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HW45 project

Printed From: Kiwi Airgunners
Category: Technical
Forum Name: Pauly's Technical Area
Forum Description: Technical information, Modifications and DIY projects are all in here
URL: www.kiwiairgunners.co.nz/forum_posts.asp?TID=510
Printed Date: 04 May 2024 at 4:49pm
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Topic: HW45 project
Posted By: J-S
Subject: HW45 project
Date Posted: 02 Oct 2020 at 2:47pm
Next project to add to the list of unfinished jobs; a tatty HW45..
Horribly ply grips
painted black to cover the white text
missing rear sight
missing safety switch
slammy to shoot, and a little low on power
chipped in a couple of places..





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Replies:
Posted By: J-S
Date Posted: 02 Oct 2020 at 2:51pm
I have ordered a new seal from Custom Air Seals in Ausy
New spring, NOS grips, a few spares, and new top lever from Ron. Lots of small parts on their way from UK
The paint comes off with stripper, and leaves the anodising in place, so I will strip it down to bare parts and strip the paint off fully.
When stripped, I will check if any other finish damage (there is a section of wear that looks like sanding on the finish) and may look at getting the frame Cerakoted..

A bit of investment in this one, but they are a lovely gun to have..


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Posted By: dvlnme
Date Posted: 03 Oct 2020 at 7:58am
were expensive guns new,and rather a good pistol too.considering what would have cost new,someone gave it real hard time by looks of it,good project bring it back to life mate be well worth it just as a shooter,now banned imports along with bassically all air pistols,the only way to get most air pistols now is to find then used and rebuild them due to this political BS,this one will keep you busy for a while.good find.
 cheers mike


Posted By: J-S
Date Posted: 03 Oct 2020 at 10:11am
Yeah, so far I have spent a little less than the price they were new, which should get it tatty but functioning and complete.. Add in refinish if the frame it will be close to RRP, but used market they are nearly 2x RRP so it’s not really overcapitalising.. I had one and sold it a year or so ago and regretted it. If this is a good shooter it should stick around a little longer..

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Posted By: dvlnme
Date Posted: 04 Oct 2020 at 7:45am
have sold off far too many firearms and airguns i still regret having let go myself over the years never will sell off any more thats for sure,as i now tend to build any pcp airguns i want myself its very unlokely i will ever get talked into selling any of them,have too much time effort etc tied up in guns i build for myself to ever let them go these days.abused worn out guns you rebuild yourself are allways guna be a bit special to you and it can get hard to let them go for sure,usually takes something special you need or want more for that happen,other side of this is that today certain types airguns are getting very hard to get or replace due to the BS import ban etc,as its virtually impossible to buy or import any air pistols these days,so cost of those in country will continue to go up from demand etc,its got so rediculous that evan well known olympic target shooters cant get target pistols imported now,and its not going to get any better either,this mob in government along with nz police are going to continue coming after as many guns as they can,airguns are on their list too.
 cheers mike


Posted By: J-S
Date Posted: 04 Oct 2020 at 9:10pm
I would love to be able to build something custom, but tinkering is a bit of fun anyway.
It is a pain that nothing is coming in without good reason; it’s also gone through to airsoft - pistols are allowed to be ordered for registered club members only and shelf stock is generally not allowed, According to Ron, only what’s been preordered and sold.
I have managed to get a permit accepted for import of a pair of Smith and Wesson 78G’s, so that will be interesting to try to get here..

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Posted By: J-S
Date Posted: 08 Oct 2020 at 10:10am
The grips replaced, im still keen to look at some custom Rimu ones at some point. These are new old stock from Youngs and are rather dirty and missing the emblems! I had thought about getting some emblems struck in China, but too much admin.. I did redraw the original logo ready to go though, if I change my mind. I may have to just get some small brass round pieces to infill them or something. I think the original Colt emblems which are available are a fraction too small.


Testing the paint finish with a bit of Citristrip for a couple of minutes showed the spray paint will come off and leave the original anodised finish in good condition. There are some parts sanded to the alloy so I am still pretty sure it will need refinishing anyway; if i want to have it in good condition, or otherwise leave it and shoot it as is..





