FEINWERKBAU SPORT and the ANSCHUTZ 335

[Hsing-ee]

Is a tuned 335 a match for the Feinwerkbau Sport?

I think it a shame that the Sport did not have the breech arrangement and trigger of the 335. Or maybe that Anschutz did not make their 335 to the same extreme quality as the Sport.

How do they square up to eachother? And NO, I don't want a lecture on the Wubbly Omega-3.

[mallyally]

it would probably be a good match for accuracy but i dont think the anshutz could compete in the power stakes (without seriously shortening its working life )
and the OMEGA is no better than the VULCAN it replaced IMO ( with its slab of PTFE for a piston washer )

[I. J.]

and the OMEGA is no better than the VULCAN it replaced IMO ( with its slab of PTFE for a piston washer )

But with a barrel locking catch, an adjustable breech bolt instead of the downfall of the British break barrel airgun A PIN scope arrestor grooves and a resettable auto safety catch!

Personally I would be hard pressed to decide between the 335, the 'Sport and the Omega. The 335 looses out on its lack of power (who wants to kill dustbins? ) but also on looks (too square) and its weakness is the stock mounting lugs which have a known habit of breaking at the welds.
On looks alone I think the Omega and the 'Sport are both great looking rifles. In standard performance, 'out of the box' and un tuned, the Omega has the edge but once tuned with a shorter spring, which doesn't loose any performance, the 'Sport takes it.
Saying that. The gas rammed Omega I have is something else. Several people who have shot it cant understand why Webley didn't put it into production. Now that rifle does beat the FWB offering.

Just my opinion.

ATB
Ian

[hwvixen]

There's only one way to sort this out........

[Mike95]

I think we have all probably been "seduced" by one or other airguns of wonderful reputation! I spent years looking for a really good Sharp Innova in .177 and having found one I found it to be a very good gun but it does not hold a candle to my 1980 vintage Model C Sheridan Silver Streak in .20 calibre which would have cost a fraction of the price of the Sharp.

I failed to get a very nice FWB 127 in an auction recently...but now I don't feel so let down!

Mike95

[Garvin]

I can't comment on the comparison with the 335 (or Omega) because I'm not familiar with those rifles. But I would say to Gareth that a 124 without a tune and one with a tune are two very different animals, (as Ian just hinted at). While an untuned 124 can be a bit harsh on the recoil, a Bowkett-tuned (or a properly lubed Maccari) 124 gives only a gentle nudge that makes you think the power must be about 6ft/lbs. But on the chrono it's 11.7.

[Mike95]

I suggest that the HW55 must be a serious contender when considering quality break barrels. Does not have huge power but at 7ft/lbs shoots with virtually no recoil and the build quality is superb. I have been tempted to put in the HW50 spring and increase power but I would hate to lose the smoothness. I did own an Anschutz 335 target which was a very fine break barrel...after the stock lugs had been welded back! I will keep the FWB and the Omega on my wish list.

Mike95

[craigy]

ive got a fienwerkbau sport 127 gettin fixed at the moment wasmy first air rifle when i was 14 m7y dad got it me not realising that it was abit saufght after when in mint condition i think hepayed about 40 pound for it.

[Gareth W-B]

and the OMEGA is no better than the VULCAN it replaced IMO ( with its slab of PTFE for a piston washer )

The Omega didn't replace the Vulcan, it sat alongside it in the Webley range as the top of the tree option. Had an Anschutz LG335 and an Omega carbine when my first FWB Sport landed (a 127) which I loved, but being seduced by all the hype surrounding the Sport 124, sold it (shame), and bought a sorted FWB Sport 124. This was a nice .177 rifle true, but I did a Pepsi challenge and tbh I found it to be no better than my Omega, and not as smooth as my LG335, so moved it on to free the funds again for another Sport 127.

Okay, so the Arnie only does 10ft.lb, but it is soooo much smoother than the Sport 124 which was/is imho, a highly over rated rifle as is only as good as -- not better than -- the aforementioned Omega or Arnie LG335 in .177. Sports look better though, granted, and (again imho) the Sport 124 and 127 are visually the sexiest production run break-barrel air rifles ever produced (and the 127 the best all-round break-barrel .22 to shoot, too ). Atb: G.

