problems with a .22 Webley Tracker

[T 20]

Mick...you have a gun making more power already, this gun i doubt has ever made more than 8.5 to 9fpe.

Hi Tony

I'm glad you started this thread as I was going to buy a new spring and piston seal for this gun before I started on it.

I did think this Tracker was down on power as my Hawk MK2 is giving more power and that's still running with a spring I fitted in 1976.

I think I'll just strip this Tracker when I get time and polish everything, lube it up and maybe add a little preload --- after all I'm only after another 20 or 30 fps.




All the best Mick

[T 20]

I was going to ask about trackers tomorrow on the forum too. I love the look of them, but i'm some what put off. Hope you get it sorted though, good luck

Hi Andy

If you want a short arsed sidelever to use and abuse buy a Diana 52 Carbine.

The only power issue you'll have with the big Dianas is keeping them under 12ftlbs.




All the best Mick

[bigtoe01]

Hi Andy

If you want a short arsed sidelever to use and abuse buy a Diana 52 Carbine.

The only power issue you'll have with the big Dianas is keeping them under 12ftlbs.




All the best Mick

LOL.... I have mine at 50mm stroke, thats 50% of what it used to be and i still had to lose preload on the spring i installed to keep it under 12.

scary efficient guns D52's

[ggggr]

I dived into the pages of Chris Thrales excellent Webley rifles book last night and when it first came out Webley advertised the velocity as 560 in .22 despite it sharing the then Vulcan powerplant. Interestingly this was inceased to 600 fps once it was updated with the Vulcan MK3 internals.

Out of interest my old "knacker" Osprey in .177 makes between 8.4 to 9.5ftlbs, thats with the original PTFE rings and a new std spring from Chambers fitted last year.

You should be seeing 10.5ftlbs

Good luck

The Osprey has the same "powerplant" as the Hawk mk3. The Vulcan has a larger diameter cylinder.

[ggggr]

Tony---how did you get on with this gun in the end? Curious to find out and what you did to it.

[p.sharp]

I had the same problems with mine, new seals / spring etc, I even managed to put o rings on both sides of the tap & it still only did 8ftlbs.

At one point I emailed steve pope with regards to a synthetic seal as opposed to the solid lump of cheese. His reply was along the lines of "not worth doing" as he had done it a few times in the past, with no improvement. He also mentioned the very short stroke doesn't help a lot.

In the end I sold mine (after wanting a tracker since the day I saw one)

[Oddbob08]

Isn't the Tracker fitted with an English .22 barrel?

Have you tried Eley Wasps in 5.56mm? All the pellets you've mentioned so far are continental sizes, 5.5mm, it could be they're setting off down the tap/barrel before the piston has achieved peak pressure. My Vulcans used to love them, though one of them really liked the self assembly Prometheus (Paragon?) pellets too.

Just a shot in the dark there.....

[bigtoe01]

Old thread come back, in the end i fitted O rings to the loading port tap shaft (both ends closer to the port hole),this gained power...then I modified the Piston for an O ring with a little extra crush than I use normally, installed a slightly softer spring than the Tracker normally uses and returned the Tracker to the mate asking him if he could live with just under 10fpe. It shot best with Superdomes and at 20 yards produced seriously consistent results...25yards was also very very nice. I suggested he fitted the trigger upgrade and use it for close range ratting...

It actually turned out to be a nice rifle but would never produce the power it had from new, I think the PTFE seal has smashed into the breech a few times and swelled the compression tube a little...

[ggggr]

Old thread come back, in the end i fitted O rings to the loading port tap shaft (both ends closer to the port hole),this gained power...then I modified the Piston for an O ring with a little extra crush than I use normally, installed a slightly softer spring than the Tracker normally uses and returned the Tracker to the mate asking him if he could live with just under 10fpe. It shot best with Superdomes and at 20 yards produced seriously consistent results...25yards was also very very nice. I suggested he fitted the trigger upgrade and use it for close range ratting...

It actually turned out to be a nice rifle but would never produce the power it had from new, I think the PTFE seal has smashed into the breech a few times and swelled the compression tube a little...

Just looking at when someone chronoed mine. It was doing 10.1 with caledonians. I,m not sure whether it had the original piston or an Osprey one. I cannot remember whether it had an old mainspring fitted or I stuck a new meteor one in it. It shot fine. The cut down Viscount seemed a bit more powerful but I never got it Chronoed. I prefer an O ring to a parachute seal because they are cheaper to replace.

[thevoid]

My old Osprey (same platform as tracker) is a pig of a gun by other gun standards, the trigger and balance make taking this closer to the legal limit is pretty pointless. Mine is mothballed and there it will stay.

[PCPShooter]

Vulcans are good though ..............

[DNF]

Vulcans are good though ..............

The osprey, viscount and tracker work better in .177, as the .22 version is 5.6mm, and modern pellets dont fit.
I tried a tracker piston in my osprey, but went back to the osprey piston and a single o ring. With the standard spring it makes almost 9ftlb with superdomes .22, but the accuracy is so iffy what the point in trying? Even old 5.6mm wasps and beatalls didnt work, yes power went up a bit but no more chance of hitting the target.
Shame really, I must be odd as I quite like the trigger and balance
Vulcans are a better bet, no losses with a tap, more swept volume and will do legal limit power. Barrels are glued into the breach block, which is something to look out for as they can be loose.

Wasnt the mk1 Vulcan the first rifle to have a synthetic piston seel?

[Big Seth]

Wasnt the mk1 Vulcan the first rifle to have a synthetic piston seel?[/QUOTE]
Not sure but the FWB Sport may have superseded it?

[MrGreengrass]

Never had a Webley tap loader that was any good...even had a new Mk3 underlever that was rubbish....
in fact out of all these tap loaders i remember....

Mk3
Tracker
Osprey
Airsporters
Bsf 54
Hammerli 401...military thing
Jackal

They all sucked one way or the other .Misaligned or worn taps on the s\h guns.
Harsh actions lack of power...and that was when some were new.
Believe it or not,i've had better shooting from £25 Relum Tornado's than some of those.
The Bsf was a right stinker.
To be fair though in those days ammo choice was limited and so was my experience

The only exceptions were a 1909 Lincon Jeffries sidebutton...with an Ox fitted..
in .177...and a .22 l pattern beeza..power and accuracy with both.......a long time ago.
You could fire the lincon with the tap open it would go bump and it'd hold it's compressed air ...close the tap much later and whoosh.

..{yes i know , but i got them free from Dave,before they were released..and everyone wanted them then...

[PCPShooter]

The osprey, viscount and tracker work better in .177, as the .22 version is 5.6mm, and modern pellets dont fit.
I tried a tracker piston in my osprey, but went back to the osprey piston and a single o ring. With the standard spring it makes almost 9ftlb with superdomes .22, but the accuracy is so iffy what the point in trying? Even old 5.6mm wasps and beatalls didnt work, yes power went up a bit but no more chance of hitting the target.
Shame really, I must be odd as I quite like the trigger and balance
Vulcans are a better bet, no losses with a tap, more swept volume and will do legal limit power. Barrels are glued into the breach block, which is something to look out for as they can be loose.

Wasnt the mk1 Vulcan the first rifle to have a synthetic piston seel?

FTT in 5.54 and Superdomes are usually the best pellets in 22 Webleys that have a particularly wide bore. The later Webley 22 barrels should be fine with the right pellet. Piston seals went from PTFE to a modern parachute type around Vulcan MK111 time, but like a lot of Webley stuff you are bound to get some 'crossover' , stock types, seal types etc, so it's best not to get 'too' this has that, that has the other about stuff ............