Are ssp anschutz,fwb etc rifles over the top for bell target shooting?

[rancidtom]

It all depends on what league you shoot bell target in, some such as South Wales and Newport have much tighter scoring due to the fact that most of the competitors use at the very least a FWB300 and there are many modern PCP's. In such a league you would be very hard pushed to get anywhere with a break barrel springer such as a HW30 without at least having dioptre sights.
I shot for years in Swindon league, the competition is shot on paper derived from the original Birmingham/Black Country bell target but scored differently, I used an Original Mod 75 for regular matches against the modern rifles but every year we had competitions for specific rifles such as the FWB300, Original Mod 50, BSA Airsporter/Webley Mk3, and pre WW2 BSA underlevers, all these were conducted to keep alive the "milestone" guns used in in bell target leagues countrywide.
Swindon League shoot 6 targets, scored to 10 so a perfect or "possible" score is 60 on a card which must be shot in 5 minutes, you are allowed a "sighter" shot on a non-scoring ring on the target but this is included in your 5 mins, so the pressure is on for any gun that is slow to load. As far as difficulty goes it's difficult to shoot regular 60's with even the most modern PCP's.

[hwtyger]

I must add that ofcourse some vintage target rifles like the mk3 and Osprey ST are getting more and more rare to buy
SSPs and other recoilless more modern guns are easy to find.
HW30;...dont know..they're great guns, had one, our gunclub has 2, but they dont strike me as vintage for bell target.
HW55 maybe if it has to be HW? Allthough also rare.
Old target rifles already have peeps fitted. Aftermarket fitting of peeps on rifles not originally made for peeps may give you adjustment issues.(height). Especially at short 6yrd range.

[cooper_dan]

I shoot in the Midlands and there is a good league going in and around Hinckley. The format in our club is 6 shots, with a bell being 5, so maximum of 30.
There are a couple of people who can get 29/30 quite regularly but they are very good shots and have been doing it for a long time. Most people using SSP's or recoiless springers will see 4 or 5 bells as a good score. This is a high percentage of bells, but then the challenge changes and you have the higher pressure shots of trying to get all 6 bells.

If you are doing it more for fun than competition (like me) then use any gun you want and challenge yourself. My scores with the guns I use would be something like:

Diana 75 = 28 or 29 on a good day
Diana 66 = 27 or 28
Anschutz 335 (probably similar to the HW30....) = 26
BSA Cadet Major = 25
BSA light pattern = 24 or 25

I find the main differences leading to higher scores are the stock fit, and the trigger pull. The recoil doesn't bother me much

[DAVALI]

As we run a Vintage rifle comp most of our members have pre 1939 Rifles so, we also run a Bell target coupled with a 10yd Target comp so, to keep as level of playing field as possible we restrict rifles to open sights only, no diopter, no semi recoiling pcp,s. Etc.
We don’t shoot Bell target in any form of league so we can make up our own rules and have a tremendous fun doing so,

DaveM.

[abellringer]

Hi, this is in some ways down to the rules you operate under; some leagues are ''retro'' and only allow specific rifle types; with specific sights. if you use a ''sporter'' type rifle the power may well destroy the target mechanism, so this is usually taken into account when formatting rules. Some leagues such as the one I shoot on [ Wolverhampton] have a limit of 7ft/lbs so allowing all of the more modern ''10m'' to be accepted, although we have some members using reduced power PCP's. When people discuss accuracy recoiless guns are accepted as being more accurate as a weapon than recoiling ones, but then add in the shooter and that changes dramatically. If you take recoiless guns, from the era of FWB 150; OR 60; Walther LGR etc, their test cards are just as good or even better than some £2000+ guns of today. Given that we are in general talking about a competitive sport, in the main people will generally move with the times and so current guns will be used as the norm. In saying that, on our league and in many surrounding leagues people using the rifles above are still more than capable of equaling [and in my case] beating us PCP users. I only relinquished my FWB 600 because I had a shoulder problem and a pneumatic was too painful to use. Adding even more confusion,I used a FWB 3OOS Match for almost 30 years and got a GB record with it; I only changed to the 600 because, mentally I thought I was not as competitive, and needed a newer type of gun. NO MY AVERAGE AND COMPETENCE DID NOT IMPROVE!!! but I had sold my 300 and there was no going back.
So there is no ''proper or acceptable'' gun, you are governed by the rules you shoot under first and foremost, then you make your choice as to what you will be happy with; certainly in most instances the FWB 600 range is most acceptable and still widely used, as are the Anschutz ones; I think the 601 is the best of the four FWB variants as it has the safety system and [only in my opinion] the better trigger mech. again that is open to discussion and personal preferences. You have so many choices but look around your area and see what is used.
Regards
abellringer

[StayOnTarget]

Thank you all very much for you time and information i honestly didn't expect this much response.

