1972 Webley Hawk Mk1

[kevmtk]

Hi, Im looking for some general advice for a webley hawk mk1, that I picked up from my dads house after he died. Ive decided to do a strip down and rebuild and try and make it look as good as it did when it was brand new, as a little tribute to my dad who loved webley hawks.
It has a few dings that I can polish but the bluing especially on the barrel is non existent. The rest of the gun is in pretty good nick. I believe the gun would have originally come with a .77 barel, any advice on where to look to purchase one? It would be great to complete the set.
If anyone has done a rebuild it would be great if you could pass on your experiances. Cheers Kev.

[I. J.]

Welcome aboard.

Good luck with the search for a barrel. If theres one out there Im sure someone on ere will av one.

[fatttmannn]

wellcome, the Hawk had a nasty trick, sometimes it would fire if you has much has breathes on the saftey, and other times you could hit it with a sledgehammer and it wouldnt fire usually to do with the triguer sear, so beware. There not and were never designded to be powerful, 8ftlbs in .177 and maybe 9ftlbs in .22. Mine is a series 2( different style stock) but still with the changeable barells. Enjoy.they can be very good fun.

[peddy]

wellcome, the Hawk had a nasty trick, sometimes it would fire if you has much has breathes on the saftey, and other times you could hot it with a sledgehammer and it wouldnt fire usually to do with the triguer sear, so beware. There not and were never designded to be powerful, 8ftlbs in .177 and maybe 9ftlbs in .22. Mine is a series 2( different style stock) but still with the changeable barells. Enjoy.they can be very good fun.

When I got my mark 2 when I was 11, I thought it was cool to fire the gun by pushing in the safety catch! Once my dad realised this he cut it off...the catch!! I still shoot it today.

[kevmtk]

Thanks for the welcome guys. I must have fired the gun a 100 times and never come across any problems with the trigger or safety, maybe Ive been lucky. Im aware of it now so thanks for the advice.
Would it be worth sending off to be re-blued, I dont mind spending money on it, but dont want it to turn into a money pit. If it is worth doing does anyone have contact details preferably in the northants area. Will I get shot at if I suggest spray painting it myself if re bluing is unfeasible?

[fatttmannn]

When I got my mark 2 when I was 11, I thought it was cool to fire the gun by pushing in the safety catch! Once my dad realised this he cut it off...the catch!! I still shoot it today.

Yes I can remeber, a few years latter reading the very first review done by Geoeff Boxhall who did the gun tests in AGW, it was the Hawk and he didnt hold back, he said it was low powered and not that well made compared to older Webley products, cant have done the sales much good I think. A product of its time maybe. I well remember my late Uncle buying a new car in the hot summer of 1976, he retracted the windows , 3 stuck, 1 retracted, turnded on the electric fan to cool the car and it burst in to flames on the dealers forecourt and this excellent product a "quality" product of BL, a Princess by Austin. He had his money back, bought a 2nd hand VW Bettle, run it for 15 years with no problems at all and after that bought a BMW 5 which he ran to his death again with no problems. Little wonder to me that we have very few British car or gun firms these days if that was the prevaling attitude then of "that will do, never mind it dosent work properly !.

[I. J.]

Yes I can remeber, a few years latter reading the very first review done by Geoeff Boxhall who did the gun tests in AGW, it was the Hawk and he didnt hold back, he said it was low powered and not that well made compared to older Webley products, cant have done the sales much good I think. A product of its time maybe. I well remember my late Uncle buying a new car in the hot summer of 1976, he retracted the windows , 3 stuck, 1 retracted, turnded on the electric fan to cool the car and it burst in to flames on the dealers forecourt and this excellent product a "quality" product of BL, a Princess by Austin. He had his money back, bought a 2nd hand VW Bettle, run it for 15 years with no problems at all and after that bought a BMW 5 which he ran to his death again with no problems. Little wonder to me that we have very few British car or gun firms these days if that was the prevaling attitude then of "that will do, never mind it dosent work properly !.

The first issue of Airgun World (Aug 1977) if I remember correctly. A few months later I bought a copy of this new, to me, magazine while browsing in my local newsagent. It made my interest in airguns re kindled. I bought a s/h Meteor and few days later and the rest, as they say, is history.

I love the tale of the Austin Princess. BL had a lot of 'Friday' cars around then.

