Webley Eclipse - Is this true ?

[I. J.]

Wobbly Webley with no breech bolt, just a pin, plus awful trigger.

Cheers 'Hs'. Saved my typing finger.

[hwtyger]

According to the maccari website, HW's tend to have a great variety in piston seal fit. From tight to sloppy.
And they do well, so why shouldnt the eclipse?
Ok, difference could be, HWseal can be sloppy fit áll the time, undependant of weather.
Would like to see some testresults on the Eclipse on this subject. Very interesting. Never though about it this way.

[air-tech]

In warm weather the aluminium expands to a far greater degree than steel and there are issues with the piston seal fit. Allegedly.

Certainly very "Allegedly".

The total expansion of the aluminium must be completely insignificant compared to the inevitable clearance between the piston and the cylinder, which the flexible seal takes up, and even manufacturing tolerances.

The reasons why a springer shoots differently when taken to the range after not having been used for a few days has more to do with lubrication than anything else. My TX shoots low at first, takes around 15 shots to get back to zero, until I realised I was constantly faffing around with the scope.

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/li...on-d_1379.html

Calculator shows that the circumference of the tube from 7C - 26C assuming a 3" start, increases to 3.0013 inches

Diameter at 7C = 0.954929658551372" = 24.255mm

At 26C = 0.955343461403411" = 24.266mm

0.011mm difference in diameter, that is, just over 1/100th of a mm

And that is ignoring the fact that the steel piston expands too, which it does, even if only half as much in circumference nominally, so the difference in FIT is even smaller.

[hwtyger]

Than the question still remains; why is the Eclipse harsh to shoot and difficult to tune?
Cause of the flip-up breech?

[I. J.]

Certainly very "Allegedly".

The total expansion of the aluminium must be completely insignificant compared to the inevitable clearance between the piston and the cylinder, which the flexible seal takes up, and even manufacturing tolerances.

The reasons why a springer shoots differently when taken to the range after not having been used for a few days has more to do with lubrication than anything else. My TX shoots low at first, takes around 15 shots to get back to zero, until I realised I was constantly faffing around with the scope.

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/li...on-d_1379.html

Calculator shows that the circumference of the tube from 7C - 26C assuming a 3" start, increases to 3.0013 inches

Diameter at 7C = 0.954929658551372" = 24.255mm

At 26C = 0.955343461403411" = 24.266mm

0.011mm difference in diameter, that is, just over 1/100th of a mm

And that is ignoring the fact that the steel piston expands too, which it does, even if only half as much in circumference nominally, so the difference in FIT is even smaller.

Once again my typing finger is saved.

[air-tech]

Once again my typing finger is saved.

I thought I'd sent everyone off to sleep...

[I. J.]

I thought I'd sent everyone off to sleep...

If it involves airguns in any way, shape or form then Im interested.

If its like History when I was at school - well, I didn't need Horlicks.

[Rickenbacker]

Than the question still remains; why is the Eclipse harsh to shoot and difficult to tune?
Cause of the flip-up breech?

I suppose the long TP is a limiting factor, but everything else (spring, guides, piston seal, stroke etc) - should be as tunable as other guns?

I don't even know the bore vs stroke of an Eclipse. The few I've had (in .22) have been acceptable, and seem to make power OK.

I seem to remember the drop-in gas ram was a popular yet horrible Eclipse mod' in the old days.

The BSA Superstar also has a long TP, and those can be nice to shoot. So why not the Webley?

[hwtyger]

The gunsmith that has my .22, has great difficulty getting it to produce > 10.5Ftp. (without making it horrible to shoot ofcourse).
I know that tap loaders are said to loose power compared to sliding breech, but I always thought that was mainly a FAC issue.