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Posted By: dvlnme
Date Posted: 08 Oct 2020 at 7:54pm
any of the grip panels made for colt 1911 semi autos will fit this pistol,there are heaps of options available with 1911 grip panels,check out some the soft air sites they have plenty and not expensive.
 cheers mike


Posted By: J-S
Date Posted: 08 Oct 2020 at 10:48pm
Yeah there are some cool grips around. I thought it would be nice to keep original grips, but there’s no possibility to get the original emblems (asked Weihrauch).

Had a couple of mins and swapped the barrel and cocking arms into a new top lever. It’s new old stock from our friend Ron, so it’s in keeping with the original - newer versions have fibre optic front sight. Looks new again, just gotta sort the frame now, reseal and respiring.



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Posted By: Pauly5
Date Posted: 08 Oct 2020 at 11:13pm
Was thinking today how this project was going. Great work. HW45.1


Posted By: dvlnme
Date Posted: 09 Oct 2020 at 6:42am
that was a good score once again Ron came thru eh!!you maybe able to source some origional grips and medalions out of US as these guns were sold in US under different name by a well known US airgun company whos name eludes my old fuzzy brain at the moment,but research it today and get back to you,wouldnt count on the frame being made of alliminium,very possibly a zinc alloy,if thats case it wont be anodised but will have some type of heat baked on paint finish,dont qoute me on that one,its a possiblity worth considering,you can get certain paints that can be baked on at home in the oven at approx 100 degrees,some used these paints to put really nice finishs on crosman airguns made from zinc alloys without damaging the zinc which has melting point some what lower than alliminium,i have used stove paints that harden under quite low heat to get nice and hard wearing finishs on zinc alloys,so thats on option to consider as well the beauty of the stove paints is you can put several thin layers on heating between coats and get a really deep and nice very hard wearing finish.
 cheers mike


Posted By: J-S
Date Posted: 09 Oct 2020 at 11:04am
That would Beeman. They had it branded as the P1 and did have their own emblems.

I tried to find a website or contact details a while back and couldnt find anything; they seem to put out chinese stuff these days, rather than in their hayday when they had HW, FWB, etc rebranded gear.

I still may get it cerakoted; their service includes bead blasting the old finish, and ultrasonic degreasing to remove any oils. Its pricey, but should give a great hard finish.
That or I could always try polishing back and having bright alloy finish but that would dull quickly..




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Posted By: J-S
Date Posted: 09 Nov 2020 at 1:25pm
I have decided to send the HW45 frame off to get Cerakoted.
The finish under the paint was a little worn, so it should come out nicely.
I was going to go black in keeping with original colour, but I have chosen colour Tungsten, which is a nice metallic warm dark grey that throws a touch of bronze colour. Should pair well with the matt black of the new top, hammer and safety switches.

Still considering custom rimu grips, but with a newborn time is even more limited!
It would also look good with Hogue wrap around grips but im struggling to find these; seems the distributor has stopped. Anyone seen any in local shops?

Will update with some pics of the coated frame when back, below are the 'before'







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Posted By: Pauly5
Date Posted: 09 Nov 2020 at 2:03pm
That's a great project. That colour sounds good to me. 
Do you have to allow for finish thickness on close tolerance parts?


Posted By: J-S
Date Posted: 09 Nov 2020 at 2:18pm
Originally posted by Pauly5 Pauly5 wrote:

That's a great project. That colour sounds good to me. 
Do you have to allow for finish thickness on close tolerance parts?


I wont share what it will cost all up; it will be close to what current inflated pistol rate is!
but im comitted to getting it going so oh well.. hopefully it will be a keeper..

The HW45/75 comes in a couple of colours already (bronze, silver), and I believe the coating is very thin but hard so it should be fine... I have mentioned to them that there are lots of pin holes etc and they have said its no problem and can plug them.
Time will tell..



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Posted By: dvlnme
Date Posted: 10 Nov 2020 at 7:46am
coming along well ,worth the effort as these are excellent pistols,keep at it.
 cheers mike


Posted By: J-S
Date Posted: 10 Nov 2020 at 10:58am
Cheers guys. Some colour inspiration shots of the Tungsten.. Also like the look of the Hogue wrap around grips but i cant seem to find any in NZ!!





