Page 2 of 5 FirstFirst 1234 ... LastLast
Results 16 to 30 of 61

Thread: What to do with a FWB Sport 124

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    City of London
    Posts
    9,736
    Quote Originally Posted by Hsing-ee View Post
    the FWB Sport has always been full power and all the ones I have had put out over 11 fpe, some of the .22s were OTT and had to be reigned in. They are REALLY not difficult to get 12 fpe out of and I am surprised both you and Maccari claim this. Ask RustyBuzz, his Dad Dave Welham must have prepped hundreds of them.
    Agreed Alistair. I've worked on 7 or 8 Sports and this was certainly the case. Except strangely enough for one, owned by the late Ed W, whose Sport I agreed to fettle as part of a deal (for a BSA no.8 sight I think it was).

    The rifle had stubbornly refused to go above about 8 ft/lbs, much to Ed's distress. I tried a Maccari sping, a Maccari seal, a Maccari Arctic spring, FWB factory seal and spring, polishing the piston and cylinder, etc etc. I just couldn't get more power whatever I did and finally had to admit defeat!
    Vintage Airguns Gallery
    ..Above link posted with permission from Gareth W-B
    In British slang an anorak is a person who has a very strong interest in niche subjects.

  2. #17
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    BOLTON
    Posts
    816
    The fwb sport was a nice gun but it was nothing special I've owned many over the years it had its faults and to be fair the barrel lock up was piss poor its trigger unit was average at best its plastic sights are rubbish and the recoil was not good if you could shoot one in the day accurately you were a superstar a modern day lightweight Springer in the same class say a hw95 or hw99s are far superior in all departments ie build quality trigger mech and overall accuracy but the fwb was a pritty gun.

    Dave.

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Maulden, Bedfordshire
    Posts
    626
    Quote Originally Posted by DM80 View Post
    The fwb sport was a nice gun but it was nothing special I've owned many over the years it had its faults and to be fair the barrel lock up was piss poor its trigger unit was average at best its plastic sights are rubbish and the recoil was not good if you could shoot one in the day accurately you were a superstar a modern day lightweight Springer in the same class say a hw95 or hw99s are far superior in all departments ie build quality trigger mech and overall accuracy but the fwb was a pritty gun.

    Dave.
    That must be why the Sport was the most successful FT rifle pre the 77k.

  4. #19
    keith66 is offline Optimisic Pessimist Fella
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Benfleet
    Posts
    5,918
    I bought an early one in 1976, a .22 i still have it. It used to eat mainsprings getting through at least one a year. Recoil & vibration was heavy. My dad took it with him when he moved up north 30 years ago & i got it back before he died 3 years ago.
    The piston seal had turned to mush & i was lucky enough to pick up an old school maccari tuning kit up off here.
    That kit transformed the rifle, no more nerve racking spring compressor jobs, the spring just pushed in by hand with about one inch of preload. Virtually no recoil, less vibration & more accurate. As for the power i had to detune it to get it under 12. You dont need original springs they are a step backwards.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    BOLTON
    Posts
    816
    The HW35 was is a way better gun more accurate better built and when the hw80 arrived the sport was no more it just was not as good as the HW guns

  6. #21
    keith66 is offline Optimisic Pessimist Fella
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Benfleet
    Posts
    5,918
    I had an HW35 as well, It was heavy & agricultural compared to the Fwb, It expired when the cocking arm wore tramlines inside the cylinder & jumped the piston. Not for me.

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    East Sussex, Nr Rye
    Posts
    17,110
    HW's should come with a wheelbarrow.
    Who uses open sights when you can have an Optima scope?

    Sure 30 years on we have seen progress but in the early 1980's the Sport was "it".

  8. #23
    Hsing-ee's Avatar
    Hsing-ee is offline may also be employed in conjunction with a drawn reciprocation dingle arm, to reduce sinusoidal repleneration
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Glasgow
    Posts
    18,217
    Quote Originally Posted by DM80 View Post
    The HW35 was is a way better gun more accurate better built and when the hw80 arrived the sport was no more it just was not as good as the HW guns
    When the HW80 arrived, sure many people bought it for the power as lots were over the limit, but it didn't drive the FWB Sport off the top of the Field Target prize lists. The Sport was only knocked off top spot by the HW77.

    The HW35 was at the time my preference as the trigger is nicer, but the Sport always had the edge in accuracy. The Sport is more fragile than the 35 but you just need to keep an eye on the weak points (trigger, breech lock-up), and fix as necessary.

