Anschutz 335 - truly amazing accuracy

[silva]

I recommissioned one for a friend with a Williams rear aperture sight. It was incredibly easy to shoot accurately.

[andrewM]

IMHO these old Anschutz sights are masterpieces of simple and efficient design. The long flexible mounting rails have tremendous gripping power, allow a great range of positioning, and will fit any flat rail or arched receiver with grooves close to 11mm, including Anschutz, Diana, or later Weihrauchs (they do NOT fit the slightly wider Walther or FWB grooves, though).

All German sights use the same 9.5 x 1.0 mm eyepiece thread - those fitted in the photo above are from Gehmann, Diana, FWB, and HW! The eyeshade on the right is not a factory part either, but a rather nice home-made one I picked up online. (On the steel sights, the eyepiece thread passes straight through the mounting block to allow such accessories; not so for the 6705/6.)

Just for laughs, here's the 6706 on the Mk 3 Supertarget. The hole in the diopter mounting rail aligns with the sight, to access the trigger adjuster. The red circle approximates where the thumbwheel would have gone.

Would they fit the modern Walther LGV, which is 11mm from recollection?

More generally, it is unfortunate, to say the least, that peep sights are so difficult to obtain. They are far better than ordinary open sights and provide far greater satisfaction than a telescopic sight.

From what I have read, the 335 in 22 was slightly more powerful, with some doing up to 11ft/lbs. The slightly lower power 10-10.5ft/lbs is not so noticeable in the 177, I think. There also appears to be something of an ease to put the pellets into a close group: the rifle seems very user friendly and willing to comply. This cannot be said of all air rifles and particularly of that age. Meanwhile, back in Britain, we had the Airsporter and Mk3 which, like British cars, were luxurious in appearance but did not have the German engineering skills, least of all, the accuracy.

I am just wondering how often users, here, lubricate their washers? Perhaps a drop or two every tin? I think rather less than one would apply to a BSA or Mk3 of the day.

Rgds
A

[MDriskill]

I've never owned one of the modern Walther sporters, so don't know. The scope grooves on their old LG 55, LGV, etc. target models are around 11.5 mm. I've seen Anschutz sights forced onto Walther and FWB rails, but unless the sight's rails are properly milled out a bit, the result is inevitably damage to the gun and/or the sight.

The German auction site eGun is the mother lode of vintage match sights. Go to their main page and type "diopter" in the search window, you will be amazed. Setting up an account and getting stuff shipped outside the EU are the tricky bits...

[CapitalBee]

I have one here in .177" calibre. Rebuilt with a custom spring guide on the original leather piston washer it's a really nice shooter. I added a Williams peep sight and use it for informal bell target. I took it to the September bash, so a few members had a play with it (definitely Les Allam as he had a spell of bell ringing with it!). The one front stock lug has snapped off on mine, which from research I'm led to believe is a common fault, but I run it at 6ft/lb and keep a check on screw security to avoid nasty repetition.

[andrewM]

I have one here in .177" calibre. Rebuilt with a custom spring guide on the original leather piston washer it's a really nice shooter. I added a Williams peep sight and use it for informal bell target. I took it to the September bash, so a few members had a play with it (definitely Les Allam as he had a spell of bell ringing with it!). The one front stock lug has snapped off on mine, which from research I'm led to believe is a common fault, but I run it at 6ft/lb and keep a check on screw security to avoid nasty repetition.

I am surprised it snapped off, with the rifle doing as little as 6ft/lbs. I thought this generally only occurred when they were overpowered with unsuitable springs, etc. Is it possible to replace the front lug?
Rgds
A

[Tinram]

I’m lucky enough to have a .177 335 with an Anschutz diopter on it. I agree with the previous comments…VERY accurate and very well engineered rifle. Not in the same power league as sporters from the same era (I have an FWB sport, various HW’s & BSF’s in my collection) but that wasn’t really what the Annie 335 was about. They are quite rightly sought after!!

[CapitalBee]

I am surprised it snapped off, with the rifle doing as little as 6ft/lbs. I thought this generally only occurred when they were overpowered with unsuitable springs, etc. Is it possible to replace the front lug?
Rgds
A

It came to me in bits, with the lug already gone, so I wouldn't be surprised if it had had a stronger spring in in the past. TBH, keeping it at 6ft/lbs, I've not had any issues with it with one fixing point missing. I have looked at the design of a lug to weld on as a replacement, but I'll leave it until domesday (when the other one breaks off)

[andrewM]

It came to me in bits, with the lug already gone, so I wouldn't be surprised if it had had a stronger spring in in the past. TBH, keeping it at 6ft/lbs, I've not had any issues with it with one fixing point missing. I have looked at the design of a lug to weld on as a replacement, but I'll leave it until domesday (when the other one breaks off)

That is helpful to know. My fear was that metal fatigue might eventually set in and I would then have the same problem. I intend to make greater use of this remarkable rifle.

Rgds
A

[stevegv8]

I decided to try and date mine using the info in the link of post No. 7 by Mr Pusk but I don't see any of the suggested marks on my barrel.
As I have the pull type barrel release I assumed pre 1980 and post 1971 as noted by Dennis Hiller, so expected to find a two letter code somewhere as claimed (shown below taking info from the link) to be the Anshutz method after 1968.

"Since about 1968, the year has been coded. The code for age determination is as follows:
0=A; 1=B; 2=C; 3=D, 4=E; 5=F; 6=G; 7=H; 8=I/J; 9=K
When determining the year of firing, only the last two digits of a year are given, i.e. a rifle with the letters AF was fired by the state in 2005 (05)."

