Why was the Webley Viscount such a flop?

[MDriskill]

Apologies in advance, as I actually posted this in another thread yesterday! But it works here too:

Those lamenting the quality of late Webley rifles might be interested in these quotes from an article entitled, “Swedes Home In On The Tracker,” written by Captain Anders Dahlman, published in the February 1991 issue of “Airgun World:”

“While the same brands of air rifles are on the Swedish market as in the UK, almost every Swedish airgunner goes for the Webleys. In fact, the .22 Webley Tracker deluxe is the number one air rifle over here. Due to poor balance, simple varnished stocks and two-stage triggers, German air rifles are not popular at all. They have not proven to be that reliable, either. At one time a few Swedes bought HW 77’s, HW 80’s and HW 85’s, but most of them have now switched to the Webley Tracker...

Most Swedes consider the Webleys to be superior when it comes to handling qualities, blueing, fit, finish and balance, and I certainly agree...

The Webley Tracker deluxe has proven utterly reliable and accurate in the hands of Swedish airgunners, and is definitely the country’s most popular air rifle. ... At the last FT competition I attended, more that 85% used these air rifles. The remainder had BSA’s or Air Arms, but you could not find one single HW or Diana. Oh yes, some things are the other way around over here!”

Well all just one fellow’s opinions of course, but rather interesting ones! It’s worth noting that the walnut-stocked Tracker deluxe seems to have been the main choice. By the way Swedish law at the time banned all air rifle hunting, and limited airguns by velocity rather than muzzle energy. The maximum allowed was 200 m/sec or about 660 FPS, which of course favored larger calibers.