FWB 300S reseal advice

[Phil Russell]

I have just completed fitting a new breech seal and piston buffer to my daughter's FWB300S. I am not a target shooter and have never shot one of these rifles before. Before the reseal it was very erratic, running in the low 400's for fps ... the breech seal had disintegrated. It now runs in the high 590's - 605 with Hobby pellets.

Question: On returning the sidelever after cocking, the final few mm are against a little resistance. Initially I though something was binding or catching but inspection shows nothing that seems to do so. I now believe that the slight resistance is the piston tube being returned to seal against a good fitting breech seal. On releasing the sidelever catch to cock, again you feel some release of tension. Would this be normal on a new set of seals?

The recoil absorbing mechanism seems to be OK, recoiling back about 6mm or so but, after firing, the mechanism does not automatically return but will move forward quite freely into a 'locked' position ready for the next shot to be taken when the rifle is tilted barrel down a little or when the sidelever is operated again. Is this the norm?

All help would be appreciated. I am pretty certain all is Ok but, as I said, I have never fired a good one of these before so cannot make any comparisons.

Cheers, Phil

[wonky donky]

All the above is quite normal, don't worry!

One tip, when you store the gun just press the cocking lever catch to free the lever & release some of the tension from the breech seal, this will help to prolong the life of the seal, but don't pull the lever back

[big_phil555]

yep - same with mine (now sold on)

good tip by wonky donkey mind

ATB

Phil

[Garvin]

As wonky donky says, all normal. New breech seals gradually settle back in their 'socket' (become compressed over time?) so the resistance just before the cocking lever locks lessens. The cylinder/barrel assembly is not supposed to reset forward automatically on its rails after each shot (though sometimes it happens). This feature takes a bit of getting used to but once you realise it's normal you hardly notice it.

[Phil Russell]

Thanks both ... very pleased to know all is OK. Excellent tip from Wonky Donkey ... will do it now.

Cheers, Phil

[pennineway.fswo]

Hi Phil

Now that the FWB 300S has another 150-200 ft/sec, perhaps even 50 yarders are now within range of your daughter.

That's a good tip from Wonky Donky and 600 ft/sec seems the norm for a healthy 300S with Hobbys .

A couple of us at the club recently tried RWS R10 7grain (pistol pellets)
Although these pellets weigh virtually the same as Hobbys, they come out of my 300SU at 650-660 ft/sec and another club member very old 300S rifle spits them out around the 670 ft/sec mark.
Off a rest at 10 metres, they still knock the tiny 10 out of the 10 metre rifle card. They are unfortunately a bit dearer than the Hobbys, but worth a try.
ATBest
John