Feinwerkbau P70 FT

I acquired this gun to replace my Protarget (see other review) in late 2005. Sadly at this time I was still recovering from a rather serious mental illness (I wish I were joking) and I didn’t really get to grips with the gun until the spring of this, sorry last, year when I began to feel much better.

My P70FT looks rather unusual; it’s black and silver with an ‘over the wrist’ (behind the pistol grip) alloy stock rather than the standard red or blue one that goes under the wrist. It looks very much like one of the new P700s, I have been in touch with FWB, primarily to get an instruction manual, who told me that they never made a black P70FT, but I’ve got about 11lbs of metal that says that they did! (it is even marked P70FT, not P70 so it’s not an aftermarket conversion of a 10m gun.) This is all rather by-the-by as I’m sure that the action is the same as the regular red/blue model. I purchased the gun with an Air Arms quick fill fitted, the same as that on the Protarget.

My initial impression was that it handled like a barge, very front heavy and cumbersome but there was no doubting the pure accuracy of the machine or the quality of the trigger. The firing cycle of the gun seemed quicker and smoother than the Protarget and it was less reactive on the shot. Initial results with 4.52 JSB exacts were so good that I’m still yet to try an alternative round. Groups average out at about 11mm on my club’s indoor 50 yard range, with several smaller groups, including a 7mm C-C 10 shotter – perhaps the best group I’ve ever shot.

From early spring it became clear that there was some sort of problem with the weapon, every time I came to shoot I would have to re-zero. I squarely blamed the gun and had Roger Moy examine the thing in great detail, he shimmed various bits and pieces and removed the grub screw in the barrel support that oddly shoves the barrel up and to the left; he replaced this with another shim. The gun was also full of grease, this was all removed and the gun became far more velocity consistent, before this it would vary by as much as 40 fps depending on temperature. I became very suspicious of the way the action is mounted in the chassis; it has a bolt each side at the rear and without the front barrel support pivots on these bolts like a see-saw, the action effectively dangles from the barrel, very weird. I only very briefly tried a different scope, time would show that I should have pursued this avenue rather more assiduously. I had been using the same Tasco Custom Shop since 1994 and regarded it as above reproach…..

The gun proceeded to drive me crazy all summer, indeed I may well have lost my AA grading; I just don’t want to check! Despite consistently shooting fantastic groups my results in competition were very, very average, with a constant struggle to hold zero from one moment to the next. From using a gun I never had to think about (the PT) I found myself lumbered with a seemingly impossible puzzle. The little allen key that I used to reset my turrets seemed to be my constant, unwelcome, shooting companion.

The mist only started to clear when I bought another old Protarget, which was locally known to be as reliable as a Toyota (which I stuck the same Custom Shop on) to be confronted with the same problems. At the same time I leant the P70 to a friend who shot it for 3 or 4 weeks and declared that the FWB was the most accurate thing he had ever laid hands on – he even used it in competition in preference to his own rifle.

It turns out the elevation turret was knackered on the CS; indeed in one winter league round in November (on a very windy day) I missed one target out to 40 yards and hit one past 40 yards, 40 yards is my zero range – in dialing up the turret wouldn’t track, dialing down it was OK, this only hit me a few days later. I had used the CS for years on my old PT cranked hard down – I must have crushed the spring under the erector tube. It took me so long to realize because 90% of my practice is shooting solely at a fixed range of 50 yards. (By the way I have found a place with a complete range of spares for CS scopes, abousa inc. in Miami, I’ve sent mine off to be fixed I’ll let you know what sort of job they do, apparently they will fix any scope. Plus the receptionist sounds like Beyonce!)

So moving on, after my scope revelation I purchased a 32x Hakko from the one known as ‘Sniper-wolf’ on here (good honest deal). I zeroed it on the P70 on my indoor range on a Wednesday night and roughly marked some ranges on it. The next Sunday saw me at the next round of the winter league, very windy but immediately it was clear that the gun was spot-on for height. I won, the first time I had used the new scope outdoors. So the P70 was not totally to blame, and may not be to blame at all. I haven’t used the gun since the start of the month as I’m at sea (so I have lots of time to write reviews like this, I’ve also made a laminate target stock for my S400 out here; a total rip-off of the Dominator wooden stock, I hope I get it through the airport, it’s a cracker!)

I’ve added a lead weight to the back of the gun to bring the balance point back a bit, as I’ve yet to investigate whether the heavy-looking steel shroud can be replaced. Even if that’s possible machining new dovetails in a replacement alloy job would not be easy, certainly not a job for a dremel!. Many people don’t like the white plastic breach lever, I don’t really give a stuff about that, but I do like the cocking ‘ears’ (ambidextrous like the PT). Some people don’t like the fact that it has a rather long barrel, I’ve calculated that a barrel 8 cms longer results in an additional barrel time of 0.34 milliseconds (that’s 0.34 of one one thousandth of a second) at 770 fps – this will not keep me awake at night.

The low volume of the regulator means that it runs at a very high pressure, the power drops off at about 125 bar, most regulated guns will shoot down to about 105, or even slightly less. I charge to 200 bar and to be honest I’ve never calculated how many shots it gives, my guess would be perhaps about 75-80, which I suppose is enough.


I did visit Dave Welham a couple of months ago, on my way home after working in London for a few days. He described the P70 as a ‘Meccano set’ rifle, lots of separate components which will always struggle for absolute consistency. He may have a point but I hope he’s wrong. I suppose he does have Anschutz’s to sell after all! The 8002 he showed me did seem rather nice though.

The P70 cannot be a bad gun; it has won heaps of 10m medals, almost certainly more than any other rifle over the last 9 years or so, though maybe some of the design elements (especially the low volume regulator) mean that it is perhaps less naturally suited to higher power outputs. Styer’s and Anschutz also have a compensator; I’m not sure whether Walther’s do, the 10m FWB has one but this is removed on the high-output FT model. My P70 is hardly a bucking bronco though, it seems as dead as a doornail to me.

FWB are a natural first choice for the 10m game and I’m surprised P70FTs are not more popular, I suppose they are rather expensive (I think they come in at about £1350) but when you are looking at spending north of £900 anyway does a couple of hundred more really matter? In some ways the gun is an enigma, and I quite like having something a little different.

They are undoubtedly a big heavy lump, especially with the ridiculous telescopes that we put on the things. I’m six foot and strongly built and I’m very glad it isn’t any heavier; it’s certainly not a gun for a junior, a lady (anyway one who can be identified as such from more than five yards) or even the smaller gentleman. It also lacks a well-known specialist fettler, there is that chap Mr. Preston who does the Styer’s, Mr Hancox molests Walther’s Mr. Welham could certainly fix an Anschutz in the dark and you can probably get Protargets fixed up at a keycutters. I don’t know of any person that the P70 owner can go running to in a time of deep crisis.

If (as appears to be the case) it’s been the scope that’s caused all these problems then the FWB may be a fantastic gun; I cannot conceive that anything could be more accurate, if it proves to be reliable then I won’t be looking for another competition rifle. It’s really started to grow on me, perhaps its guilt - I’ve said some pretty harsh things about it to anyone who would listen, and even some who wouldn’t! Towards the end of that winter league round I just started smiling to myself – it was the first time I’d shot the gun without clenched buttocks, waiting for some inexplicable miss!

Best Regards

Simon