How To Get A Fully Customised Rifle For Under 400 Notes!!!

[gurtwurz 792]

hi lads, its been a while since i started a topic cos i've been unable to upload photos from my phone but thats changed at last so i thought (or hope!!) that this might be of interest to those guys like me, who like the idea of a tuned rifle with a fitted stock but dont want to pay out for one.

 

some of you may know of my penchant for the mighty workhorse that is the HW80. i love these old school break barrels due to their accuracy, durability and build quality. what i dont like about them is that the comb on the stock is built for open sights,so its hard to maintain a consistant head position when youre using 40mm plus objective lensed scopes, and it has to be said, the older models, particularly the mk1 are very much function over form, that is to say-butt ugly... i also think that the build quality on the older models is vastly superior to the new ones, meaning that youre better off buying a scruffy 20 year old model if it shoots straight than a brand spanking new one.

 

so, last year i got a nice 20ish year old for £140, with the intention of making it a bit special. nothing wrong with its action or barrel, it was pretty accurate and smooth to shoot, probably because it had been shot about a million times before i got it...

 

however, i felt it could do with a tune, so after purchasing a spring and spring guide from sandwell field sports, it got sent up to our very own andyfr1968 for some of his magic touch, and while it was away i started looking at the stock and how it could be improved beyond gaffer taping a bit of sleeping mat to the comb.

 

after thinking awhile i started to consider using plastic padding to build up the stock, since its sort of easy to apply, durable, flexible, easy to file/sand to finished shape and easy to paint. i figured that the sharp knocks that it takes from the road would be generally on a par or worse than the recoil of a tuned springer, so with that in mind i started work.

 

i figured that i would definitely be raising the comb to give me a better cheek weld and eye-to-scope position, and as it was a mk1, i'd deepen the forestock so it'd make standing and kneeling shots easier,in the same way that a hamster does but without having a strange growth protruding from the bottom of me gun...

 

first up, i removed all the varnish from the stock by sanding the crap out of it, then drilling into the comb vertically so i could tap some dowel plugs in which, along with using a b*****d file to get the wood good and rough, would provide a key and an anchor to the stock for the filler. i did the same at the trigger end of the forestock and with that, commenced slapping the filler on(thats a technical term!) once i had the filler in the rough shape i wanted i filed and sanded it to the finished shape i wanted i sprayed the whole thing up in a camo effect and thought that was the end of that..

 

 

 

 

i spent the next few months shooting the at every opportunity, and over the winter it accounted for a goodly amount of squirrels and a few pigeon too,

 

 

 

but it still wasnt quite right, i'd made the comb a tad too high, i thought the pistol grip could be improved on, and a 'thumb up' groove wouldnt go amiss either, so after downtuning the power a bit (cos it'd had crept up quite a bit over winter to illegal firearm levels) at davy's i figured why not give it a second go and improve it where i'd got it wrong before and add a little bit of weight while i was about it.

 

first up, i sanded the comb down until it fitted me exactly, and then i added a better shaped pistol grip with scalloped finger grooves and a thumb up groove too

 

 

 

 

 

finally happy, i took it up to the local club and tried it at 45yds from kneeling, just to make sure it fitted perfectly. the top right hand shot was my aiming point, and the 3 shot group told me i was on the right track

 

 

 

 

so it was time to paint it up,and after sanding and a couple of doses of spray filler/undercoat, i started with a two tone green effect

 

 

 

this was followed by a brown coat using ivy leaves from the garden as a stencil,which quite frankly looked shite, but more was to come

 

 

then, a coat of mid green using grass that i'd allowed to grow all winter especially for this job(yeah, right...) as a stencil

 

 

and finally a bit of black with some more grass stencilling

 

 

 

 

 

i was well pleased with the results, but the rifle seemed a bit light at the front, so i finished up by changing the original full length barrel

for a shorter but much heavier hw98 one.

