So I bought an HW35 for no particular reason other than it's the only current HW springer that I haven't owned and is a piece of history in its own right.

The HW35 was Weihrauch's first modern springer, launched in 1951 and it's still on sale today, 70 odd years later, pretty much unchanged. The 35's unique selling point is its barrel latch up: A manual thumb catch rather than the usual spring loaded detent – which in theory provides a more accurate lock up.

I ordered my HW35 from DB Schietsport in The Netherlands. The name may be Schiet but the service certainly isn't. I ordered on Wednesday and the rifle was with me on Friday. Can't argue with that. In truth, I'd prefer to buy in the UK but I have no local stockist (indeed, I have no truly local gun shop at all). At the time of writing, the best price I could find in the UK is £233 (at a 250 mile round trip from me) whereas I paid a smidge over £250 delivered to my door. And I'm more than happy with that.

As an aside, care is needed when ordering from Europe: Airguns from Germany are subject to the stupidly low German power limit whereas guns from elsewhere in Europe aren't restricted at all and some would be illegal to own without a Firearms Certificate in the UK. There's no such issues with the HW35: It's designed as a 12 fpe gun and is therefore natively UK compliant regardless of where you get it from.

So what's it like? Well, biggish, longish, heavyish and old-fashioned looking (ish). And, out of the box, mine was running a bit warm (accompanied by the tell-tale aroma of dieselling) and a bit twangy.

So it got stripped down (and when was that ever not going to happen anyway?). Now the 35 shares parts with certain other HW models: The piston is 30mm, like the HW80, and the trigger block is a screw in jobbie – also like the HW80.

And my trigger block was as tight as the proverbial and clearly not about to succumb to any of the usual removal methods. The problem was holding the cylinder sufficiently firmly to get enough purchase on the trigger block. In the end, I routered mirror image grooves into two pieces of wood to allow the action to be clamped in a vice without damage. I also wrapped the action in an old bicycle inner tube for extra protection (and grip!). Once properly clamped, a good thwack on the end block did the job.

I did notice some powdery stuff on the threads which I initially assumed was thread lock but have since been informed was probably left-behind bluing salts. Either way, they did a good job of sticking the end block on.

With the trigger block cracked off, it was time to get inside. I didn't use a spring compressor, I held the trigger block down on a piece of old carpet and unscrewed the cylinder, while being aware that the trigger block might try to suddenly fly off. I reassembled the rifle the same way, using bodyweight to compress the spring while I screwed the trigger block back onto the action. It needs a bit of welly but there isn't that much preload on the spring – about 30mm.

Once inside, I was pleasantly surprised given that some recent Weihrauchs I've seen (and owned) have been somewhat rough to say the least. But there was none of that here: The spring was properly finished at both ends and was a good fit on the guide. The piston was sleeved and the cocking linkage was fitted with the anti-galling Delrin slide. There were no noticeable rough or sharp edges anywhere and there was also generally lube where there should be and none where there shouldn't.

Indeed, the only blot on the landscape was the piston seal which was liberally slathered in grease (which at least explained the dieselling). So I cleaned that up and put the rifle back together pretty much as it was apart from the addition of a suitable top hat from my spares box.

So get to the point already: What does it shoot like?

Well in a word, Good. No, make that Bloody Good. Post fettle, 11.5 fpe with JSB Express and single digit shot-to-shot consistency. Despite the excellent open sights I chucked on my spare 6x42 scope and after 5 or 6 zeroing shots I put 10 rounds into a half inch group at 25 yards. Bloody Good for a rifle that I'd never shot before and which has only fired about 20 shots in its entire life. Sadly, fading light stopped play but I can see a lot more potential here.

It's interesting to compare this rifle to my Walther Century: They're both big(ish) and heavy(ish). They both have 30mm pistons and unconventional barrel lock-ups. They both have single digit shot-to-shot consistency and pinpoint accuracy. Some of their parts are even interchangeable. And yet they're so different: The Century is hugely more refined than even the post-fettle HW35, while the venerable Rekord trigger on the HW is superior to even the Walther “Tuning” Trigger that I fitted to my Century.

It's almost like looking at the evolution of the same gun over 70 years. The HW35 just makes me realise how right they got that initial design. It's on it's way to being one of my favourite guns. 1951 was clearly a vintage year for airguns.