I'm considering 're-visiting' the HW35 as I had one a few years ago but have some questions...

The one I had was not 'mint' and when I sold it on was described as such. I did nowt to the internals and as far as I'm aware it was bog standard but it shot pretty well.

Now, I know there's sometimes banter about the old 35 on here; it has some fans but plenty who seem not to like it. What I want to know is, aside from the fact it's a bit of an ugly duckling with Musket type length, what's wrong with em?

Further to that, with regards 'tuning' them how well do they respond to having modern internals put in them? I know the older ones had a leather piston seal but can these be replaced with modern kit?

Looking forward to some of the replies on this, I'll get my tin hat!