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Posted By: dvlnme
Date Posted: 11 Nov 2020 at 9:02am
try reloaders supplys or gun city both should have a collection of colt 1911 grips including various makes of  round rubber,softairgun suppiers may allso be able to help,any grips that fit 1911 colt auto pistols will fit your gun,as they were designed to use these grips.
 cheers mike


Posted By: J-S
Date Posted: 11 Nov 2020 at 9:25am
Originally posted by dvlnme dvlnme wrote:

try reloaders supplys or gun city both should have a collection of colt 1911 grips including various makes of  round rubber,softairgun suppiers may allso be able to help,any grips that fit 1911 colt auto pistols will fit your gun,as they were designed to use these grips.
 cheers mike

Cheers, Aliexpress has a lot of grips, may get some options. But they dont have the Hogue style; i contacted most the big stores and they seem out of stock and the distributor has stopped importing (perhaps recent legislation has stifled their main trade..)
I have found an airsoft crowd that has similar in stock so will take a punt on those..


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Posted By: J-S
Date Posted: 16 Nov 2020 at 9:16am
The frame got cerakoted over the weekend and is onb its way back to me now. This was through CerakoteNZ, and they sent through some pics of the process for me as well as finished result. Looking forward to recieveing. The metallic effect looks like it will help mask some of the blemished the frame had from its years of use..

Before


Sand blasted off the old finish


Ready to coat


Coated

Finished Frame:





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Posted By: J-S
Date Posted: 17 Nov 2020 at 9:36am
The frame is back from CerakoteNZ.
Looks like they have done a great job with a nice even finish. The pin holes were plugged so they shouldn’t gone a problem to reassemble, and the inside of the frame is also coated which is great as some will be visible when cocking.
A quick dress up with the hogue grip, with the frame cutouts it will be tricky to fit them without any visible gaps, but we shall see.. can always make some rimu grips; the warmth of the Tungsten colour will suit it nicely,



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Posted By: dvlnme
Date Posted: 17 Nov 2020 at 10:02am
looks great,know nothing bout this coating so what can you tell me bout it??is it hard wearing?? who does it??what does it cost ??
 cheers mike


Posted By: J-S
Date Posted: 17 Nov 2020 at 4:16pm
Originally posted by dvlnme dvlnme wrote:

looks great,know nothing bout this coating so what can you tell me bout it??is it hard wearing?? who does it??what does it cost ??
 cheers mike

"Cerakote is a Polymer-Ceramic coating that can be applied to metals, plastics, polymers and wood. The unique formulation used for Cerakote ceramic coating enhances a number of physical performance properties including abrasion/wear resistance, corrosion resistance, chemical resistance, impact strength, and hardness.

Cerakote can protect steel 50 times better than competitive firearm coatings.  Cerakote salt spray testing is performed using a steel substrate, to simulate real world application, instead of using aluminum or Parkerizing

Cerakote offers some distinct advantages over other finishes. First, the material has a good degree of lubricity, acting as a lubricant once the finish has been applied. A lot of users have found they need to use far less lubricant (if any) once their gun has been coated. Compared to other lubricants, Cerakote attracts far less in terms of dirt, dust and other particles, keeping the gun cleaner and ensuring better operation."

It is a spray finish that is then baked to harden, available is a heap of different colours so popular with those that want to customise their guns / car & motorbikes etc.

The part needs to be cleaned & degreased, bead blasted to remove or rough the current finish, then sprayed and baked to harden. Given the proceedure, it is pretty pricey. I got quotes up to $150-$200 for this single piece, but ended up being $80 from CerakoteNZ. So that price was less than the hassle it would have been for me to do any other coating.
The bead blasting and adding a layer does soften details ever so slightly as you can expect, example the warning wording, serial number and 'HW45' are no long / barely visible, but on these they are very shallow engraved so that wasnt a surprise.