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Near Wimbledon, SW London, or Lusaka, Zambia
    Posts
    26,325
    Quote Originally Posted by Hsing-ee View Post
    I agree with most of what you say, but the FWB Sport has always been full power and all the ones I have had put out over 11 fpe, some of the .22s were OTT and had to be reigned in. They are REALLY not difficult to get 12 fpe out of and I am surprised both you and Maccari claim this. Ask RustyBuzz, his Dad Dave Welham must have prepped hundreds of them.
    yup 100%. The only one I ever had that didn't make good power (as you know), was one fitted with an undersize Maccari piston seal. A properly sized seal was fitted and more than enough power was available
    Always looking for any cheap, interesting, knackered "project" guns. Thanks, JB.

  10. #25
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    A few miles east of Nottingham
    Posts
    547
    Well, an enormous amount of advice, and thank you very much to everyone who has contributed. The one thing that i am absolutely convinced of after reading it all is that I shall not be disappointed that I have at last achieved the status of "Sport owner". It seems that I can't go far wrong if I try an original spring and seal, and if I don't like the result at least I shall have a base to work from in trying other measures, so I will give that a whirl to start with. As I said, I should like to keep it within the spirit of its time if possible - I wonder what tinkery new owners in the seventies did to improve it? And, not that i can work to their standard, but what was done to an Airmasters tuned one?

  11. #26
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Location
    Blackburn, Lancs. (under a bridge)
    Posts
    22,944
    Quote Originally Posted by mallyally View Post
    of all the springers I have ever tuned (hundreds ) The sport is the easiest to get 12 ( and over ) Ft Lbs out of with hardly any work in fact sometimes you struggle to get them under 12
    So, you've never had a .22 HW80?

    IMO the 'Sport looks better than the HW35/95/80 but the trigger isn't as good (few are) and the plastic open sights and blade (Mk 1) on the 'Sport a disappointment. On a plus side the 'Sport has a re settable safety as standard. Also the HWs are far easier to strip.

    You will not be disappointed with a nicely tuned version of either.

    Horses for courses.

    ATB
    Ian
    Founder & ex secretary of Rivington Riflemen.
    www.rivington-riflemen.uk

  12. #27
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    BOLTON
    Posts
    816
    Another class airgun at the time was the original 45 it was a great airgun had it all it was strong accurate decent trigger good barrel and even though it used a similar ball detent breech lock up system as the sport it took a lot more force to open than a sport which if a fly landed on the barrel it would open the 45's only downside was it was an ugly mother.

    Dave.

  13. #28
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    A few miles east of Nottingham
    Posts
    547
    Quote Originally Posted by Hsing-ee View Post
    One thing with old Sports is the trigger sear spring, the one that goes between the sear and the safety. This can become bent and cause an unreliable trigger. Make sure you replace it when you strip the rifle, and if you are a perfectionist, machine up a tiny teeny little guide for it so it doesn't bend.
    I wimped out and took the trigger block out with a couple of cable ties round it so that the safety slide and spring were kept in place. The spring looks straight as far as i can see, but it looks as though a length of suitable diameter rod with the ends tidied up could be dropped into the spring without further dismantling - would that make a useful guide?

  14. #29
    Hsing-ee's Avatar
    Hsing-ee is offline may also be employed in conjunction with a drawn reciprocation dingle arm, to reduce sinusoidal repleneration
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Glasgow
    Posts
    18,217
    Quote Originally Posted by Vernal View Post
    I wimped out and took the trigger block out with a couple of cable ties round it so that the safety slide and spring were kept in place. The spring looks straight as far as i can see, but it looks as though a length of suitable diameter rod with the ends tidied up could be dropped into the spring without further dismantling - would that make a useful guide?
    That is exactly the sort of thing; a tiny length of brass rod should do the trick.

    Be careful putting the back block retaining bolt back in, it is VERY easy to misalign it slightly and cross-thread it - a hard steel bolt going into a softish alloy block wasn't one of FWB's best ideas...

    According to popular myth, the mainspring can be replaced with one from a 77 if you have one kicking about.

  15. #30
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Quigley Hollow, Nuneaton
    Posts
    17,111
    Quote Originally Posted by Hsing-ee View Post

    According to popular myth, the mainspring can be replaced with one from a 77 if you have one kicking about.

    Not a myth, Alistaire.

    I fitted a very early 77 Spring (the one with 4" of preload ) to a mates .22" Sport, and it worked very nicely.



    All the best Mick

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •