Thoughts on 13ft/lbs Webley Tracker

[capt hindsight]

I spoke to one of my local rfd's (geof wilsons in Carlisle) who I know quite well. He had done some repair work on a tracker, he fitted an OX spring but didn't have the correct seal to hand.

Instead he found a diaphragm seal that would fit and he reckons when he chronyed it was shooting way over 13ft/lbs. He ended up removing the piston weight to drop it just under 12 ft/lbs. Since then he has been asked by a couple of other customers who own trackers to do their guns.

Certainly sounds like a big power jump, anyone else tried similar in a Tracker?

[oliver13]

It's not that difficult to break the 12ftlb limit, but it is difficult to to it accurately. If he'd got it up to 20+ftlbs then that would be of note, but just fitting a hot spring & a good seal doesn't quite cut it.
I do it quite often & go 'B**ger@, & back things off.

[hwtyger]

Ox spring are usually terrible to shoot.
Ditch it, fit original spring or venom kit or ram and it'll be much sweeter to shoot

[fatttmannn]

Has the guys say it isnt all that difficult to break the limit, however it then becomes an Illegal weapon so whats the point Most Trackers I have used work best at 10.5 ftlbs in .22, my own Viscount is .22 and nudges 10.5 with Air Arms domes. I have more powerful springers but I beleve Accuracey is way more important and a gun designded for under 12 ftlbs works better at that level, if you need more get a Fac first.

[capt hindsight]

Cheers for the replies, I've heard it lots but how come ox springs have such a bad reputation compared to others - I've never heard a good word about them!

Just to be clear this isn't my gun its someone else's and being worked on by a rfd who is also a life long gun smith - I'll ask him about the ox springs though, maybe the customer bought it first and the rfd has just fitted it.

Oh and just in case I did want a fac tracker, (not that I do) I already have a ticket

So 10.5 ft/lbs is a sweet spot for them then?

That's interesting as Welsh Willy set my BSA Stutzen at 10.5 and that shoots lovely. I'll chrony the tracker I've just got today and see what its producing.

Fattman - what had been done to the Trackers to get them at 10.5, v-mach kit?

[RichardH]

Ox springs are just springs, in the right application they are as good as everything else.

It's worth remembering that the early Venom guns sometimes used them with other mods with excellent results

The problems come when some dipstick shoehorns a massive spring into an airsporter, makes no other changes and is surprised when it doesn't magically tune itself but tears itself apart instead.

[junglie]

Ox springs are just springs, in the right application they are as good as everything else.

It's worth remembering that the early Venom guns sometimes used them with other mods with excellent results

The problems come when some dipstick shoehorns a massive spring into an airsporter, makes no other changes and is surprised when it doesn't magically tune itself but tears itself apart instead.

This is true, I shortened many guns ox springs that were brought to me with good results, as long as they have a good fitting guides & fit the piston well when compressed they're fine. In fact if anyone has any old ones they don't want I'll happily pay the postage to take them off their hands.(ran out of spare mainsprings now)

[oliver13]

Ox springs are just springs, in the right application they are as good as everything else.

It's worth remembering that the early Venom guns sometimes used them with other mods with excellent results

The problems come when some dipstick shoehorns a massive spring into an airsporter, makes no other changes and is surprised when it doesn't magically tune itself but tears itself apart instead.

I'm that dipstick - at least I was when I was 16...

The Airsporter in question was lower in power with it's mighty Ox spring & when I took it out a week later it was full of swarf, somehow the square section wire in the spring had been eating the inside of the piston.

[fatttmannn]

Cheers for the replies, I've heard it lots but how come ox springs have such a bad reputation compared to others - I've never heard a good word about them!

Just to be clear this isn't my gun its someone else's and being worked on by a rfd who is also a life long gun smith - I'll ask him about the ox springs though, maybe the customer bought it first and the rfd has just fitted it.

