John Milewski Walther LP53 Article November AGW

[TonyL]

Anyone else read this?

Must admit, although I've never seen one in the flesh, all the images I've seen and articles that I've read put this beautiful little pistol onto my wants list.

In this months's article, John describes the tune done to one of his by Paul O'Donnell.

Sounds absolutely fantastic....pretty much in line with modern tuning thought...substituting the dual springs and fitting top hat and guide. Resulting in a decent power increase, slightly increased cocking effort but smooth.

Especially on such a beautiful classic, I think it's very important that nothing else was altered and that, just by substituting internal parts, all back to standard very easily and quickly.

Thanks for sharing with us, John.

Interesting, also, to note chaps, that Paul prefers to use Nylon over Delrin, with it being less brittle.

[Josie & John]

Thanks for the kind words Tony.

It was important to me for originality not to be compromised in any way and Paul did an excellent job. The spring BTW was a cut down Cometa spring.

If anyone wants to see this pistol in action and handle it at the Bisley vintage range, please let me know and I'll bring it along on a Wednesday evening.

Who would have thought you could exceed Webley pistol performance in an LP53 frame?

John M

[TonyL]

Thanks for the kind words Tony.

It was important to me for originality not to be compromised in any way and Paul did an excellent job. The spring BTW was a cut down Cometa spring.

If anyone wants to see this pistol in action and handle it at the Bisley vintage range, please let me know and I'll bring it along on a Wednesday evening.

Who would have thought you could exceed Webley pistol performance in an LP53 frame?

John M

My pleasure.

That pistol looks beautiful and I bet it's lovely to shoot.

I'd love to have a go with one, especially this one, but as it's so far away for me, will be a pilgrimage for one day in the future...maybe I'll get to see one more locally, one day.

Re performance vs Webley, I'd have to guess that accuracy would be far superior with the Walther? Even this one which you describe as a little "livelier". But, then, the design briefs and intended markets would have been vastly different. And, yes, excellent poke from such a dimunitive compression chamber!

[Josie & John]

Hi Tony,

I hate to choose between pistols as I am a self confessed Webley fanatic and have had some excellent results from various Webleys. However, at 10 metres using one arm, I would go for an unmodified Walther as I managed to score in the high 40s x 50 with one the last time I took one down to the 10 Metre range. If on the other hand I wanted a plink at the club or enter a pistol HFT, then the modified Walther would be my choice. Recoil is not excessive and accuracy is very good indeed. She flattens the Nockover skittles, bars and discs at the outdoor range with consistency.

The LP53 is an iconic pistol and IMHO should form a part of every vintage pistol collection. There have been some very nice examples for sale on here over the last couple of years and it is rare to come across an LP53 which does not perform well.

Kind regards,

John

[TonyL]

Very nicely put, young sir. And I know exactly where you're coming from. We don't have to choose one over the other; just enjoy them all for what they are.

My only "classic" is my Tempest. I also own a HW45, 40 and Crosman 2240 and 1377.

And I love them all.

If I had to shoot a 10m card, it would have to be the HW40 for its easily attained accuracy.

But for blatting those tinnies over, the boingers work every time for me!

[Josie & John]

Hi Tony,

I have also enjoyed some excellent results with the HW45. This is the 'modern' pistol I would recommend over virtually all others for general use. At one time, my club had an unofficial 'HW45 Owners' Club' with regular informal competitions. The more fun members saw us having the more HW45s appeared at club outings!

John

[TonyL]

Indeed, a modern gun with lots of character and huge fun appeal.

But also with excellent, solid build and with its excellent trigger and breeding, serious accuracy potential.

I'd still absolutely love and LP53, one day. One day.

[thoro]

Hi all,

I stumbled upon this forum and thread whilst looking for a tuning kit for my LP-53. It is my second LP-53 (after foolishly selling the first when I was a teenager). I have had the gun for 20+ years now and it is in good but not mint condition. Although I also have a HW45 amongst other things, the LP-53 is still my favourite pistol.
It performs well - I typically get 410 fps with 7 grain hobbies - but would still like to get that extra bit of power for shooting at over 10 metres.

