Turkish Tempest v British Tempest

[Certus]

Hello,

I have now fitted replacement wood grips to my second 'Turkish' Tempest in .22 calibre which is now beginning to loosen up a bit having had around 500 pellets through it.

Although the trigger pull is much heavier than that of the .177 version it does not seem to be any less accurate in this calibre.

As with all three 'Turkish' Tempests I have tested, the trigger adjustment facility appears to have no effect on these pistols. However, the release is crisp and manageable and provided I don't swap pistols between details similar accuracy to the .177 can be achieved. I am really enjoying experimenting with different makes and weights of pellet with the minimum acceptable standard of accuracy being to hold the black aiming area of the NSRA 10 metre precision pistol target.



The 'Turkish' Tempests

Regards

Brian

[pmh]

It's a real shame Webley didn't opt for British engineering when re-releasing these guns.

I also find that the gun had to be "learned" for a session, and stuck with, as swapping to another gun really puts me off my thread.

Kind regards,



Phil

[zooma]

Hi Brian,

It looks like my wooden grips come from the same maker as yours but I took the makers option of having the finger indents on the left hand grip side.

The hard ending to the thumb ledge right in front of the safety switch was uncomfortable so I eased it off a bit so that my thumb can lay across it and onto the safety lever to give a more relaxed position for the thumb and to stop it having any involvement in the hold.

I cannot remember who made the grips now, but I would like to be reminded as I would like another set made as they are very good, and the small mod that I made is easy to repeat to suite me.

You obviously like your Turkish Tempest's - good to see - and a shame that this excellent British design now has to be made in Turkey.

As I read the book "Webley Air Pistols" by Gordon Bruce I noticed that the never ending underlying company policy was always be to reduce the manufacturing cost of making all of their Webely air pistols - seldom any mention of improving anything - but always looking to reduce costs.

With that factory ethos it is no surprise to see Webley pistols being made in Turkey - what next India or China?

[zooma]

I saw a .177 Brummie Tempest on BBS this morning - one owner from new in 1991 and it has brown grips !

I have not seen one with brown grips on before - does anyone know if these were factory fitted on some Tempest pistols ?

Perhaps they are from a different model ? - but they look good!

[Certus]

Hi,

The grips are indeed very well made and fit almost perfectly especially considering they were matched to a 'Brummie' Tempest during their manufacture.

Just to refresh your memory, they were carved by Andy Davies (BBS AIRGUNNER.177 ) E mail: [email protected] .

A limited run of Tempests were produced from around 1990 with a choice of either standard black or brown plastic grips which are seldom encountered today.

I have always been a staunch fan of the traditional all steel Webley pistols and still prefer their appearance and inherent high build quality, but must admit to enjoying these modern pistols especially as they share the same basic operating mechanism.

Regards

Brian

[zooma]

Hi Brian,

Thanks for reminding me about who made my wooden Tempest grips - I will contact Andy as I would like another set made.

Having read the Tempest section of the Webley Air Pistols book a little further I see a reference to the Tempest De Luxe Model (page 178) that was available as an option after March 1987 that came with "brown simulated wood finish stock plates" ( grips) at an extra cost of £5.00.

I have bought the 1991 .177 Brummie Tempest with brown grips and I now think it must be a Tempest De Luxe Model and I am very much looking forward to its arrival.

Do you have a Brummie Tempest to compare against your experience with the 3 Turks you have had so far? It really is a very interesting comparison and of course an important addition to any Webley pistol collection.

On the same note - I do not have a Webley Mk 1 ( original or new type) in my small Webley collection so if anybody has one for sale - please let me know!

[zunmik]

I have to admit i'm a little shocked, today I shot a Turkish Tempest, and was surprised how good it was not the usual webley wobbly bits, but a well engineered pistol with consistent results i am no fan of webley pistols however i found the Turkish version a pleasant surprise, M

[zooma]

I have to admit i'm a little shocked, today I shot a Turkish Tempest, and was surprised how good it was not the usual webley wobbly bits, but a well engineered pistol with consistent results i am no fan of webley pistols however i found the Turkish version a pleasant surprise, M

Welcome to the converted........well shocked and pleasantly surprised at least

[Certus]

Hi Brian,

Thanks for reminding me about who made my wooden Tempest grips - I will contact Andy as I would like another set made.

