Phantom unibody - how to remove the pump handle & bolt?

[lhamilton1807]

I had recently found a classic Trracer pump locally for $5 and wanted another Nelson pump. Someone had an old phantom on Craigslist for $20 and I couldn’t pass it up. It cycled and didn’t leak so I brought it home.

I tried removing the barrel to disassemble it and give it a good cleaning but there IS no barrel - it’s a unibody. I had no idea such a thing existed (I’ve since read up on the history).

Anyway, how do I remove the pump handle and bolt? I ran a push/pull squeegee through the barrel and a good deal of crud came out with it so there’s definitely years of old broken paint, dust, and grime in the barrel. The only obvious way to remove the pump handle is to bend the rod, and that doesn’t seem like a good strategy.






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[Ecapnation]

Yup..... Flex the rod

[pghp8ntballer]

oh that unibody looks like it has SP original porting too.

So, remove the trigger frame, loosen that nut on the pump rod by the pump handle just a little bit, then use the wiggle in the threads to give you just enough clearance to remove the pump arm from the bolt.

[lhamilton1807]

Got it removed - thanks for the tips! The bolt was pretty gritty - I’ll polish it up. The barrel is... grimy. But worth the $20 I think!

Glad to be part of this community 🙃


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[Hellion360]

It is a great purchase at $20 and a fun project.
Body is compatible with newer internals if you ended up needing anything.

[Carp]

And I thought I stole mine.... 🙄....gesh, dude you scored. The trigger frame is worth $40-$50 alone! 😉

[lhamilton1807]

And I thought I stole mine.... 🙄....gesh, dude you scored. The trigger frame is worth $40-$50 alone! 😉

Yeah I knew I had to jump on both the $5 Trracer and the Phantom when they showed up. Couldn’t let those get away!


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[Axel]

$20? You dog!

Take the frame off and just wiggle the rod around until you get it to come loose. IIRC you should be able to gently twist the handle while unthreading the rod a quarter turn or so and gradually work it out of the bolt

[BigRed]

What a steel! I've seen trigger shoes go for $20! Enjoy it.

[lhamilton1807]

What a steel! I've seen trigger shoes go for $20! Enjoy it.

So what you’re saying is... I bought a trigger shoe and he threw in the rest for free? I’m ok with that.


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[lhamilton1807]

I’ve noticed that the pump action on the Phantom is much stiffer than on my Trracer. Is there some tuning I need to do to mitigate this, or is a stiff pump action (at least compared to the Trracer) just part of how it works?

I’ve adjusted the bolt all the way down and spun out the pump rod a few more turns so there’s less stress on that spring. Otherwise, it’s as it was when I got it aside from cleaning all the innards and polishing the front bolt.


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[Axel]

You probably have older internals without the anti-kink feature. Is the return stroke noticably stiffer than the cocking stroke?

You can replace them with the latest hammer and bolt which is probably the best single upgrade to improve the stroke. If you do that you also need to get a modern (shorter) powertube since the old long one will bottom out on the new bolt's TPC.

If I weren't lazy I would dig out both sets of guts and illustrate the differences, buuuuuut....

[Jonnydread]

Good point I always forget about new vs. old internals on these

[Jonnydread]

I’ve noticed that the pump action on the Phantom is much stiffer than on my Trracer. Is there some tuning I need to do to mitigate this, or is a stiff pump action (at least compared to the Trracer) just part of how it works?

I’ve adjusted the bolt all the way down and spun out the pump rod a few more turns so there’s less stress on that spring. Otherwise, it’s as it was when I got it aside from cleaning all the innards and polishing the front bolt.


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It's likely either binding somewhere or there's some ancient grit in the internals. If it's been sitting for a while you may want to polish the inside of the body/barrel and the pump return spring. I've had the pump return springs get chalky on me and jack up the smoothness of the stroke.

[lhamilton1807]

You probably have older internals without the anti-kink feature. Is the return stroke noticably stiffer than the cocking stroke?

You can replace them with the latest hammer and bolt which is probably the best single upgrade to improve the stroke. If you do that you also need to get a modern (shorter) powertube since the old long one will bottom out on the new bolt's TPC.

If I weren't lazy I would dig out both sets of guts and illustrate the differences, buuuuuut....

Great, thanks for the advice. Yes the return stroke is pretty stiff - is the hammer>spring>bolt combo kinking or bending when they’re clipped together?

I’m almost certain the internals are ancient even though they’re in good condition. I’ll look for pics of the newer internals or contact CCI for help.

It's likely either binding somewhere or there's some ancient grit in the internals. If it's been sitting for a while you may want to polish the inside of the body/barrel and the pump return spring. I've had the pump return springs get chalky on me and jack up the smoothness of the stroke.

This is possible, but I gutted the marker, cleaned every piece (including the spring), and used automotive chrome polish on any rough spots, and reassembled with oil. Still stiff.

Everyone’s guidance is really helpful thank you!


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[Carp]

sometimes you just need to loosen up the trigger frame screws a smidge and kind of half pump it a little. If it smooths out the stroke, tighten up the screws and hit the field.😉

[Axel]

Original Nelson internals like on the first Phantoms only link the bolt and hammer at the sear. Since that's a single point on the perimeter, and the main spring compressed between the two is pushing them apart, the latched bolt and hammer kink at an angle until they drag against the inside of the body.

Modern Phantom anti-kink internals have an extra cylinder of steel protruding from the front of the hammer that inserts into the bolt when latched, so the angle of the kink is not deep enough to drag and the bolt-hammer assembly can move freely in the body without dragging.

I found my baggie of original phantom parts. Apparently I replaced the hammer, kept the bolt, and just replaced the old velocity adjuster with the TPC and short power tube.