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Venom Conversions. Trapshot . Lye.
1981 - 1984.
HW80 Hunter, Sporter, Varminter. HW35 Super Venom Conversion.
Tune sticker - Well not a sticker but a little brass disc with venom engraved on it. Inserted in the stock towards butt pad
Venom Arms Company. Gun Barrel works. Halesowen. 24/03/1984 - 1995.
Venom 77/80 Varminter, Webley Victor Junior competition, Bavaria BSF 55, Original Custom Hunter 45, Venomega Hunter, Omega Varminter, 77/80 Vantage, Venom custom 85, 77 Trophy, 52 Trophy, 52 Lazer custom, 52 Bullpup, Venom Theoben Scout, Venom Mach 1, Venom Lazer 77, Bullpup daystate / Sharp Innova, Webley Eclipse Trophy, 77 FTX, Shamal Trophy, Venom Mach 2, Daystate Trophy, Venom Viper Innova, 77 Hunter Magnum, HW85 Sidewinder, Venom TDR Excel, Venom Snipe, Venom Super Snipe, Excel Nighthawk, 95 Shadow, TX200 SR Trophy, Venom Scout.
Tune Sticker. Venom old English font & lazaglide in old English font.
Lazaglide stickers started appearing around early 87 when the tune came available to customers.
Venomac Sports. Mucklow Hill. Halesowen.
01/08/1995 - 1999.
TX200 Ranger, 77 Mamba, Excel nighthawk, HW80 Lazahunter, 97 / 95 Lazahunter, Venomac 95 Stinger, Maglaza Hunter 80/97, 80 bull barrel hunter, 95 custom varminter, Venomac Phantom (Daystate MK2)
Tune sticker. Venomac old English font & lazaglide sticker.
Webley Venom Custom Shop. Frankly.
02/1999 - 23/12/2005.
HW80 Hunter, 77/97 Hunter, 95 Sporter, 95 Hornet - 20 cal only, Prosport black magic, Vulcanised vantage, Axsor SK Hunter, Viper, Viper V8, Super Viper, Tomahawk - Sidewinder, Varminter, Cobra, Xocet Varminter, FX2000 Varminter, Longbow - Sidewinder Compact.
Tune sticker. Twin Cobra's
V-Mach Custom Rifles Ltd. Stourbridge.
/02/2006 - 26/11/2020
VM3 - VM3R
Emma's Dad
It had the original leather piston seal with it and the tp was at 4mm. I sleeved it down to 2.8mm and put a modern piston it it (still got the original) . What I was later told was a giveaway was that the trigger block had a steel guide threaded into it but I had already removed it and replaced it with a delrin one.Originally Posted by Mach 1.5
Last edited by gtfreight; 18-03-2023 at 08:53 PM.
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Absolutely. There have been a lot worse examples too, these were just the first few I found in my work photo bank - but the fact that it appears on very sought after woodwork in the air rifle world, makes it acceptable somehow.
If I put this standard of work on even a mid range shotgun or full bore stock, it would be returned accompanied by some colourful language - and rightly so.
Last edited by Craig-P; 19-03-2023 at 07:47 AM.
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Hi Craig, there is no doubt that the chequering work that you are doing just keeps on getting better and better as you hone your craft which is great to see. I think it’s brilliant that we now have you in our air rifle community that is significantly improving upon the Venom boys work and actually highlighting where you make the difference and improvements. What I was actually referring to in my original post is that people copy the distinctive Venom ‘W’ pattern onto replicas of the original Venom stocks. I can only think that at some point people will be deceived into thinking that they have something originally made and designed by the Venom team, only to find out that they have a facsimile.I'm not sure I agree with the chequering comment. I've had dozens of of original Venom Arms stocks through here for refurbishment or repair one the years and the 'original chequering', especially that done at CS when they used powered chequering tools, has been at best, abysmal. If I wanted to replicate that I'd get stuck into a bottle of whisky before I commenced..
