BSA SPRINGER .177 Posted June 17, 2011 Report Share Posted June 17, 2011 i have been reading that i can increase the power of my old meteor by adding some washers behind the piston to get it up to 11ft/lb does any body know any other way other than ox springs as i heard they can destroy the gun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
team tractor Posted June 17, 2011 Report Share Posted June 17, 2011 Powers nothing without control just remember that. Bloke at the ft club uses 10.4 ftlb and its super smooth and accurate . Just leave as designed for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSA-airgunner Posted June 18, 2011 Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 dont mod the meteor i knackered a perfectly good one a few year back use it as is ....after i messed mine up i was told about the weihrauch hw35 its around the same size as the meteor but runs to the legal limit once bedded in............. Calibre: .22/.177 Overall Length Standard: 1140mm Overall Length Carbine: 1050mm Barrel Length Standard: 500mm Barrel Length Carbine: 410mm Power: 12 ft Lbs. .177 / 1000fps .22 / 722fps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pegasus bridge Posted June 18, 2011 Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 dont mod the meteor i knackered a perfectly good one a few year back use it as is ....after i messed mine up i was told about the weihrauch hw35 its around the same size as the meteor but runs to the legal limit once bedded in............. Calibre: .22/.177 Overall Length Standard: 1140mm Overall Length Carbine: 1050mm Barrel Length Standard: 500mm Barrel Length Carbine: 410mm Power: 12 ft Lbs. .177 / 1000fps .22 / 722fps is that right? 1000 fps in .177 / 722fps in .22? IIRC i thought it was around 550 fps in .22 and 750 fps in .177 with average sized pellets ? i'm sure someone with more knowledge about these things than me will be along in a minute! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSA-airgunner Posted June 18, 2011 Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 is that right? 1000 fps in .177 / 722fps in .22? IIRC i thought it was around 550 fps in .22 and 750 fps in .177 with average sized pellets ? i'm sure someone with more knowledge about these things than me will be along in a minute! info taken from here and all depending on pellet weight that the gun was tested with i expect the original info came from the manufacturer http://www.wonderlandmodels.com/products/weihrauch-hw35-air-rifle/?utm_source=Froogle&utm_medium=PriceComparison&utm_campaign=GoogleShopping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greywolf1958 Posted June 18, 2011 Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 (edited) i have been reading that i can increase the power of my old meteor by adding some washers behind the piston to get it up to 11ft/lb does any body know any other way other than ox springs as i heard they can destroy the gun Having wrecked a Webley Hawk and compromised a Vulcan with ill advised modifications, my own experience is that if it's working within its original design parameters, leave it well alone. There are replacement parts available to overhaul these guns and return them to original specs (and the Meteor is no exception) but I'd agree with the other members and suggest that if you really want the extra power (presumably for varminting) you get hold of a 'bigger' gun All the best! PS I'd also add that to achieve 722fps in .22, the pellet would have to weigh less than 10.3 grains. That means that any heavier lead pellets would render the gun illegal, the only type of projectile falling into this range being the Prometheus at about 9 grains(and I stand to be corrected . Re the .177, it would have to be less than 5.4 grains and Prometheus (at 6 grains) are even too heavy to make this limit. Goodness knows what they were using to test the gun with.... I suspect that advert is for another market, certainly not UK. Edited June 18, 2011 by greywolf1958 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FalconFN Posted June 18, 2011 Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 If you have a chrono and you are confident in your abilities then there is no good reason why you can't give it a go - although if you get it wrong you may well wreck a perfectly good gun. What is the power at the moment? If it's around 10 ft/lbs I'd leave it well alone, if it's lower than that it may just need servicing. Strip, clean, re-grease and replace the breech and piston seals and test again. If it's still down on power, or the spring is bent or broken then I'd have it replaced by a compedant gun smith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSA SPRINGER .177 Posted June 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 thanks for all the replys i am going to leave it alone ive had the gun for about 14 years and i dont want to wreck it now i was just asking as i would have loved to go hunting with it but was told they only do 8ft/lb so i am looking at buying a .22 webley exocet for doing pest control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spanishfly Posted June 18, 2011 Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 (edited) dont mod the meteor i knackered a perfectly good one a few year back use it as is ....after i messed mine up i was told about the weihrauch hw35 its around the same size as the meteor but runs to the legal limit once bedded in............. Calibre: .22/.177 Overall Length Standard: 1140mm Overall Length Carbine: 1050mm Barrel Length Standard: 500mm Barrel Length Carbine: 410mm Power: 12 ft Lbs. .177 / 1000fps .22 / 722fps Those fps values are almost exactly what Gamo quote for their Spanish spec (18 ft/lbs) rifles. Something wrong here. Edited June 18, 2011 by Spanishfly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteor whisperer Posted August 31, 2020 Report Share Posted August 31, 2020 This is an old conversation I came across just surfing the web but for the benefit of anyone doing the same thought I'd stick mu six penny worth in. Yes you can increase the power of a Meteor up to respectable legal levels without wrecking the thing and without making it harsh to shoot. I've done it. The first notion to get out of your head is that you need some massively powerful spring. You don't, if you think you do you're lacking a basic understanding of how an air rifle works. Strip it down. Polish the cylinder bore and the inside if the piston tube where the spring fits. Get a rod or a stick with a slot sawn into one end and wrap cloth around to get a snug fit apply brasso or some other metal polish and using a cordless drill work it up and down to achieve a good surface finish. Clean thoroughly with white spirit or something similar. Get one of those bolt on piston heads and get a new buffer washer made or cut one down to 2mm thick. They