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just this minuet got myself a hw35

 

now shes a little tired has surface rust down the barrel and the action, has a tasco 3-9-40 scope on her.

 

the main thing is she has a nasty crack in the stock. witch im confident i can sort out after reading a artical on stock repair a while ago. and the stock they did had the exstct same crack.

 

have sold many of these rifles but never shot one or worked on them. any one got any tips or review of what they think of them..

 

shes going to be my new little project.

 

thanks in advance

 

Andy

Edited by rossy08
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To those of a certain age, the HW35 is where the spring powered air rifle came of age. :yes: My dad got hold of his in the '80s, and will never part with it. He'd grown up with all sorts of BSA's (Mercury/Meteor/etc) and highly regarded them, but in his eyes the HW35e blew them all out of the water. IIRC it was once the most accurate break barrel, spring powered air rifle in production.

 

I learned to shoot with it, and even at the age of 14 I was accurate with it, even though it seemed to weigh a ton! :laugh:

 

A few years back I refinished the metalwork on it. Took ages sanding all the rust and old bluing off it, and finished it with cold blue stuff. I'm gutted I never took and pictures of it, and didn't get round to doing the stock before my old man wanted his baby back.. :doh:

 

:thumbs:

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Hi Andy.

 

Good luck with your project mate, nice rifle.

Shame that crack run's to the combe :doh:

Look forward to seeing her finnished.

Your method and pic's of repairing the stock would be usefull in the D.I.Y Custom Stock thread, may help someone out in the future :thumbs:

 

 

ATB.

 

 

 

Bill.

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yes mate ill put the results up in that section,

 

the stocks now with gringo40 (carl) as hes a little better with wooden things than me.

 

Hes confident it will be back as good as new when hes finished with it for me.

 

used the tin foil on the barrel and action and its come up fantastic as new almost.

 

had all the internals apart and im very impressed with the condision nothing needs replacing.

 

also put her through the crono and shes running a very respectiable 11.3 flb.

 

so far very happy with her. very good for the age. must be fairly old due to shape of the stock and the fact she has made in west germany stamped on her..

 

will keep you all informed

 

atb

 

Andy :thumbs:

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Hi rossy08.

 

Wow I haven't seen one of these beauties for over 30-odd years or more! In my late teens while serving with the RAF Regiment as a green-as-grass LAC Gunner, I remember reading a new monthly magazine called "Air Gun World" and a young John Darling had an HW35E Export .22 (hence the "E") and a Tasco 3-9x40 moonlighter and, in the pages of the magazine, he would effortlessly despatch rats, rabbits, pidgeons and corvids at some serious ranges every month. It was regarded as one of the best break barrel spring air rifles you could hope for in 1977/78 and established Weihrauch's reputation as a world class spring air rifle manufacturer in Britain. I proudly bought one in .22 with a whopping 3-9x50 Tasco wide angle TV scope on mail order from Uttings (good old days) and it was a revelation to shoot with it.

 

We had a lot of rabbits on our airfields that proved an aircraft hazzard and the Group Captain Station CO was only too pleased to give me the run of RAF Waddington's vast acres at the weekends and cull them. I had the shooting all to myself as no-one bothered with using a lowly air rifle to go shooting rabbits on the base other than the officers and their shotguns for the pheasants in the winter months. Bloody heaven! Shooting from a hide that was infact the chocks of the main undercarriage wheels of one of the many parked Vulcan B2 Bombers we had on the distant dispersals out to the woods then, was serious sniping! Real RAF days! (They'd freak if you tried that from a Eurofighter Typhoon now! Health and safety, "You might break it Man!! :icon_eek: )

 

That rifle made a true air rifle hunter out of me, as no other before it and I wish to God I still had it -along with permissions to RAF Waddington, Swinderby and Scampton that seemed overrun with rabbits and woodies. I traded it for a new Feinwerkbau 124 Sport .22 that was another incredible rifle I wish to God I still had aswell! Heyho. The first HW80 had arrived on the scene however, and it was a love at first sight that still endures. I'm hooked on my HW80s for life.

 

From the pics you have here, it's not so bad as it may first look mate. Just a clean up of the rust and a repair to the stock, if the internals are fine, though the barrel might need attention. For surface rust, I take a wedge of fine wire wool and damp it with a squirt of gun oil and give it a good wipe all over, as you would cleaning it after a shooting session. If the rust is light, it will remove it and restore the blueing underneath without scratching or scoring.

 

What is the method you use with Tin foil?

