After a hiatus of some years I decided to take up airgunning again earlier this year at informal target shooting/plinking/pest control level. I had only shot my guns occasionally over the last couple of years and some were in need of a service.
One of my favourites was my Walther LP-53. I have got other more powerful pistols but this was the one I enjoyed shooting the most. Power was probably decent for a stock Walther (410-415fps with Hobbies) but I always felt that it could do with a bit more power. I tried some different springs in the past but never got beyond stock power.
I even ordered Protek's tuning kit after having read an article in Airgun World where a potential 455fps was mentioned. Fitted the kit and while smoothness was improved it actually decreased the velocity with 10fps or so.
I then stumbled upon this thread and saw Clarky's last post:

http://www.classicapa.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=346

Contacted Clarky who turned out to be a very friendly gentleman with a wealth of knowledge and experience, and he offered to tune my Walther with the aim to achieve a true 450fps (and increased accuracy). Sent it off to Clarky with a TR Robb piston head kit and the Cometa 50 spring from Protek's tuning kit. I was told the spring guide would be his own design. About a week or so later (and after many emails where he described the work he carried out in detail) he returned the LP-53.
It still looked like a stock LP-53 but when trying it on paper targets I realised something was different....
The notorious twang from the original twin spring design was essentially gone and it was clearly a gun that was far easier to get accurate groups with (even with my out-of-practise shaky hands and poor eyesight).
Then ran some awful Gamo ProMagnum pellets through the Chrony M1 and got an average of 480fps!
This gun had better velocity with the Gamo pellets than my slightly ailing BSA 240 Magnum had and could run rings around the Magnum in terms of shootability.
The one thing Clarky kept stressing was to use Falcon or Finale pellets so I ordered two tins of Falcons. Ran them through the M1 again and got an average of 504.3fps!
Equally impressive was the little difference between the lowest and highest (498.8 vs 505.7 fps).

Clarky also sent a longer spring guide, which would not work with the steel top hat, but which makes it even smoother at the expense of 10fps or so with the Falcons. Actually the preferred application although it would not quite hit 500fps.

I decided to fit the original spring again to see what results I would get in the chrony with the Falcons; 10 shots gave an average of 444fps so still rather respectable, though no-where near 500fps.
The twang and recoil however, were a different story. I'd say Clarky's spring guide and the Cometa 50 spring got rid of the twang and recoil was reduced by 50% or so.

This Walther is an absolute treat to shoot and is now my main pistol for targets, bean cans, small pest etc.
Smooth cocking and although there is still recoil it is far less than with the original springs.

I know there are many purists and collectors out there that would never tamper with this legend, but for anyone who like me just wants an original looking gun that will outshoot many of the "magnum" pistols, I can wholeheartedly recommend Clarky and his tunings.

Cheers

Tom

Ps. Sent off my poorly Magnum to Clarky too as I was impressed with his friendly, open and honest communication. Hope it will kick less like a mule when I get it back...