What's wrong with the FWB Sport?

[jonnyone]

Hiya Matt,
you got a lot of questions there- some I cant answer, but will try to give some input here.

Overall the quality of design and manufacture of the Sport even to this day is still far and above many other springers out there. I think most collectors, however rose tinted their specs are, will readily admit it isnt perfect however.
I am a little doubtful on it being a scope killer though? I've had 5 of them and recoil always seems very acceptable to me? The breech lock up needs to be checked closely to esnure its good and positive. The safety carch issue is one where a repeated pull of the trigger when the safety has been engaged can in some rifles lead it to disengage and the rifle fire. I have a 127 where this is the case. I wasnt aware of this and found out thankfully with no harm done- and later read this is more common that first thought. As for remedy- well I am unsure really- there are others better qualified to comment.

Ive read that in some instances where the rifle has been unused ofr extended periods and the innards dry- this can lead to the piston head becoming perished and break down.

I do have one 124, but dont shoot it that often to make an meaningful comparisons between it and the 127s i own. All Sports have a modest recoil and a muzzle discharge that belies their power output. They really are quite a small punchy rifle with low cocking effort. Best do a trawl of sales on here and other forums to get an idea of sale values.

Like I said above- they are not perfect, but are desirable, collectable quality rifles.

good luck in your search.
Dave

[BTDT]

Ive read that in some instances where the rifle has been unused ofr extended periods and the innards dry- this can lead to the piston head becoming perished and break down.

What Dave said. I'd renew the piston seal if the recoil was scope-wrecking.

Also, if, in still air, you load the rifle, put a pile of talcom powder over the breech block/cylinder end block join, and take a shot, you'll know whether the breech is leaking.

[b@rt]

For what it's worth, the Old School kit produced around 14fpe of muzzle energy, and it didn't have a lot recoil, haven't had a scope on it but I doubt it will be a scope killer certainly not at 12fpe.
Check the seals (especially the piston seal as that one disintegrate with time), you can check if the breach seal is leaking by using the method above, although I think it's to messy.
I you have a air compressor (10bar or so, not the one to fill airguns and dive bottles), but a piece of rubbery tape on the muzzle (with a small hole in it), and pressurize the barrel, when it's good you hear no air escaping, when you get the compressor pistol of you should hear a "pop", and you know it's good.

Regards, Bart

[Vic Thompson]

another two (and a half) potential problems to add to your list, cracked stocks at the pistol grip and stripped threads in the trigger block caused by cross threading the trigger block retaining "bolt". The "half" is broken lugs on the safety slide caused during stripdown without the right equipment
HTH, Vic T

[Muskett]

There were a lot sold and so all kinds of history and all kinds of abuse The rifles have a great design, were well made with good materials and fine finish. The basics are right.

Stocks have broken but mainly down to abuse or from a fundamental flaw that anything with wood might have. No fundamental problem. The safety is basic and nothing special but then in its day no one really used them. Never trust a safety catch anyway.

Early models and different batches can have the slightest changes in tolerance and piston heads may well be needed to be tunes to get the top 12 ft/lbs. The rifle was designed for this power level and not more. Lots shoot well below what they should and its not easy to bring them up. 127's are the easier to get right as the 124's, .177's, are pushing the boat. However, the all can shoot smooth and accuracy is great for a springer. They are not very forgiving but for their weight fantastic compared to most of the usual competition of the day.

The trigger is fine but nothing great. The HW record is superb so don't try and compare them. Compared to everything else in its day the Sport was excellent. In truth it does the job and is usable.

Sports are from £120 to £250. You get a sporting rifle that points superbly, at a very field carry weight, accurate as a spring thing can be without being custom, ok field trigger. A bread and butter rifle that will always sell and spare parts and custom parts are readily available. It excels at standing shots out to 25m so power at 9.8ft\lbs or 11.9ft\lbs isn't going to make a hoot of difference to the quarry at that range. It isn't a 45m tack driver and behaves badly on the bench rest (works lovely in the field were it belongs). Lastly it is easy to cock so you can plink away for ages which you can't say with a whole lot out there. Remember if you want to be any good at standing shots you need to practice a lot.

Buy one and enjoy working out how to get the best out of it. Thats have the fun and they will reward you.

[Airsporter1st]

I you have a air compressor (10bar or so, not the one to fill airguns and dive bottles), but a piece of rubbery tape on the muzzle (with a small hole in it), and pressurize the barrel, when it's good you hear no air escaping, when you get the compressor pistol of you should hear a "pop", and you know it's good.

Regards, Bart

That's a great method, which makes sense and can be applied to pretty much any springer I would imagine. Did you come up with that - I've never read it anywhere else?

[Garvin]

That's a great method, which makes sense and can be applied to pretty much any springer I would imagine. Did you come up with that - I've never read it anywhere else?

Presumably if you leave the compressor on long enough the rifle self-cocks?

[Amac]

I once again enjoyed reading all of the contributions to this particular thread. I must admit that I also have a particular soft spot for this gun despite not being able to afford one when they were new.

I have now owned a couple of Sports, one 127 and two 124s. For me they represent all that is best about using a well designed, basic but well engineered spring powered rifle. They also happen to look pretty as well in my opinion.

I am currently enjoying a period of "zero PCP" shooting and am once again becoming fully tuned in to using a variety of springers to a higher standard than is possible if you only play with them occasionally. Thats the way it works for me anyway, plus they are a damned site more fun to shoot, particularly when you do eventually get it right and targets drop on a regular basis.

My one and only 124 is currently performing well following a respringing/piston seal. She is currently "sporting" a brand new stock made by my mate Tom Forrest, and the glasses she wears are a period Japanese "Hunter" 3-9x40 within an Apel mount ( I bet you still regret flogging me that Ian.) The gun and I went for a wander around one of my shoots last night and came away with a couple of bunnies, although it would have to be said that I also missed a few. The bottom line for me is that I personally enjoy the whole process of taking a gun into either the hunting or target field if it happens to move when (the admittedly below average in case of the Sport) the trigger is pulled. Using a PCP is usually much more effective, but akin to playing the shooting equivalent of a computer game. Who wants to do that when you can enjoy shooting something that reacts like a proper gun should?

I have once again clearly gone well off subject, so apologies for that. Anyway, my own thoughts are that the Feinwerkbau Sport remains a classic example of a manufacturer managing to get most of a products features right. It is relatively light, superbly well engineered and remains as accurate as any recoiling gun available today, once the trigger has been mastered that is! The gun allows me personally to enjoy all that is great about our interest, particularly if, like me, you reckon that they happen to be as good, if not better than guns you can currently buy off the shelf.

I have also just ordered an "Old School" kit from Jim Maccari as it has been highly recommended by many other Sport aficionados. It will be interesting to see if the kit lives up to high initial expectations!

Andy

[I. J.]

My one and only 124 is currently performing well following a respringing/piston seal. She is currently "sporting" a brand new stock made by my mate Tom Forrest, and the glasses she wears are a period Japanese "Hunter" 3-9x40 within an Apel mount ( I bet you still regret flogging me that Ian.) The gun and I went for a wander around one of my shoots last night and came away with a couple of bunnies, although it would have to be said that I also missed a few.

Andy

You caught me on a good day. Im trying to get as many Apel as him from Bolton.

ATB
Ian

[Airsporter1st]

Presumably if you leave the compressor on long enough the rifle self-cocks?

That thought did cross my mind, Danny! With a tap loader you could then open the tap, disconnect the compressor and see a huge power increase as the already compressed air in the cylinder is further compressed by the piston. Just a matter of closing the tap at exactly the same time as you pull the trigger.