ATB
Ian

[fatttmannn]

The first issue of Airgun World (Aug 1977) if I remember correctly. A few months later I bought a copy of this new, to me, magazine while browsing in my local newsagent. It made my interest in airguns re kindled. I bought a s/h Meteor and few days later and the rest, as they say, is history.

I love the tale of the Austin Princess. BL had a lot of 'Friday' cars around then.

ATB
Ian

Friday cars all bloody week cars Ian, my older Sis was a nurse, if you had a lift in her old Mini in the rain you were just has wet has if you were walking in the rain, it leaked like a bucket with a very large hole in it and you couldnt reverse it up a hill without it jumping out of gear, and the spark plugs had to be coverd in vasalene and condoms to protect it from damp or you could never get it to start in the wet/damp/ cold.Bloody awfl; thing and yet one of my fave cars was my cousans original John Copper Mini Ralley car, had loads of fun in that, now sadly gone to that great scrap yard in the sky.

[I. J.]

Friday cars all bloody week cars Ian, my older Sis was a nurse, if you had a lift in her old Mini in the rain you were just has wet has if you were walking in the rain, it leaked like a bucket with a very large hole in it and you couldnt reverse it up a hill without it jumping out of gear, and the spark plugs had to be coverd in vasalene and condoms to protect it from damp or you could never get it to start in the wet/damp/ cold.Bloody awfl; thing and yet one of my fave cars was my cousans original John Copper Mini Ralley car, had loads of fun in that, now sadly gone to that great scrap yard in the sky.

Its called 'character'.
My Moggie Thou (Gloria the Cabbage http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Airs...tml?sort=4&o=5) is full of character. Sometimes you go out in her and come back with clean hands. But isn't that partly why we all love the older airgun. If we wanted perfection (and boredom) we would all buy the latest pcps. Tinkers at heart.

ATB
Ian

[fatttmannn]

Its called 'character'.
My Moggie Thou (Gloria the Cabbage http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Airs...tml?sort=4&o=5) is full of character. Sometimes you go out in her and come back with clean hands. But isn't that partly why we all love the older airgun. If we wanted perfection (and boredom) we would all buy the latest pcps. Tinkers at heart.

ATB
Ian

I cant argue with that mate, thats a lovley Moggie you have Sir.

[abellringer]

PM sent 12-05-15

[kevmtk]

We seemed to have gone off subject a bit here guys, but my first car was a fiat uno 1.9 diesel. I can hear the sniggers, but I wiped the smile off many faces at traffic lights. That thing went like sh*t off a shovel. It was a pile of rust when I got rid of it but the engine was still sound.

[fatttmannn]

We seemed to have gone off subject a bit here guys, but my first car was a fiat uno 1.9 diesel. I can hear the sniggers, but I wiped the smile off many faces at traffic lights. That thing went like sh*t off a shovel. It was a pile of rust when I got rid of it but the engine was still sound.

yes my old boss had Alfas, he had one of the first of the Alfa Suds, after 6 months it had to go back and have some of its panals changed due to rust, than an Alfa GTV6 that was awesome to drive when it worked.

[Papa g]

Thanks for the welcome guys. I must have fired the gun a 100 times and never come across any problems with the trigger or safety, maybe Ive been lucky. Im aware of it now so thanks for the advice.
Would it be worth sending off to be re-blued, I dont mind spending money on it, but dont want it to turn into a money pit. If it is worth doing does anyone have contact details preferably in the northants area. Will I get shot at if I suggest spray painting it myself if re bluing is unfeasible?

Hi Kev
There is a top class gun re-finishing expert on this forum by the name of Richard H & the bonus for you is he lives in the Northamptonshire area, depending on what you are prepared to spend (obviously if he has to prep/polish before blueing this will be more expensive but if you're up to doing the prep work yourself it will work out cheaper, having said that his prices are very reasonable & his work top notch! I don't have his contact details but I'm sure someone will come along shortly with them. Good luck.
Regards Graham

[kevmtk]

Hi Kev
There is a top class gun re-finishing expert on this forum by the name of Richard H & the bonus for you is he lives in the Northamptonshire area, depending on what you are prepared to spend (obviously if he has to prep/polish before blueing this will be more expensive but if you're up to doing the prep work yourself it will work out cheaper, having said that his prices are very reasonable & his work top notch! I don't have his contact details but I'm sure someone will come along shortly with them. Good luck.
Regards Graham

Brilliant, Thanks for letting me know. Appreciated.