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Slavia · Moderator

naynay, you asked via PM if the wood on the Marksman 2004 wrapped around - it does not. The left side of the grip is moulded with the rest of the frame, so I had to go with an "outrigger." In contrast, the Crosman 2240 has a metal frame down the middle and traditional grips on either side.

On the left side of the 2004 you will notice brass under the screws. When mating wood to metal I like to use screw cups, because they distribute the force of the screw over a wider surface area than just the wood under the screw head. I use brass thumb nuts from the hardware store. Get one with an I.D. similar to the screw for the gun. Get a long screw to fit the thumb nut, and cut the head off. Spin the nut in a drill (using the sacrificed screw as a mandrel) and while it's spinning shape it with a Dremel tool to get from "A" to "B" in the drawing.

Drill the wood so the shaft of the brass nut ("B") will pass, and then counterbore to match the head ("D"). Drill the counterbore deep enough so some of the brass sticks out on the back side ("E"). Epoxy the nut in place. Now you can grind/sand the brass flush with the wood at "E," and bore out the center so the original gun screw will pass through.

naynay · Member

Wow, you really go above and beyond in passing on your knowledge. thank you so much. the brass looks really nice as well as serving a useful purpose- i'm totally doing that. was considering a little decorative inlay as well-we'll see- maybe on my second go 'round.your guns are really tricked out- esp the marksman- is that a level i see on there? anyway, thanks so much. i did find that book available through interlibrary loan, so thanks for that hot tip. our county has suprisingly few gun related books- mostly hunting, 2 about target shooting. anyway, i hope my grips turn out half as nice looking as yours, and i would be delighted.

Slavia · Moderator

Some things I know, and some things I don't. Like the time I used way too much pipe dope on the gas fitting for a water heater. The pilot would light, but it wouldn't allow enough gas through to light the main burner. My wife bought me a ton of teflon tape afterwards.

And I don't contribute much on the water heater forum.

Search around for stuff about traditional black powder rifles. Some of those guys really like inlays.

naynay · Member

hey, i hear ya on the water heater- i was tempted to replace mine myself, then got spooked by the thought of messing it up and blowing up the whole house- and everybody i love. so i paid someone else to do it right. i did do a complex wire splicing job on the blower for our gas fireplace- when that cute little puppy over there, <---- , Jake chewed through the wires. now he is a big one year old ripping the stuffing out of all of our throw pillows. too much energy! God makes 'em cute so we don't strangle them. anyway, i got started on the grips finally, my scan came out really dark, no matter what i did, so i am making do with that. and ordered that book. in the meanwhile, i am paying really close attention to how i hold my gun, and what feels "right". so, i'll keep on working on it, and keep you posted. thanks for all your help. nay nay

cw · Banned

Hey Slavia,
Care to share the details on the over travel limiter
on your 2004? Also, what kind of projected dot sight
is that?

Slavia · Moderator

The sight is a BSA RD30/22SB, which is to say a 30mm red dot with the ".22" sight base (3/8" dovetail). $25.00 at Cabela's. The scope caps are Walmart, with ballistic information pasted inside. the adjusting knobs are Radio Shack (if you're interested I can do some drawings).

The left grip half, all of the trigger guard, and the frame are all one molded piece. This meant that I could not come straight in from behind with the overtravel limiter. Since the trigger guard is not split, I was able to come up from underneath. It is a brass machine screw anchor (usually for wood) that has been ground flush and epoxied in place. The screw is a 6-32 setscrew held in place with teflon plumbing tape. The tip is tapered so it hits the curved trigger in different places, depending upon how far it is screwed in. The taper was done by chucking the screw in a drill and dressing the tip with a Dremel while it spun.

yourdaddyjoe · Supporting Member

Which gun are you trying to mount the BSA on?

Joe

Slavia · Moderator

More detail on the overtravel limiter:

cw · Banned

Thanks. The OEM dot sight is a real piece of feces and
the only thing about the trigger that could be improved
is the obnoxious amount of over travel it has. I might try
that modification with a rubber tipped screw.

Slavia · Moderator

You're right about the sights. The P17 comes packaged these days with a cheap red dot sight. Even that has to be better than the open sights. The BSA has a lot of parallax error (move your head and the dot moves too). I suppose that on a long arm with a consistent cheek weld this would be less a problem. I sanded the paint off the rear lens bezel to provide a bright centering ring for the dot.

Regarding the trigger: In addition to the overtravel limiter, I took a sharpening stone to the trigger parts, made washers from Coke cans to shim against side play, and grooved the trigger face. Of all the mods to the trigger, the grooved face had the most impact. My finger used to slide downwards on the slippery trigger face, making proper trigger address almost impossible.

yourdaddyjoe · Supporting Member

I saw this rear sight on Craigs List for $20.00

Should I???

naynay · Member

Ok slavia my grip guru Smile

, it looks like your marksman has more of a "proper" 10 meter grip angle- which is what i am ambitiously trying to accomplish with my 747. am i right? i think i'm gonna have to add a whole bunch of wood around the back to get the right angle, to fill in the space that makes the angle "wrong". or i can do something fancy so that my lower thumb pad area keeps the angle "right"- which is what it looks like your "outrigger" does. anyway, I'm still hackin away at the pine at this point, and figuring out how i want it as i go- could end up with a Lot of prototypes- which is a-ok, and kinda fun. off topic- camping with 27 other families sounds a bit overwhealming- but the marshmallow fight sounds fun. Smile

. thanks again for all your help. nay nay

Slavia · Moderator

Yes, grasshopper. Before you leave the temple sawdust must fall like winter snow.

The one single biggest priority is that the trigger finger be parallel to the bore, and able to move independently. Secondarily, you want the other parts of the hand to be able to control the gun, but without introducing uneven pressure that will move the gun when the shot breaks. All the grips do is make that happen, and make it the same for each shot. The grips are therefore a positioning aid.

For example, take the heel shelf (the goofy thing under the gun). With it, you can support the weight of the gun with just one finger (the one under the trigger guard) and the heel of the hand. The rest of the hand can relax. Similarly, the thumb rest lets the thumb take a natural position without tensing to curl inward, or hyperextending outward.

The grip angle is a matter of personal preference. If you look at pictures of target pistols, you see that the grips are angled waaaaaaay back. Some people like the more upright "1911" angle.

Is that any help?

Regarding the dark scanned image: Try playing with brightness, contrast, or even take a negative image to make the details stand out.

Slavia · Moderator

Check out this aid for diagnosing grip problems:

Slavia · Moderator

And may I suggest starting a shooting log (or journal, or diary, or whatever you want to call it). It can be on any kind of paper you want, and can contain any information (written or pasted in) that is meaningful to you.