 

The crack along the grip to the comb is a sure sign that someone let the barrel slip from their grasp while cocking. It's flown back under tension from the spring and this is what results when the hefty breech block smashes back on the cylinder pivot. What about the alignment of the barrel? It will almost certainly have "gone North" or bent upwards by some degree. That can be re-aligned no problem but it's not always easy to spot. Tilt the rifle on its side and look down the entire length from the butt. You may see the barrel is out of alignment by some degree with the rest of the rifle.

 

I'd like to see how you progress with this rifle restoration and I'm certain you will have some great shooting with it when it's finished. :thumbs:

 

ATB

 

Simon

Edited by pianoman
  • Like 1
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Thanks for all that mate made a very nice read.

 

The tinfoil. Screwed up bits rubbwd along to remove the rust. Dead simple and has made a very gooe job im very pleased with the results.

 

I will check the barrel out hadent thought of that.

 

Id put ir down to someone puting a after market spring in. Witch seamed confirmed when i got her on the crono and shes still well into the 11flp. For an old girl it very high and was in its day probebly over power

 

Still havent decided if to keep her or sell when the workes finished in a week or so.

 

Thanks for your info and advice simon.

 

Atb

Andy

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Hi Andy.

Cheers for that mate, it's great to see the old girl again. If the previous owner had installed a non-spec, higher power spring, it's more than likely the barrel has bent up, unless you've been extremely lucky! you'll soon know when you come to zero your scope and you are having to use virtually all the down-MOA on the elevation turret to get a vertical centre-to-centre point of impact.

 

Does the rifle "Graunch" on cocking? You know, makes an unhealthy sounding noise of grind and crunch as the spring compresses back? That's a broken spring and it's probably got a broken coil scoring a groove along the inside face of the cylinder. That will cause loss of power, depending on how bad he damage is. A good gunsmith will know how to smooth that out. I'd spend the money on having the spring replaced and a new piston guide, seals and washers Andy mate.

 

If this was a cheapo chinky SMK I'd bin it. But vintage Weihrauchs like this are like classic Mercedes Benz sports cars and well-sorted minters are a delight to shoot and own.

 

Keep us posted Andy. :thumbs:

 

Kind regards

 

Simon

Edited by pianoman
  • Like 2
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hello pal

 

first things first there is an SPA on its way to you for the good and informitive information that you have taken the time to type. so again thank you for that.

 

as soon as i get the time i will be looking at the barrel should have done it last night befor i went out and had a few really.

 

have had a fair few hw's in my time, and the spring in this one do's not look like the original one to me and the crono readings still being what they are adds to this..

 

i did put about 15 pellets through her befor i brought it and the scope that was on was hitting the mark. however with this said i take you points and will be looking in to it much further, as if i do decide to sell i want to no that she is as she should be, as im not in the bussiness of selling things that are not as they should be.

 

the rest of the rifle is in for her age fantastic condision and am so far very impressed with. when i paid what i did for her was exspecting to be doing a lot more work,and as said have thus far been proved wrong but the german manafacturing.

 

i do hope that this will carry on through the barrel and alinement checks,that thanks to your advice it will now be under going.

 

again thank you very much.

 

all the best

 

Andy :thumbs:

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Hi rossy08.

 

Wow I haven't seen one of these beauties for over 30-odd years or more! In my late teens while serving with the RAF Regiment as a green-as-grass LAC Gunner, I remember reading a new monthly magazine called "Air Gun World" and a young John Darling had an HW35E Export .22 (hence the "E") and a Tasco 3-9x40 moonlighter and, in the pages of the magazine, he would effortlessly despatch rats, rabbits, pidgeons and corvids at some serious ranges every month. It was regarded as one of the best break barrel spring air rifles you could hope for in 1977/78 and established Weihrauch's reputation as a world class spring air rifle manufacturer in Britain. I proudly bought one in .22 with a whopping 3-9x50 Tasco wide angle TV scope on mail order from Uttings (good old days) and it was a revelation to shoot with it.

 

We had a lot of rabbits on our airfields that proved an aircraft hazzard and the Group Captain Station CO was only too pleased to give me the run of RAF Waddington's vast acres at the weekends and cull them. I had the shooting all to myself as no-one bothered with using a lowly air rifle to go shooting rabbits on the base other than the officers and their shotguns for the pheasants in the winter months. Bloody heaven! Shooting from a hide that was infact the chocks of the main undercarriage wheels of one of the many parked Vulcan B2 Bombers we had on the distant dispersals out to the woods then, was serious sniping! Real RAF days! (They'd freak if you tried that from a Eurofighter Typhoon now! Health and safety, "You might break it Man!! :icon_eek: )

 

That rifle made a true air rifle hunter out of me, as no other before it and I wish to God I still had it -along with permissions to RAF Waddington, Swinderby and Scampton that seemed overrun with rabbits and woodies. I traded it for a new Feinwerkbau 124 Sport .22 that was another incredible rifle I wish to God I still had aswell! Heyho. The first HW80 had arrived on the scene however, and it was a love at first sight that still endures. I'm hooked on my HW80s for life.