Having read the Tempest section of the Webley Air Pistols book a little further I see a reference to the Tempest De Luxe Model (page 178) that was available as an option after March 1987 that came with "brown simulated wood finish stock plates" ( grips) at an extra cost of £5.00.

I have bought the 1991 .177 Brummie Tempest with brown grips and I now think it must be a Tempest De Luxe Model and I am very much looking forward to its arrival.

Do you have a Brummie Tempest to compare against your experience with the 3 Turks you have had so far? It really is a very interesting comparison and of course an important addition to any Webley pistol collection.

On the same note - I do not have a Webley Mk 1 ( original or new type) in my small Webley collection so if anybody has one for sale - please let me know!

Hello Zooma,

Congratulations on acquiring your new Webley Tempest. The brown grip Tempests must be quite rare as I have never actually come across one during my travels. I have quite a collection of Webley air pistols including nice examples of the early pre-war models. I don't however have a 'Brummie' Tempest to compare with my 'Turks' but I would assume there wouldn't be to much to choose between them. My recent tests have shown the 'Turkish' Tempest to be very tolerant of different pellets with only a small margin between the best and worst groups. As stated in a previous post, the one disappointing feature is the apparent lack of effect of the trigger weight adjustment facility. This has been the case on all three pistols I have tested and wonder if this is also the case with the 'Brummie' examples.

Regards

Brian

[zunmik]

Seeing those comments about trigger adjustments i remembered this blog i was researching something else at the time & came across it by accident, M.

http://anotherairgunblog.blogspot.co.uk ... mpest.html

[pmh]

As I mentioned during our club tests, I do feel these pistols should be shot with Marksmen, Wasps, and other pellets from the cheaper end of the spectrum, as that was what would have naturally happened "back in the day".

At a push, the shooter might have expanded their horizons, and showed off a little, with Hobby

Kind regards,



Phil

[Certus]

Seeing those comments about trigger adjustments i remembered this blog i was researching something else at the time & came across it by accident, M.

http://anotherairgunblog.blogspot.co.uk ... mpest.html

Hi,

Thanks for posting the above link which would seem to confirm the ineffectiveness of the standard trigger weight adjustment on the 'Turkish' Tempest is also present on the 'Brummie' model.

Regards

Brian

[Certus]

As I mentioned during our club tests, I do feel these pistols should be shot with Marksmen, Wasps, and other pellets from the cheaper end of the spectrum, as that was what would have naturally happened "back in the day".

At a push, the shooter might have expanded their horizons, and showed off a little, with Hobby

Kind regards,



Phil

Hello Phil,

I have now tried quite a few different .177 &.22 pellet makes and weights in my 'Turkish' Tempests and as I say have not found it to be particularly pellet fussy in either calibre.

I have finally settled on the RWS 'Hobby' as it provided just about the best groups in both calibres, is reasonably cheap to buy and cuts a nice crisp hole in the target.

Regards

Brian

[zooma]

My 1991 Brummie Tempest De Luxe with brown grips arrived in the post this morning.

The pistol came in the original box with all the correct documentation and it looks like new.

As I was admiring it - it went off!

The seller had sent the pistol in a fully cocked position - and the safety was not on either.

It certainly made me jump and I am so thankful that there was no pellet inside as it could have been very dangerous - or damaged something ( not so important - but still not good!).

Anyway I will shoot the pistol to make sure having the spring compressed for some time and then being discharged without a pellet inside it has not caused any damage or loss of power.

I may mention something to the seller about sending the pistol in a cocked position as it is just such very bad practice.

[zooma]

I have put a few pellets through my Tempest De Luxe and it does not seem to have suffered any damage from being unintentionally being dry fired so everything is OK and it is in superb condition so I am very pleased with it.