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Thread: HW30S for target shooting. MPL and Bell Target?

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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
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    Rossendale and Formby
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    5,596

    HW30S for target shooting. MPL and Bell Target?

    Some time ago my very good friend IJ and I bought a pair of new HW30S together from a German dealer at a very good price.

    The two rifles were delivered to IJ (he master-minded the operation) and when they arrived he brought them both over to the Rossendale club and was keen to let me have a shoot with his so I could see what he had done to "improve" it.

    I have to admit that his HW30S felt really smooth (especially for a brand new air rifle) and the trigger was superb too.

    Almost before I had time to think about it Ian had my new HW30S apart and had performed some minor surgery (involving a copper washer and a light weight trigger spring) and mine instantly felt as good as his did a few minutes earlier.

    I have always really liked this small airgun - but I always had a problem shooting it as despite physically shrinking in my old age (over 70) I am still not too far short of 6 ft and I found the rifle just too small to make it fit me and to be able to shoot it in comfort.

    Naturally it is a perfect size for IJ (maybe a little on the large side perhaps?) but a bit on the small side for many grown-ups.

    Adding to the problem of fitting this small size air rifle to my comparatively slightly lanky frame, I also have a damaged neck and spine (now with the joy of arthritis thrown in too) so I found that I was unable to take more than a few shots with this small "junior" sized air rifle before having to reluctantly stop and take a rest.

    Crouching down to get the sights into view was just uncomfortable, so I started to look for ways to change the stock. I had various plans over the years and actually acquired an HW98 stock at one stage as I thought with its adjustable cheek piece and being slightly longer it could solve all my problems, but the more I looked at it, the less I was able to convince myself that this was the best solution.

    Recently, I began to appreciate just how far the FT and HFT air rifle stocks that are in regular use have come, with some of them being as well developed and sophisticated as the adjustable match rifle stocks that I was used to shooting with. The main difference is that many of these stocks are made by custom stock makers and are not supplied by the rifle manufacturers.

    I decided to give Warren Edwards a call as I was impressed with some of his designs (and with his workmanship) and I asked him if he would make one of the designs that I liked to fit my HW30S.

    The upshot was that I sent my HW30S to Warren so he could measure it and make a new stock (of the design I had chosen) to accommodate the small '30S mechanism.

    Warren did a great job, and now I have a full size rifle stock (with adjustable cheekpiece and butt plate) custom made to fit my HW30S - and it fits me, and has all the adjustment that I could ever need.

    The main reason for writing this is because over the years I have met and spoken to a lot of HW30 and HW30S owners who really like the way their HW30S air rifles shoot, but to a greater or lesser degree find the rifle too small to fully enjoy it.

    Now that Warren has all the measurements taken from my HW30S he should be able to chop out any of his designs to accommodate this mechanism in the future. This could be helpful to anyone who like myself really likes the HW30 air rifles but finds them a bit too small to enjoy fully.

    .....other custom stock makers are available ..
    Last edited by zooma; 15-06-2020 at 08:19 PM.
    Rossendale Target Shooting Club. Every Tuesday and Thursday evening 7 - 10pm.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Location
    Blackburn, Lancs. (under a bridge)
    Posts
    22,944
    Its good to hear that your giraffe style neck has been catered for and you can now use a very underrated German rifle - the HW30.
    You should have a word with Warren (CLARETSMAD) on here, (from Burnley Rifle Club) another of my HW30 converts. He bought a s/h HW30 for club use and liked it so much he went and bought another for himself which came with a homemade multi adjustable stock. I should have worked on a commision basis.
    .
    Founder & ex secretary of Rivington Riflemen.
    www.rivington-riflemen.uk

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Rossendale and Formby
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    5,596
    The new stock has made a huge difference to the usability of my HW30S for me and I am hoping to be able to shoot it fairly regularly in the future.

    What I would like to find is a raiser block to fit under the front sight tunnel. I have gathered several raiser blocks over the years and finding one to fit under the rear sight is not really a problem as the dovetails are a fairly standard width apart, but the front sight dovetails are very narrow on the HW air rifles and I don't have anything that will fit them.

