Hw35 .177 tuning options.

[elewis411]

Hi everyone, I have an itch for one of the above and was wondering how well they respond to tuning, was thinking of maybe getting bearings fitted on the piston etc, has anyone done this or had it done along with anything else that has improved the shot cycle/hold sensitivity. Thanks in advance for any info...Lewis...

[evert]

The modern ones with synthetic seal and a bit more stroke can be made to behave quite well.
I'm using a JM/ARH spring in mine, on tight fitted guides, plus JM piston seal and a rear delrin ring on the skirt of the piston- it is a very nice gun.

But the gun really has its shortcomings, with the long transfer port and the large diameter piston.
If you are buying for nostalgic reasons and understand the guns shortcomings, get one.
If you want an efficient accurate and tuneable shooter, get a HW99, 77 or 97.

[mdunn]

Or a tx200. Atb mick

[Longbowlarry]

I put a Welsh willy kit in mine and made a huge difference.
Was simple to fit and eliminated twang and made it alot smoother to cock. It also dropped the power to around 10.9 which is great at that

[T 20]

Hi everyone, I have an itch for one of the above and was wondering how well they respond to tuning, was thinking of maybe getting bearings fitted on the piston etc, has anyone done this or had it done along with anything else that has improved the shot cycle/hold sensitivity. Thanks in advance for any info...Lewis...

They respond very well to tuning, Lewis.

This is the last one I built :-

http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread....56#post7598956


image.jpeg



All the best Mick

[elewis411]

Thanks guys, very helpful info there, with the right pellet and proper handling are they capable of 1/2 to 3/4 inch groups at 30 yards sort of inline with the Hw80 etc...

[TonyL]

They respond very well to tuning, Lewis.

This is the last one I built :-

http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread....56#post7598956


image.jpeg



All the best Mick

And this one is most certainly awesome.. But our Mick has a habit of turning out some most beautifully tuned springers, including a variation of HW35s.

[jonnyone]

I've not gotten around to tweaking the 35e that I have. I bought it just around corner from you Lewis- in Maesteg. A later model with synthetic piston head but full 22 inch barrel. A little tired on power down to about 8.5 from memory but it shoots very sweet.
I have full faith these guns can be made to shoot very nicely indeed- despite not having done anything to this particular gun. I have tweaked an old 35L some years ago with a non standard head with one of the leather to synthetic head converters that I think Knibbs used to sell. Not a great result but I suspect that it may have been better with a factory seal version.
I think the very fact that there is a lot less weight of piston thrashing around inside inspires me that the 35e that I have can be as sweet as an 80.
Adding buttons or a synthetic ring to the piston skirt will no doubt improve smoothness further still.
The 35 is definitely worth the effort in my books. Topped with a period scope and off to go.
Dave

[elewis411]

Thanks for the replies guys, just found a YouTube review of the new hw35e and he’s getting 1 inch groups at 50 yards rested on bags in a very slight breeze, the rifle was new from the box and untouched so plenty accurate in its self...

[Shed tuner]

so long as you have a non-leaky breach, and if you have the longer stroke factory (not adapter) synthetic piston, power should be fine.

my own experience with a .22 here: http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread....5-to-synthetic

[TonyL]

I've not gotten around to tweaking the 35e that I have. I bought it just around corner from you Lewis- in Maesteg. A later model with synthetic piston head but full 22 inch barrel. A little tired on power down to about 8.5 from memory but it shoots very sweet.
I have full faith these guns can be made to shoot very nicely indeed- despite not having done anything to this particular gun. I have tweaked an old 35L some years ago with a non standard head with one of the leather to synthetic head converters that I think Knibbs used to sell. Not a great result but I suspect that it may have been better with a factory seal version.
I think the very fact that there is a lot less weight of piston thrashing around inside inspires me that the 35e that I have can be as sweet as an 80.
Adding buttons or a synthetic ring to the piston skirt will no doubt improve smoothness further still.
The 35 is definitely worth the effort in my books. Topped with a period scope and off to go.
Dave

Oh yes, most definitely worth the effort.. As has been said, the later ones with the non-suspect breech void, parachute seal, lighter piston and longer stroke are almost there from the factory. Love all mine. They're almost like a shorter stroke 80, with the lovely and refined manual barrel latch but with a longer TP.

Re the Knibbs conversion, I also did this to my cosmetically worse for wear 1970 one back in 2008 as the leather seal was goosed. I'd bought this ratty old thing for £30.. It did shoot very, very nicely. As T20 has shown us, this conversion robs even more precious stroke contriving to work against power production. When I later switched to the later piston (courtesy of a most fine gesture by T20), that Knibbs seal was very, very tight. So that may have helped the feel a little but it would most definitely robbed a lot of power. I think I've seen plenty of references on here in more recent times of the Knibbs seal being oversize and requiring sizing to most cylinders.

[TonyL]

so long as you have a non-leaky breach, and if you have the longer stroke factory (not adapter) synthetic piston, power should be fine.

my own experience with a .22 here: http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread....5-to-synthetic

Excellent thread, JB.

[elewis411]

Excellent, thanks again guys, do new 35’s still suffer with leaky breech’s...

[CapitalBee]

Excellent, thanks again guys, do new 35’s still suffer with leaky breech’s...

Lewis, unless I'm corrected on this thread, I think it seems to have been resolved around the mid-80's (I've had a synthetic sealed 1980 hw35 with breech leakage). I've also an hw35 in .177" flavour that has a conversion to synthetic sealed piston. I'll chrono it again, but it was doing about 11.3ft/lb with a nice shot cycle. It's a shame you are so far and travel is a bit restricted, or you would have been welcome to try it.

[Neil.]

I have found that reducing the power to 10.5lbs by compressing a couple of coils, then adding a spacer or so to increase preload. Then putting in a plastic sleeve between the inside of the piston and spring, is all you need to do to make a very sweet gun in .177.