Original Model 50.01

[beesageesa]

Newbie on this forum. Looking for any info, tips, w.h.y. on the Original 50.01, e.g. what bits of Model 50 fit, what sort of power, upgrades, stuff like that. Also any experience of using one. Got it as a partner for my Original Model 6G-but that's another story.

[johnbaz]

Newbie on this forum. Looking for any info, tips, w.h.y. on the Original 50.01, e.g. what bits of Model 50 fit, what sort of power, upgrades, stuff like that. Also any experience of using one. Got it as a partner for my Original Model 6G-but that's another story.

hey up beesa bloke

i've had both, the type 01 is all round a larger gun than the ordinary 50 and from memory, nothing will actually fit, the trigger is completely different in that the early 50 has three ball bearnings for the sear, the latter 01 doesn't, the cylinder is a larger diameter, the stock is much chunkier too.
from (older) matierial that i've read, the earlier, slimmer one is preferred but my fave of the two was the 01 handfull.

the mainspring on my type 01 broke, it took bleedin' ages to strip, anyhow, i cleaned all the gunge out and fitted an ox spring and to be honest, it didn't really seem to make much difference but i didn't have a chrono for before/ after comparisons
all in all, they are a really nice quality rifle, in fact all original stuff is excellent gear being well made and finished off very nicely

hope this helps, oh and welcome to the madhouse



john

[R. P. McMurphy]

Ive wanted a 50o1 since I was a little kid,still not got one mind ya!

[I. J.]

I may be teaching my granny to suck eggs here but: If you look on the l/h side of the action between the top of the stock and the scope rail in VERY SMALL numbers should be the month and year of manufacture. This may be useful when ordering spare parts.

Welcome aboard BEESAGEESA.

HTH
Ian

[Hsing-ee]

The Original 50 Type 01 is the fixed barrel version of the break-barrel Original 45. I don't think it shares any parts with the older Original 50. I had one and it was not particularly good, certainly not as good as the older model although it was more powerful. At the time I wished I had bought a Feinwerkbau Sport which was more accurate, lighter and cheaper - as was the Original 45. The 50T01 had a good specification but never really delivered what it promised. The older model 50 is a very nice rifle but only 9 ft/lbs or so.

The trigger system is the same as the Original 45.
The rifle was designed for the world market, hence fitting an 'export' spring will push it well over the legal limit.

The faults I found were that it was not very accurate - about 1" at 25 yards, the trigger was not very nice, the cocking lever sticking out of the stock is ugly, the pistol grip is too wide, the metal is very soft - the arrestor stud on my scope mount ploughed back THROUGH the metal of the scope ramp under recoil, and the foresight - a resin push-on type - fell off after a few thousand shots. The spring failed after 6000 rounds.

The stock shape is the nicest thing about it, a plain ambidextrous type with a high comb and no cheek-piece.

Getting the Best From It
A good polish inside might improve performance a bit - use the tuning guide on the forum. Get a one-piece mount for the scope. Use a top-quality mainspring. Experiment with different pellets, mine liked RWS Match pellets. Experiment with different holds on the fore-arm, it may be that it is hold-sensitive (didn't know about this way back when). Good luck!

[jonnyone]

I bought one of these many years ago to renovate. It wasnt in very good order and I paid a bit too much for it, but did so as not that many came around so-to-speak. I recall that BAR had a minter at the time but this was £175-00.

Anyway, I was captivated by a field test carried out by Rod Lynton in a very old AGW saying how accurate and powerful these rifles were. Shortly after HW released their HW77 and the '50 couldnt live with it. They still captivate me though- just like many classic springers of the late 70s and 80s.

I have had to refinish the stock on mine as it was decidedly scruffy. The bluing could do with a re-do (but I wont on terms that the gun overall would not warrant the effort and cost). I have polished the compression tube, changed the leather piston head for ptfe (via TR Robb), fitted a nylon spring guide and will soon fit a matching Titan mainspring (but I highly suspect I will need to shorten it). At the moment, it is fitted with a Webley pro system silencer (would love to get hold of an old Galway Whisperer to keep things original-'scuse the pun), and it makes a very quiet 10 ft llbs. The loading tap on mine is quite worn unfortunately so I dont think it will ever realise an efficient power level. I havent really scoped it to see what accuracy it will make.

Good luck with yours. They are (in my opinion) a very much forgotten classic.

Dave

[beesageesa]

Thanks for the info, guys. Good of you to take the trouble. Certainly gives food for thought. I'll keep you posted!

Beesageesa.