[zooma]

I must add that ofcourse some vintage target rifles like the mk3 and Osprey ST are getting more and more rare to buy
SSPs and other recoilless more modern guns are easy to find.
HW30;...dont know..they're great guns, had one, our gunclub has 2, but they dont strike me as vintage for bell target.
HW55 maybe if it has to be HW? Allthough also rare.
Old target rifles already have peeps fitted. Aftermarket fitting of peeps on rifles not originally made for peeps may give you adjustment issues.(height). Especially at short 6yrd range.

Hi Yana,

No need to worry about being able to zero a diopter down to 6 yards on the HW 30S.

I have fitted and used various diopter rear sights on my HW 30S as I have enjoyed playing with as many options as I can find and all of them (so far) have been able to zero down to 6 yards with no problems.

Old Anschultz diopters are a good choice as there are plenty of them about and at good used prices too! The HW Diopter would have to be regarded as a "luxury" as they have been know to sell for more than the price of a new HW30S .but they do look good

The biggest problem with he HW30S for me is the small size. I can fit riser blocks to bring my head into a more comfortable position but I would also need to find an adjustable rear shoulder butt plate to finish the job off properly - and when all of these extra costs are taken into account it would possibly be better to consider a good used SSP for a very similar price!

At the moment I have not been able to find a suitable used adjustable butt plate (at a good price) to fit the HW30S ....so if anyone knows where to find one -please let me know!

Bob.

[yorkiets]

At the moment I have not been able to find a suitable used adjustable butt plate (at a good price) to fit the HW30S ....so if anyone knows where to find one -please let me know!

Bob.

Brian Samson makes them. I have one on mine and it’s great, so have a couple of chaps at the club. The website below is where to order them, it doesn’t show Hw30 as an option for the backplate but just contact Brian and he will do it - he already has the template.

Really good value for money. Highly recommended.

http://briansamson.shop/

[NeilnrLincoln]

I put a Bisley adjustable butt pad on my HW30, £12-15 new.

[PhatMan]

Yana,

I use an Anschutz 6702 (Centra Score front tunnel) on my TX200, and Gehmann 590s on my HW30S, HW99S (both HW front tunnel), and HW95 SuperMatch (Centra Score front tunnel).

There is no problem zeroing them at 6 yards, either with aperture inserts, or post.

Have fun & a good weekend

Best regards

Russ

[hwtyger]

Yana,

I use an Anschutz 6702 (Centra Score front tunnel) on my TX200, and Gehmann 590s on my HW30S, HW99S (both HW front tunnel), and HW95 SuperMatch (Centra Score front tunnel).

There is no problem zeroing them at 6 yards, either with aperture inserts, or post.

Have fun & a good weekend

Best regards

Russ

Its possible that some do work well, but I have encountered several combinations that I couldnt get zeroed. Especially when front and rear sight werent of the same brand. Different brands seem to have possible different sight height.

[zooma]

I put a Bisley adjustable butt pad on my HW30, £12-15 new.

Thanks for your advice - I have ordered a Brian Sampson adjustable butt pad to fit my HW 30S but your reply is appreciated and may come in helpful in the future as I probably have a use for a few adjustable butt plates as I adapt my various springers for target use.

Bob.

[zooma]

Brian Samson makes them. I have one on mine and it’s great, so have a couple of chaps at the club. The website below is where to order them, it doesn’t show Hw30 as an option for the backplate but just contact Brian and he will do it - he already has the template.

Really good value for money. Highly recommended.

http://briansamson.shop/

Thanks for your advice - I have sent Brian a request to supply one to fit my HW 30S and look forward to receiving it soon!

Bob.

[yorkiets]

Thanks for your advice - I have sent Brian a request to supply one to fit my HW 30S and look forward to receiving it soon!

Bob.

Did you get all excited by the colour options?

I did, and chose red. I have felt less conspicuous whilst shooting...

[zooma]

Did you get all excited by the colour options?

I did, and chose red. I have felt less conspicuous whilst shooting...

I also chose the RED colour as I think it will look good against the brown wood stock on the HW 30S - even though I thought BLACK would be a lot more inconspicuous - and a more sensible choice!

Now I need to find some suitable riser blocks - and maybe look at raising the comb a bit too! Does anyone make a target stock for the little HW 30S?