I have only two areas on the barrel with info, on the top (maker name etc which ends Ulm/D Germany) & on the left side at the breech end (calibre & F inside a pentagram, so must be the low power German market model -again Mr Pusk post No. 9) then the serial further along the breech block (03xxxx).
Thoughts?

[andrewM]

I decided to try and date mine using the info in the link of post No. 7 by Mr Pusk but I don't see any of the suggested marks on my barrel.
As I have the pull type barrel release I assumed pre 1980 and post 1971 as noted by Dennis Hiller, so expected to find a two letter code somewhere as claimed (shown below taking info from the link) to be the Anshutz method after 1968.

"Since about 1968, the year has been coded. The code for age determination is as follows:
0=A; 1=B; 2=C; 3=D, 4=E; 5=F; 6=G; 7=H; 8=I/J; 9=K
When determining the year of firing, only the last two digits of a year are given, i.e. a rifle with the letters AF was fired by the state in 2005 (05)."

I have only two areas on the barrel with info, on the top (maker name etc which ends Ulm/D Germany) & on the left side at the breech end (calibre & F inside a pentagram, so must be the low power German market model -again Mr Pusk post No. 9) then the serial further along the breech block (03xxxx).
Thoughts?

Yes, the same for me. I think Mr Pusk's information from the Anschutz website refers only to firearms. However, I have now emailed the company to seek clarification. They might not reply straight away but if I can obtain something sensible from them, I will report back here.
Rgds
A

[stevegv8]

Yes, the same for me. I think Mr Pusk's information from the Anschutz website refers only to firearms. However, I have now emailed the company to seek clarification. They might not reply straight away but if I can obtain something sensible from them, I will report back here.
Rgds
A

Good of you, I was happy with '71 to '80 but to know the actual year would be nice. I suspect though they will refer to the fact that they charge 150 euros for this service.

[les allam]

I have one here in .177" calibre. Rebuilt with a custom spring guide on the original leather piston washer it's a really nice shooter. I added a Williams peep sight and use it for informal bell target. I took it to the September bash, so a few members had a play with it (definitely Les Allam as he had a spell of bell ringing with it!). The one front stock lug has snapped off on mine, which from research I'm led to believe is a common fault, but I run it at 6ft/lb and keep a check on screw security to avoid nasty repetition.

Hello Mark
I remember shooting your 335 and I really enjoyed the experience 👍.
My 333 model also suffered with the rear stock mounting bracket weld coming adrift, and the front stock holes falling through.
The stock on the 333 is very slim on the forend part,and my one needed hardwood inserts grafted in.
The 335 is a very underrated gun imo ,and well worth having in your collection.
Les..

[Mr Pusk]

I decided to try and date mine using the info in the link of post No. 7 by Mr Pusk but I don't see any of the suggested marks on my barrel.
As I have the pull type barrel release I assumed pre 1980 and post 1971 as noted by Dennis Hiller, so expected to find a two letter code somewhere as claimed (shown below taking info from the link) to be the Anshutz method after 1968.

"Since about 1968, the year has been coded. The code for age determination is as follows:
0=A; 1=B; 2=C; 3=D, 4=E; 5=F; 6=G; 7=H; 8=I/J; 9=K
When determining the year of firing, only the last two digits of a year are given, i.e. a rifle with the letters AF was fired by the state in 2005 (05)."

I have only two areas on the barrel with info, on the top (maker name etc which ends Ulm/D Germany) & on the left side at the breech end (calibre & F inside a pentagram, so must be the low power German market model -again Mr Pusk post No. 9) then the serial further along the breech block (03xxxx).
Thoughts?

Yes I reckoned that that advice about the year codes only relates to their firearm serials because they're Proof Marks, and airguns don't go through Proof. On the principle that Anschutz say that they'll charge to look things up in their records because it's very time consuming, I can't see why they'd make an exception for air weapons and look them up for nowt. But you can always ask!

If you dig around on the web you can find various sites which try to match numbers to years for various manufacturers - so you can get a reasonable idea of when (for example) your HW or FWB, or BSA or Webley was made. Everyone seems to have drawn a blank with Anschutz.

[andrewM]

Yes I reckoned that that advice about the year codes only relates to their firearm serials because they're Proof Marks, and airguns don't go through Proof. On the principle that Anschutz say that they'll charge to look things up in their records because it's very time consuming, I can't see why they'd make an exception for air weapons and look them up for nowt. But you can always ask!

If you dig around on the web you can find various sites which try to match numbers to years for various manufacturers - so you can get a reasonable idea of when (for example) your HW or FWB, or BSA or Webley was made. Everyone seems to have drawn a blank with Anschutz.

They have not replied to me yet but I will let everyone know as soon as they do!

Rgds
A

[andrewM]

For those who were interested in the date of production, I have just had this helpful email back from Anschutz (and they did not charge me for looking up the year of manufacture).

"The rifle was produced in 1974.

Unfortunately the peep sight is not available anymore… a similar alternative is not available, I could only offer you 000956 - 6805/10 Rear sight [see attachment]

Kind regards
J.G. ANSCHÜTZ GmbH & Co. KG
i. A. Moritz Anschütz Vertrieb/Export International Sales"

My serial number was 40691. This will at least guide owners as to the year of manufacture for their 335. It is remarkable to think that my own is nearly 50 years old and I cannot think of anything, from those days, quite so accurate in the sporting format.

The peep sight 6706, for the 335, has ceased alas, hence their reference to the alternative. I cannot download the image here, unfortunately, as the means to do so appear not to exist.

Rgds to all
A