Webley Longbow .... Click on cocking

[pastie]

No Boffins throwing any hats in ?

[TopDog]

Yes; a common problem since the cocking slot in the piston is a tad too deep. Initially the "mushroom" foot on the cocking lever contacts the end of the slot nearer the top (angle of lever!) and tries to stay in this position due to the loaded friction between the mushroom and the end of the slot. Once the load increases, it breaks free and the mushroom smacks the bottom of the slot creating the "click"!

A solution I have used with quite a few BrumBows is to fabricate a spacer "button" from Delrin which is inseted over the mushroom and ends up in between th cylinder and the cocking shoe effectively reducing the movement and eliminating the smack! I think I re-invented this some while after Venom/V-Mach as I found out later, so don't claim originality!

I attach a sketch of the details I use successfully if it is of any help! I am a BrumBowholic (had twelve at one one time)!

http://freepdfhosting.com/6e2d867369.pdf

atvb
David

[pastie]

Thanks Topdog....pity a slide couldn't have been developed that had a bit more of a bearing surface area than the mushroom...Fabulous rifles apart from that, and it is a minor irritation. Best Webley ever made in my opinion having owned an Omega also, the Longbow was a real gem.

[ken69]

Just checked my Longbow and it is exactly the same, a click about 25% through the cocking stroke. Also checked the Omega and it is totally silent when cocking

[TopDog]

Just checked my Longbow and it is exactly the same, a click about 25% through the cocking stroke. Also checked the Omega and it is totally silent when cocking

Not all BrumBows do it; only about half mine did! I have some now fitted with a longstrokes piston where a new set of cutouts are made on the opposite side of the piston and the cocking slot was cut 0.5mm less deep than standard - no clicking! The increased stroke of 6mm means a less fussy tune gets excellent results in 0.177 calibre models. My original prototype (which I still have!) for long stroking had an increase of 8mm (the maximum achievable) but one required a longer cocking link (shotened Tommy!) and one lost the auto-safety feature! Steve Pope made all the mods for me and offers the +6mm stroked and glided piston as a tuning item now!

All mods I do to any model are rigorously investigated using dynamic techniques so I have voluminous records for recoil and vibration data collected over the last 8-10 years or so. Am busy trying to qunatify "awesome firing cycle" now which is proving far more challenging than just quanitying "gentle nudge in the shoulder" which is why I started all this!

I do agree with earlier post that the BrumBow is the finest medium weight barrel cocker on the planet! However, since now extinct, they will only get rarer!

As a quick addition; it is possible to re-shape the forward edge of the "mushroom" to reduce it's sharpness and decrease the friction at the forward end and, when done properly, I understand it eliminates the click too! Not as reversible as the disc though!

Oh; one could conceivably insert a piece of 0.5mm material in the cocking slot if one has the skill and patience!

Good luck all BrumBow fans.

atvb
David

[andrewM]

A very interesting thread and, in consequence, I have checked mine. Sure enough, I have the click too at about 25% of the stroke but I had not noticed it before. It is slight and largely unnoticeable unless one is listening for it. Perhaps it is louder in other rifles and needs attention therefore.

The very supportive comments about Longbows on this site caused me to buy one a few months ago when a virtually unused one came up. The previous owner took it out once a year and fired six shots down it and then returned it to its box. I was delighted to take it, given it is Birmingham made and has that magnificent blueing plus, of course, the heritage.

I think, however, it has still to be run in.

What, I wonder, are other Longbow owners finding best for pellets? I find mine, which is a .22, is quite pellet fussy (as is my Omega) but I am getting pellet touching groupings at 25yds with H&N Spitskugel (Pointed) and Excite Spike (also made by H&N but the pellet is a little lighter and a ribbed version).

What velocities are owners achieving with their pellets?

[pastie]

Interesting reading there Topdog...I bet it shoots sublimely. They really were a work of metal and wood art. I had always been a Germaniac but always had the penchant for Webleys.
The Omega was a nice rifle, barrel and trigger didn't quite cut it.....The Brumbow on the other hand...is light, shoulders well and accurate with a trigger that is faultless. If Webley had made it 10 years sooner they may have been in a different place.