Webley Senior .177 - "A Little Bit Tatty".

A place to discuss all things Webley. As this is probably the most collected airgun maker we felt it deserved a section of its own.
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Re: Webley Senior .177 - "A Little Bit Tatty".

Post by zooma » Sun Oct 13, 2013 10:30 pm

I need to find a replacement brown grip for "Tatty" for the left hand side as it had a part of it missing when I bought it but I would be happy to buy a pair if anybody has some they would be willing to part with.

Also - does anybody know what oil should be used in a Senior as it has the bronze piston ring ( same as Mk 1 ) ?

I was told 30 weight engine oil is the best - I tried some Abbey Gun and Rifle Oil but that just makes it squeak so I am not too happy with this choice and I understand this would be better in those that have a leather washer.
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Re: Webley Senior .177 - "A Little Bit Tatty".

Post by Certus » Sun Oct 13, 2013 10:41 pm

I believe that Webley No2 oil recommended for pistols with phosphor bronze piston seals was basically ordinary SAE 30 motor oil. This is what I have been using to lubricate my Seniors for some time without any problems.

Regards

Brian

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Re: Webley Senior .177 - "A Little Bit Tatty".

Post by zooma » Mon Oct 14, 2013 8:09 am

I bought a can of SAE30 engine oil for use in the Norton gearbox on my Myford Super 7B :geek: so I have a good supply of that and I will use it from now onwards.
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Re: Webley Senior .177 - "A Little Bit Tatty".

Post by zooma » Fri Oct 18, 2013 8:19 am

I stripped "Tatty" and found small metal chippings inside the pistol - very worrying!

I cleaned out everything and put it back together and took a few more shots with it before stripping it again and found more small metal chips ( like filings) inside.

No mechanical damage could be seen but the used piston that I had installed to replace the worn-out original did have some detents in the head before I fitted it so I took some wet and dry paper and put it on a flat surface as I rubbed it in a circular movement to take any edges off of the dents.

The hard edges of the piston were also given a "rub" before another good clean. All of the grease was wiped off of the spring and everything was re-assembled on SAE 30 oil only. The pistol felt very smooth and was shot at RMTC last night by myself and Phil just to get a few rounds through it so I could strip it again when I got home last night.

I still found a couple of small fragments but compared to previously when everything was speckled with them this was a vast improvement so I reassembled it again on nothing but SAE 30 oil and I will keep checking it until is stops producing the swarf completely or I can find out where it is coming from and fix it.

The trigger is still good - so the new type flat spring works well.
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Re: Webley Senior .177 - "A Little Bit Tatty".

Post by pmh » Fri Oct 18, 2013 1:26 pm

I think a little bit more running in and this pistol should be up to scratch.

The trigger is a bit more stiff than experienced in other models, but the let off was predictable and I did manage to hit the 10 at 10m with the rest of the pellets at least hitting the target.

To be honest, the pistols were never designed for such a distance, so the performance is more than acceptable.

They are, of course, an important part of our airgunning history and we should do all we can to preserve as many examples as possible.

Kind regards,



Phil
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Re: Webley Senior .177 - "A Little Bit Tatty".

Post by zooma » Sat Oct 19, 2013 9:28 pm

I recently picked up a nice (but not mint) .22 "new model" Webley Mark 1 at a very good price and I am more than pleased with it - but it does mean that I am now "on the hunt' for a genuine .177 barrel to fit it so I can use this model to shoot at our regular Thursday vintage Webley shoot-out that takes place towards "close of play" most Thursday nights at RMTC.

The only reason I mention it here is that it ( like Tatty) also has the left hand grip broken :doh:

Why is it always the left hand grip that breaks - or am I just a bit unlucky?

So now I need a two left hand grips - one brown for Tatty and one black for the Mark1 - does anybody have any grips to sell or swap that will help me return these two Webley's to their original complete specification?
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Re: Webley Senior .177 - "A Little Bit Tatty".

Post by zooma » Fri Oct 25, 2013 8:06 am

"Tatty" was exercised at RMTC last night following her latest strip and rebuild and she shot well and with good power and seemed happy about running on a single lubricant of SAE30 engine oil as all of the grease and dri-slide had been lost during last weeks re-build.

As soon as I got home I took Tatty apart again to see if she was still producing swarf as this has been an on-going worry.

Unfortunately I did find some more fresh swarf on the piston - but this time only in the recess between the head and the ridge that the sear is held back against and none anywhere else.

I cleaned away all of these small steel particles and took out the trigger and sear so I could have a good look around inside and gave everything a good wipe and clean. I polished-up the sear and the sear retaining ring edge with fine wet and dry paper in the hope that this may help prevent any small shards of steel chipping away as I now think this is probably where it is coming from.

I also polished the sides of the trigger and sear so they can slide freely in the frame and checked that there were no new indents in the piston head before putting everything back together again on some fresh SAE30.

As soon as Tatty stops making debris I will grease the spring in the more conventional way but for now I will keep checking after each shooting session until this annoying problem is arrested and continue to use SAE30 oil only as it is much easier to see and clean away any foreign bodies.
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Re: Webley Senior .177 - "A Little Bit Tatty".

Post by zooma » Fri Nov 01, 2013 8:11 am

Tatty had a little bit too much to drink and made a bit of a scene at the club last night and was asked to leave due to some lurid (explosive) behaviour so maybe only using SAE30 oil as the sole lubricant is OK but its use needs to be a little more restrained.

.........looks like Tatty will come apart again tonight as the weekly swarf count needs checking again and her liquid intake needs reducing - good job she comes apart so easily ( lots of practice) !
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Re: Webley Senior .177 - "A Little Bit Tatty".

Post by pmh » Fri Nov 01, 2013 1:36 pm

We did so using tatty as it was quite clearly detonating after the first few shots.

A such, it was decided to retire for the evening.

A suggestion was put forward to coast suspected areas with engineers blue, or equivalent, to try and identify which surfaces are causing the swarf.

We are nearly there with this pistol, and it will soon be up to scratch.

Kind regards,



Phil
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I now have so many airguns I've had to make a list, which is >>HERE<<
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