HW35 The Collectable Weihrauch

[Muskett]

Value: a very nice example that a collector would be pleased to own tops £180. Most go for £120 to £140 mark; plus a tad more with toys. Rough under £100; even a lot less. There are a lot around especially in .22 and they are rather old hat. Most most people just keep them as they are hardly worth selling.

From what I can gather an easy rifle to work on and consistent once allowed to settle down. However, difficult to guarantee to get a desired result from the work. So smooth them out and live with the result.

[I. J.]

However, difficult to guarantee to get a desired result from the work. So smooth them out and live with the result.

That should be the motto of the HW35 Owners Club.

ATB
Ian

[coburn]

If you look at the very early Venom ads when they still worked out of Trapshot of Lye they claimed up to 14.5ftlbs dependant on calibre for the 35. I have never seen one do anything like this, 10.5 to 12ftlb yes but a further 2.5ftlbs must have been achieved by lengthening the piston stroke, of course going this far you may as well get an 80. I think thats good advice to smooth them out and be happy with the end result.

I've just bought what will be my third 35 off here and can't wait for it to arrive.

[Garvin]

Time methinks to trot out a pic of my mid-1950s pre-Rekord trigger HW35 to remind readers what a long and illustrious career this particular model has had. This gun handles really nicely and the early trigger is suprisingly sophisticated, feeling quite similar to the Rekord. The .177 barrel is 22 inches long, same as the model that later became known as the Export. I think all the very first HW35s had the long barrels.

Shown here with a rare bottom wheel diopter, the second pattern of HW diopter. The wheel locks the windage adjustment.

Early HW35

[mallyally]

a lovely early ( two hole ) HW 35 in target sports today in REALLY good nick for £150

[bigglesworth]

If you look at the very early Venom ads when they still worked out of Trapshot of Lye they claimed up to 14.5ftlbs dependant on calibre for the 35. I have never seen one do anything like this, 10.5 to 12ftlb yes but a further 2.5ftlbs must have been achieved by lengthening the piston stroke, of course going this far you may as well get an 80. I think thats good advice to smooth them out and be happy with the end result.

I've just bought what will be my third 35 off here and can't wait for it to arrive.

My 0.177 KLS settled down at 10.9 ft/lbs with Superdomes,it refuses to go over 11 ft/lbs, but who cares? ;it`s accurate and consistant AND I WANT ANOTHER ONE!!

[T 20]

If you look at the very early Venom ads when they still worked out of Trapshot of Lye they claimed up to 14.5ftlbs dependant on calibre for the 35. I have never seen one do anything like this, 10.5 to 12ftlb yes but a further 2.5ftlbs must have been achieved by lengthening the piston stroke, of course going this far you may as well get an 80. I think thats good advice to smooth them out and be happy with the end result.

I've just bought what will be my third 35 off here and can't wait for it to arrive.

Hi coburn

I think you'll find that when Venom first advertised the HW35 in FAC format there was no HW80 to play with.

The HW35 will easily produce 15 ftlbs with an increased stroke and does so with great accuracy.
Like I posted earlier I have now reduced the stroke on my 35 by 10mm to keep it below 12 ftlbs.

All the best Mick

[coburn]

Yes T20 I remember reading in AGW an article on Venom that Pope and Handcock met tru an airgun club and both had been tuning 35's, pooled their resources and formed Venom.

Out of interest what are the diffences in stroke between a 35 and 80.

[T 20]

Yes T20 I remember reading in AGW an article on Venom that Pope and Handcock met tru an airgun club and both had been tuning 35's, pooled their resources and formed Venom.

Out of interest what are the diffences in stroke between a 35 and 80.

The HW35 with leather washer had a 65mm stroke.
The maximum available stroke length in a standard HW35 is 71mm
The HW80 had a stroke of 83mm.
Some of the early 80's imported were found to be producing 16to17ftlb's as standard.

Looking at those figures it's just occured to me that you get about 1 ftlb for every 5mm of stroke.

The HW80 was mainly intended for the American market were there are no restrictions on power. The HW80 came about due to the collaberation between Dr Robert Beeman and Weihrauch, as did the HW45 pistol.

The earliest reference to Hancock and Pope that I have is a photograph of them from an old Airgunworld, out on a shooting trip with Jim Tyler (BTDT).


All the best Mick

[I. J.]

, out on a shooting trip with Jim Tyler (BTDT).

'With' Jim Tyler or 'after' Jim Tyler - Woaded One shooting.

Thanks for the info on strokes Mick. Very informative for future reference.

ATB
Ian

[T 20]

From what I can gather an easy rifle to work on and consistent once allowed to settle down. However, difficult to guarantee to get a desired result from the work. So smooth them out and live with the result.

Venom used to sell the HW35 in FAC form at 15ftlbs

Norman May found that the HW35 would run at 15ftlbs when they were experimenting on operation Vixen.

To the best of my limited Knowledge on the HW35, all of them had a 30mm cylinder bore and about a 65mm piston stroke, and a 2.8mm transfer port diameter.

From my experiments I found that my 35 will run at 13.5 ftlbs in standard form (65mm stroke) when tuned.
I have now de-stroked this gun down to a 55mm stroke which gives 11.5 ftlbs, the mainspring in this gun has absolutely no preload prior to fitting the trigger housing.


The build quality of the HW35 for a gun designed in 1939 is unbelievable and apart from the breach shims, easy to strip and rebuild.
That's probably why they are still in production, and long may they live.


All the best Mick