I found another posting on the forum where a gentleman managed to use the tuning kit for the Walther clone Predom Lucznik:

http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread....53-and-Lucznik

I ordered the kit for the Lucznik but the only real advantage was that the Walther now shot a lot smoother, which could be attributed to a sub-300 fps muzzle velocity, so it was back to square one.

So I am very interested in the modification done to John's Walther. The AGW article wasn't very specific so a more detailed "recipe" would be highly appreciated.
I can see that a Cometa spring is mentioned, although not which Cometa model or what length it had after it was cut down.

I also found this piston head assembly, which obviously would modify the internals further, but am unsure if any further gain would be had:

http://www.trrobb.com/Walther_LP_53_..._11830134.aspx

Cheers

Thomas

[Josie & John]

Hi all,

I stumbled upon this forum and thread whilst looking for a tuning kit for my LP-53. It is my second LP-53 (after foolishly selling the first when I was a teenager). I have had the gun for 20+ years now and it is in good but not mint condition. Although I also have a HW45 amongst other things, the LP-53 is still my favourite pistol.
It performs well - I typically get 410 fps with 7 grain hobbies - but would still like to get that extra bit of power for shooting at over 10 metres.

I found another posting on the forum where a gentleman managed to use the tuning kit for the Walther clone Predom Lucznik:

http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread....53-and-Lucznik

I ordered the kit for the Lucznik but the only real advantage was that the Walther now shot a lot smoother, which could be attributed to a sub-300 fps muzzle velocity, so it was back to square one.

So I am very interested in the modification done to John's Walther. The AGW article wasn't very specific so a more detailed "recipe" would be highly appreciated.
I can see that a Cometa spring is mentioned, although not which Cometa model or what length it had after it was cut down.

I also found this piston head assembly, which obviously would modify the internals further, but am unsure if any further gain would be had:

http://www.trrobb.com/Walther_LP_53_..._11830134.aspx

Cheers

Thomas

Hi Thomas,

Welcome to the BBS!

If your LP53 is already capable over velocity in excess of 400 FPS, I would leave it alone for the sake of a few more FPS.

On the back of the Airgun World article, I understand Paul who modified the pistol I tested is in discussions with a well respected gun shop with a view to producing a limited run of a tuning kit based on the review. If I find out any concrete specifics around the kit, I'll post on here.

Kind regards,

John

[harvey_s]

Hi John
I'd be very interested should one the kits come available...

Harvey

[CHJF177]

If it helps as a display of interest I would certainly be interested in one of these tuning kits.

Chris.

[Oldandshaky]

Hi John,
I would be very interested in buying one too...Dave...

[fatttmannn]

Agree Johns article was a good one, but then there allways intresting- well done SIr.

[Josie & John]

Thanks for the interest. I'm meeting Paul at Bisley tomorrow and will mention the interest a potential kit has created. I guess one thing to remember is the parts Paul made were specifically for my pistol and were hand fitted. Paul will need to test that retro fitted parts work equally well in all LP53s. If his replacement BSA washers are anything to go by, I have every confidence a kit will be a success.

John

[Swarmboss]

Thanks for the interest. I'm meeting Paul at Bisley tomorrow and will mention the interest a potential kit has created. I guess one thing to remember is the parts Paul made were specifically for my pistol and were hand fitted. Paul will need to test that retro fitted parts work equally well in all LP53s. If his replacement BSA washers are anything to go by, I have every confidence a kit will be a success.

John

Hi....I have a couple of mint LP53's and read the article with considerable interest. Only one thing gives me a hint of concern and that is what the increased effort to cock the gun will do now or in time to the fulcrum and or the adjacent mounting points. I appreciate this is still at an embryonic stage but some indication of metallurgical stress wear by Paul would be of significant value.

Projects like this are great for air gunning in general and are commendable.

Cheers...Ivor....