Oh and just in case I did want a fac tracker, (not that I do) I already have a ticket

So 10.5 ft/lbs is a sweet spot for them then?

That's interesting as Welsh Willy set my BSA Stutzen at 10.5 and that shoots lovely. I'll chrony the tracker I've just got today and see what its producing.

Fattman - what had been done to the Trackers to get them at 10.5, v-mach kit?

Hello mate, cant comment on the Vmach kits for the Tracker , but most of my springers have Welsh Willi kits in them, a lot of my older springers have been the patterns for his kits if He dosent own one himself, hes found the Tracker responds better at that level and hes forgotten more than I would know on the engineering side so I am happy to listen to his advice on that. It wasnt a criticism re the fac, I have one myself and have never botherd to upgrade the power on any of my many springers, I dont hunt anymore and my club dosent allow over 12ftlbs guns anyways. My fac is simply for my Tac revolver which crazaly isnt has powerful has my Bsa Scorpian, BSf 20 pistol or my Sheridan / Crossmans co2 pistols.

[fatttmannn]

I think we all have been the dipsticks re power when we were younger. Many a good gun was ruinded in a bid to get more power, the result often was a gun that may well have blasted a dustbin to peces, but I for one didnt hunt dustbins and what was the point of more power if the gun was so inaccurate you couldnt hit a target with it yes a Ox if fettled could be of use but most just fitted this " wonder " spring and were dissapointed. Its like a car, if you upgrade its power you should allso upgrade the brakes My most succesful and only gun for years was Meteor mark 5 in .22. Open sights, eley wasp pellets, good feild craft and its power when I got a chrono 8 ft lbs, plenty at close ranges 15-20 yards, yes I could get that close and it was one shot one kill for the pot.

[Tatts84]

Interested to know who the gun smith is at Wilsons?

[capt hindsight]

Just being running my newly acquired Tracker through my Chrony and got surprisingly high power as shown below and very little variation only 4.5 fps over ten shots. Please note this is not the gun shop Tracker mentioned in my OP

I fired 10 shots through it first to warm it up as its not been used for a while, the figures below are from the second ten:

592.3
592.7
596.8
596.3
593.9
594.8
595.1
592.4
593.8
593.0

Average = 594.11 with RWS Superdomes giving 11.37 ft/lbs

There's no twang or anything and I don't know the history of the gun other than my friend bought it from someone at work many years ago and the first owner bought it mail order (back in the good old days) as part of a kit - scope, bag, pellets etc.

I know my friend wouldn't have had it tuned but I'm wondering if the previous owner had

Cant see the increase in power coming from dieseling as the consistency is to good.

Perhaps its a lost Venom!

[capt hindsight]

Interested to know who the gun smith is at Wilsons?

Pete Wilson: http://www.geoffwilsons.co.uk/

I've never had any work done by him, but have purchased a number of guns and the customer service has always been very good.

[fatttmannn]

Just being running my newly acquired Tracker through my Chrony and got surprisingly high power as shown below and very little variation only 4.5 fps over ten shots. Please note this is not the gun shop Tracker mentioned in my OP

I fired 10 shots through it first to warm it up as its not been used for a while, the figures below are from the second ten:

592.3
592.7
596.8
596.3
593.9
594.8
595.1
592.4
593.8
593.0

Average = 594.11 with RWS Superdomes giving 11.37 ft/lbs

There's no twang or anything and I don't know the history of the gun other than my friend bought it from someone at work many years ago and the first owner bought it mail order (back in the good old days) as part of a kit - scope, bag, pellets etc.

I know my friend wouldn't have had it tuned but I'm wondering if the previous owner had

Cant see the increase in power coming from dieseling as the consistency is to good.

Perhaps its a lost Venom!

sounds good, its the highest powerd I have ever heard of, enjoy.

[capt hindsight]

Does anyone else think 11.4 ft/lbs just seems a little to perfect for it not to have been fiddled with?