Reply With QuoteI remember the article Adrian.
I recall thinking "wow thats short" or something along those lines when i read the piece.
I bet the wray gun would have cost an arm, leg and a couple of kidneys to manufacture??
Michael
Been browsing through some of my old air rifle magazines....and in AGW October 1991 I found an article about an unusual spring air rifle built by a gent called Tony Wray of Hull.
This rifle was like a modern interpretation of the Webley Service Mk2 in that the piston travelled "backwards" towards the shooter. Unlike the old Webley it had a fixed barrel above the cylinder, and was cocked by an underlever. The nature of the design resulted in a carbine length gun - some 33 inches - and no forend or forestock - just a stylishly angular buttstock reminiscent of the ASI Statical of the late 70s/early 80s.
The article spoke of these rifles being built to order by Mr Wray. I must admit I have never seen one. Does this ring bells with anyone? Does anyone know the creative Mr Wray (I know there are some active BBS members in the Hull area). Very curious to know if anyone owns or has seen / used one of these very interesting rifles.
Adrian
[This message was edited by draftsmann on 29 January, 2004 at 13:15.]
I remember the article Adrian.
I recall thinking "wow thats short" or something along those lines when i read the piece.
I bet the wray gun would have cost an arm, leg and a couple of kidneys to manufacture??
Michael
short an' ugly...if I remember correctly...or is that me?
Anyway there was a distinct lack of wood and plenty of metal. Looked like a piece of engineering that Brunel would have been proud of...
Michael - the article gave a price of 400 quid, which even 12 years ago was very cheap.
On the other hand, it's a less complicated machine than the contemporary Park Air rifles.
Adrian
Interesting.
Google didn't turn up anything, but it seems Mr. Wray's namesake has interests other than airguns
http://www.prevent-stuttering.com/
Ok, they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I like it.....
Adrian
Really quite a "pervy" looking air gun in an alternative sort of style <img src="http://jsramsbottom.co.uk/bbs/e/icon_cool.gif" alt="Cool" width="15" height="15"><!--graemlin:--> <img src="http://jsramsbottom.co.uk/bbs/e/icon_smile.gif" alt="Smile" width="15" height="15"><!--graemlin:
--> <img src="http://jsramsbottom.co.uk/bbs/e/icon_wink.gif" alt="Wink" width="15" height="15"><!--graemlin:
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Now THAT I like!
Function over function over function. It's obviously designed to shoot, not look like an errant piece of some antique piano!
Beautiful!
regards
BC <img src="http://jsramsbottom.co.uk/bbs/e/icon_smile.gif" alt="Smile" width="15" height="15"><!--graemlin:
That's probably why I like it Michael <img src="http://jsramsbottom.co.uk/bbs/e/icon_wink.gif" alt="Wink" width="15" height="15"><!--graemlin:
Adrian
I don’t think I understood the first post about how this gun worked. The piston moved towards the stock?
Isn’t that the set up in a HR 81? I tried one of those when they were new it seemed so fiddly to use compared to my Original 45. Still it’s a shame the Wray gun was never a commercial success.
Any one actually used a Wray?
Ora
Presumably the piston is cocked as the underlever is being retracted.
Fascinating concept, certainly would make a good basis for 'proper' bullpup rifle where the length of the barrel is effectively the length of the gun.
I'm somewhat of a function over form person (somewhat - in the sense, ask me to chose between the M14 and the M16 and I couldn't decide) but still, it doesn't look quite right...
It vaguely reminds me of the Browning Buckmark pistol carbine -
in the sense that the pistol grip doesn't quite suit it, it looks like a long pistol pretending to be a rifle.
Just MHO of course, don't trust the aesthetic judgement of someone who thinks the FN P90
is a real stunner
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YHM regarding the article......
Cheers Gary
Adrian just out of curiosity I bought this about a year ago. The guy I bought it from said it was a prototype made by someone fom the North East of England (around Hull) do you think it could be by the same bloke.? This is a PCP but it just made me wonder if its by the same guy.
Cheers Gary
At the time in question Tony was a member of the Hull & Dist FTC. I remember both seeing and trying the Wray gun. As was said an underlever moved the piston towards the muzzle end of the rifle. Quite how the trigger mechanism worked I don't know, but on pulling the trigger, the piston travelled towards the stock end of the rifle giving very little recoil. I saw Tony a few times during the development stages but he just disappeared from the scene and no more was heard about the Wray gun, which I thought at the time was a very commercial design. If anyone else can fill in a few of the gaps I too would be grateful.
Bill Worsley.
Gary, there is a guy called John Walker in Hull who has made some interesting gas and pneumatic air rifles - I wouldn't be surprised if yours is one of his. Is it stainless?
I love unusual airguns!
ATB
Adrian
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