Sterling HR 81 0.22" cal.

[Pagoda113]

I was using one of these today. I can`t say I found any great satisfaction from it. Is this another case of the legend being better than reality? I found the trigger to be heavy and sudden; very difficult to avoid snatching. The loading arrangement is fiddly to say the least, with a strong chance of the pellet ending up @rse about face.
I just could not get it to group satisfactorily at all. Compared to an AA Khamsin, or an Airsporter S it was poor. Anybody care to share experiences, or knowledge of how to improve the trigger?

[Gareth W-B]

Hi Pagoda, yes they do take some getting used to, but strangely enough my HR81 Deluxe (walnut) in .22 has a very light trigger indeed which took me by surprise at first, as I kept finding that as I slid the safety off if I wasn't careful, I ended up firing the thing too . Got it sussed now though, as do it all as one fluid movement (flick the safety off with my index finger, then immediately squeeze the trigger with the same finger as it travels back). Also like you, I too experienced problems loading pellets at first, but quickly found that this was because I was using blue tin Ely Wasps (RIP ) which measure 5.6 in diameter. As soon as i switched to H&N Trophy's, loading became a doddle. I will agree that from a practical hands-on point of view there are many better rifles around, but when you buy a Sterling HR81 and/or HR83, you know you are buying a particularly well made and superbly finished rifle, which will put many to shame. And if yours is an original Dagenham made Sterling (as is mine ), the heritage your rifle has is second to none (eg: the Bren gun and Sterling machine gun of WWII fame ). Right then, I've waffled enough. Enjoy the Sterling HR series for what they are -- well engineered, well made and well finished bits of British air gunning history: Gareth W-B.

[redvan]

Good guns, I had one in the early 80's, superb metalwork and general fit and finish, I'm afraid mine only lasted four or five hunting trips, I just could'nt shoot the thing with any accuracy! It took me a few weeks to realise what the problem was,the gun was just too top heavy.

PX'ed it for the then, newly introduced HW77.

[Pagoda113]

Thanks, both, for your comments. There is no safety catch on this one; is a safety catch a "deluxe" feature? This one is engraved PAT PENDING REG DESIGN on the left of the block forward of the cylinder, together with the s.no. 1286. On the right it is engraved in italics STERLING ARMAMENTS LTD. HR 81 CAL .22
After further use I am tightening up the "grouping" , but the trigger pull is just too heavy IMO.

[Gareth W-B]

Thanks, both, for your comments. There is no safety catch on this one; is a safety catch a "deluxe" feature? This one is engraved PAT PENDING REG DESIGN on the left of the block forward of the cylinder, together with the s.no. 1286. On the right it is engraved in italics STERLING ARMAMENTS LTD. HR 81 CAL .22

Hi again, my HR81 has exactly the same set of engraving marks as yours although the actual serial number on mine is in the 3000s, so I deduce that yours is a much earlier example? This in mind, maybe the safety was introduced for the later production run guns, as would not have thought Sterling would re-tool just for the walnut stocked deluxe model? Good Guy kevin.ronnie and Carter59 are the chaps who are best placed to shed any light on the arrival of the Sterling's safety as my offerings are just waffle based calculated speculation.

After further use I am tightening up the "grouping" , but the trigger pull is just too heavy IMO.

Thats the spirit matey, keep shooting it . There must be a way to get your trigger as light as mine is though, and am sure a fellah on here had an original Sterling HR81 hand book for sale a little while back (possibly Lakey, who is another of the many BBS Good guys). If so, maybe he -- or the hand book's new owner if it was sold/moved on -- could send you a photo copy of the trigger mechanism and/or aligned assembly sections which you could then use to service and lighten your trigger? Food for thought? Atb : Gareth W-B.

[Hsing-ee]

The standard trigger is only a two-piece as far as I remember, also it is not a very efficient rifle so it is holding back alot of pressure from the mainspring. The one I had was quite smooth however, and not too bad, about 3 lbs and creepy. There was another mechanism which was more complicated but this proved unreliable and it was ditched for alot of the production run.

At the time you could buy a Feinwerkbau Sport which could run rings around the Sterling for about the same price.

It is a tremendously solid rifle and the blueing was some of the best I've ever seen but the performance was very average. At the time the ideal rifle was seen as being a fixed-barrel rifle with a direct loading port and full power but the Sterling just didn't make the grade. The HW77 made it look like a complete loser and outshone it blindingly. Of course the 77 later held off some much more sophisticated designs from BSA, Webley and Original, so its in good company ...

[RichardH]

Guys walnut stocked and safety catched "HR81's" are actually HR83's

The actions were never stamped HR83

Worth more too

Richard

[Gareth W-B]

Guys walnut stocked and safety catched "HR81's" are actually HR83's

The actions were never stamped HR83

Worth more too

Richard

Hmmm, I thought that for a while but after a lengthy and informative thread discovered that it wasn't, as the HR83 looks quite different in many main areas whereas The HR81 walnut deluxe is identical to the standard HR81 in every way except stock. Have copied a link to the thread in question below (with photos), but know exactly where you were coming from on this . Atb: Gareth W-B.

http://www.airgunbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=185778

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