The next generation of Air Riflemen

[McDave]

from what I can gather I am one of many here that learnt to shoot as a kid on an air rifle. Some of my best shooting memories are from that time, using coke cans and plastic bottles full of water as targets or whacking together some shooting gallery ducks with the old man's saw bench and promptly shooting their heads off and having to start all over again. makes me grin like an idiot just thinking about it.

well the other day my sister informed me that it was going to my job to teach my nephew how to shoot when he turns ten next year. her husband gave it away years ago and and hasn't kept his licence or any of his kit so it's on me and our dad if he's keen. I don't own an air rifle myself so I immediately started rubbing my hands together thinking it was a good excuse to go shopping! but then I had a pang of nostalgia...

This got me wondering what condition the old air rifle was in as it was still up at the folk's place and I hadn't seen it in years. Well I went and dug it out today and have to admit it ain't lookin pretty. it's been wrapped up and tucked away in pieces in the back of the old man's safe for close on 2 decades. poor house keeping I know, there's quite a lot of surface rust and the stock is looking pretty banged up. apparently I was pretty hard on it as a kid!

My nephew's birthday is early next year and I'd like to try and clean the old girl up and get it shooting again before then, so I was wondering if anyone could tell from the pics below what model it is (all the old man could tell me was that he bought it at the general store back in the early 70's for $10) and where I could source a new seal kit for it from?

It used to have a round badge on the rear of the stock behind the cheek piece if that's a help at all...

any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm hoping that this old air rifle can get another kid into shooting and maybe even have enough left in the tank to get my 11 month old son into it as well when his time comes!

Cheers

Dave

[Lewis Reinhold]

from what I can gather I am one of many here that learnt to shoot as a kid on an air rifle. Some of my best shooting memories are from that time, using coke cans and plastic bottles full of water as targets or whacking together some shooting gallery ducks with the old man's saw bench and promptly shooting their heads off and having to start all over again. makes me grin like an idiot just thinking about it.

well the other day my sister informed me that it was going to my job to teach my nephew how to shoot when he turns ten next year. her husband gave it away years ago and and hasn't kept his licence or any of his kit so it's on me and our dad if he's keen. I don't own an air rifle myself so I immediately started rubbing my hands together thinking it was a good excuse to go shopping! but then I had a pang of nostalgia...

This got me wondering what condition the old air rifle was in as it was still up at the folk's place and I hadn't seen it in years. Well I went and dug it out today and have to admit it ain't lookin pretty. it's been wrapped up and tucked away in pieces in the back of the old man's safe for close on 2 decades. poor house keeping I know, there's quite a lot of surface rust and the stock is looking pretty banged up. apparently I was pretty hard on it as a kid!

My nephew's birthday is early next year and I'd like to try and clean the old girl up and get it shooting again before then, so I was wondering if anyone could tell from the pics below what model it is (all the old man could tell me was that he bought it at the general store back in the early 70's for $10) and where I could source a new seal kit for it from?

It used to have a round badge on the rear of the stock behind the cheek piece if that's a help at all...

any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm hoping that this old air rifle can get another kid into shooting and maybe even have enough left in the tank to get my 11 month old son into it as well when his time comes!

Cheers

Dave

Hi Dave,

It's an Artex Telly from Hungary,also known as a Relum in the UK.

I can put together a spring and piston seal assembly for it plus some suitable grease.

Lewis

[McDave]

Lewis you are a Champion!

if you could do that I'd be really grateful.

PM me the details and I'll fix you up straight away.

Dave

[fenring]

Ah yes, one or two of my boyhood chums had one.

Often erroneously called a "Jelly" thanks to the flowing script that "Telly" is written in.

Used in a sentence:

"I shot some birds with my Jelly last night."

[LoneRider]

a nice clean up and treatment of the stock will have it looking like a new one in no time.

[fenring]

They were a good boy's air rifle - better than the plastic Gamo junk you see now.

[McDave]

I've been reading this forum for a few years now and seen the regular praise for Lewis and his services. Well now it's my turn!

talk about doing things the right way! I post on Saturday night, get a perfect reply early Sunday morning, sort out payments etc late Monday night and then get to work on Wednesday morning to find the parts delivered and on my desk. Then I get to work this morning and find an envelope with a grease guide from Lewis in it.

Perfect experience from start to finish.

Thanks for exceeding your already high reputation Lewis.

Dave.

[Lewis Reinhold]

I've been reading this forum for a few years now and seen the regular praise for Lewis and his services. Well now it's my turn!

talk about doing things the right way! I post on Saturday night, get a perfect reply early Sunday morning, sort out payments etc late Monday night and then get to work on Wednesday morning to find the parts delivered and on my desk. Then I get to work this morning and find an envelope with a grease guide from Lewis in it.

Perfect experience from start to finish.

Thanks for exceeding your already high reputation Lewis.

Dave.

Thanks Dave.

Let me know how you go with it.I sent what I think is in there from the photo.

Lewis

[McDave]

Hi Guys,

just an update on the restoration project. I've really enjoyed doing this so far...

sanded back the stock, gradually moving to finer grit paper till the finish is beautifully smooth. have left the remains of a chip in the cheek piece (a cross between not wanting to patch it and wanting to leave my juvenile mark on it!) and the holes from the badge just in case I can track one down. the grooves down each side were a pain but I've persisted and they've cleaned up well. Once sanding was complete began oiling the stock every night with a danish oil, rubbing it in firmly and keeping the stock warm. I think it's looking pretty good so far.

I've been soaking all the metal in kero and begun quietly removing the surface rust. pics to come... did a quick check of all the components and discovered there's a couple of pieces that have gone walkabout over the last 20 years. Am now on the hunt for one of the side stock screws, one of the trigger assembly pins (although I'm pretty sure I can cut something to fit) and finally the screw for the cocking arm. done some web hunting and found a place in the UK that looks like they might stock some spares. will see how we go...

Dave

[fenring]

It's coming along nicely.

[JD]

If they are just screws don't worry about sourcing originals, waste of time and money. Just find some suitable screws and do a fresh drill and tap on the holes and use your new screws.

I generally use metric socket head cap screws, easy to find, look good and the allen head doesn't burr up like a normal flat screw can do (if you don't have the correct screw drivers ie. not taper tip-worth purchasing if you do any work on guns at all). If memory serves me right an M4 is pretty close in matching originals in size, but if needed you could go to M5. I recommend just doing a fresh drill and tap as who knows what the original threads were, it's not even worth worrying about. Cut a new thread (I choose metric because bolt selection is good) then you can use black, or stainless bolts.

Looks clean and good with fresh bolts/screws