Even some of the later, hand cut work that was done at Webley Venom, (of which one of the guys who used to do it is a friend of mine and have a couple of his cutters here, so I'll choose my words carefully), hasn't been brilliant. A few examples of both can be seen here:
Multipoint chequering patterns which appear on Venom stocks are just that, there's nothing 'Venom' about this pattern as the design spans decades on shotgun and full bore stocks. It's impossible not to 'replicate it', when laying out certain patterns on certain stock areas.
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I remember on a trip to Venom in the early 80's, Ivan showed me a black piston seal they were experimenting with.
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Black piston seal!! Every day is an education. I'll ask Mr Hancock about these when I catch up with him next. Mach 1.5
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I've got one here, mate ( well, the remains of one ) - black/grey colour, as mentioned in my other post. I'll bring it with me for our road trip.
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Oh there are definitely some moonlighters around mate. There are some very surprising names in certain order books...
When I was managing Don's workload, the amount of requests for, 'Venom Custom' to be engraved to an action was staggering. Some were even sent with photographs and strict briefs of original actions to mimic...
This is why whenever I chequer a 'replica' stock for a customer, I post photographs on various sites listing it clearly as a 'Venom ( or other ) style' stock. This way if anyone wants to research the heritage, they can see exactly what they're buying. It's not the fact these new stocks are any cheaper to buy - and in some ways they can be superior to the originals - but it's only fair to make sure people know the exact details.
Best, Craig
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There was also the HW55T they did, and the BSA Mercury, whilst they must have done a few HW55's, I don't expect they did more than the one Mercury used in the postcard ad I have!
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Names above are for their custom rifles. The tuned HW55T and Mercury were never given a name hence not on the list. I've owned both the ones you mentioned and still own the 55T . The team also did a few BSA scorpion pistols but these were done for the members of the Venom Pistol & Rifle club.Mach 1.5
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You're a mine of information, mate. Do you know to any of those Scorpion pistols still in existence?
My best mate had one when we were kids ( bog standard but complete with the wire shoulder stock ). I thought it was the coolest carbine in the world
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Not too long before Venom closed their doors I was able to order up a pair of rifles to be tuned. One was a Pro Sport and one was a Pro Elite both in FAC format. Thanks to a fine British gent I was able to have the rifles shipped straight from the Air Arms factory to the custom shop before the long journey across the ocean. I ordered both with factory walnut stocks but received a phone call a few days later saying Air Arms did not offer the walnut stock any longer on the Pro Elite rifle. He offered me two options. The first was just take the factory beech stock or go to option two. He was a friend of Ivan and had already phoned him and Ivan offered to build a walnut custom if I so wanted. Didn't take me long to take him up on that offer. Steve Pope did the internal work on both rifles. Several months later they made it across the ocean in perfect condition. Ivan used a very nice piece of walnut and the checkering pattern is like the one shown above. However the checkering is very nicely executed on mine. My rifles came with the twin Cobra decals on the compression tube as well as fancy hang tags with gold thread and a paper medallion with "custom shop" printed on it. A nice note signed by Steve Pope was also included as well as a before and after chrono sheet printed out on both rifles.
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Pretty sure I have one. Excellent blueing, venom style slimfit silencer, very smooth, wire shoulder stock with wooden cheek piece and classic red recoil pad. A very nice carbine it is. Have it fitted with a quality red dot. No Venom sticker etc so not sure how to authenticate it (without taking apart). I’ve had all the Scorpion variants, but this is something else.You're a mine of information, mate. Do you know to any of those Scorpion pistols still in existence?
My best mate had one when we were kids ( bog standard but complete with the wire shoulder stock ). I thought it was the coolest carbine in the world
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A photograph of that whenever you get a minute would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks, Craig
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The venom scorpion was only done initially for the members of the Venom rifle & pistol club. To my knowledge only four where made but I dare say the conversion would have been offered to customers at a later date . 22 cal only, Silencer, tuned and reworked 77 open sights fitted. The shoulder stock you mention maybe have been a sportsmatch as they did these for the pistol in 1983. I do know to one pistol still owned by an old club member so I will try to get a pic.
Mach 1.5
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