Why was the Webley Viscount such a flop?

[MDriskill]

Neither here more there I suppose...but there was a nice article by a Swedish author in “Airgun World” in the early 90’s, about the popularity of Webleys in Scandinavia. English airguns apparently out-sold German ones by a healthy margin there (durability and finish quality being considered particular points of superiority), which I found interesting as the latest-and-greatest HW and FWB sporters were of course all the rage in the contemporary press.

The Tracker and Viscount were particularly popular in Sweden. I’ve always wondered how the numbers sold there compared to the UK, and which of the two sold better.

[Thegreg]

That’s a really excellent question! The Viscount had to be one of the best-looking air rifles of all time...lovely lines, nice stock detailing, fantastic fit and finish on the metal bits, great size and balance. Also rather quieter to shoot that the Tracker thanks to the longer barrel, all in all one of my favorite modern Webleys. I owned a walnut-stocked one briefly and it is amongst the rifles I most regret selling!

Note that the “Viscount” name died before the long barrel did, however. I’ve seen several guns labeled “Tracker” with the long barrel at gun shows here in the US. No doubt the carbine was much more popular, yet there may be more examples of the long-barreled version of that action out there than you think.

Dis many make their way to the US which weren't relabelled as Barnett? I've always wondered what sort of number of Webley's went to the US.

I have a Webley catalogue from the late 80's/early 90's which does actually show the Viscount and "standard barrel" Tracker side by side, so they didn't just drop the Viscount name. It says the standard Tracker has a barrel length of 17.5" and the Viscount 18.5". Who would buy the Viscount though to gain 1" of barrel length?

Neither here more there I suppose...but there was a nice article by a Swedish author in “Airgun World” in the early 90’s, about the popularity of Webleys in Scandinavia. English airguns apparently out-sold German ones by a healthy margin there (durability and finish quality being considered particular points of superiority), which I found interesting as the latest-and-greatest HW and FWB sporters were of course all the rage in the contemporary press.

The Tracker and Viscount were particularly popular in Sweden. I’ve always wondered how the numbers sold there compared to the UK, and which of the two sold better.

I have read somewhere as many as 75% of Trackers were exported to Sweden, and I believe it was partially due to their 550fps(?) limit, which made it one of the few British guns that they could legally import.

Cheers
Greg

[MDriskill]

Dis many make their way to the US which weren't relabelled as Barnett? I've always wondered what sort of number of Webley's went to the US.

I have a Webley catalogue from the late 80's/early 90's which does actually show the Viscount and "standard barrel" Tracker side by side, so they didn't just drop the Viscount name. It says the standard Tracker has a barrel length of 17.5" and the Viscount 18.5". Who would buy the Viscount though to gain 1" of barrel length.

I have read somewhere as many as 75% of Trackers were exported to Sweden, and I believe it was partially due to their 550fps(?) limit, which made it one of the few British guns that they could legally import.

Cheers
Greg

A few smaller dealers brought the Tracker in, such as Great Lakes Airguns in upstate New York, but none of the bigger importers, so one sees only a few Webley-marked sidelevers here.

They came a bit too late for Air Rifle Headquarters to handle (stopped trading early 80’s). Beeman imported the Osprey in his early days, but never the Tracker/Viscount. By then he was promoting the HW 77, and had added some rather nasty anti-taploader verbiage to his famous catalogs. One of the guns I most regret selling was a late UK-market Tracker with the nice wide curved trigger blade, have never seen another here. My current example is a “Barnett Spitfire.”

I did not know that about the Viscount vs. “standard Tracker” barrel lengths! Very interesting indeed. I do recall the Viscount I had as seeming quite long, now that you mention it, but did not get the same impression from the two standard Trackers I have handled. Even a small dimensional difference can be quite noticeable sometimes.

The “Airgun World” article did mention the Swedish velocity restriction (I think it was 600 FPS but not sure without looking it up). The law restricted only speed and not energy though, so as you can imagine .22 and .25 were the dominant calibers there at the time.

[Thegreg]

A few smaller dealers brought the Tracker in, such as Great Lakes Airguns in upstate New York, but none of the bigger importers, so one sees only a few Webley-marked sidelevers here.

They came a bit too late for Air Rifle Headquarters to handle (stopped trading early 80’s). Beeman imported the Osprey in his early days, but never the Tracker/Viscount. By then he was promoting the HW 77, and had added some rather nasty anti-taploader verbiage to his famous catalogs. One of the guns I most regret selling was a late UK-market Tracker with the nice wide curved trigger blade, have never seen another here. My current example is a “Barnett Spitfire.”

I did not know that about the Viscount vs. “standard Tracker” barrel lengths! Very interesting indeed. I do recall the Viscount I had as seeming quite long, now that you mention it, but did not get the same impression from the two standard Trackers I have handled. Even a small dimensional difference can be quite noticeable sometimes.

The “Airgun World” article did mention the Swedish velocity restriction (I think it was 600 FPS but not sure without looking it up). The law restricted only speed and not energy though, so as you can imagine .22 and .25 were the dominant calibers there at the time.

That curved trigger blade was a nice upgrade from the ones fitted to the earlier models. Better still, the "2 stage" (not a true 2 stage) trigger unit fitted to the Stingray/Xocet can be retrofitted to the Tracker for a much nicer feel.

To be honest I have never seen a long (standard) barrel Tracker in the flesh (and I've had a LOT of Tracker's!) and only ever remember seeing one or two advertised. It's odd that they'd market 2 guns which except for an inch of barrel length, were identical. Maybe that year they were trying to clear old stock. Good old Webley.

Cheers
Greg

[45flint]

I see a lot of love here but I really dislike the look of a side-lever, though I realize Diana has made theirs for a long time successfully. Ruins the lines of a rifle.

[bill57]

Ruins the lines of a rifle.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Sidelevers allow for a very slim forend which (to me) enhances the lines of the rifle. Pity some manufacturers don't take more advantage of it.

[Jerry Cornelius]

I see a lot of love here but I really dislike the look of a side-lever, though I realize Diana has made theirs for a long time successfully. Ruins the lines of a rifle.

A Tracker was the first air rifle I ever owned. Still got it going on 35 years later

To my eye it’s got a slightly 80s look but then so did Michelle Pfeiffer and it didn’t do her any harm

[45flint]

A Tracker was the first air rifle I ever owned. Still got it going on 35 years later

To my eye it’s got a slightly 80s look but then so did Michelle Pfeiffer and it didn’t do her any harm

I think there is a reason Air Arms doesn’t have a side lever? But have to agree on Michelle.