As I’m interested in the Remington Express at the moment, I’ve looked at YouTube videos about them. One Remmy enthusiast complained about the ball-type latch on the rifle, claimed it was weak and said it allowed barrel droop to occur when he fitted the rifle with a silencer.

One of the most successful springers in history had the ball-type barrel latch. I know some people were concerned about its long term stability but generally it gave an excellent lock-up allowing for staggering accuracy. The Original Diana rifles also use this system, as does one of the Spanish makes. HW on the other hand only used it for the little HW30, although that rifle is known for its extraordinary accuracy. It must be cheaper to make than a chisel-type, so why isn’t it more common?

Is the YouTuber right in his criticism.. and surely if the barrel droops isn’t that an issue with the spring behind the ball not the ball itself?

I’m perplexed. The tiny ball in the FWB sport gave as good or better accuracy than locked-breech guns like the Anschutz 335 and HW35 …