Turkish Tempests

[Abasmajor]

My Turkish Tempest has finally beat the Royal Mail's attempts to keep me separated from it for as long as possible and has arrived with me today.

The pistol came inside the original box, still in its plastic bag and with the owners handbook included. Everything looks like it is brand new and undamaged in any way so I am very pleased with my buy from the BBS ad. so far.

The TT has a matt finish to the paintwork as opposed to the shiny finish on my Brummy Tempest and I look forward to getting it set-up and shooting it at the club on Thursday night. - once I have put a few pellets through it I will make some comparisons with my older model and see how the TT compares with the BT.

Hi,

Look forward to the results of your comparison between the TT & BT.

Still getting quite good results from my .177 model and have gone so far as to order some wood grips to add a bit of class.

The only thing that appears to be better thought out on the Brummie version is the breech seal area which is better recessed than on the Turkish pistol.

This means you have to be careful not have the skirt protruding when loading a pellet or it will quickly damage the seal. Not a problem with .177, but I found I needed a pellet seater when using Hobby pellets during my brief ownership of a .22 pistol.

Regards

Brian

[zooma]

Tonight at RMTC I was lucky to gain the assistance of Graham and Phil to help me put some lead down the barrel of the .177 Turkish Tempest (TT) so we could compare it against my well-run in .177 British Tempest ( BT).

Between the three of us ( and without giving away any age details other than my own) we could easily call on well over 100 years worth or target air pistol shooting experience - seen - done it - got the T shirt Not a bunch of Muppets but a determined group of three that really wanted to put this much discussed topic to the test.

The TT started as being a nasty tight little pistol that was hard to cock - but felt nice and taut when fired. We were all of the opinion that if this pistol had been shot at all then there was no evidence of it to be seen or felt - it was in effect tight, dieseling, and to all intents and purpose's new! The BT in comparison was much easier to cock and felt a lot smoother.

Cocking the TT pistol was heavy going, but after we had all had several rounds of shots it came around to my turn to apply the muscle again and I noticed when returning the barrel to the closed position that it required almost as much effort as it did when cocking it !

Fortunately Graham had a spray can of a certain gun oil with him so the linkages and the barrel stirrup were given a spray to see if that would help - and it did ! After just a few shots more the pistol became much easier to cock and the barrel returned to the closed position without too much resistance at all - big change.

Now shooting it was a lot less work and we actually began to enjoy it and started adjusting the sights until we found a position that ( surprisingly) suited us all.

We were aiming at a RedRob bell target and constantly painted the surface so we could keep a close eye on the groupings we were all achieving with both of the Tempest pistols.

Graham started the bell ringing and then Phil and I followed. Now the groupings were getting nice and tight around the bull with the TT - apart from the odd "called" flyer.

The start of the night when the TT pistol was so hard to cock had taken it's toll on all three of us as the night wore on - but now we were beginning to enjoy it and also adjusted the sights on the BT as well......and a .177 Senior that I had picked up earlier today

The results of our sustained Webley shoot-out was shocking as the Turkish Tempest not only produced the tightest groups, but also had a better trigger than the British Tempest...and just to really put the boot in, it also blew away the Senior as well

To compensate for the shock defeat of the British made products we all agreed that the shiny plastic front guard on the TT did not look very good against the matt black body and matt black grip - even though the finish of it was actually better than the BT.

As we evaluated the results of our full and exhaustive evenings testing we had to conclude that the TT was the most accurate of the pistols tested by consistently producing the tightest groups, it also had the nicest trigger and the best finish.

Neither of the Tempest pistols had been adjusted or "improved" in any way and both started the night being shot with Eley Wasp pellets before we switched to HOBBY as the control pellet for most of the shooting and all of the comparative testing.

The Senior did not get anything like as much shooting as the Tempests because it was not really part of the test, but it did feel very nice and smooth to cock and close, and the trigger was the lightest of the three Webleys we were shooting - but the groups were the worst by some margin (!) so at the end of the night Dr Graham took it away with him to see if he could do anything to improve it by the next time we meet.

This result was NOT what we expected, and since we all admire the fine British craftsmanship we enjoy to see and feel on the "proper" steel Webley pistols it was not the result we really wanted to see either - but it was what we found during this concentrated test

..but we will be back with the .177 Senior following it's medical, and hopefully with my "F" type mint Premier ( as soon as I can find a .177 barrel for it) so we can see if we can get any closer to the Turkish Tempest's very surprising victory results !

[Abasmajor]

Hi,

Thanks for posting your first impressions of the 'Turkish Tempest' which makes very interesting reading.

I must admit to being one of those 'purist' Webley enthusiasts whose interest was limited to all steel pistols produced up until the mid-seventies.

I never considered buying a Tempest and only picked up a 'Turkish' example on a whim just to see bad it was compared to my 'real' Webleys.

Like you, I have been pleasantly how well made and well these pistols actually perform.

I have owned mine for about 6 months now and can usually hold the black aiming area on the 10 metre precision target with an unsupported single handed hold.

Although I never intended to use it much when I first bought it, I now find myself shooting it on a regular basis and have even ordered a pair of wood grips as a bit of an upgrade.

Have you attempted to adjust the trigger weight on either version as it appears to have had no effect on either of the two 'Turkish' pistols I have encountered ?

Having said that, the triggers were really quite good straight out of the box and both broke quite crisply at a reasonable weight, so attempted adjustment was really only experimental.

Look forward to hearing how things progress once your pistol gets 'run in' a bit.

Regards

Brian

[zooma]

Hi Brian,

I have not yet attempted to adjust the triggers of either of my Tempest pistols - but once the TT is run in fully I may take a look at this next and test that alongside the BT as well, although I must say that if the triggers on either pistol had caused me any concern I would have already had a go at it so I guess that tells it's own story.

The test was probably even more convincing in favour of the TT as the BT pistol was fitted with a nice wooden anatomical grip (!) whereas the TT was literally taken straight out of the box and the only two additions it had was a little use (one evening only) and a small spray of Napier gun oil which did make a huge difference to the cocking of the pistol and the ease of operation.

Both of my Tempest pistols will get some regular use and the BT will have the regular grips replaced before any further back to back testing is done - I am doing it now!

I have bought one of the wider triggers from Chamberlains and hope to fit it to the BT as I think this may help it compare more favourably with its Turkish made rival that already has one fitted as standard.

Maybe one day I will find one of the last of the British made .177 Tempest pistols in good condition for sale somewhere as these came with the wider trigger and may perhaps be a little closer to the Turkish model - this assumption being made on the guess that it would have been one of the latest types that was reverse engineered and copied?