Better than contemporary offerings?

[Hsing-ee]

Which of the older rifles are (obviously!) in your opinion are BETTER than the modern equivalent and why?

[Powderfinger]

FWB Sport: The ultimate break-barrel rifle. Nothing as good on the market, today.
FWB65/80/90: still the best recoilless springers ever made. Nothing like them on the market, either.
FWB300 series: the best recoilless spring rifle ever. Nothing like it on the market anymore
Webley (Johnstone-Fearne) pistols: the best plinking pistols ever made. Webley pistols made as far back as the 1920's will still be going strong long after all the current CO2 pistols have been declared Beyond Economic Repair.
BSA Mercury: comes to the shoulder as quickas a shotgun. Nothing as well balanced is available today.

[Garvin]

I suppose BETTER for what is the question? If you mean only better at putting pellets through the same small hole then probably most new air rifles do that better than their equivalent predecessors. Personally I don't mind sacrificing a few tenths of an inch in group size for a nice chunk of walnut, blued steel, and preferably a minimum of plastic. But that's just me.

[red bob]

as above; horses for courses.
fwb124 hunting,purists choice.
bell trgt shooting ,my much loved bsa std [long tom]
the modern gear has almost made it to easy ,its nice to feel there is more of YOU involved in the shot than the equipment.

[mikewareing]

BSA Mercury 0.177
Webley Vulcan 0.177
Original 35 0.22

I have a mint Webley Mk3 and I don't know what the fuss about these rifles is all about, personally I don't like it.

Love my Mk2 Airsporter

Adore my BSA Standards oooooozing quality

I have recently owned a HW98 and a TX200, I know they are good rifles but I had no desire to keep them.

Perhaps it's an age thing?

Mike

[Gareth W-B]

.
Guess which passed marque and model I'm about to champion . Yep, well done, take a house point. For imo, nowt break barrel-wise ever made by Webley or Bsa comes anywhere close straight out the box to the wonder that is/was the ...

Webley & Scott Omega.

[Muskett]

Mikewareing; I have to agree with you on the Webley MKIII; I've owned a few and still have one and they are definitely an open sight rifle. Put a scope on and they show how poor the group size really is at ranges beyond 20m. In fact a shed load of older rifles, BSA's etc, don't group well very far out. Having said that with open sights they can do the job and a delight; especially the much much older Bell target brigade.

Scope even 80's rifles and they struggle which is why they need tuning to get the best out of them. I shoot basic tuned FWB Sports but, though they shoot very straight, its not easy and I keep my distances respectful. I sold on most of my collection because I realized I was an accuracy junky and most of the old rifles just don't deliver. However, I have a full Venumized HW77 carbine on its way so, yes, I'm still hooked on springers.

Not much beats a BSA Airsporter S or Mercury S for pure open sights classic shooting. Ergonomically they point and come to the aim better than anything; beats the Germans by a mile. But, you can't stretch the distance.
Theobens bluing just can't be beaten.
Walnut rules.

Modern stuff is very dull and if it has a spring still needs a tune. I don't own an air Arms but I'm pleased they are there. I'll have one. The rest I'll leave.

[Airsporter1st]

Given my user name you would expect me to be slightly biased but I love the Airsporters Mk1 and 2 for several very good reasons:

1) They have to be one of the best looking springers around in standard guise.

2) The auto tap loading takes a lot of beating - no risk of chopping fingers off and very fast.

3) Safety - if you flip the tap open there can be no doubt that the gun is safe. If you fire it with the tap open its not the end of the world. The modern alternatives i.e. TX200 and 77/97 have no such facility.

The first point is debatable of course but I don't believe the second or third are. (Although no doubt someone will disagree!)

[harvey_s]

FWB65/80/90: still the best recoilless springers ever made. Nothing like them on the market, either.

