Weihrauch HW35

[Duggan]

Thanks guys for all the good advice and encouragement. I took them down to the range last night to have a try out. The smaller one probably took more than twice the effort to cock than the longer one. The smaller one was audibly much louder as well, the scope wasnt do good on it so I will change it. Anyway on the Chrono it was doing 7.2fllbs, my thoughts are that its probably had a stronger spring fitted at some time, now sonething is leaking inside and needs to be sorted.

The longer Export version cocked as smooth as silk and was very accurate after zeroing in the scope, it was doing 10.9 ftllbs. I'm just going to leave as, except for perhaps a clean and lube as its good for me.

One thing I noticed was that the serial number was not on the barrel, it was towards the back of the action. Anyway checked the numbers and they were made in 76 and 1977. Forty year old guns that i'm going to enjoy using.

Cheers

[TonyL]

Thanks guys for all the good advice and encouragement. I took them down to the range last night to have a try out. The smaller one probably took more than twice the effort to cock than the longer one. The smaller one was audibly much louder as well, the scope wasnt do good on it so I will change it. Anyway on the Chrono it was doing 7.2fllbs, my thoughts are that its probably had a stronger spring fitted at some time, now sonething is leaking inside and needs to be sorted.

The longer Export version cocked as smooth as silk and was very accurate after zeroing in the scope, it was doing 10.9 ftllbs. I'm just going to leave as, except for perhaps a clean and lube as its good for me.


Cheers

As you say, a clean and lube should see the Export done nicely and you'll know all is good in there for years to come.

Careful with the other one! The low power could be down to a number of factors....leaky breech or piston seal, the leaky breech syndrome, weak spring, overtight piston seal etc.....

One possibility (as daft as it sounds) could be that it's actually OVERSPRUNG, so proceed with caution when stripping, just in case, and maybe with the help of a spring compressor?

The high cocking effort may be explained by the above or spring too tight on the guide / inside of piston, a tight piston seal and possibly the cocking lever rubbing against the cylinder or bridge. And, of course, a shorter barrel will give less leverage, but only you know how much difference can be felt.

Have fun tinkering!

[I. J.]

Forty year old guns that i'm going to enjoy using.

Cheers

Forty years old and yes, there is probably newer guns that will out perform it but will they do it with such great character?

Have fun tinkering!

Thats the beauty of the '35. Three bolts and the stock is off. Two pins the trigger unit is out then just the end block to unscrew. It couldn't be simpler. The fiddlers dream.

I bought a very tatty '35 had it reblued, new (s/h) stock, re-lubed etc. and when it came to shooting it I noticed it was over sprung and not nice to shoot. Reducing the spring in stages improved power. When it was at its peak I sealed the cylinder and got another 2 ft/lbs m e. Its now doing 11.7 in .22 with NO spring pre-load. Looks and shoots lovely to.

ATB
Ian

[TonyL]

Forty years old and yes, there is probably newer guns that will out perform it but will they do it with such great character?



Thats the beauty of the '35. Three bolts and the stock is off. Two pins the trigger unit is out then just the end block to unscrew. It couldn't be simpler. The fiddlers dream.

I bought a very tatty '35 had it reblued, new (s/h) stock, re-lubed etc. and when it came to shooting it I noticed it was over sprung and not nice to shoot. Reducing the spring in stages improved power. When it was at its peak I sealed the cylinder and got another 2 ft/lbs m e. Its now doing 11.7 in .22 with NO spring pre-load. Looks and shoots lovely to.

ATB
Ian

Absolutely. They can shoot so beautifully and accurately and that manual breech lock still instills SO much confidence.

Ian, one of mine is even easier and quicker to strip.

I bought it back in 2008 and it's a proper old nail cosmetically. This old (pre safety) war dog cost me the princely sum of £30. The stock is dull and matt but has beautiful grain. All the metalwork has that dull hue of browny patina. The night I went to collect it I noticed that the "breech seal" was a sticky, gungy mess. I've known the chap I bought it from for years and said, "What's that?" "Oh, it's probably a Fruit Pastille!" Came the reply. And he wasn't joking!

I duly ordered some new breech shims, breech seal and new "standard" spring. When they arrived, I noticed that the spring was a Titan. I rang the shop (now closed down) and asked why they'd sent a Titan and he said that they didn't have any genuine ones. Anyways, I decided to proceed. That Titan, predictably, had to be shortened. At first glance the old (I guess original) piston seal seemed okay, but on closer inspection it needed replacing. I made a few enquiries and was told that Mr Knibbs would be the man. I ordered the seal which arrived very promptly, but that turned out to be an adaptor and synthetic seal, with card receipt for around £20 (I think) rather than the £8 or £9 I was told for the leather one. Couldn't be bothered to kick off.

The easy to strip bit? Well, the old girl has a bit of wear on the end block or threads, so you can just unscrew the end block by hand with the trigger unit in place. How convenient!

Back in 2010, when ordering a V-Mach kit for another of my rifles, I asked Steve for a nice, low power spring and guide set for the 35. Wow; this made it so sweet and smooth (and not "lazy") and the thing hardly moves on firing. So, so accurate and easy to get to accuracy, too.

Now, I didn't chrono it with the Titan. It's doing 7ft.lbs with the V-Mach spring. It may well have the leaky breech issue but, to be fair, I have lots more other "full power" guns and I only use this on open sights at home, that it's simply a non-issue and I value the sweet shooting charcteristics over anything else. Open sights and the "tired" look give it the aura of an old vintage rifle for me, so that's how she's staying.

As you've mentioned, there is no static preload on the spring, so it's off with the stock, unscrew the end block and you're in.

I LOVE this rifle.

[I. J.]

'The easy to strip bit? Well, the old girl has a bit of wear on the end block or threads, so you can just unscrew the end block by hand with the trigger unit in place. How convenient!'

Ive seen this on a couple of '35 and once had a '80 that could do the same. Stripping the spring out was a 5 minute job.

[TonyL]

With barrel and piston removal just a minute's twiddle with a screwdriver away.