#1:  I want to send my gun in to get tuned and I want to get as much power out of it as possible?

My #1 goal when tuning a gun is to have a pleasant shooting gun that will stay that way for a long time. 

If your primary goal is to have a gun that will shoot peak velocity right after the tune, I shouldn't be your first choice.  I could do it but the end result is a gun that will shoot harshly and develop spring noise in short order.  Sometimes a higher power spring can be fitted but with the tolerance on current production gun's compression chambers, this will often give less not more power.  Until your gun is here and I work on it I can't tell you what it will shoot.  I will say this, most guns sent in for high power tunes are guns that never shot at advertised velocity due to bad spec receivers and the owners is hoping tuning it will be the silver bullet that fixes it once and for all.  Almost every time, it is not and the end result is something no one is happy with.

With all that said, most that ask this question need to get the next model up.

#2  What is buttoning pistons?  What will it do for me?

Piston buttoning is where shallow holes are milled into the piston and Delrin "buttons" are inserted and then lathe turned fitted to match the inside diameter of the receiver of the rifle.  It makes the gun cock smoother and it eliminates metal to metal contact so as to eliminate galling on guns with soft pistons or receivers.  It will often cut down on vibration on many rifles where the piston to receiver fit is loose.

#3  What is a good gun to get nowadays?

Recommending a air rifle is like recommending a car or truck.  Personal taste weigh in too much for me to comment.  It's best for you to try them out yourself and see what you like.  In the past I've recommended guns only to have people complain.  I recommended a TX to one fellow several years back only to have him complain about how hard it was to load and how heavy it was.  I had one guy that couldn't handle the recoil of an R7 (go figure). 

Everyone is worried about making the wrong decision, but soliciting opinions very rarely helps.  Often it just confuses things because everyone else's priorities are usually different than your own.  Try the stuff out and form your own opinions.  Try FT shoots or one of the airgun shows if possible.  Contact a dealer before going if you know they are going to be there and want to try something specific out. 

The Weihrauch line of rifles are always a safe bet and that is why I have chosen to build most of my business on them.  They hold their value.  Buy quality and you will always have quality.  The difference in cost between quality and second best is quickly forgotten once you've spent your money.

#4  How do I pay you?

You aren't required to send money until the rifle is near completion, but preferably with money ;-)  Checks or Postal Money Orders are fine.  Checks are most often cashed on arrival, but not always.  If you have concerns about your gun actually arriving, waiting on the check to clear is not a good way of checking to see if it has.  Just give me a call to check on your rifles arrival on the day it's supposed to arrive.  Please read my Helpful Info page on turn around time before calling about how long it will be once it arrives.

#5 I want to send you my HZ2312 for a tune.  I want the gun to shoot 900fps with 8.4 JSB pellets with little to no recoil.  I shot *****'s gun the other day and that's what his does.

There is no way "Anyone" can tell you what your gun is going to shoot sight unseen, even if he knows what spring is going to be used and the caliber of the gun.  There are just too many variables from rifle to rifle.  Some guns that shot in the mid 900's with a Maccari T-Spring on one run are hard pressed to shoot 820 to 860 fps with all the identical parts on another run.  Receiver and compression tube sealing being the major culprit.   If you send me a gun with a detailed list of what is and isn't acceptable velocity wise, you leave me no choice but to bow out.  There is no way I can guaranty what your gun will shoot without seeing it first.  If you send it wanting to see what can be done with your particular gun, I have no problem with that and I'll be happy to help.

#6 How do I make a seal for my gun and what material do you use. (General how to questions)

    I get several of these requests a week.  I've spent lots of time and money finding out what will and won't work.  The only way for me to recover my expenses and time is to sell what I have come up with.  There is also a good number of people that I have helped in the past only to have them set up shop and compete with me.  With the size of this niche market it just causes hard feelings when this happens.  I'd rather avoid that if possible.

#7  I've got a  **** and it has never shot as well as other guns I've tried of a similar model.  I want to send it in and get you to fix it up for me.

Every now and then a gun comes across my door that has various issues that leave it sub par.  That's not to say that it can't be made nicer but most of the time it can only be improved.   Other times the owner compares their gun to other rifles they think are similar and they aren't happy with it.  That is a design issue and often can't be addressed in a tune.

Rifles with slightly large bores that have had the barrels chopped to unreasonable lengths is another issue.  No matter how much someone brags on the forums that his was OK, they generally increase the recoil by as much as a third if not more.  Your basically making a rifle that is semi-dry firing.  Seals wont last as long and spring life is reduced buy as much as 50%.  Why do I say that?  I often get these rifles with the owners hoping that rechoking the barrel or other tricks are going to pull a rabbit out of the hat.  I've seen too many over the years to count.   While choking helps, it's often a band aid approach. Guns with good tolerances in the compression chamber and good tight barrel bores can be cut with out much problem though.  The rifle would have to be checked before any such work would be done though.

