Hello everyone. I am new to the forum and air gunning. I have a Gamo Big Cat with a BSA 4X32 air gun scope and GRT-III trigger. My question is about maintenance. Specifically to the Gamo Big Cat what parts do you lube and how often, and any other type of maintenance. Thanks for any help you guys might have.

Where did everybody go......LOL
I am sure the others will chime in, I am sure they just missed it before logging out; give it some time and you'll get your answers.

I will tell you this though, one thing I really like about springers is they don't need a lot of maintenance, several things you probably think you should be doing after you shoot; you really don't need to do ie: cleaning the barrel etc.

Hang tight and I'm sure you will get your answer soon. Knowing Jon he probably has some checklist you can go by.

Todd

Lubing is tricky because you don't want ANY volatile ie. combustible oils in your compressions chamber or barrel. These fluids can and most likely ignite when you fire the rifle. When they detonate, serious damage can be done to the seal, spring and possibly yourself. If you plan on a full teardown, just dab a bit of moly (70% concentration or higher) just behind the seal and on the tail of the piston. The spring should get a few finger wipes of heavy tar and the hinge pin or pivot bolt should get lubed as well. Some use clear tar on this, I mix a bit of clear tar with moly. The trigger group can get non detergent 30w and a light smear of moly on the mating surfaces. Some people don't use moly on the sear because once it is lapped into the steel, it acts kind of like micro ball bearings and can make the surface too slick, causing the sear to tend to disengage. I have only seen this once and it was on a B30 when I was trying to bring the trigger down to the last bit of crispness. Once the first stage was pulled, you had to fire the rifle within about 20 seconds or it was going to go off on it's own. Once I removed the moly, it was fine. If you don't plan on doing a tear down, I would mix about 1part moly to about 5 parts 30w non detergent oil in a small bottle, shake the heck out of it and use it very sparingly on the pivoting areas of the gun and trigger. I wouldn't recommend lubing the spring area with anything but clear or heavy (black) tar. You can get a complete lube kit from James Maccari for about $20 and it's enough moly, clear tar, and heavy tar for about 50 or more rifles. Well worth it. I don't have his website handy, but you can google Maccari and it'll be one of the first ones to pop up. Hope this helps.

Here ya go.

http://www.airguns.citymax.com/catalog/item/251484/4169286.htm

Thanks for the info RCnMO. I don’t think I would attempt a complete teardown at this point. I just don’t know enough about the spring guns to do that right now. I was thinking after a year or so I would have it tuned or attempt a tune job myself as I learn more about the gun. I am looking for routine type maintenance to prolong the life of the gun. If I understand your post I can purchase the “Lubricant Package Deal” and find some 30w non detergent oil and use that to lubricate the joint where the barrel brakes, trigger and tar the spring.

Please forgive my ignorance but is it possible to purchase moly, non detergent 30w, and tar from someplace local like an auto parts or hardware store?

I have a lot to learn.

This thread answered alot of my questions also. Thanks. Robin

Yup, as RCnMo mentioned. It's easier for me to get a few containers of different lubes from JM's. Once applied you won't really have to worry much for a couple thousand rounds, or until you start noticing a performance drop, or feel something else that needs a bit more deburring or lubing. Here's a thread with some good info on lubing and deburring:

http://www.airgunone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158

You can also let the rifle break in on its own by use, especially if she's shooting good for you now until you're finally ready to tear into her. Once you are ready and have yourself a spring compressor, you might as well order a new spring and seal as well while you're at it. Here's the teardown guide for a G1 which is pretty much the same as the Big Cat:

http://www.airgunone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32

To answer your question about buying different lubes locally, I've yet to find any. Moly is probably the only thing you'll find and you will have to get it somewhere like Mcmaster Carr. It will probably run you around $50 for a small container. Beeman air rifles used to make a 65% paste that could be found on ebay and online catalogs, I don't know if it's still available. The heavy and clear tars that JM produces is a trade secret and proven in thousands of air guns. I wouldn't substitute any of it. The quality of his lubes are very high. RWS makes a lube kit that can be found at Cabela's. I imagine it is nothing but silicone shock oil. I wouldn't recommend it unless your seal is honking when you cock it and you need something to quiet it down.

