MPL Results Autumn series

[zooma]

I dusted off a black plastic case and dug out a .177 Mk3 Webley Alecto that was fitted with a silencer and remembering just how well Fat Stigg shot with his when he used to bring it to RMTC I decided to give it a go.

I don't like pistols that are made to look like large military side arms, I don't like plastic air pistols and I don't like big clumsy looking ones either - and the Webley Alecto is all of these The safety is like a double trigger - the front one needs to be pushed away with the trigger finger before the rear working rear trigger can be pulled, I also found that very annoying too but for all its geat girth it was actually a very light pistol

The pistol was not too fussy about which pellets it liked ( just as well as I was getting too cold outside to test any more) but I thought the best grouping with those tested was with RWS Meisterkugeln 4.50 so I chose to shoot with these.

With the silencer fitted it was remarkably quiet and I shot the six August cards (yes I know I am running late this time) with it fitted and it was the quietest air pistol I have ever shot. This could be handy if you have thin walls and intolerant neighbours

When I finished I unscrewed the silencer and shot it again with a much more normal noise level and achieved even tighter grouping - unfortunately this was discovered a bit too late but for such a small screw-on tube device it actually worked well.

After I had shot my cards I decided that the Mk3 Webley Alecto was not my favourite air pistol but it did shoot far better than it looked, it was recoilless and easy to shoot, more accurate than me ( they all are these days) and given that many people do actually like the military looking pistols I am a little surprised that nobody else has chosen to shoot one in this series....until now.

Given my various prejudices against the pistol I have to admit that it would be a very good choice for anyone (with large hands) who wanted an accurate target pistol that performs better than the usual favourites such as the GAMO Compact so maybe it deserves to be more popular than it is. The adjustable palm shelf is a bonus too!

[thirdwheel]

Bob
Agree with your evaluation of the chunky Alecto, I bought a new one to get me back into pistol a couple of years ago but swiftly got sucked into competition shooting via the MPL then swiftly into 10m and proper target PCP pistols. The fwb 65 I've been using is so different in weight distribution to the K12 I've been training hard with I decided to try out the HW40 in the last round and to use the Alecto in this round. Took it out of the case last week and had a go and yup oversize, out of star wars, too big for my little hand but shoots fine when you get used to the slightly creepy release. Not messed about with pellets but I usually use cheaper ones with the cheaper pistols.
Took my wife's hw40 to bits - trigger - and polished the shear and she loves it but does not have the strength to cock the thing - I do it so I guess it's a pcp now!

For so little money both the above make great competition pistols for 6yd and it's not easy by any means but very different to 10m which I shoot most days now but I can shoot 6yd and the mpl in the living room when I do not want to go out to the club as a stress buster.

There is so much headroom for focused fun at 6yds with the cheaper pistols I find it strange not more people do it.

Oh and your scores are in the table now Bob

Geo

[zooma]

Thanks George,

The next time you are adding some scores please change my pistol and pellet information on the August scores as I used a different Webley pistol this time (Alecto) and shot it with Meisterkugeln pellets.

If I am brave enough I will shoot a Webley Junior in the next round.

An old guy ( even older than myself!) who has been visiting our model shop for over 25 years is an avid collector of almost anything but in particular steam engines, Myford lathes, tinplate models, r/c boats and yachts of all types and just about anything that he see's that attracts his attention on the day.

He goes to just about every market and show that could yield a new addition to his collection but sometimes enjoys the bartering more than the item he takes home and this included a boxed Mk 2 Webley Junior that he clearly did not really want and it ended up getting part exchanged against one of my own Stuart Turner engines!

Having just acquired it I now want to shoot it as I remember back in the NARPA days a friend of mine bought a new one of these in 1977 and shot very well with it at 6 yards - much to our amazement - so I would like to see if I can get myself and this Mk2 Webley Junior to perform together well also - although being realistic it is not likely to be bothering the scorer too much

[thirdwheel]

Bob
Sorry about the wrong pistol as I cut and pasted the info.

AAAAAAH the words Stuart Tuner, lots and lots of these 2T motors were still in use with our yacht club members only a few years ago but slowly they have gone diesel due to spares back up, safety, economy and power. They used a prestigious amount of fuel on the way to Holland if you had to motor sail to get the tide right at the other side. My pal had one in his knife sharpening van and sharpened most of the knives in the City of London restaurants, he keeps it to this day as a pet. They are so heavy compared to the diesels that replaced them and often you could reduce the height of the anti fouling as the yacht sat higher in the water with the Turner, gearbox and massive flywheel gone.

Back to Webleys - only shot one once (two pellets) strange little thing.

Geo

[zooma]

Bob
Sorry about the wrong pistol as I cut and pasted the info.



Back to Webleys - only shot one once (two pellets) strange little thing.

Geo

I think my hand is bigger than the Junior pistol so it will be fun working out how I am going to hold it - first thoughts include changing my trigger finger to the next one down and laying my index finger along the outside of the compression chamber.

This would lower the pistol in my hand ( a good thing) but I would have to pull the trigger with untrained finger ( not so good) and hold it steady with just the two remaining fingers around the grip ( not at all sure about that).

This could be fun

[Frog]

Hi,

I had a go with my HW40 this time - I have it fitted with a 'hogue handall' slip on grip and a trigger shoe. It really does shoot well for a £100 pistol. The hogue makes a big difference. The trigger shoe is there 'cause I found it while working on the pistol
Shot a 50 at 6yds on a practice target - not something I do often these days!

The trigger is very light and crisp after a fettling the other day. I had floppy trigger syndrome - happens with HW40s.... trigger just flops about having taken up the first stage if you do not release the shot. Took it apart and put it back together and its fine - not sure what fixed it!

Frog

[zooma]

Hi,

Shot a 50 at 6yds on a practice target - not something I do often these days!

Frog

Congratulations and well done!

Very few people can shoot a perfect 50 ex 50 on the NSRA 6 yard AIR 8 pistol targets.

Note to self - "must try harder"