwdriver. Made two.
They're really tiny. The trigger shoe is a snug fit to begin with so the setscrews just provide enough purchase to keep it in place.

Blackened the shoe with Birchwood Casey aluminum blackening compound. I'm dubious that it will hold up in use and will probably give the shoe a quick spray with an epoxy paint.

Trimmed the setscrews to sit just below flush.

Looks on the money. Truth be told, for the time invested, I think the adjustable trigger I made a few months ago was more bang for the buck--though it was more work. Then again, I do have enough material left to make a second trigger shoe...
Anyway, what's it for again?

Here's the trigger installed on the Crosman 150. The previous owner had made these target grips from pine.

This is the same new 22XX/13XX brass trigger in the earlier pics. The original 150 trigger is blued steel and I didn't feel like grinding it down and re-bluing. The triggers are exactly the same except the material.

I'll make some new grips soon. The question is whether to make the grips fit the original grip frame or retrofit a modern 22XX/13XX frame so the grips work with the other guns in the collection. Oh, and the trigger feels great. Huge improvement in feedback.

Haenel 311 Disassembly

All Haenels, all the time...

The Haenel 311. It doesn't catch when cocked.

A nice aperture sight. This will get its own post, later.

Unlike the 310, this is a tap loading .177 cal. pellet rifle.

Disassembly is largely the same as with the 310, see those posts for more details. (Part 1, Part 2)

The stock screws.

As I mentioned in my last post, this spring keeps tension on the trigger cutoff linkage.

The pivot pin for the cocking arm is retained by c-clips, unlike the 310.

When I removed the plug from the end of the action, I saw this ball...

Odd. Certainly not supposed to be there.

The piston is almost identical to the 310's, except it lacks the probe tip for loading from a magazine.

The face of the piston is a large screw head. No special tool needed. Important to remember to loosen the lock screw before unscrewing the piston.

The piston assembly.

Notice the hole in the cap? That's where the ball bearing goes, with that rubber plug as a spring to hold the ball against the detent grooves in the safety. The 310 has the same mechanism, I just didn't notice it.

The tap loader.

I removed the plate.

The ball detents.

There's a small spring for the ball detent.

And another ball that acts as a bearing for the tap.

The other side has a plate too.

With a small divot for the tap ball to ride on.

Anyway, that's most everything taken apart. Now I have to clean it, reassemble and hope that clears up the problem with cocking. I didn't see anything obviously wrong with it.

Haenel 310, Trigger Cutoff Spring

So I started taking down the Haenel 311 I bought with the 310.

When I got to the trigger group I noticed a spring that held the trigger cutoff against the safety linkage. Hmmm. I never noticed it on the 310...and the cutoff definitely didn't have the same functionality. So back to the 310 before I start the 311 (and I'll get to it tomorrow, as the blog motto is now "All Haenels, All the Time".)

I removed the trigger group and looked inside...there's the end of the spring tucked up inside the housing.

I removed the circlip from the shaft that holds the spring and removed it.

Getting it back into position was a tad complex...I held the leg in position with the small punch while I pushed the top down against the rather hefty force, and captured it with another punch.

I wiggled and pushed the shaft back into place. Now the trigger is cut off whenever the rifle is being cocked, and the safety is automatic, not manual!

I had also tried to make a reproduction front sight hood but it came out smaller than I would have liked, and somewhat lumpy...

So I turned a tube and milled a slot.

Not original looking but it works for now. I'll revisit this later...

Here's the 311, tap loading .177 pellet...soon to be exploded into little bits.