 

 

 

so thats it done, and when you consider that with all the bits done and dusted, its cost a shade over £300, i'm well happy. its not to everyones taste, its as heavy as a 97 but its accurate as hell. i havent had a group as tight as the above yet but then its like shooting a new rifle so it'll take a week or so to get used to it before i take it into the field proper.

 

since its a hybrid now i thought that HW4Q would be a suitable moniker...

 

cheers, wurz

Edited May 1, 2013 by gurtwurz

[reecemurg 21]

looks sweet mate ,, and a nice write up too

[Skot Ruthless Teale 1,701]

nice one. very interesting lifestory there wurz mate..but, skip to the end!

 

 

at least its to your tastes and how you wanted it.. its YOUR rifle anyway tho so if nobody else likes it then its their problem lol

 

i like it tho.

[woodcote1 88]

I like it a lot.

[hunter100t 56]

Ah, i see you got the 98 barrel, you said you would, it looks realy good wurz and a good cammo pattern to boot !

You know what this means dont you, it will be better than the 98 over all because of the weight and its pedigree.

I fancy putting one of them barrels on my 90, thought of it for a while now, let me know how you get on with it weight wise.

Great read mate and good photo's for a step by step how you did it.

 

atb phil

[gurtwurz 792]

Cheers for the kind comments chaps!

 

Skot, youre right mate, thats why its got the 4q nickname, cos if you don't like it, well, 4q!

 

Hi phil, so far I'm wel pleased with the barrel, its killed the muzzle flip pretty much. I would've thought it'd be great on a 90 since theyre a much weightier action than the (i think?) You can order them from hull cartridge, mine cost a oner with cocking link and the drift pin that holds it. The new cocking link didn't fit the cocking dog on the piston so you'd probably be as well to buy a new one of those as well (although you could just use the original parts with the new barrel)

Hope youre well mate, it was good to meet you the other week

 

Cheers, wurz

[Skot Ruthless Teale 1,701]

totally didnt get the 4q bit unitll now. dope

[hunter100t 56]

No wouldent need cocking linkage or shoe, just the barrel, ,90 are the same weight 8.8 lb, think the 97 is the same but not sure.

Good to meet you to mate and glad i did, lots in common, fettling with guns and all that.

prob need a new pin thinking about it, new barrel will be tight. Keep on puncturing people mate !

 

atb phil

 

Forgot to ask, What is the lengh of that barrel ?

Edited May 1, 2013 by hunter100t

[Mawders 595]

Nicely done there mate! Looks awesome. Must be really satisfying knowing you have done it all yourself.

[Lewis Ste 245]

Very nice wurz, a nice no nonecence gun. Can't help but think with the heavier barrel now it would be a very good FAC air rifle

 

Atb bud

[porkycrook 466]

Nice one Wurz.

[davyt63 1,839]

hi lads, its been a while since i started a topic cos i've been unable to upload photos from my phone but thats changed at last so i thought (or hope!!) that this might be of interest to those guys like me, who like the idea of a tuned rifle with a fitted stock but dont want to pay out for one.

 

some of you may know of my penchant for the mighty workhorse that is the HW80. i love these old school break barrels due to their accuracy, durability and build quality. what i dont like about them is that the comb on the stock is built for open sights,so its hard to maintain a consistant head position when youre using 40mm plus objective lensed scopes, and it has to be said, the older models, particularly the mk1 are very much function over form, that is to say-butt ugly... i also think that the build quality on the older models is vastly superior to the new ones, meaning that youre better off buying a scruffy 20 year old model if it shoots straight than a brand spanking new one.

 

so, last year i got a nice 20ish year old for £140, with the intention of making it a bit special. nothing wrong with its action or barrel, it was pretty accurate and smooth to shoot, probably because it had been shot about a million times before i got it...

 

however, i felt it could do with a tune, so after purchasing a spring and spring guide from sandwell field sports, it got sent up to our very own andyfr1968 for some of his magic touch, and while it was away i started looking at the stock and how it could be improved beyond gaffer taping a bit of sleeping mat to the comb.