I'm also new to airgun mods, but did have some success after several attempts. I did, and would suggest to anyone, to get a cheap Chinese airgun for the first tune. A Industry Brand B-3 for about 25.00 works well. If you destroy it you won't be too mad at yourself. You need a spring compressor. This is a must. Build or buy one. If you don't use one you can hurt yourself or others. Use only appropriate lubricants. Certain parts need certain lubricants. If you're not sure don't oil anything except the hinge. Online is the best place to find all your lubricants. They are very specific. Chamber lube will lock up your hinge pin and spring oil will blow up in your chamber and abrassive greases will wear down your trigger sear.The barrel should'nt get too dirty right away, but if you feel the need to clean it, use Goo- Gone on a patch, threaded on a piece of weed wacker line. Melt the end of one end of the line and point the other. Don't jam a rod down your barrel. Wipe down the exterior of your airgun after every use. A small amount of Rem Oil works fine. Don't get it on the inside. It will detonate also. Here is a link of an ameratures first try: http://www.kermitairgunclub.com/airguntips/b3-2/ Attached are pics of my first tune job:

Thanks for all the info guys! I’ve been shooting guns all my life and had Daisy BB guns as a kid. I purchased my Gamo to get in some target practice in my backyard. I started doing research to see if I could get more out of my Gamo and discovered there was a lot more to air gunning then I thought. Needless to say I’ve got the bug. I am going to read the link you’ve provided and get the lubes. I am thinking now I will get the cheap “Industry Brand B-3” that hplarc2 recommended and try a complete teardown. My $111.00 Big Cat has turned into a $$$$ hobby.

Yeah, my addiction started 11 bb guns ago.

Well I just orders a Industry Brand B-3 for a possible first attempt at a complete teardown. I am amazed at the price on those, are they pretty good guns? Also, where do you buy the aftermarket stuff for them?

http://www.southsummit.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=629 This will get you started.

Mine shoots 730 FPS - 8 FPS variation with RWS Hobby Pellets. Accurate at 15 yds. Trigger is still heavy.

http://www.southsummit.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=629 This will get you started.

Mine shoots 730 FPS - 8 FPS variation with RWS Hobby Pellets. Accurate at 15 yds. Trigger is still heavy.


Did you make your own spring compressor of did you buy one? If you purchased what kind, where at?

http://www.airgunone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106

Most just make their own. The only one I've seen for sale is made by B-square, but I don't think it's made anymore. That one was selling for like 150 bucks. This one cost me less than 20 to make and I got the idea from Craig:

http://www.airgunone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134

It works good, but I usually have to either remove the barrel or fold it halfway and place one side where the rear sites would go in order to operate it since it won't securely hold the rifle with the barrel attached and locked. I also have to hold the tube with one hand while cranking since there's nothing holding the center down. You can easily build one out of lumber as well, and a more secure one that gets clamped in place - the limit is up to your imagination. I'm sure more members will chime in on their designs...

You guys are awesome!

I made one a dem too

http://www.airgunone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=278

You guys are awesome!

however you decide to do it just be careful

however you decide to do it just be careful

I'll have the wife do it while I hide under the work bench. :D Trust me I'll be careful, last thing I want is a spring sticking out of my eye socket. Thanks again, it's really great to have you guys. Too bad we're not all local and can go shooting together. Trying to get my buddy's hooked on the air gunning.

i know you will be careful.
i just need to say it so i don't feel to bad if you do end up with the spring in the eye deal.
now get to it and post some pics.

Made my spring compressor today. Just have to wait for the gun and parts. It's starting to come together in my head.

get out your camera lets see it.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
:ttiwwop:

LOL. You should never let your 14 year old son barrow your camera to take pictures of him and his buddy’s skate boarding. I told him use the wrist strap just in case you drop it. I put a new one on my X-Mas list though. ;) I’ll take some bad PICs with my phone and post them later.

