HW 97. To strip or not to strip ?

[Mach 1.5]

I think HW have been resting on their laurels these days and most of their range needs a strip and relube. Why they can't fit a top hat to their springers for the price they are charging these days is hard to believe. Give me the older rifles up till about 2000 for better build quality. Mach 1.5

[foby75]

Send it to Nick Simmons. Great investment

[deadeye]

Most of the "bvvvtttt" twang noise in a new gun is because there's no top hat centralising the spring on the latch rod at the front of the piston rather than noise coming from the delrin spring guide. The ID of the spring will be around 14mm but the latch rod is 10mm ish; the piston will be about 22mm ID and spring around 20mm so lots of room to buzz. If you add a top hat you'll need to shorten the factory spring guide very slightly and possibly collapse half a coil depending on thickness of top hat and any slip washer used.

[TonyL]

In my experience, many of the recent HWs, especially 77s and 97s, have actually shot very nicely out of the box. I think it's just the luck of the draw with the guide to spring fit. As previously mentioned, fitting a kit from the likes of TbT, Welsh Willy or ARC, with the guide and top hat being made to perfectly fit the spring, will result in smoother cocking and firing sequences and give you the peace of mind that, having inspected the internals, all is well inside.

Trigger - remove unit. Flush out the grease. Relube with light machine / gun oil. Adjust as necessary. Creep adjustment is easy to check through the little window on the side of the casing with the unit cocked. Turn clockwise to reduce sear engagement. Turn large adjuster behind the trigger blade anti-clockwise to lighten the trigger. This takes only minutes and transforms the trigger. The factory has to err on the side of caution.

[Waddy]

I think HW have been resting on their laurels these days and most of their range needs a strip and relube. Why they can't fit a top hat to their springers for the price they are charging these days is hard to believe. Give me the older rifles up till about 2000 for better build quality. Mach 1.5

100 % agree with this Paul, ludicrous that they don't have a top hat in this day & age. What would it cost with the numbers they would be making or buying in, pennies ?




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[evert]

For the sake of half an hour and your own peace of mind, just do it.


Neil

Exactly this. New rifles can have swarf or other debris where is should not be, plus they most of the time have grease in front of the piston seasl.
They almost always benefit from a strip and proper relube.

[TonyL]

100 % agree with this Paul, ludicrous that they don't have a top hat in this day & age. What would it cost with the numbers they would be making or buying in, pennies ?


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It would be lovely if they could, Paul. We've discussed this a fair few times in the past. Just think, one or two dedicated people on the line hand-fitting springs to well-fitting guides (and the standard guides are good) and fitting a top hat. This would improve the manners no end. And if they took a little more time to really carefully assemble with the correct amounts of higher quality moly pastes and greases this would also improve things also.

BUT.......costs would rise and these would have to be passed on to the end user. Bear in mind also that many users will be oblivious and unaware of how nicely tuned ones can shoot and expressions like "twang" and "boing" are meaningless.

AND.....if we didn't deem them in need of a fettle, that would affect the businesses and livelihoods of people like Nick, William and Lyn, not forgetting current and previous tuning and custom houses. So, in quite a few ways, things are probably better left as they are. Factories are probably struggling to thrive strongly in this crazy World economy at the moment. Let them carry on surviving. The masses will be happy and can enjoy lower priced guns. And us enthusiasts don't mind spending the money on tunes or tuning kits and parts and spend time fettling to get them just how we want them....

[costalotpanther]

It has long been a big disappointment to me that my Weihrauch springers Twang.
I have a .25 HW77K, a .22 HW98 and .20 HW97K.
I would have expected a quality manufacturer to have it sorted.
When I want a smooth, quiet rifle I reach for my .25 BSA Supersport.
Having said that my other BSA's twang as well.
At the end of the day I put up with the noise and just moan about it.
I love moaning!

[tinbum]

In my opinion, any springer new or used should be stripped, degreased and relubed properly in the first instance. It may not solve the boiing, but it will give proper protection to moving parts.
Fitting a kit is optional, any of them will improve the firing cycle from standard. A little extra time polishing and fettling at this point is the difference between “OK” and a professional feel tune.