The Belgian Hy-Score 801 Part--1

And still another of the Findlay, Ohio Toys that Shoot airgun show finds--a Belgian Hy-Score 801. These are really nice little guns made in the late 1940's through the 1950's by Piepers. Quite diminutive in every way if you cut your teeth on Feinwerkbau 124's and HW80's. But think slender and graceful--not dainty or delicate. There's massive amounts of checkering. It wraps the forend, the grip, even the butt is covered.

Been shooting the gun on and off for a couple months now, just putting a few pellets down the barrel each time it comes out. There's something cathartic about taking one of these and having to "aim off" a bit to hit the center of the target--or better yet a soda can at forty feet. The trigger is a direct sear connection and it's obvious with the pull ranging between four and a half to six pounds that some grease is required. I made the mistake of shooting the little Belgian over the chrony the other evening. It was a mistake because I'd been perfectly happy until I saw how dismal the velocity was. Barely breaking 340 fps with .22 cal RWS hobby pellets and I was hoping for at least 348...

So, the gun is old and a bit tired and needs some attention. The gun is so simple and has a minimum of parts.

The two forend stock screws and forward trigger guard screw were removed and the action separated from the stock.

There's the trigger spring. The end cap is a relatively hefty piece of steel.



The barrel tapers from breech to muzzle. Imagine the cost of making that today. I'll get a better pic of the barrel in the next post.

Looks like there's a single cross pin retaining the end cap and trigger. A short piece of PVC gave a better fit rather than a block of wood on the domed end cap.

Blurry, but the cross pin pushed right out with a bit of load on the cap.

Backed out the cap. There's a tube though the trigger block.

The trigger pivots on the hollow pin which also holds the end cap to the block.

The spring guide and the mainspring pulled right out. Not a bit of grease to be found.

Selected a transfer punch that closely matched the OD of the hollow pin.

A couple taps and it pushed through.

Really doesn't get much more basic than this. The trigger shape is the only true fault I can find with the rifle so far. It should have at least another half inch of setback to the blade. It's difficult to reach in the trigger guard--and I have large hands. I jealously look at the trigger blade position in Nick's IJ-22--the Russian designers nailed that one.

The mainspring is about 6-3/4" long. It's pretty straight--no pronounced cant.

The locknut on the pivot bolt was the only difficulty in disassembly. It was pretty tight and I didn't have a spanner that gave enough purchase.

Filed down a small socket until the tabs fit snugly in the notches.



With the locknut removed, the pivot bolt came right out.

Uh, grease anyone? Guess not. With the bolt out, the breech block came away from the compression tube. Fished out the end of the cocking lever.

Pulled out the piston and found a small surprise. A piece of broken off mainspring.

Only, the mainspring just removed has finished ends. Stranger still, the sliver of spring looks identical to the mainspring in size and metal finish. Is it a remnant of an earlier, original spring perhaps used as a spacer? Looks like I'll need a new (longer) spring.

Piston seal looks dry. Seems like the theme so far. Thought I'd given the rifle a pretty hefty shot of silicone chamber lube. Obviously, it wasn't nearly enough.

The sprue of leather in the center of the piston is from the transfer port hole. The hole is angled at the breech to the center of the compression tube. Note the two small metal pins or nails embedded in the face of the seal.

More soon.