Webley Supertarget chopping pellets

[series2a]

The Supertarget had No sights as standard,No Welded rear sight ramp or rear sights,You could only fit the Aperture sights or get it drilled for a set of Anschutz sights.Its quite possible to get a Set of PH 15M and fit them to a Normal Mk3 as they are 4BA bolts.

[series2a]

The Supertarget had No rear sight at all,Just the Aperture sight, No provision for a rear scope either.
The Supertarget was as it’s name suggests Just used for Target work,It’s Barrel was thicker and heavier than the normal MK3.
It was referred to as the Model 2.

[Geezer]

The Supertarget had No sights as standard,No Welded rear sight ramp or rear sights,You could only fit the Aperture sights or get it drilled for a set of Anschutz sights.Its quite possible to get a Set of PH 15M and fit them to a Normal Mk3 as they are 4BA bolts.

The Supertarget had No rear sight at all,Just the Aperture sight, No provision for a rear scope either.
The Supertarget was as it’s name suggests Just used for Target work,It’s Barrel was thicker and heavier than the normal MK3.
It was referred to as the Model 2.

Many Supertargets (introduced 1963) had no scope rail. But some did, especially the early ones, such as the X-prefix serial numbers.

The post-73 Anschutz sight ones mounted the sight on a rail. I think perhaps a different rail from the usual MkIII rail.

Supertargets came with, at various times, PH16M, PH17B, and Anschutz rear sights.

[abellringer]

The Webley MKIII S/T only ever had a tapered tap. The later Osprey had a parallel tap to reduce costs.
The MKIII tap was fitted as a slightly oversize part, the tapered hole reamed with special reamers, until the tap was almost in line with the bore, determined by a hardened steel probe gauge passed down the barrel; then the tap was coarse lapped with grinding paste, re checked and finally lapped in with fine paste all as per the valves in a car engine, this gave an air tight tap as per a gas tap. There was a range of tap sizes available because the breech block wasn't precision machined at its first stage, the barrel was in place before this initial reaming. If you have had to adjust the tap to be ''looser'' this sadly will cause an air leak and slight loss of power. I have some taps and factory reamers, but transport of the action might be a problem for you as it wouldn't be cheap. That would have to be your choice, but I would look at it for you if needed, not all guns are repairable if my taps are too small. Sadly you cant just buy one from J.K. or elsewhere and expect it to fit, the chances are like a lottery win. If your gun is later than No 44370 I can date it for you as I have the bench records from that number to end of production. E mail me at ray210645@yahoo.co.uk if needed and I'll do that for you.
I was factory trained for this and did a fair few over the years, before the production ended, as I was a service smith on several makes in the 70's and 80's.
abellringer

[MDriskill]

Many Supertargets (introduced 1963) had no scope rail. But some did, especially the early ones, such as the X-prefix serial numbers.

The post-73 Anschutz sight ones mounted the sight on a rail. I think perhaps a different rail from the usual MkIII rail.

Supertargets came with, at various times, PH16M, PH17B, and Anschutz rear sights.

Yes, the rail used for the Anschutz sights is a nice solid piece mounted on the rear receiver section, with “11 mm” grooves to fit the sight. The rail had a hole in it to allow access to the trigger adjuster locking screw. The Anschutz front tunnel sight also fits on a shorter similar rail. The scope rail fitted to later Mk 3 sporters was a thick sheet metal item set farther forward on the main receiver tube, and with much wider rail spacing.

The Parker-Hale PH 16M (optional for Mk 3 sporters for many years), and somewhat more elaborate PH 17B (standard fitting on most early Supertargets), actually mount identically and can be interchanged on a gun drilled and tapped for the two screws.

Just IMHO, the PH sights are gorgeous little bits of collectible airgun sculpture in their own right! It’s really a shame they weren’t made for more types of airguns.