 

From the pics you have here, it's not so bad as it may first look mate. Just a clean up of the rust and a repair to the stock, if the internals are fine, though the barrel might need attention. For surface rust, I take a wedge of fine wire wool and damp it with a squirt of gun oil and give it a good wipe all over, as you would cleaning it after a shooting session. If the rust is light, it will remove it and restore the blueing underneath without scratching or scoring.

 

What is the method you use with Tin foil?

 

The crack along the grip to the comb is a sure sign that someone let the barrel slip from their grasp while cocking. It's flown back under tension from the spring and this is what results when the hefty breech block smashes back on the cylinder pivot. What about the alignment of the barrel? It will almost certainly have "gone North" or bent upwards by some degree. That can be re-aligned no problem but it's not always easy to spot. Tilt the rifle on its side and look down the entire length from the butt. You may see the barrel is out of alignment by some degree with the rest of the rifle.

 

I'd like to see how you progress with this rifle restoration and I'm certain you will have some great shooting with it when it's finished. :thumbs:

 

ATB

 

Simon

 

It's not just me that goes misty eyed whenever a HW35e is mentioned then! :D:thumbs:

Link to post

Hi rossy08.

 

Wow I haven't seen one of these beauties for over 30-odd years or more! In my late teens while serving with the RAF Regiment as a green-as-grass LAC Gunner, I remember reading a new monthly magazine called "Air Gun World" and a young John Darling had an HW35E Export .22 (hence the "E") and a Tasco 3-9x40 moonlighter and, in the pages of the magazine, he would effortlessly despatch rats, rabbits, pidgeons and corvids at some serious ranges every month. It was regarded as one of the best break barrel spring air rifles you could hope for in 1977/78 and established Weihrauch's reputation as a world class spring air rifle manufacturer in Britain. I proudly bought one in .22 with a whopping 3-9x50 Tasco wide angle TV scope on mail order from Uttings (good old days) and it was a revelation to shoot with it.

 

We had a lot of rabbits on our airfields that proved an aircraft hazzard and the Group Captain Station CO was only too pleased to give me the run of RAF Waddington's vast acres at the weekends and cull them. I had the shooting all to myself as no-one bothered with using a lowly air rifle to go shooting rabbits on the base other than the officers and their shotguns for the pheasants in the winter months. Bloody heaven! Shooting from a hide that was infact the chocks of the main undercarriage wheels of one of the many parked Vulcan B2 Bombers we had on the distant dispersals out to the woods then, was serious sniping! Real RAF days! (They'd freak if you tried that from a Eurofighter Typhoon now! Health and safety, "You might break it Man!! :icon_eek: )

 

That rifle made a true air rifle hunter out of me, as no other before it and I wish to God I still had it -along with permissions to RAF Waddington, Swinderby and Scampton that seemed overrun with rabbits and woodies. I traded it for a new Feinwerkbau 124 Sport .22 that was another incredible rifle I wish to God I still had aswell! Heyho. The first HW80 had arrived on the scene however, and it was a love at first sight that still endures. I'm hooked on my HW80s for life.

 

From the pics you have here, it's not so bad as it may first look mate. Just a clean up of the rust and a repair to the stock, if the internals are fine, though the barrel might need attention. For surface rust, I take a wedge of fine wire wool and damp it with a squirt of gun oil and give it a good wipe all over, as you would cleaning it after a shooting session. If the rust is light, it will remove it and restore the blueing underneath without scratching or scoring.

 

What is the method you use with Tin foil?

 

The crack along the grip to the comb is a sure sign that someone let the barrel slip from their grasp while cocking. It's flown back under tension from the spring and this is what results when the hefty breech block smashes back on the cylinder pivot. What about the alignment of the barrel? It will almost certainly have "gone North" or bent upwards by some degree. That can be re-aligned no problem but it's not always easy to spot. Tilt the rifle on its side and look down the entire length from the butt. You may see the barrel is out of alignment by some degree with the rest of the rifle.

 

I'd like to see how you progress with this rifle restoration and I'm certain you will have some great shooting with it when it's finished. :thumbs:

 

ATB

 

Simon

 

It's not just me that goes misty eyed whenever a HW35e is mentioned then! :D:thumbs:

 

it seams the old girl still has the ability to stir up teenage dreams.

