This is what comes with the Crosman Steel breech. It came with the two allen keys needed.
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I'd assemble the breech before doing anything else. Locktite on the bolt handle, but please use the blue (or the purple if you can find it) as you will sooner or later want to remove the handle from the bolt and start the barrel set screw into the breech. A touch of grease on the bolt won't hurt.
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Are going to take the top half of the rifle off. You will NOT need to e3ven take it out of the stock.

Loosen the barrel band (two set screws, one top and one bottom) and opush it off the tube to just dangle on the barrel.

Cock the bolt.

Remove the little set screw that hides under the bolt.

Remove the rear breech screw that holds the sight on.

Lift up CAREFULLY. Be sure not to lose the metal transfer port that fits between the two tubes. Notice which end in up as you need to keep that end as up.

Barrel will just slip out of the plastic breech with a tug.

These two screws you will need to salvage from the plastic breech.
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TOTALLY EXTRA...NO NEED TRO DO THIS. I really hate that horrid little screw and it's tiny little allen key. So I padd the screw in cardboard, clamp it in a vice, and slot the head with a Dremel tool. Only problem with this is that you have to be careful not to use the greater leverage of a slot screw to over tighten and snap the head of the screw off.
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Slide the breech end of the barrel into the steel breech. Rotate it and align the transfer port in the barrel to center the transfer port in the breech. Tighten the set screw to hold it in place.
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Close the bolt

With the metal transfer port in place on the gas tube, will have to lower the barrel breech assembly straight down' May have to do a slight wiggleto get the metal transfer port to line up.

Put the rear breech screw in, but NOT tight.

Slide the barrel band back onto the gas tube and tighten it slightly (try to get the barrel to line up with the center of the bottom tube).

Open the bolt and put in the tiny action screw. May have to fuss with it to get it to line up and start (which is why all the other screws are only slightly tight). Get it started finger tight.

Loosen the barrel band set screws and try to get the barrel lined up right down the middle of the gas tube. Tighten the barrel band screw.

Tighten the dinky screw.

Tighten the rear breech screw.

Should end up looking like this. LOOKE CAREFULLY at the breech and the gas tube. Breech should be all the way down on the tube, no gap between the tube and the breech (if there is, then you probably got the metal transfer port in upside down).
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ANOTHER OPTIONAL CHANGE:

Can just pitch the plastic barrel/tube spacer, it really doesn't do anything productive.

Or you can loosen the barrel band, slide it off the gas tube, slide in the plastic spacer, and measure where it needs to be cut.
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Take the spacer out, cut it at the mark, and slide it back in place. Slide the barrel band back into place and lock it down.

Breech is now in place.

BARREL BAND:

Keeping the barrel band tight to the as tube seems to help stability. Do not have to hog tie the barrel to the band, the top screw can be loose so the barrel is slightly free in the band.

We already spent the $6 for a drill and tap, no reason not to put it to work again. Want to add two more set screws to the bottom half of the barrel band. In this example, used 6-32 holes because I happened to have a pair of set screws in this size AND taking the same size allen key as the issue set screws. Nice not to have to use two different allen wrenches, so I went with 6-32.

Better to start in the thick part of the band newer the center thyick section and angle slightly down into the lower band. This makes for a longer hole, which will carry more threads once you tap it, and give a more solid set screw.


To remove the barrel band, will need to remove the front sight.

Can loosen the bands set screws and just slide it off the tube and off the barrel.

Pad the vice, clamp the band, and mark the spot you want to drill. Better to NOT drill right in the middle, there is a seam there and it seems to be tougher to drill there than a bit towards the rear (or front).

Center punch the spot to give the drill bit a place to bite in and not skitter across the band. BTW: and old valve stem with a piercing stem makes a good substitute center punch.

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Tap the holes.

Deburr the inside holes.

Slide the barrel band back into place.

Insert screws and try it.
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These screws were way too long. Measured the length sticking out of the band, took the screw out, measured the same distance from the bottom of the screw, marked the screw, and cut if off with a Dremel tool.