Here you go.. not the best pic.
http://carolinaitservices.com/guns/spring-vise.jpg

I've still got a piece of 2x6 and a c-clamp. Every time I use it, I say 'damn, I've gotta build me something nicer than this'. You'd think since I have access to a multitude of tools, I would at least do that! I may just start one tonight after everyone has gone to bed.

nice work
let the games begin:banana074:

You got enough displays there? :)

I used to wish I had that setup a few years back when I was die-hard into online gaming...

You got enough displays there? :)

I used to wish I had that setup a few years back when I was die-hard into online gaming...

Don't do any PC gaming now a days, 360 LIVE is it. I had it setup for on-line trading but since the market is in the tank I haven't been doing any trading. My day job is a computer consultant and I do a lot of remote work. The huge desktop is great for that.

I just got an email from South Summit that the B-1 tune kit is out of stock and it's going to be 6 WEEKS!! Great price on them there $8 but not sure if I should cancel the order or just wait. Does anyone know of somewhere else I can order the kit? Not a problem waiting just looking forward to getting started.

pull out your old spring, measure the wire dia. and count the coils.
then you can get a spring from James Maccari.
talk to Splash he know's B's inside and out.

Send me your address and I'll send you a care package.

Send me your address and I'll send you a care package.

PM Sent

This thread has tuned into new guys tries a B-3 rebuild. I found this today "Tuning Guide Hercules/Cummins B-3 Rifle" http://www.kermitairgunclub.com/projects/b3guide/B-3%20guide.html. Real good info to add to the links already in this post.

The lubes came in from Air Rifle HeadQuarters today.

http://carolinaitservices.com/guns/lubes.jpg

that should last you forever.

that should last you forever.

That's good news. I am all set, just need the B-3 (It will be here Monday) and Slash has been so kind to send me the tune kit since the one I order is not in stock. Should be ready to start the rebuild next weekend.

My B3 came in today. I think I am going to start on the stock while I wait for the tune parts to come in. Not sure if I will stain or bed liner. Has anyone here done the bed liner?

http://carolinaitservices.com/guns/b3-sm.jpg

here's mine

Looks good.

I am still waiting for the tune kit but I decided to start the tear down today since I had some time. I have to take the barrel off to fit the body in the spring compressor. How the heck do you get the barrel off? It seems to be threaded but I don't see how I can get it off without marking up the barrel. Help!

DONT try removing barrel

You may want to modify your compressor (fork it) so a barrel can slide in and the forks can rest against the compression tube.

I was assuming I could remove the barrel on the B3. Seemed like I had read it in this tread but after going back and reading it again it was referring to brake barrels. The B3 almost fits. I purchased a 30 inch pipe when making the compressor but it looks like if I go with the 36 inch it would fit. Also could try fitting two pipes togeather. I'll let you know what I end up doing.

First tear down is good for working out all these issues. Tear down is almost as much fun as shooting the things.

OK.. I got a 48 inch pipe and that did the trick. Compressed the spring a little and the pin slid right out. What do you guys use to clean the oil off all the parts? Might be a silly question, just want to do this right.

http://carolinaitservices.com/guns/b3-apart.jpg

i use denatured alcohol.

As craig said denatured alcohol works great. Sometimes I'll use brake cleaner (the canned stuff about 2 bucks from walmart). If I don't have brake cleaner I'll wipe things down with the alcohol. For the compression tube I'll use either a dowel or a pvc pipe that fits and wrap a strip of rag around it (secure it with a rubber band). I'll put some alcohol on it and turn it through the tube a few times...

I usually use a cheap type of WD-40 for initial clean up, seems to wash the gunk out pretty good and leaves a little rust protection, incase something comes up and I got to leave it alone. Then I'll clean with denatured alcohol, or dechlorinated brake cleaner prior to assembly.

Char-Tech --
This might be the same kit you were looking for... I have never dealt with this vendor (http://www.majorsurplus.com/Air-Gun-Cleaning-Kit-with-Replacement-Parts-P13299C1998.aspx), but looks like the same type kit. I am just about ready to pull the trigger on this thing too, I think it would be a cool father/son project to work on while it's cold weather. I think if he has a hand in tuning it up, he will learn the mechanics and take some pride in it's care. Keep the posts and pics coming! (BTW I am up the road in Kannapolis...)

