Webley mk3 power?

[mrgeoff]

Picked up a webley mk3 rifle, dating about 1961 I was told.

I gave at a strip and re-lube as it was slightly twangy. Chronyed it, and just over 6lbs.

Not that impressed, the piston seal is good, it does seem a bit over sprung though.

What sort of power should I expect? It's still a little twangy, not sure if if needs a bit less Spring though.

Ps, it's a 22.

[Geezer]

Nine, maybe ten.

Six is way too low, especially for a .22".

[mrgeoff]

Ok, 8-9 would be fine, any specific tips for bringing the power back up?

It seems to have a good seal on the piston washer, I re did the tap etc.

Ran superdomes thru it for the power test.

[pennineway.fswo]

You may well get higher power figures with a different pellet

Lighter pellets generally give more power in a spring powered air rifle

If you do not get nearer the 9 ft lb mark, fit a weaker spring or shorten the one you have by a couple of coils. You will need to collapse the end of the spring and grind flat, so you will need a bench grinder ideally

A weaker spring often takes the power up if the rifle is oversprung
It also makes the rifle nicer to shoot

John

[Geezer]

I would agree that you should always test with more than one pellet.

But 'domes do OK in almost everything. I just don't imagine you'd gain more that 1 ft/lb by changing pellet, and that's still not enough.

Worth trying one or more of Hobbys, old Wasps if you have them, Milbro TR, Defiant vintage, Marksman (or anything else you already have - I name those as pellets that tend to work well in older UK-bore .22"s).

But, really, if you try one of those and it's still at 6-7, that's a very strong indicator that something is not quite right inside.

[Phil Russell]

Old Wasps, Marksman and Defiants all at c. 520fps (.22) from my notes on a MK3.

Cheers, Phil

[vbull]

I re-built a MK3 a while back and to cut a long story short after loads of polishing, a new spring from Dave on here, new leather seal and correct lube I had problems getting the power up to where I wanted it until I reduced the diameter if the leather seal/washer a fair bit just enough so the the piston would fall slowly under it's own weight down the cylinder with the gun held upside down. Bolted the gun together and with Defiant Vintage pellets the gun now makes 10.5 ft lbs. and rising so when it's fully run in I'll probably have to remove a coil I would think to keep it legal.

[Josie & John]

Hi Geoff,

Webley advertised velocities of 540 fps in .22 during the early 50s and reduced this to 500 fps during the mid 1960s. A good washer and spring are usually all that is required and a diet of quality pellets. If the rifle is smooth at 6 ft lbs, then I would leave it alone as it is not being strained.

Kind regards,

John

[mrgeoff]

Its not so smooth at the moment, I will let you try it Wednesday John.

Once its smooth, I can try different pellets to see where the power comes.


Cheers.

[aimless]

@ pennineway.fswo

"Lighter pellets generally give more power in a spring powered air rifle" : NO!!

more velocity : YES, but not more "power" (energy). The amount of energy does not change. (Except the friction of the pellet is better ;-) )

[Geezer]

@ pennineway.fswo

"Lighter pellets generally give more power in a spring powered air rifle" : NO!!

more velocity : YES, but not more "power" (energy). The amount of energy does not change. (Except the friction of the pellet is better ;-) )

Not sure that's right.

It's not a law of nature, but in general lighter pellets do give both higher MV and ME in springers. So you'll find a gun shooting at 11 ft/lbs with light match wadcutter pellets and at 9.5 with Barracudas/BisMags.

Hence the age-old good advice to test a newly-tuned springer with Hobbys or similar.

[pennineway.fswo]

@ pennineway.fswo

"Lighter pellets generally give more power in a spring powered air rifle" : NO!!

more velocity : YES, but not more "power" (energy). The amount of energy does not change. (Except the friction of the pellet is better ;-) )

I am afraid you are incorrect aimless

Lightr pellets DO generally give more power in spring powered air rifles

The reverse is true in PCP air rifles.

Please note the word 'generally'

The increase in power when using light weight pellets in a spring powered air rifle compared with a heavy pellet can be significant.
John

[archie]

Yes, I must agree that lighter pellets give better performance and power in a spring rifle. I have found this out on many occasions over the years. I currently use Falcon accuracy plus in .22 in several rifles, and at 13.5 grains seem to give accuracy and power.

[oliver13]

It might be worth trying a weaker spring in it if you've got one to hand or there is some way of lowering the preload. It's counterintuitive but there appears to be a limit on spring power & sticking more spring in gives less power - & more recoil.
I'm not sure why, it will be something technical I'm sure, but has anyone somehow got a monster Ox spring into something like an Airsporter? I did, well before the days of Chrony's but it was a lot less powerful after than before, & Ive since noticed it in other more recent guns.

No guarantees but I thought I'd mention it.

As noted, a sticky oversize piston seal is a good way to sap power too.

[Josie & John]

It might be worth trying a weaker spring in it if you've got one to hand or there is some way of lowering the preload. It's counterintuitive but there appears to be a limit on spring power & sticking more spring in gives less power - & more recoil.
I'm not sure why, it will be something technical I'm sure, but has anyone somehow got a monster Ox spring into something like an Airsporter? I did, well before the days of Chrony's but it was a lot less powerful after than before, & Ive since noticed it in other more recent guns.

No guarantees but I thought I'd mention it.

As noted, a sticky oversize piston seal is a good way to sap power too.

Good advice. The factory mainsprings fitted to some Supertargets were too powerful IMHO and I have had to cut a couple of coils off in the past to calm them down a bit.

John