Taming the HW80 my way

[wonky donky]

I've seen a few posts/threads of late about keeping the power down on this mighty beast & getting a decent firing cycle. Questions vary from how much weight to remove from the piston to which spring to use.

we all know how Venom did it with the Lazerglided 80 & it's well known Bigtoe01 did a similar thing by sleeving the 80's 30mm cylider down to 25mm, he went that extra mile & fitted a Walther LGV rotating piston & altered the trigger latch sear to accommodate the Walther piston rod. For those that have yet to read Tony's blog your missing out, do a search on here for Bigtoe01 & you will find a link on his profile.

TonyL has always said how he liked my short stroke modified 80 ever since shooting it at last years springer bash, whilst tidying my workshop today I came across a project I had been working on & had entirely forgotten about, it had been left to the dark corners invaded by spiders.

Where is my 80 I wondered, I remembered it was in bits but where? An hour or so searching & I had everything to hand, a quick piccy or two to show you what I had done some time ago.

I machined the standard piston along it's length on the lathe & then machined two more slots in the mill 12mm wide equal distances from the cocking slot.

Delrin was used to make buttons for the piston skirt & alloy short stroke nose. Complete the finished item was heavier than I wanted, ugly too. but then again 30mm diameter & 68mm of stroke is quite a bit of air to shift through a 3.6mm transfer port.

I used the standard spring 3.6wire 23o/d but it was easy to cock & shot like a dream. This configuration would give around 10/11fpe in .177, mine is .22 & was a little hot still.


Anyway onwards & upwards the project, I had forgotten I was working on a rotating drop in piston with the intention of using the standard HW latch sear.....Now thinking back I may have stopped working on it because I was told two of our most eminent tuners said it couldn't be done, Errm!

Well the piston was made, a bit heavy but here it is the weight is due to the latch rod at 112gms it's not a light weight!

All it needs is a rear bearing making Snap it on Get one of my 3.2wire 35.5 coils 260f/l springs, top hat & guide & put it together.

This is the rifle FULLY COCKED It cocks as normal rather than have quite a bit of play prior to contacting the piston.

How does it shoot, well the stroke on this version is only 60mm, 12fpe is no problem at all, makes it with loads to spare. It shoots like a dream, so quiet too, I'm amazed myself with this one so lord only knows what TonyL would think because it's miles better than when he last shot it. Quick but not snappy, no lag or hint of laziness. Is it as good as a 80 Lazerglide? No! it's so much better it's in a bifferent league, truly!

OK so it's .22 what would it be like in .177 I here you ask, well I can tell you, a quick route round to find my 95k with the 310 barrel, a quick change over a tin of JSB Exact over the chrono 10fpe & stunning to shoot. I have a HW55T I shot bell target with last week, the 80 is quieter, smoother, easier to cock & has miles less recoil.......am I happy I'll say! Yes Pete I know........that makes a change eh?

Let me tell you, forget upping the power on a HW55.........Detune & tame an 80, I promise you won't regret it, it's the way to go.

Is it finished NO!