I don't have anything to add to the topic but wanted to welcome you here hubster5! :welcome:

Char-Tech --
This might be the same kit you were looking for... I have never dealt with this vendor (http://www.majorsurplus.com/Air-Gun-Cleaning-Kit-with-Replacement-Parts-P13299C1998.aspx), but looks like the same type kit. I am just about ready to pull the trigger on this thing too, I think it would be a cool father/son project to work on while it's cold weather. I think if he has a hand in tuning it up, he will learn the mechanics and take some pride in it's care. Keep the posts and pics coming! (BTW I am up the road in Kannapolis...)

Hey hubster5, thanks for the link. I'll look into it and see if it's the same one for the B3. Yeah, I think it's a perfect father son project. I think tuning is going to be almost as much fun as shooting. Maybe we could get together and go shooting sometime. My son is 14. I pretty much shoot in my back yard, I have a 20 and 30 yard target. If you have a place where we could shoot 50 yards and more that would be really cool.

Thanks Jon!

Char Tech -- I live in a pretty tight neighborhood, like you I am limited to 20 yds or so, I have a neighbor that frequently drives an hour+ to Uwharrie Nat Forest to a public range (shooting the big guns)... but I can't see doing that for air plinking! I did have the opportunity to go to a friends house today and shoot my new Crosman G1 Extreme around 50 yds... consistently popping a soda can, but no real targeting. (I have to say, at $99, it is solid, and the scope is awesome). I am happy with it's performance so far. I'll keep my ear to the ground for local possibilities... When I was a kid, there was much less to worry about around these parts, but so much population growth has made it increasingly more difficult to find shootin' grounds!

Merry Christmas!

Thanks Jon!

Char Tech -- I live in a pretty tight neighborhood, like you I am limited to 20 yds or so, I have a neighbor that frequently drives an hour+ to Uwharrie Nat Forest to a public range (shooting the big guns)... but I can't see doing that for air plinking! I did have the opportunity to go to a friends house today and shoot my new Crosman G1 Extreme around 50 yds... consistently popping a soda can, but no real targeting. (I have to say, at $99, it is solid, and the scope is awesome). I am happy with it's performance so far. I'll keep my ear to the ground for local possibilities... When I was a kid, there was much less to worry about around these parts, but so much population growth has made it increasingly more difficult to find shootin' grounds!

Merry Christmas!

I've been to Uwharrie range, I also go to Leeds range in Chester SC. It's only about 30 minutes from Charlotte. It's just like Uwharrie public range but not as many shooting benches. You're right, I wouldn't take the air guns though. I have been looking for a good place to shoot the air gun with more range around here in Charlotte. I'd like to find an area that's very private where I can pull my car up, pop the trunk, setup a target and start shooting.

I'll have to look into the Crossman G1.

I did the tune today and since I did not have a tune kit I did it using the original spring. I used Russell S. Sauer tune guide at http://www.kermitairgunclub.com/projects/b3guide/B-3%20guide.html, you can also find it in PDF format. I am very happy with the results. Before the tune shooting into a piece of plywood from about 4 feet away the pellet would bounce off, after the tune the pellets penetrates more than the length of the pellet. I feel like that’s pretty good considering I am using the stock spring. The actual tune only took about 2 to 3 hours.

From the Russell S. Sauer tune guide I did the following;
Basic lube tune
Mainspring pre-load and piston weighting
Leather seal expansion washer improvement
Mainspring bearing surfaces

For first time tuners I would suggest disassembling the B3 and cleaning the parts. Lay them out in front of you and read the Russell S. Sauer tune guide. Not knowing really anything about spring guns this helped me understand the guide and get familiar with the parts. Also while reading the guide make a parts list of washers and tools you might need. I found everything I needed at the hardware store. I also purchased a small brake hone at the auto parts store that honed the inside of the chamber very nicely. Also Splash suggested getting a 3/8 wooden dowel and cutting a slit at one end to slide sand paper into and putting the other end into a drill to use for smoothing the inside of the receiver. That worked great and saved me a lot of time. Also a Dremel comes in very handy. Without the Splash wooden dowel idea and a Dremel it probably would have taken a lot longer.