start off at 5mm. This slightly increases the amount of air available to compress. Make sure when the piston bottoms there is still a small clearance for the cocking arm. You'll also have to put a couple of washers inside the piston sleeve. The bolt on piston head is stepped down to what is usually a 5mm thread, which in turn takes a 5mm nylock nut for attachment. Fit a BS210 quad section O-ring for better sealing. Get a good quality standard strength spring and assemble with top hat guide at the front and slip washers or a nylon spring guide at the back Assemble with good quality gun grease, but not too much or you'll get dieseling until it clears. So you have a slightly bigger cylinder capacity, better sealing, less friction because of the polishing and a bit of pre-load by virtue of washers, top hat and slipper rings or plastic guide making the cocking action only very slightly heavier. You've also added a little bit of piston head weight. The washers are heavier than buffer material. My Mk 4 .177 Meteor averages 228 mps (748 FPS) according to my cheapo Chinese Chrono using equally cheapo Marksman pointed pellets weighing in at 9 grains. That works out at 11.19 Foot pounds. With 8 grain pellets that can reach 11.4 foot pounds, but lighter pellets give less "rat stopping power". It cocks and shoots as smoothly as any 8 foot pound Meteor and accuracy is not compromised. Start putting much stronger springs in and yes you might get a little more power but you'll lose the smoothness and accuracy. Not much point if the thing is unpleasant to shoot and you can't hit anything. That's about as good as it gets for a Meteor and turns it into the perfect 25 yard rat gun. That's as good as most commercially available air rifles you can buy, usually for a lot more cash. Might make a youtube video some day, hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
London Best Posted September 1, 2020 Report Share Posted September 1, 2020 (edited) On 18/06/2011 at 08:57, BSA-airgunner said: dont mod the meteor i knackered a perfectly good one a few year back use it as is ....after i messed mine up i was told about the weihrauch hw35 its around the same size as the meteor but runs to the legal limit once bedded in............. Calibre: .22/.177 Overall Length Standard: 1140mm Overall Length Carbine: 1050mm Barrel Length Standard: 500mm Barrel Length Carbine: 410mm Power: 12 ft Lbs. .177 / 1000fps .22 / 722fps Those velocities quoted are WAY over U.K. legal limits. edit to ask what makes anybody think 8 ft lb rifles won’t kill rats and stuff. Of course they will, what do you think everyone used in the 1950’s and 60’s? Edited September 1, 2020 by London Best Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultrastu Posted September 1, 2020 Report Share Posted September 1, 2020 Shovels 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
washerboy Posted September 1, 2020 Report Share Posted September 1, 2020 I've hunted rabbits with a 70s made meteor, get close and head shot them. My first gun, my stepdad gave me it in about 85 and it was old then. My school friend got a meteor super for his 15th birthday and I'm pretty sure he hunted a few things with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
London Best Posted September 1, 2020 Report Share Posted September 1, 2020 In the early ‘60’s we shot loads of rabbits, pigeons, crows, rats with air guns. I had a Mk1 Meteor in those days, and if you (your dad actually) couldn’t afford an Airsporter or Webley Mk3 the Meteor was the mutts nuts. All 8 ft lb of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wharf Rat Posted September 2, 2020 Report Share Posted September 2, 2020 My lad has an example of every British made Meteor. Follow the advice that Meteor Whisperer gives and you will do well. I've stripped and polished all of the boy's, and they shoot well and accurately, the later one with the 5.5mm diameter barrel shoots best as the old size calibre pellets available now are pretty poor. A quality soft lead AA Field works OK in the older guns but the good old Wasp in 5.6mm is a sad thing nowadays. Modern lithium greases and a brake honing kit with Autosol, some wet n dry and top hat kit etc are pretty cheap, and you will learn a lot using them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaz25 Posted September 3, 2020 Report Share Posted September 3, 2020 (edited) Brake honing kit works well, used one for my supersport and gamo paratrooper, also the supersport was fitted with an after market spring (thicker wire and more coils) by another owner, it was dam harsh and creeping in the stock all the time, I cut 5 coils off and finished the end correctly, its now putting out just under 11 pounds with some space for shims so final output can be adjusted by preload, but most important of all its stopped being harsh and the output is very consistent so one factor of accuracy is now very tight, the less variables shot to shot the more on point your gun becomes. so you can over power a gun and get less from it, most likely why it got sold and ended up in my hands! In short its very rewarding to uprate a gun so worth doing, just get the balance right! Edited September 3, 2020 by Chaz25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteor whisperer Posted February 25, 2023 Report Share Posted February 25, 2023 Actually it's quite possible to increase BSA Meteor power up to close to the legal limit and retain pretty good accuracy. I've modified a few. The modifications however are perhaps a bit beyond the average DIY fettler but not really too complex. Basically you need good sealing, maximum useable stroke and a stronger spring but not ridiculously stronger. You need to keep the spring as straight as possible in operation too You'll also need a small lathe to make up some new parts. First thing to do is throw away the agricultural piston head and poorly sealing O ring. Also the horrible primitive badly fitting spring guide made out of wrapped around sheet steel. You'll need to make a custom bolt on piston head to suit a decent modern seal, a steel top hat and close fitting rear spring guide. I've used titan NO 5 and No 13 springs to good effect. 11.5 fpe is easy to achieve and it's not too difficult to render your Meteor illegal, but do that and you will lose accuracy and wear the thing out too quickly, and possibly get nicked. I've modified four to date with slight variations and they all work really well. Full power and as accurate as any Meteor. I could go into detail about how it's done but that might not be a responsible thing to do. You work out the detail. if it's an older true 0.22 which translates to 5.58mm use Marksman 5.6mm pellets. They work really well and give better accuracy. Shoot safely and within the law. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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