Webley Tempest /Premier

[beagle2]

As I have said many times before I have an all steel .22 premier in really good condition that I just love shooting I have been thinking about getting another pistol and was thinking about getting a Tempest I did have one many years ago my question is as it appears to be a bigger gun would it be more power full than the older gun as I would like something with a bit more punch to it.

Ok people will say get a HW45 and I must say I have been tempted at times but to me they do look big ugly things and I cannot bring myself to like them. I do not want people to say what they think as we all have our own thoughts on these things has anyone tested them one against the other and can give a definitive answer.

[Andy W]

There was someone on here selling a .177" Premier last week sometime & they stated that they had recently chronoed it to check it was working. They quoted something like 450 fps if I can remember correctly. Given that the Tempest used to claim 440fps, I would guess that Webley probably retained the bore & stroke from the Premier for their new pistol & the two are very similar in performance. It will be interesting to see if anyone can provide a bit more in depth knowledge on this. It would be interesting.

Regards,
Andy.

[harvey_s]

IIRC the premier has a similar PTFE sealing washer arrangement as the Tempest and the same spring, so I'd expect them to be near identical power-wise.
My own Tempest when tested last month was doing 440 fps with 177 RWS Geco's.
(My Senior was doing 450 odd with the same pellets)
I'm pretty sure all the original Mk.1's/Senior's/Premier's/Tempest's & Hurricane's were all very similar in output - the only exception being the original Typhoon which had a de-rated spring for juniors.

However, the new Turkish made Tempest's are reputed to be more powerful with around 500 fps alledgely on offer although the cocking effort is also reported to be significantly higher (which would make sense) I've also seen words in the airgun press (AGW Nov 2011) with Phil (Price? -is he on here...?) citing it as having a smooth firing cycle "more like a tuned gun"... so perhaps one of these might be worth a look as a high power option?

[Andy W]

Talking of smooth almost tuned firing cycles. I have only ever fired my own .22 Hurricane but I have always been impressed with the fast lock time and the extremely smooth cocking stoke. There is no noise from the spring either during cocking or firing. I have owned many pistols in my time but none have been so much fun to shoot as my Hurricane. An excellent gun that should be in everyone's collection
I think Webley used to claim 330fps for .22 & 440fps for .177 and unlike most manufacturers of the time (late 70's/early 80's) they didn't strech the truth. It would appear that's what these guns generally run at. As for the Turkish made ones; I have heard mixed reviews about them. Some say they are ok but tricky to cock. Others say that they have been spoil by being over-sprung and have a dull matt finish which doesn't appear as durable as the old Brum powder-coat enamal. I haven't seen one yet but would like to. All I would say is that if they haven't increased the swept volume of the design, it is likely that putting a larger spring inside will have given very little gain and could potentially spoil its firing cycle.

Regards,
Andy.

[beagle2]

Thank you for your input on this it would seem that the general consciences on this is that they are all much the same in power output I do not think that it would be worth shelling out £200 for a Turkish made one on the off chance that it may be a little more powerful.

My real problem is I much prefer shooting .22 guns and I have found over the years that for much over 10m the pellets tend to drop quickly perhaps a .177 is the solution as they do tend to be much better over distance but somehow I have never really found them to be as accurate as the .22 for some reason.

Perhaps instead of getting another gun it would be worth looking in to getting a new .177 barrel to go on my present gun in that way if I did not get on with it it would enhance the value of my gun not that I would ever sell it the problem with that idea is owing to that stupid new law I cannot buy a new barrel over the net.

If anyone out there has a mint condition .177 barrel to fit a Webley Premier its one of the last all steel ones that they made with the Premier label in the reassess on the side please send me a pm as I would be interested in buying it off them.

[Geezer]

According to my copy of Bruce's book, Webley claimed 310fps for the .22" Premier, and 330 for the Tempest. So not much in it.