I had a lot of fun and now have a complete understanding of how spring guns work and what I would need to do to tune a none B3. I have 4 more B3’s to tune and I am looking forward to starting on the next one.

I have no picture because I tend to not stop once I start a project so I have no picture of me doing the tune. Also, I have not refinished the stocks so the gun looks exactly the same as it did before the tune.

BTW, I emailed Russell S. Sauer to ask him a question about his guide and he got back to me within a couple hours.. great guy! Also, Splash PM'ed me his phone number so I could call him if I had any questions.. also a great guy!

Hey Char... sounds like you're having some fun! Did you buy the $22 lube kit? with moly/black tar/clear tar? If not, what are you using to lube with? Sounds like you really up'd the power! nice job. Still haven't ordered one yet, waiting for the Christmas expenses to shake out (3 kids, you know!).

Keep the updates coming... I'm sure with 5 to go through, you will discover some new tricks!

Yeah.. I did order the lube kit. There's a picture of what I received in this thread, page 1 or 2 I think.

I am pretty happy with the results considering I am using the stock spring. I got good power and it shoots much smother with really nothing more than 3 washers, some sanding, and good lubes. The first one is a little expensive. I'd say it cost me close to $100 counting tools I needed and making the spring compressor and the first gun. I have some friends I am going to sale the other B3's to for what I'll have in them. I am trying my best to get my buddy's hooked on air gunning. After I tune the other 4 I will tune my Gamo. I'll have a whole new set of questions when I do that one.

Took about 3 days to get mine from Tools Now.

I got a Crosman G1 for Christmas, put a drop-in trigger in it, which helped mucho, but still twangy. I did not tear down the spring or anything... my dilemma is whether to proceed with putting a kit/ lubing/polishing it, or getting the cheapo to "practice" on first. We have a harbor freight in town, so I can pick up the pipe clamp, etc there for not much at all. Might go ahead and get the lube kit, I assume it is correct for all of the springers.

I decided to do the B3 first. The reason was I didn't know anything about Springers, to reduce my chances of screwing up my Gamo and the price of the B3. I figured I'd have a decent gun for a friend to shoot when I was done.

I didn't want to pay $22 for the lubes but I didn’t see any other way around it.

I sanded down the stock today. I am going to do the bed liner paint job on it.

Before and after pics of my first B3 tune with bed coating stock. Very happy with how it turned out.

http://carolinaitservices.com/guns/BEFORE.jpg

http://carolinaitservices.com/guns/AFTER.jpg

Inspired by hplarc2's B3 I decided to try and make my b3 pretty, this is how it turned out. I will refinish the stock soon.

http://carolinaitservices.com/guns/b3/myb3full.jpg
http://carolinaitservices.com/guns/b3/myb3.jpg
http://carolinaitservices.com/guns/b3/crown.jpg

I'm new to this forum and need to read all the links to see what the general consensus is around here for tuning. It's really hard to cause any damage tuning a gun. You can always go back and redo something unless you're removing a lot of metal which is hard to put back. I only have one rule for tuning springers....LESS IS BEST when it comes to lubes. I use Jim's lubes and also others. A good tune allows a gun to shoot at or very near its potential. If a gun has a good factory seal and spring, just honing, sanding, and deburring along with a proper lube will make a big difference. Aftermarket parts may help in the fps area but equally important is a smooth comfortable shooter.

Many of Jim's springs and/or tune kits don't improve fps performance but are designed to make the gun a smoother and more civilized shooter. A gun that is more comfortable to shoot tends to be a more accurate gun which trumps pellet speed in most cases. A well-tuned springer is almost maintenance free for years in many cases which is far different than with powder burners. I don't break-in new guns...I tune them up front and then shoot them. It saves thousands of pellets and a lot of unnecessary wear and tear on the gun. So, have fun and good shooting.

Ray