A site for enthusiasts of the traditional & classic air pistol/firearm

Well, unless my buying Demon gets the better of me with a new purchase, it's a toss up between my Gamo Centre or Gamo Compact.

I'm leaning towards the Centre at the moment. The Benchrest Comp having reacquainted me with the Spring Driven Things.

Need to save up for an Original or a Feinwerkbau IMHO.

Well you cannot go wrong with either the Original or the FWB pistols. I am of course biased towards the FWB models but that is just me. The Original range are terrific too. And not getting any cheaper, no matter what you choose.
The value of the classics is rising I am afraid and some are becoming seriously expensive with some sellers asking silly money.

There are a few Model 6's out there at moment around the £150 mark.

They are heavier and more cumbersome than the Feinwerkbaus though.

Despite that, an all time classic and I wouldn't be without my 6G.

Kind regards,



Phil

What do people think of the Walther LP53? I've longed after one of those for ages?

Slightly worried about the piston breaking the rear sight, though. Seems to be a bit of a design flaw.

Not worried about the cocking method, as long as its not harder than cocking my BSA Scorpion, without the extender, I'll be fine.

They are relatively easy to cock, and quite an accurate pistol.

Unfortunately, the upward moving piston seems to send a shock wave through the vertical sight adjustment screw which eventually shatter the sight.

So many people experience trouble with this that it is quite clearly a design fault.

I believe a Weihrauch HW77 rear sight can be fettled as a replacement.

Kind regards,



Phil

pmh:2799 wrote:There are a few Model 6's out there at moment around the £150 mark.

They are heavier and more cumbersome than the Feinwerkbaus though.

Despite that, an all time classic and I wouldn't be without my 6G.

Kind regards,



Phil

You can pick up excellent Model 5's for less than £100. These of course are recoiling but capable of good accuracy with practice. My very first pistol in 1970 was a Mod 5 - sadly no more having been destroyed in a house fire.

My Model 5 needs a re-seal, but I didn't bother as I don't really have any intention of shooting it.

Kind regards,



Phil

pmh:2804 wrote:They are relatively easy to cock, and quite an accurate pistol.

Unfortunately, the upward moving piston seems to send a shock wave through the vertical sight adjustment screw which eventually shatter the sight.

So many people experience trouble with this that it is quite clearly a design fault.

I believe a Weihrauch HW77 rear sight can be fettled as a replacement.

Kind regards,



Phil

I had problems achieving any level of accuracy with mine - probably needed to practice more! Good fun to shoot though and what a looker.

To my great embarrassment the rear sight self destructed a week after I sold it!

Nyctophiliac:2803 wrote:What do people think of the Walther LP53? I've longed after one of those for ages?

Slightly worried about the piston breaking the rear sight, though. Seems to be a bit of a design flaw.

Not worried about the cocking method, as long as its not harder than cocking my BSA Scorpion, without the extender, I'll be fine.

It is usually the rear sight retaining strap that cracks. The strap looks a bit like a snakes tongue with a split at the end over which the rear sight block snaps onto, and is presumed to be made from spring steel.

I am currently testing to see what metal the original LP53 sight retaining strap really is made from, as it may not be spring steel (!).

Once the metallurgy is completed, I will be manufacturing a small batch of these parts as I need one for one of my own LP53 pistols that has the same fault.

Making the dies to form the 3D shape after is has been cut and stamped to form the two nipples that are needed to give the elevation screw its ratchet "click" is a lot of work, and simply not worth the time and effort for a single strap to repair my own LP53.

Please let me know if anyone is interested in buying some of these straps from me.  They will be identical in shape and fit, made from the correct material and given the same authentic finish so when on the pistol they will be indistinguishable from the original - and being a lot younger they may be worth keeping as spares for future age related failures.

The amount of work and tooling to set up for this manufacture is a lot more than I thought it would be, so the straps will be expensive ( comparatively) at about £25 each - but it can be the difference between a broken LP53 of little value, and a fully functioning pistol that keeps it value and can be used and enjoyed again.

Once the tooling is completed I will keep it all for future use, but these parts are not likely to be made again for a few years as they have to be made in batches to be anything like cost effective as the heat treatment operations can cost the same for a single part or a batch of 50 or more, and the workshop disruption prevents proper revenue earning work from being done too!

But they are superb pistols, and the "unfortunate" James Bond connection continues to see the prices going up and the numbers available to the shooter reduce as the film enthusiasts want them too.

My advice is to buy one if you get the chance as prices are not likely to go down!  LP53 with broken rear sight straps fetch a lot less cash as the replacement part is not exactly easy to come by - so if this project works out OK it may help a few of us to buy some of these with defective rear sight straps at good prices!

If I had logged on to BBS just 20 minutes earlier I would have seen this before it went

http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread.php ... ey-premier

Sold half an hour after posting!

Ian wrote:If I had logged on to BBS just 20 minutes earlier I would have seen this before it went

http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread.php ... ey-premier

Sold half an hour after posting!

Perhaps you need to widen your search parameters beyond the Wobbly Webleys, plenty of springers out there,M.

I have a Falcon that is almost "as new" - in superb condition, and I used it to gain the RMTC highest score one month in the 10metre MPL.

NOW SOLD TO AN RMTC MEMBER,

This would be a far superior target pistol to any Webley, and the underlever action is nice to use........and will cost less than a nice Wobbley too!

You could ask Phil to give it an independent check-over for you if you like - but it is faultless and would be ideal for you to use in the 6 yard MPL comp.

I have to say that the Gamo Falcon is a superb gun, and I really do like mine.

I recently swapped over to the Baikal MP-53M, but am considering my options for the 6 yard.

So far I have narrowed it down to my Original Model 6G of my Weihrauch HW40.

Kind regards,



Phil

I am considering using my FAS - going to think about it a little more :study:

Tank wrote:I am considering using my FAS - going to think about it a little more :study:

..............overkill.....................................