I have read that the chinese were producing very high quality copies of the 65....see here http://home.att.net/~jjaxelrod/air.html
(article about 2/3 the way down entitled COMPASSECO'S TECH FORCE SS2)

[Powderfinger]

I have handled one of the Chinse copy 65's but did not get the opportunity to fire it. It is like a slightly scaled up 65 with the sight controls on the opposite side. The quality seemed good but not up to FWB standards. It might be a good shooter.

[fat man]

good thread, so in no real order Bsf S70- superb, Norman May Vixen x2 first of the super rifles !, Hw35 e need i say moore than triguer ! fwb sport 127, best handling german rifle of time!, anschutz 335 the moost accurate german rifle i owned until recently! (now it has to be my SFS Banshee 2 and eb scope ) . atb

[Baxterbasics]

.
Guess which passed marque and model I'm about to champion . Yep, well done, take a house point. For imo, nowt break barrel-wise ever made by Webley or Bsa comes anywhere close straight out the box to the wonder that is/was the ...

Webley & Scott Omega.

Surely you jest

HW35 Export
FWB Sport Mk2
HW80

Gareth I strongly suggest you sell me your Over rated Omega for a fiver and go and lie down in a darkened room

[slug-gun]

None of the older underlevers that utilise a tap arrangement can ever be really accurate for the simple reason that the pellet has to 'jump' out of the tap and into the breech of the barrel.
If the pellet does not hit it straight and enters the bore at an angle, which it will invariably do, the rifling will not engage the pellet centrally, which will lead to inaccuracy.
Hence why all underlevers now have direct access to the barrel.

The FWB Sport was/is an elegant rifle, inspite of the early plastic trigger and the simple ball bearing barrel locking mechanism.
The HW95 is probably better though - more powerful, consistent and smoother than any FWB I ever tested (6 fps spread over 10 shots on the last one i looked at), and the 'Rekord' trigger is obviously miles better than the FWB.
Put a decent walnut custom stock on one and you have a really great lightweight sporting air rifle.

However newer is not always best - the finest sporter of all time has now come of age - ie 21 years old, namely the pre-HE Theoben SLR-88, in either calibre. The current '98' is okay but not a patch on the original, which admittedly cost a lot more, £575 in 1988, when £575 for an airgun was a lot of money!

[Muskett]

FWB Sport just hasn't been beaten as a package; it just works as a sporting springer should. The same goes for the Webley Omega, Anschutz and Original 45. Shame no walnut and they all need a basic tune.

All the above have modern barrels that are the equal to modern ones. HW77 and derivatives are basically the same now as then. However, more modern stuff has seen some cost cutting in the wood, metals and finishes. It shows.

I've said enough on the older pointerbility as in the BSA's; most modern rifles are fat, well overweight. Finish also has taken a hit but if you are selective there is good stuff too. So better? Yes and no but you do need to be selective.

In terms of PCP's then I'm not qualified to answer. Some are better built than others and some do shoot better too.

Scopes are just as bad. Cheaper scopes are worse than years ago. The midrange on par if not better and the top end marginally better but then far more complex with plenty to go wrong.

The custom side and very top end has taken a leap forward over the years and is better though you pay your money for the privilege.

One area that has changed is the way we shoot. Less snap shooting and more deliberate stuff. The old boys would laugh at the time we take as hard as we would chuckle at their old kit. They never had to take long shots as game was abundant and they could fill their bag without cammo.

[Gareth W-B]

Surely you jest.

HW35 Export
FWB Sport Mk2
HW80

Gareth I strongly suggest you sell me your Over rated Omega for a fiver and go and lie down in a darkened room.

Ha ha ha. Yep, imo the Webley Omega is the best British standard production-run range of break barrel rifles ever manufactured, and (this'll see me calling for me tin hat to avoid the flack ), is as good as either of the FWB Sports I've had (127 .22 and 124 .177 ), and heaps better than any of the sub 12 ft.lb HW80s I've had, too . Got a major soft spot for all things HW35, too, I might ad, but again, the Omega, in my book, beats all of 'em hands down . Right, I'm off to me bunker . Atb: G.