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Malt. Andy. Hi lads.

Andy you are more than welcome mate and thanks for the SPA! That was very kind of you fella, but it's a pleasure to help a fellow shooter out with a restoration project of a rifle I've really loved shooting from the past. I'm about to order a new HW77 for my collection but, your thread has got me thinking of looking for a vintage Left Hand HW35E I can restore for myself. I think, from the sound of it Andy, you've had a bit more luck than disaster with this find of yours mate. Certainly I hope so and you'll get her shooting again soon without too much pain! :thumbs:

 

 

Malt, you sound as though you've had similar great experiences with shooting one of these magnificent rifles too! :thumbs:

 

When I was a young lad there was very little in the way of a solidly built reliable spring powered hunt ing air rifle, other than what Diana and Original from Germany, BSA and Webley from Britain had to offer. Well made and accurate rifles, but at not much over 20-25 metres. Ammo wasn't as good or as plentiful as it is now. But then, they were not that expensive and you could even buy one from your mum's Littlewoods or Great Universal mail order shopping catologues and pay for it in small weekly payments! :yes: That was air rifle shooting as I knew it growing up.

 

Then this German Messerschmitt ME 109 of an air rifle comes along that can hit a penny with a 10-shot string, out to twice that range and more, with better German made ammunition! You can imagine how that would have felt after all those so-so guns, getting your hands on something like this! :toast:

 

When this old sweetheart is finished, scoped-up and ready it would be fantastic to see what she can perform with the high levels of quality ammo we have now. Back when I had mine brand new, I remember using a German Diana "Match Gold" .22 pellet and they were perfect in my 35's barrel. They are long since out of manufacture alas, or out there under another name. Today, I'd first go for H&N FIELD AND TARGET TROPHY. They perform brilliantly in my HW80 Standard and HW80k .22 rifles. Well worth a try with your restored 35E Andy.

 

It's not my place to say what a fellow should or shouldn't do about his guns but, I know if she was mine, I'd restore her to perfection and never let her go.

 

Must be a first-love thing..! ;)

 

Cheers Gentlemen

 

Simon

Edited by pianoman
Link to post

Malt. Andy. Hi lads.

Andy you are more than welcome mate and thanks for the SPA! That was very kind of you fella, but it's a pleasure to help a fellow shooter out with a restoration project of a rifle I've really loved shooting from the past. I'm about to order a new HW77 for my collection but, your thread has got me thinking of looking for a vintage Left Hand HW35E I can restore for myself. I think, from the sound of it Andy, you've had a bit more luck than disaster with this find of yours mate. Certainly I hope so and you'll get her shooting again soon without too much pain! :thumbs:

 

 

Malt, you sound as though you've had similar great experiences with shooting one of these magnificent rifles too! :thumbs:

 

When I was a young lad there was very little in the way of a solidly built reliable spring powered hunt ing air rifle, other than what Diana and Original from Germany, BSA and Webley from Britain had to offer. Well made and accurate rifles, but at not much over 20-25 metres. Ammo wasn't as good or as plentiful as it is now. But then, they were not that expensive and you could even buy one from your mum's Littlewoods or Great Universal mail order shopping catologues and pay for it in small weekly payments! :yes: That was air rifle shooting as I knew it growing up.

 

Then this German Messerschmitt ME 109 of an air rifle comes along that can hit a penny with a 10-shot string, out to twice that range and more, with better German made ammunition! You can imagine how that would have felt after all those so-so guns, getting your hands on something like this! :toast:

 

When this old sweetheart is finished, scoped-up and ready it would be fantastic to see what she can perform with the high levels of quality ammo we have now. Back when I had mine brand new, I remember using a German Diana "Match Gold" .22 pellet and they were perfect in my 35's barrel. They are long since out of manufacture alas, or out there under another name. Today, I'd first go for H&N FIELD AND TARGET TROPHY. They perform brilliantly in my HW80 Standard and HW80k .22 rifles. Well worth a try with your restored 35E Andy.

 

It's not my place to say what a fellow should or shouldn't do about his guns but, I know if she was mine, I'd restore her to perfection and never let her go.

 

Must be a first-love thing..! ;)

 

Cheers Gentlemen

 

Simon

 

hi there simon

 

well i must say that it is an absolute pleasure to find someone with such a passion for said rifle.and again i thank you for your time and advice. i will be checking the barrel over very shortly as the stock will be returned to me later all fixed up, much thanks to carl for the time and effort with that.

 

Carl a good freind of myn uses the h+n pellets as the stable diet for his rapid so will be collering a few of them to test along side the AA feild diablo that i tend to use.