[series2a]

The Webley MKIII S/T only ever had a tapered tap. The later Osprey had a parallel tap to reduce costs.
The MKIII tap was fitted as a slightly oversize part, the tapered hole reamed with special reamers, until the tap was almost in line with the bore, determined by a hardened steel probe gauge passed down the barrel; then the tap was coarse lapped with grinding paste, re checked and finally lapped in with fine paste all as per the valves in a car engine, this gave an air tight tap as per a gas tap. There was a range of tap sizes available because the breech block wasn't precision machined at its first stage, the barrel was in place before this initial reaming. If you have had to adjust the tap to be ''looser'' this sadly will cause an air leak and slight loss of power. I have some taps and factory reamers, but transport of the action might be a problem for you as it wouldn't be cheap. That would have to be your choice, but I would look at it for you if needed, not all guns are repairable if my taps are too small. Sadly you cant just buy one from J.K. or elsewhere and expect it to fit, the chances are like a lottery win. If your gun is later than No 44370 I can date it for you as I have the bench records from that number to end of production. E mail me at ray210645@yahoo.co.uk if needed and I'll do that for you.
I was factory trained for this and did a fair few over the years, before the production ended, as I was a service smith on several makes in the 70's and 80's.
abellringer

Very informative thanks

[andrewM]

The Webley MKIII S/T only ever had a tapered tap. The later Osprey had a parallel tap to reduce costs.
The MKIII tap was fitted as a slightly oversize part, the tapered hole reamed with special reamers, until the tap was almost in line with the bore, determined by a hardened steel probe gauge passed down the barrel; then the tap was coarse lapped with grinding paste, re checked and finally lapped in with fine paste all as per the valves in a car engine, this gave an air tight tap as per a gas tap. There was a range of tap sizes available because the breech block wasn't precision machined at its first stage, the barrel was in place before this initial reaming. If you have had to adjust the tap to be ''looser'' this sadly will cause an air leak and slight loss of power. I have some taps and factory reamers, but transport of the action might be a problem for you as it wouldn't be cheap. That would have to be your choice, but I would look at it for you if needed, not all guns are repairable if my taps are too small. Sadly you cant just buy one from J.K. or elsewhere and expect it to fit, the chances are like a lottery win. If your gun is later than No 44370 I can date it for you as I have the bench records from that number to end of production. E mail me at ray210645@yahoo.co.uk if needed and I'll do that for you.
I was factory trained for this and did a fair few over the years, before the production ended, as I was a service smith on several makes in the 70's and 80's.
abellringer

Very interesting.
I did not quite follow the procedure, you kindly outlined and which I had often wondered about. Presumably the loading tap was put in place and then drilled through (or at least widened) via the barrel. "...Then the tap was coarse lapped with grinding paste, re checked and finally lapped in with fine paste all as per the valves in a car engine, this gave an air tight tap as per a gas tap." Could you explain this in greater detail as I do not understand the procedure, here?
Surely, there could only be one size of tap, given there was only one barrel size (either 177 or 22)? Again, there is something I am not following here.
I had speculated that the beginning of the barrel was slightly wider than the tapered end of the tap, so as to guide the pellet into the rifled barrel. It is very difficult to see, via the cylinder, the actuality, because of the distance. Perhaps, on the other hand, the end of the tap exactly matched the beginning of the barrel, creating a perfect transition from tap to barrel. Could you shed further light on this aspect?
These are technical questions that have often fascinated me and you are one of the very few people, it seems, who knows the answers!
Many thanks.
A

[hwtyger]

The Webley MKIII S/T only ever had a tapered tap. The later Osprey had a parallel tap to reduce costs.

The cilinder part of the tap (the hole itself) most certainly ís or at least cán be, tapered on Osprey and Tracker etc.
Otherwise it wouldnt be a problem if it were fitted the other way around..
And it ís. If you fit it incorrectly, pellets wont fall down the taphole and can damage the skirt when closing the tap. Turn it around and pellet drops in neatly