 

after thinking awhile i started to consider using plastic padding to build up the stock, since its sort of easy to apply, durable, flexible, easy to file/sand to finished shape and easy to paint. i figured that the sharp knocks that it takes from the road would be generally on a par or worse than the recoil of a tuned springer, so with that in mind i started work.

 

i figured that i would definitely be raising the comb to give me a better cheek weld and eye-to-scope position, and as it was a mk1, i'd deepen the forestock so it'd make standing and kneeling shots easier,in the same way that a hamster does but without having a strange growth protruding from the bottom of me gun...

 

first up, i removed all the varnish from the stock by sanding the crap out of it, then drilling into the comb vertically so i could tap some dowel plugs in which, along with using a b*****d file to get the wood good and rough, would provide a key and an anchor to the stock for the filler. i did the same at the trigger end of the forestock and with that, commenced slapping the filler on(thats a technical term!) once i had the filler in the rough shape i wanted i filed and sanded it to the finished shape i wanted i sprayed the whole thing up in a camo effect and thought that was the end of that..

 

 

 

 

i spent the next few months shooting the at every opportunity, and over the winter it accounted for a goodly amount of squirrels and a few pigeon too,

 

 

 

but it still wasnt quite right, i'd made the comb a tad too high, i thought the pistol grip could be improved on, and a 'thumb up' groove wouldnt go amiss either, so after downtuning the power a bit (cos it'd had crept up quite a bit over winter to illegal firearm levels) at davy's i figured why not give it a second go and improve it where i'd got it wrong before and add a little bit of weight while i was about it.

 

first up, i sanded the comb down until it fitted me exactly, and then i added a better shaped pistol grip with scalloped finger grooves and a thumb up groove too

 

 

 

 

 

finally happy, i took it up to the local club and tried it at 45yds from kneeling, just to make sure it fitted perfectly. the top right hand shot was my aiming point, and the 3 shot group told me i was on the right track

 

 

 

 

so it was time to paint it up,and after sanding and a couple of doses of spray filler/undercoat, i started with a two tone green effect

 

 

 

this was followed by a brown coat using ivy leaves from the garden as a stencil,which quite frankly looked shite, but more was to come

 

 

then, a coat of mid green using grass that i'd allowed to grow all winter especially for this job(yeah, right...) as a stencil

 

 

and finally a bit of black with some more grass stencilling

 

 

 

 

 

i was well pleased with the results, but the rifle seemed a bit light at the front, so i finished up by changing the original full length barrel

for a shorter but much heavier hw98 one.

 

 

 

so thats it done, and when you consider that with all the bits done and dusted, its cost a shade over £300, i'm well happy. its not to everyones taste, its as heavy as a 97 but its accurate as hell. i havent had a group as tight as the above yet but then its like shooting a new rifle so it'll take a week or so to get used to it before i take it into the field proper.

 

since its a hybrid now i thought that HW4Q would be a suitable moniker...

 

cheers, wurz

 

 

 

hi john

some nice work there buddy, going to try that one myself " leave the grass for a camo project"

its looking much better with the shorter barrel, you don't look so much like Davey crocket with his long gun

 

shame we couldn't meet up last night, you must bring it in a couple of weeks,and we can all have a play with it!" the hybrid john"

 

not bad for a tracer

 

PS. enjoyed that post. about freaking time you put one up!

 

 

 

nice one. very interesting lifestory there wurz mate..but, skip to the end!

 

 

at least its to your tastes and how you wanted it.. its YOUR rifle anyway tho so if nobody else likes it then its their problem lol

 

i like it tho.

 

 

PMSL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited May 1, 2013 by davyt63

[risingfriend 1,042]

nice bit of work Wurz buddy some fine changes to the stock mate very clever ATB Aaron.............4q :laugh:

[davyt63 1,839]

4Q

[risingfriend 1,042]

4Q

cu l8r