 

still very undecided about the future of the hw35 would like to keep her but i no it will never get used if i do.

 

i no what im like if i open the cuboard to go shooting and there befor me is the AA or the HW i no i will favor the AA PCP. so would seam such a shame to leave her sat there,when someone elce will love her more.

 

but with that said i have been saying for a long time now that i would like a back up springer.

 

ohh what to do what to do.

 

just out of intrest what do you think she would be worth, or what would you pay for a good one. as im undecided about that to.

 

all the best mate and thanks again.

 

atb

 

Andy

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Hi Andy

 

Keep it a while and use it as a back-up springer, see how much you actually like it then decide whether to keep or sell, based on your actual shooting with it.

 

As to prce I'd pay however... :big_boss:

 

Phew that's a good one! If I said price A I'd get people saying what a cheap bugger I am. But if I said price B, they'd be thinking I had more cash than sense. Wrong on both counts!

 

Condition of gun with selling it, is really everything here mate. I can only advise you try google searches or ring round dealers with second hand market listings in their services for a reasonable, accurate pre-sale value. See how well your HW35 really scrubs up then approach the subject of valuation.

 

The gun trade might use a basic rule of thumb as a quick guide for determining a base value of a second hand older gun in mint condition by taking the price of an equivalent brand new exple and deduct, say, 20%. The less desirable the condition the cheaper the gun becomes on the shelf price. If you take it to the trade with a profit to make, you can expect to see a cut of about 40% off the trade price of the new equivalent, which won't be very high compared what you could get for it in a private sale. Original HW35E Exports are the more desirable of the HW35 versions offered, with a scarce Luxus version sought after by collectors who know.

 

The quality of repair to the damaged stock is a considerable factor in your gun's case Andy. If you can get back what you spend on the overall restoration with a bit of wedge for profit in your pocket, you made a good result. But bear in mind 20 quid can be the difference between a sale or nothing; and the difference between "Good" to "Mint" condition is seldom more than a hundred quid, in purely financial terms.

 

Cheers Andy

 

Simon

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Hi Andy

 

Keep it a while and use it as a back-up springer, see how much you actually like it then decide whether to keep or sell, based on your actual shooting with it.

 

As to prce I'd pay however... :big_boss:

 

Phew that's a good one! If I said price A I'd get people saying what a cheap bugger I am. But if I said price B, they'd be thinking I had more cash than sense. Wrong on both counts!

 

Condition of gun with selling it, is really everything here mate. I can only advise you try google searches or ring round dealers with second hand market listings in their services for a reasonable, accurate pre-sale value. See how well your HW35 really scrubs up then approach the subject of valuation.

 

The gun trade might use a basic rule of thumb as a quick guide for determining a base value of a second hand older gun in mint condition by taking the price of an equivalent brand new exple and deduct, say, 20%. The less desirable the condition the cheaper the gun becomes on the shelf price. If you take it to the trade with a profit to make, you can expect to see a cut of about 40% off the trade price of the new equivalent, which won't be very high compared what you could get for it in a private sale. Original HW35E Exports are the more desirable of the HW35 versions offered, with a scarce Luxus version sought after by collectors who know.

 

The quality of repair to the damaged stock is a considerable factor in your gun's case Andy. If you can get back what you spend on the overall restoration with a bit of wedge for profit in your pocket, you made a good result. But bear in mind 20 quid can be the difference between a sale or nothing; and the difference between "Good" to "Mint" condition is seldom more than a hundred quid, in purely financial terms.

 

Cheers Andy

 

Simon

 

hello mate and thanks again for your replie.

 

the value of this item is causing me some greif, must say tho i'm an rfd and deal with a lot of second hand rifles.

 

however my knowledge of the older more classic guns is lacking a little. i no what they are and whats what, but the value of some items can be harder for me to work out.

 

ie this hw, now i no what i have paid and i no what i can sell her for in the shop, but this is just general public that are more oftern than not just getting in to the sport and will never truly apreciate what they have.thus would always like to sell items such as this HW to lets say a nice loving home.

 

now newer and more up to date rifles have no problem with but, as im always willing to admit there is times when i just dont no enough about an indervidual item. :icon_redface:

 

just always like to get a second opinion and advice on, and hopefully learn someting new and add to my knoweledge.

 

On another note i did look into the barrel as you suggested and your were spot on, it had gon everso slightly north and has now been realined,(tho it wasent as easy as you made it sound)lol.

 

recived the stock back yesterday. the cracks gon back together very well but will requier a little more work to get her looking on top form again.

 

will keep you all informed of the progress and will try and add more pics along the way.

 

thanks again

 

Andy

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