New Webley Tempest

[TonyL]

Hi Folks,

Anyone out there bought one of the new Tempests and what do you think to them?

Cheers,

Tone.

[harvey_s]

One chap on here reckoned his was doing 500 fps which if right was bloody impressive...

Must admit I found it difficult to believe and i'd love to see what a second example achieved?

[eyebull]

500 fps with what...?

[harvey_s]

500 fps with what...?

presumably a .177 pellet

Edit : yep, I've checked and thankfully it wasn't a .22 Rabbit Magnum - exact details here : http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread....93#post5100993

[TonyL]

Cheers for the comments so far, chaps.
Any feedback on quality / finish?
Are these new ones made over here, or have they also been farmed out overseas?

[Ian]

Cheers for the comments so far, chaps.
Any feedback on quality / finish?
Are these new ones made over here, or have they also been farmed out overseas?

I believe that they are made in Turkey

I read a review somewhere that said they are well made

I think that the .22's are in short supply

[Nemesis]

The ones I've seen so far are inferior to the originals as regards external finish; they looked as if they'd had a quick blow over with matt black car paint.

[Ian]

The ones I've seen so far are inferior to the originals as regards external finish; they looked as if they'd had a quick blow over with matt black car paint.

Still lots of original ones in really good condition about

[harvey_s]

The ones I've seen so far are inferior to the originals as regards external finish; they looked as if they'd had a quick blow over with matt black car paint.

....From pictures I've seen posted on here and the one in my local gunshop window I thought they look pretty good actually.
The grips are the most noticeable feature... on the original they're shiny black hard plastic and on the Turkish gun they look as though they have a satin sheen and I think they look better.
The other most notable feature is that the originals nasty roll pins have been replaced with proper solid pins on the Turkish gun.
The bluing on the Turkish gun is also a little matt rather like Crosmans (not that theres much blued metal on a Tempest!)
As for the black paint/powdercoat I can't say the one in the window looked that bad although I admit I haven't held one in my hands...
If the performance is as quoted I'd certainly think about getting one if they produced them as non-limited editions.

[Ian]

The presentation case retails at £65 ish - so a 'none collectable' ones in a plain box would perhaps be a £130 are thereabouts? Id give one a go for that I think

[PaulR]

Here are some pictures of my original and centennial Tempests - the shinier one is the original.

http://s777.photobucket.com/albums/y...t=DSC01525.jpg

The new one is well made but it is not as well made as the original. The best way to describe it is a "sympathetic copy" - it means well but cannot quite match the quality of the predecessor.

To use? - that is a different matter as it is SO difficult to cock that after a few shots you've had enough. It is more powerful - mine Chronys at 4.7 ft lbs against the 3.8 of the original - but this seems to have been achieved by using a stronger spring hence the effort needed to cock the thing.

Is it worth the money? Depends what you want. It is certainly NOT an investment. I collect Webley pistols so wanted one to complete the set and I don't regret it for a minute. Every so often I'll take a few shots with it but soon get tired and switch to the original.

Of course - I may just be a wuss and if you get one you will plink away all day with no effort.

[harvey_s]

mine Chronys at 4.7 ft lbs against the 3.8 of the original - but this seems to have been achieved by using a stronger spring hence the effort needed to cock the thing..

Cripes thats HW45 territory..!

Interesting though, as it was always reputed that US Tempests were more powerful than UK models - something that has always been denied by others on here on the basis that a more powerful spring wouldn't fit in and one wasn't listed either.
But from this it certainly seems possible at least.

[Aimstraight]

Hi Folks,

Anyone out there bought one of the new Tempests and what do you think to them?

Cheers,

Tone.

Just bought one; short review in the Air Gun Reviews Forum. They are certainly not as glossy (refined) looking as the Brummie version, but I'm happy with it. I understand the Tempest has always been difficult to cock; for such power and compact barrel I would not expect otherwise.

[Gerard]

My English-made .22" Tempest was shooting in the 290's with its worn-out spring, my Senior .22" at about 260fps, both using RWS Hobby 11.9gr. So I ordered a handful of mainsprings and swapped them out using Bisley's Gun Grease on the springs and pistons and a couple of drops of silicone oil in the chambers. The Senior went up to 295fps with Hobbys as the original mainspring wasn't really that bad, so not a huge shift. The Tempest jumped to 355fps, for 3.3ft/lb. Not exactly a 'blaster' but the 11.9gr pellet hits plenty hard for some satisfying plinking out to 15 metres or so.

Still, I find my early 50's smoothbore Junior the most fun for short-range plinking. With the original spring still in but cleaned and lubed the .177" Junior does 300fps with 7gr Hobby. Adequate for popping bottlecaps out to 10 metres. But the thing which makes it most satisfying is the size and weight; the Junior does what a plinker ought to do, in a tiny package which I can put in a pocket and almost forget about when I'm not using it. The Senior or Tempest are just too big and heavy for that kind of casual use. And in 20 shot tests on paper at home at 5 metres I'm getting the same group sizes with the Senior and Junior - the Tempest groups close up somewhat as the grip style makes for better control without trying very hard.

I don't think I'd want a higher-powered Tempest. None of these pistols were ever proper target pistols, they're for fun and challenging shooting at close range. Now if the Turkish plant were to start making replica Juniors, with rifled barrels and an additional 100fps velocity, that might be something I'd consider. Of course it isn't going to happen. But I have to wonder why no one else really made a pocketable plinker like that, at least not on any significant scale and not in recent years. All the informal target pistols seem to be larger than life, absolutely huge and impossible to put in a pocket. Desert Eagle scaled pistols are well and good if that's one's taste but the very size tends to limit the viability for casual use while out on walks or camping. I suppose the compact CO2 pistols are supposed to fill that niche now... but really? Who the heck wants to carry a second pocketfull of CO2 cans? The simplicity of a pocket spring pistol is ideal for pure fun shooting when less than serious about nailing penny-sized groups at longer range.

[Aimstraight]

.....Still, I find my early 50's smoothbore Junior the most fun for short-range plinking. With the original spring still in but cleaned and lubed the .177" Junior does 300fps with 7gr Hobby. Adequate for popping bottlecaps out to 10 metres. But the thing which makes it most satisfying is the size and weight; the Junior does what a plinker ought to do, in a tiny package which I can put in a pocket and almost forget about when I'm not using it.....

Just bought my first Junior, a Mk II (rifled barrel and familiar stirrup). Have to say I am impressed with its performance for such a compact pistol and understand its popularity.