How To Upgrade a Umarex Fusion Air Rifle With an Oversize Bolt Handle.

Archer Airguns Oversize Bolt Handle for the Umarex Fusion makes operating this air rifle feel much easier. This post explains how to make the upgrade for this popular CO2 air rifle.

Below. The Umarex Fusion Oversize Bolt Handle in place and ready for use.



SAFETY FIRST! Ensure that the air rifle is not loaded, has no pellet in the barrel and has no CO2 in the gas tube before working on your air rifle. As you can see, I removed the tube cap to ensure that the air rifle could not fire accidentally.

First remove the safety lever by undoing the small Philips screw in the underside of the lever. Now pull off the lever from the safety tab. DO NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE TRIGGER OR SAFETY ASSEMBLY. Next, remove the front stock screw. This is the Philips screw in the underside of the stock, directly below the barrel band.



Now remove the rear stock screw. This is the Philips screw immediately to the rear of the trigger guard. Note that the trigger casing cover will also come away when this screw is removed.

Ensure that the safety tab is aligned (forward) with the cutout in the stock. The action can now be pulled up, forward and out of the stock. Note that this is a little tricky and requires some “wriggling” to achieve. Be patient and careful, it will come out!



Now loosen the setscrew in the end of the bolt and remove the factory bolt handle. Install the Oversize Bolt Handle in the side of the bolt with the lock hole facing the rear and tighten the bolt setscrew. The setscrew must engage firmly in the hole in the bolt handle.







Return the action into the stock, replace the front and rear stock bolts, together with the trigger casing cover. Now replace the safety lever and fix it in place using the small setscrew.



TEST OPERATION BEFORE LOADING AND FIRING THE RIFLE FOR THE FIRST TIME! NOTE THAT INSTALLING THIS PART WILL INVALIDATE THE WARRANTY ON YOUR AIR RIFLE.

Now your Umarex Fusion has a smart new upgrade that makes operation easier!

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Lubricants for Spring/Piston Air Rifle Lube Tunes.

This is the first of what will hopefully be a series of posts by reader Paul Mattoon. This one covers the often-asked question "What lube should I use when rebuilding or making a lube tune on my spring/piston airgun?"

Take it away Paul...

"This is a summary of the various lubricants that I have found to work exceptionally well for tuning and general lubricating purposes. These products are not designed for air rifle use, but are readily available, and prove to be quite appropriate for the uses I have listed.

Through the process of modifying and tuning my spring piston air rifles, I have found the following products to serve exceptionally well as lubricants. They all have relative differences, and are used for specific purposes. All of these are reasonable in price, and are commonly found in various retail stores. This has eliminated the need for me to special order "air rifle specific" lubricants.

1. Silicone Faucet Grease:
 


The intended use of this product is with plumbing applications, which primarily use neoprene seals and are subjected to extreme variations temperature. I have found that this product is extremely versatile, catering to the need for a lubricant that doesn't break down quickly with friction, or deteriorate various materials like rubber (neoprene), vinyl, latex, silicone, polyethelyne, PVC, ABS, and many others. The grease is extremely viscous (similar to petroleum jelly). I primarily use this for lubricating piston seals, and coating breach seals. This product can be found within the plumbing department of many hardware stores for less than $5.00 per container.

2.  Losi Silicone Shock Oil:



This product is intended to be used as shock oil for RC cars and trucks. There are many brands and weights of shock oil. Like the faucet grease, this product is composed entirely of silicone. It will not damage synthetic seals, as it is not a petroleum based product. Due to the nature of the use, this oil does not break down through agitation or friction, making it ideal as a form chamber oil. Keep in mind; the higher the weight number, the higher the viscosity. Oils within the 10-50 range are best used as chamber oil, as they are thin enough to pass through the transfer port quickly. This can be found in most model/hobby stores for a price of around $5.00 per bottle.

3. Traxxas Silicone Differential Lube:



The silicone differential lube is very similar to the silicone shock oil. Composed entirely of silicone, it also safe to use on an array of plastic and rubberized materials. The major difference between this and the shock oil, is the viscosity. This product has a consistency similar to molasses. I have found that this is ideal for coating breach seals for periodic care. It allows the seal to slide against the receiver, and prevents the neoprene from drying out. Like the shock oil, this can be found in most model/hobby stores for around $5.00 per bottle.

4. Bel-Ray Waterproof Grease:
 


The intended use of the Bel-Ray grease is for sealing air filter interfaces and lubricating various bearings on motorcycles. Due to the nature of the intended use, this product holds up well through extreme friction, and exposure to extreme temperature changes. It retains a consistent lubricity and viscosity through these extreme changes, even when submerged in water. This is ideal for using as a main spring lubricant, as it is light in weight, but extremely viscous. It will cause swelling and erosion to rubber/neoprene materials, but sate on plastics. The Bel-Ray grease can be found in nearly all motorcycle stores for around $10.00 per "butter container" sized tubs.

5. Moly-Graph Grease:



This type of grease contains graphite and molybdenum. It is intended to be used as a bearing grease in automotive applications. The graphite and molybdenum are both tolerant of extreme friction, and do not "scuff away" easily. I use this type of grease for any metal-to-metal interfaces, cocking levers, and for the posterior end of the piston itself. Keep in mind; a little goes a long way, and this will damage rubber/neoprene components. There are many variations of this type of grease, just make sure it contains molybdenum for the uses stated above.This particular container was purchased at my local automotive store for $6.00."

Paul, Thank you! I'm sure your suggestions will be of great value to the many folk who are interested in doing a lube tune on their air rifles.

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QB78 Repeater Test With Cock On Opening Mod.

The new cock on opening version of the QB78 - and QB79 - Repeater allows a very wide variety of pellets to be used.