    Does anyone know if there is are any front raiser blocks made to fit the narrow HW front sight dovetails?
    Last edited by zooma; 15-06-2020 at 10:24 AM.
    Rossendale Target Shooting Club. Every Tuesday and Thursday evening 7 - 10pm.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Farnborough
    Posts
    4,400
    You can't add a post like this without putting up a picture

    I have always wished I had the skills to make a FWB300 style stock for an HW30 ( or pockets deep enough to pay someone to do it for me).
    Rich.
    WANTED: Next weeks winning lottery numbers :-)

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    Hastings
    Posts
    1,498
    averageplinker,

    Please find enclosed (crappy) photos of my HW30S in the Warren Edwards stock.

    ( Adjustable butt pad removed to reduce length of pull )

    Have fun

    Best regards

    Russ




  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Rossendale and Formby
    Posts
    5,596
    Hi Russ,

    I didn't mention that we had two stocks made at the same time - just in case you wanted to keep it to yourself for the time being.

    Your have already taken a rasp to yours to make space for your lay-back trigger and removed the adjustable butt plate to shorten the reach.

    I will send you some pictures of mine. It looks slightly different to yours as I still have the adjustable butt plate that came with the stock on mine, and I use a standard trigger so I have not had to modify the grip either.

    I will order some M6 stainless cap-heads to replace the black steel ones that came with the stock and I will send you some when they arrive as I know you like the bling

    Stay safe!

    Bob.
    Last edited by zooma; 15-06-2020 at 04:26 PM.
    Rossendale Target Shooting Club. Every Tuesday and Thursday evening 7 - 10pm.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Location
    Aberdeen
    Posts
    80
    Quote Originally Posted by zooma View Post
    The new stock has made a huge difference to the usability of my HW30S for me and I am hoping to be able to shoot it fairly regularly in the future.

    What I would like to find is a raiser block to fit under the front sight tunnel. I have gathered several raiser blocks over the years and finding one to fit under the rear sight is not really a problem as the dovetails are a fairly standard width apart, but the front sight dovetails are very narrow on the HW air rifles and I don't have anything that will fit them.

    Does anyone know if there is are any front raiser blocks made to fit the narrow HW front sight dovetails?
    I needed to raise my HW30S front sight and Ryan at Intershoot recommended a Centra 8mm raiser (Walther fitting.)
    It bolted straight on to the barrel's dovetails but needed 5 minutes of very easy filing to accept my HW80 sight and is rock solid.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Rossendale and Formby
    Posts
    5,596
    Quote Originally Posted by Brimfire View Post
    I needed to raise my HW30S front sight and Ryan at Intershoot recommended a Centra 8mm raiser (Walther fitting.)
    It bolted straight on to the barrel's dovetails but needed 5 minutes of very easy filing to accept my HW80 sight and is rock solid.

    I have a good selection of Walther raiser blocks, so I will see what I can do with them, but the dovetails in the HW barrel to take the front sight are a fair bit narrower than those that the Walther fitting raiser blocks are intended to fit.

    With the use of some shim (on both sides of the dovetail) to take up the differences between the two different widths it should be possible to make a fit and the shims will prevent the front sight from being shifted across to one side if all of the tightening is take up on the one side only.

    Russ uses a very similar method to fit a Centra front sight onto his HW barrels, so I will do the same on the raiser block so my Centra front sight can fit directly onto the raiser block with no width adjustment being needed.

    ........I should have thought about this sooner - so thanks for the inspiration!
    Rossendale Target Shooting Club. Every Tuesday and Thursday evening 7 - 10pm.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Location
    Aberdeen
    Posts
    80
    I only ever use my HW30S for Bell Target and 10m paper and have never considered the couple of thou discrepancy that mixing these rail, block and sight combos raise to be a real issue.

    Certainly not at my skill/accuracy level anyway.

    And, if it's any further help, there's some pics and dimensions here -

    And... the link doesn't work. Looks like something here is stopping it from pasting in full because it comes from another forum.
    Oh well...
    Last edited by Brimfire; 19-06-2020 at 11:20 AM.

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