Recoiless vs recoiling FWB experiment

[Drew451]

Very interesting and surprising to see the Webleys mixing it with the German marques. The lack of Walthers also surprising.
Not surprising to see the Haenel 311in there: a very good and accurate air rifle. Underrated and quite possibly unknown to the vast majority.
I think the Feinwerkbau 300 was the go to rifle for vatious reasons. It was undoubtedly a great rifle with good manufacturer/ importer representation at big competitions and it was also perceived as the gun to have. Feinwerkbau are primarily a target gun manufacturer while Diana made everything from a £30 tin plate plinker through to a match rifle and nearly everything in between. Perhaps that hurt their image a bit back then.

[dvd]

Looking at the 1978 result, 3 shooters were using non German guns, I think the 4th placed shooter must also be commended for overcoming the psychological hurdle of knowing he was up against FWB and Diana which were then the benchmark of technical excellence.
I think that FWB were also perceived as being fully focussed on producing a single competitive gun rather than the more diverse offerings from Diana, which were also more difficult to service.
I presume the Diana's indicated as mod.175, were in fact the mod 75.