[look no hands]

That's what I love about you Gareth, not afraid to tell it how it is and give your opinion, I can't comment on either of the rifles mentioned as I've never shot either but I have owned a Omega and thought that it was a very good rifle and trigger for the time (when it was first produced) and yes you are right about it being the bigger brother to the Vulcan, it was the Stingray that replaced the Vulcan.

Pete

[Gareth W-B]

That's what I love about you Gareth, not afraid to tell it how it is and give your opinion ...

Cheers Pete, cheque is in the post . Yep, it's a 'big-up' for the Omega here, as imo it is equally as good in .177 as an FWB Sport 124, and maybe (just maybe) marginally superior . Coupled with the fact that it is British and (again imo) the best standard production line break barrel rifle Birmingham ever produced, the Webley Omega for me, really is the top of the springer tree . Atb: G.

[slug-gun]

I was going to stay out of this thread, however I find I cannot resist putting my oar in, albeit at the risk of being controversial!
I bought 4 or 5 FWB Sports in the late 70's and early 80's, the best being the Mk.1's of course because they had much better wood, even though it was still beech, and they were without the awful muzzle brake that came later.
I agree with all the comments re performance & style etc, and all my Sports were taken apart, tuned and generally bug***ed around with, all of which made me very happy at the time.
I kept my best Sport and used it throughout the 80's, as it did indeed better the Anschutz overall, and certainly the HW35, both great guns but the Sport had the edge, probably because they look so elegant and are so eay to cock, all of which has been said.
THEN, the Theoben Sirocco came along in its 1990 format, with the safety catch set within the trigger guard, its .177 Anschutz barrel, fantastic quality walnut stock made for 'scope use, and fixed mounts. The breech block was far longer than on a Sport to give mazimum rigidity at the breech, and the detent made the ball bearing of the Sport look puny!
The main difference of course was the way it shot - short and quick, over in a flash, not the slightest hint of twang or zing, which even the best tuned Sports must exhibit.
Best of all was the accuracy: Using the early Crosman domes of the time (before Premiers) it would shoot 1 1/4" 5 shot groups at 63 yeards using a period 4 x 40 Tasco scope.
My good old Sport could never do that, so end of story for me. The Siroccos were of course massively more expensive but you usually only get what you pay for.
Then two years later along came the Theoben Imperator .177 FT, and that represented the same quantum leap forward from the Sirocco, as that rifle had been from the 'Sport, but that's another story.
So to answer the question, which is best, the FWB or the Anshutz, the winner is as 'Top Gear' might say, the Theoben Sirocco!

[BTDT]

So to answer the question, which is best, the FWB or the Anshutz, the winner is as 'Top Gear' might say, the Theoben Sirocco!

Stone him! He said 'Theoben Sirocco'

If we're going to open up the field, I'd say my RWS 45, breathed on by Airmasters, was a match for anything pre-HW77 and, while it equalled the '77 for accuracy, the '77 won on its minimal discharge movement (recoil).

[I. J.]

Stone him! He said 'Theoben Sirocco'

Totally agree. How dare someone come into this section and be controversial! They will be giving opinions next and we all know where that can lead.

But this does bring up the age old quandary - what calibre stones?
Do you use the larger Nori house brick with its sharp edges or go for speed and use smaller, but smoother pebbles.

I admit to never actually owing a Theoben gas ram. The nearest Ive come to it is a prototype Omega that shoots better than any of the Theobens I have had a go with in the past. Ive seen inside a few and wasn't really impressed for the money. Parts bin engineering - Webley this, BSA that and their after market service is renown.

Now THAT is controversial.
[Stands back and awaits a deluge of Noris.]



ATB
Ian

[Hsing-ee]

[QUOTE=BTDT;3192374If we're going to open up the field, I'd say my RWS 45, breathed on by Airmasters, was a match for anything pre-HW77 and, while it equalled the '77 for accuracy, the '77 won on its minimal discharge movement (recoil).[/QUOTE]

Did it keep the leather piston-washer?