Crosman Premier Hollow Points work just as well as with the cock on closing version, but many other pellets - all the ones we've tried so far - feed very well, too. The cock on opening version really is the "universal" Repeater if you want to shoot a variety of pellets!



The QB78 Repeater tested for this post.

Following are the results of some tests with a standard QB78 Repeater in .177 cal (the lowest cost model), when equipped with the cock on opening mod.

The fps figures are given for 75 degrees F with .177 cal pellets.

805 fps - Gamo Raptor Gold pellets, 5.0 Grains (alloy)
795 fps - Stoeger X-Speed pellets, 5.56 Grains (alloy)
742 fps - RWS Hobby pellets, 7.0 Grains (fastest lead pellets)
725 fps - Stoeger X-Sport pellets, 7.48 Grains
705 fps - Crosman Premier Hollow Point pellets, 7.9 Grains
697 fps - Stoeger X-Match pellets, 8.18 Grains
687 fps - Stoeger X-Field (H&N Field Target Trophy) pellets, 8.64 Grains
629 fps - Stoeger X-Power pellets, 10.19 Grains
611 fps - Stoeger X-Magnum pellets, 11.57 Grains

As these figures show, all versions of the QB78 Repeater and QB79 Repeater also offer an increased muzzle velocity of 100 fps compared to a gun in regular factory condition (when shooting the same pellets), so you gain 10 shot repeating capability as well as a significant increase in muzzle velocity with our Repeater Upgrades.

Most airgun makers play the "muzzle velocity game" using Hobbys for their claimed "with lead" muzzle velocity. On the same "industry standard" basis, the QB78 Repeater can now be specified at a muzzle velocity of 740 fps with lead and 800 fps with alloy pellets at 75 degrees F. (Of course, the numbers would be even higher at higher temperatures).

Here's a chart that gives a graphic view of how muzzle velocity and pellet weight vary for the .177 QB78 Repeater. Click to enlarge.

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Mike's AR2079B with Tethered Tank.

Archer Airguns customer Mike, sent this information about his AR2079B air rifle.

Mike writes...

"I started shooting the AR2079B with the Dual 12G CO2 Adapter holding 2 x 12 gram Powerlets. This worked fine, however it was good for 40 shots.

I am shooting Metallic Silhouette which requires 40 shots leaving nothing for sighter targets. I like about 10 shots to sight in with. This means I would have to load two more cartridges to finish, leaving about half of the gas in the gun at the end of the match. I did not want to leave the gun charged or waste the gas.

The next step was to try a 9 ounce CO2 paintball tank. This rifle with a 9 ounce tank, valve and adapter weighs right at 11 pounds, all of it way out front.

So I went to my local paintball store, got a hose with a quick disconnect and set up the rig as you can see in the photos. This looks like it might work for me. Since I did not see anything like it on your website, I thought you might be interested."



Mike, yes that's a very interesting, innovative and practical looking setup. Thanks for sharing and I wish you well with your AR2079B at Metallic Silhouette matches!

Mike's AR2079B has an Archer Airguns Paintball Tank Adapter for QB79 fitted, with a RAP 4 On/Off Valve with Gauge. His paintball hose is attached between that and the 9-oz CO2 tank.

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Crosman Factory Refurbished 1377 Air Pistols are Great Vaue.

Archer Airguns has a limited supply of factory refurbished Crosman factory 1377 air pistols available in stock.

These versatile and popular multipump pneumatic air pistols carry a 30-day Crosman warranty. Most of the ones we have are fitted with black grips and look very smart, they're all in .177 caliber.



Refurbished products are ones that have been returned to Crosman during the warranty period. Many - possibly most - have nothing wrong with them at all but are returned for some unknown reason. All are tested by Crosman staff. If a problem is found, this is rectified: the guns are retested and offered for sale as refurbs. Typically physical condition is either "as new" or "near new", but occasional products will have slight signs of handling or use marks.

As with any refurbished product, supply of the Crosman 1377 is variable and these are unlikely ever to be a continuously stocked line. We have them available when Crosman has supplies. So buy while these are available, at the price, they're a great deal!

In the Archer Airguns store, if you can see these air pistols in the "Secials" section, we have some in stock. If they are not to be seen, all are sold...

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QB78 and QB79 Repeaters Now Available With Improved Feeding Capabilities.

The QB78 and QB79 Repeaters are now available with a choice of "cock on closing" and "cock on opening" actions.

But how to choose???



Above. A QB78 Repeater with Hammers 3-9x40AO scope.


1. COCK ON CLOSING.

The "cock on closing" action is the traditional method of operation that has been used on all production QB78 type air rifles - and the Crosman 160 way back before that. The bolt opens easily but is harder to close.

In the Repeater models, it provides excellent feeding with Crosman Premier HP (particularly) and other Crosman pellets, but is not very tolerant of other pellet types. With this action, inserting or removing a magazine is easiest: the mag is simply snapped in or out, without the need to hold the bolt handle back.


2. COCK ON OPENING.

The "cock on opening" action version causes the hammer spring to be compressed on opening the bolt and thus it's harder to pull the bolt back. It does, however, close very easily. This easy bolt closing means that the "cock on opening" action is far more tolerant of different pellet types and feeds almost any type of pellet well and jam-free.

The only disadvantage - yes, there has to be one, doesn't there? - is that the bolt handle has to be held open when the magazine is inserted or removed.

Because of the feeding benefits, it's probably that most people will prefer the "cock on opening" version. Anyhow, now you have the choice!


QB78 and QB79 Repeater Upgrade Kits are still all "cock on closing" as the installation instructions need to be re-written before the new versions can be offered. We'll do that as soon as we can...

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