Now shortened screws ended up just about flush.
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Will mount a scope later this week, and give it a fair test at the same range that the issue peep sights were tested. Hope for a bit of improvement, but do realize that even if the accuracy is much better, it won't really change this 10 foot pound rifle's maximum humane killing range.

COST TALLY:
Steel breech from Crosman (with shipping) comes up to just short of $43 to my address. Locally, have a cheap 4X32 AO Winchester scope with cheap mounts for $29 that I've been trying to kill on an RWS34, but has lived on and on. We'll use that $30 scope and mount on this rifle.

Will probably use a 4rX32 Leapers that has been loose around the shop and a set of cheap rings that came with it. Want to continue the test to destruction of the cheap Winchester scope on the RWS 34.

So am going to spend $73 on a rifle that cost me about $84. Can buy a steel breech Crosman 2260 with a 6X BugBuster for $175.99 from Pyramyd Air. This rifle is now up to $157. In my case, as I already had the 4 X Leapers and rings laying around, then am only going to count the cost of the breech, so at this point have $127 invested.

... than the stock plastic breech.

Plastic breech uses 7/8" screw and steel breech requires 3/4" long screw. Either use another 8-32 x 3/4 hex screw or cut 1/8" off the original.

If not you will have problems with a damaged/jammed spring while cocking the bolt.

you're scared ? go get a dog ... I'd rather die standing than live on my knees

Forgot to mention that the rear breech screw was going to be too long once fully tightened down. Without the rear sight to act as a fat washer, the screw goes in farther without the sight, and the end of it binds the striker spring. I should have mentioned it, slipped my mind.

Remove the screw and either space it up with washers or grind/file the end of the screw about 1/8. That will let you screw it down tight but not have the end bind on the striker spring.

As the rifle looks now:
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Tested the rifle.

Same velocity as before. The cange in breech didn't have anything to do with increasing or decreasing speed; same bottom half, transfer port, and barrel was used so the breech has nothing to do with speed.

Accuracy did change with the addition of a 4X scope. Can't divide how much (if any) improvement was due to the more stable breech, but suspect it is very minor. The accuracy difference was simply because, even at 20 yards, my aim was more precise.

With the peep sights and plastic breech, was in the high 4's for 6 5-shot groups.
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With the 4X scope, was in the middle 3's.
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Some more fiddling around with the barrel band, a larger pellet search, and perhaps another go at the barrel crown , and I suspect something around 3/10ths for a 30 shot average is as good as it will get.

Still going to be a 30 yard rifle, even if accuracy is now good enough to justify 40yard shots (when a stable enough rest is available).

Due to the rules of the forums, won't be posting LDC construction. IF that interests you, then give TKO's web sight a look-see.

Come summer, may get the urge (or have the need) to boost power a bit, so it may be a long time before this 2260 gets another post.

Larry Harris

Before tightening the little 4/48 hex head breech screw, using a padded c clamp or vise to gently compress and hold the breech to the tube, then tighten the 4/48 screw. Doing this will reduce the load on that little screw to nothing more than a holding function, rather than having it work harder to compress the transfer port. And clamping the two together again before trying to loosen that screw for disassembly will unload it and make for a lot fewer stripped heads.

..do clamp down with strong hand pressure before tightening the rinky-dink breech screw (in my opionon, you have two: the rinky dinky one and the full sized one at the rear). Does help stability to have the rinky dinky screw tight (but being rinky dinky it is easy to strip the screw, so not too tight)

Did an adjustyment to the barrel crown, got a 30shot average (6 5-shot groups) of .31", wich will put this brifle one course for acceptable accuracy out to 40yds. Think the power will run out (my personal lower limit) by 30 yards, so will just have to up the velocity (and lower the shot count) to get the terminal energy to be enough at 40 yards for me to trust it (your level of trust may well be different).

Will do a fire lap (firing polishing agent embedded pellets) to smooth the barrel out a bit and give it some more tests.

As you can tell, the temps here have been in the low 70's and are expect to stay there for the next week, so it is good co2 weather.