#8  Can you tune my Webley Kodiak?

I no longer do any work on the Webley line of rifles.

#9  I'm in Canada and want to buy parts for my CZ 630/631/634.  I would be nice if I could get the power up on it some.

I no longer offer parts or services for the little Slavia rifles. 

#10  I want to buy a high performance seal for my gun.  How much?

All seals are made in house on a per gun basis.  Gun tolerances vary so much from gun to gun that a one size fits all approach on a high performance seal won't work.  ADV seals are only available on in house tunes.

#11  My Guns accuracy is off.  I want to send it in to get a tune.

There are many many variables that can make a guns accuracy suffer.  Doing a tune is the least likely way of fixing accuracy issues.  Generally something else is wrong.  Often it's something as simple as a dirty barrel or bad pellets.  Most of the time a gun is sent in for inaccuracy, I can go out and shoot one hole groups with pellets I have on hand.  If the gun chronographs fairly consistent with good pellets and the barrel is clean.  The most likely culprit is shooter error or stock securement.

#12  When I shoot my gun every now and then it throws a shot low.  Sometimes as much as a inch at twenty yards.

Chronograph your gun.  If it's fairly stable, the spring and seals are OK.  You've got another problem.  A inch drop at 20 yards can only happen with a 200 + fps drop in velocity if the powerplant were at fault.  Most likely bad pellets or inconsistent hold is the problem.

#13  I'm sending my gun in for a tune and want the trigger tuned.  I don't like the long first stage, I want you to convert it to a single stage.

Most of the better European spring guns are built with a two stage trigger.  The fist stage you pull up until it firms up and that should be the point that it's about to break.  Slightly more pressure and the trigger will break and the gun will fire.  Guns like the FWB124 and a few others have no sear engagement adjustment, only a second stage let off point.  It is impossible to adjust these triggers  for a single stage action.  A new trigger would have to be built from the ground up to do it.  On others like Beeman R series guns or Air Arms, while it's possible to do so, you wind up with a gun that is unsafe.  The slightest wear in the trigger or hard bump when the gun is cocked and it could go off when you least expect it.  It's a liability issue.  I'd be sticking a gun to my head to do it (Pun Intended) ;-)

#14  I'm tired of breaking springs in my gun.  I want to send it in to get it tuned and eliminate the problem.
 

All things mechanical will eventually wear out.   I've been using Jim Maccari's springs for over twenty years and know Jim on a personal level.  You won't find longer lasting springs or a person more persistent at looking to improve upon what he has.  All things mechanical will eventually  need "maintenance" though.  As a general rule of thumb I rebuild my personal guns every seven to ten thousand rounds. That said, I have customers that have over ten thousand rounds on their guns with no loss of performance.  Most often it's more making sure that the gun is sealing properly rather than the spring.  I can attribute these long lasting guns to good sealing and the owner not abusing them.  A tune that fixes any sealing issues and replaces the spring with one of higher quality will not only last lots longer than the factory set-up but will be more enjoyable to shoot.

#15  I want to send in a gun for a tune but I don't know if I should get the ADV or maccari kit install?

The kit install will have close to the same firing characteristics of a ADV.  The ADV will have additional work that will make the gun cock smoother, have less recoil.  Basically, you ask yourself if you want very nice or all the bells and whistles.  Most of the ADV tunes have the triggers reworked, piston buttoning and the receiver precision honed.  So your better off with the ADV if you want those areas addressed.

#16  Why would/should I cut my barrel to a shorter length?

Many people cut their barrel to a shorter length to allow for more empty room when installing a carbine length barrel sleeve.  The reason being the gun will be quieter with the extra dead air space.  When using a muzzle brake instead of a shroud it can make for a very very short carbine barrel if that's what the customer wants.  If the work is done properly accuracy will not suffer and some cases be slightly improved.  In a good many cases velocity falls off slightly when barrels are cut back.  It's rare that you get a increase in velocity.  Some that I've done have lost 20-50fps with a six inch cut.  Some didn't loose any.  Adding the choke will also cut 15-20fps in some cases.  Suffice to say, if your a chronograph jockey ;-) you might loose power with a choke and going with a shorter barrel.
 

#17  Do you tune or work on other guns such as Gamo, Chinese, Russian etc. etc...

This depends on my work load.  Most of the time the answer is no if there is a heavy work load of stuff I specialize in.  When my work load is high I usually limit the number of models or brands that are taken in.  It's not a reflection on the value of your gun, it's a matter of the amount of time that's available to get everything done.  For example, some Gamo rifles I'll take in if work is slow but if work load is high I won't take in some German made guns if they are not some of my main offerings listed on my pricing page or if they are older obsolete rifles needing extra work to be made viable again.