This is the first cerakote i have seen / touched / done, so I also know very little about how it wears so time will tell. This pistol has very little parts that rub so it should be ok.
There are a few guys that do it in NZ; Greystone Guns, CerakoteNZ, Spartanz, Armaworx.

Have a look here for some inspiration:
http://https://www.cerakote.com/project-gallery" rel="nofollow - https://www.cerakote.com/project-gallery


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Posted By: dvlnme
Date Posted: 18 Nov 2020 at 7:52am
thanx for that info,dont think will be suitable for what i want,parts too precisely fitted together for adding a paint finish to each part individually,nothing would go back together again as it should,looks like will need to anodise etc,did start making an anodising plant,so will proberly now go ahead with that now did some anodising but test pieces didnt take the dye i was using to colour parts etc,and need get some titanium wire to hang parts into anodising solution,as allinium wire anodises can only be used once as once anodised the wire wont give an electrical connection,unless anodising stripped off again,bit a learning curve for me doing my own anodising.
 cheers mike


Posted By: J-S
Date Posted: 18 Nov 2020 at 9:05am
Originally posted by dvlnme dvlnme wrote:

thanx for that info,dont think will be suitable for what i want,parts too precisely fitted together for adding a paint finish to each part individually,nothing would go back together again as it should,looks like will need to anodise etc,did start making an anodising plant,so will proberly now go ahead with that now did some anodising but test pieces didnt take the dye i was using to colour parts etc,and need get some titanium wire to hang parts into anodising solution,as allinium wire anodises can only be used once as once anodised the wire wont give an electrical connection,unless anodising stripped off again,bit a learning curve for me doing my own anodising.
 cheers mike


Hmm maybe not. though it is claimed to be 1-2mil thickness (0.001-0.002 inch) so may be ok for main body parts etc - should have better wear resistance than anodising.. Also good if you are making with mixed metals and need an even finish
but experimenting with your own anodising does sound interesting too!


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Posted By: dvlnme
Date Posted: 18 Nov 2020 at 12:07pm
sounda bout same thickness as anodising,maybe just little thicker,but could possibly work if i can remove it on contact surfaces,like the idea of the finish tho,what is range of colours??main priorty for me is to get harder wearing surface on allinium surfaces,preferably in a satin black colour and for everything to fit back together correctly.
 cheers mike


Posted By: J-S
Date Posted: 20 Nov 2020 at 1:45pm
Originally posted by dvlnme dvlnme wrote:

sounda bout same thickness as anodising,maybe just little thicker,but could possibly work if i can remove it on contact surfaces,like the idea of the finish tho,what is range of colours??main priorty for me is to get harder wearing surface on allinium surfaces,preferably in a satin black colour and for everything to fit back together correctly.
 cheers mike


If you go to their website you can see all their colours but they have a huge range. Flat black, "Midnight" which is their attempt at getting a coating similar to blued steel, there are metallic colours, tactical colours and bright colours. Basically anything. My piece was a single piece coated, but I imagine lots of small pieces would be a little more expensive due to the work involved.. might be worth a look, otherwise anodising would still be a great option.


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Posted By: nunga
Date Posted: 20 Nov 2020 at 9:21pm
Nice

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2nd place HP springer - WFTF World Championships 2014





Posted By: J-S
Date Posted: 23 Nov 2020 at 2:41pm
Originally posted by nunga nunga wrote:

Nice


Cheers.
I currently have it left with Ron Young to install the spring kit.. I wasn’t game enough to do it myself on this occasion.
They run near coil bound so there is a lot of preload which has a tendency to buckle the spring when installing.

I have re-assembled the trigger mechanism etc so will hopefully be good to shoot in a week or so..


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Posted By: Pauly5
Date Posted: 23 Nov 2020 at 3:28pm
Well done Jono, that's been a good project, and it looks sweeet!


Posted By: dvlnme
Date Posted: 24 Nov 2020 at 7:42am
man thats come out awesume,credit to you mate,looks better than factory.
 cheers mike


Posted By: J-S
Date Posted: 24 Nov 2020 at 11:00am
Originally posted by Pauly5 Pauly5 wrote:

Well done Jono, that's been a good project, and it looks sweeet!


Cheers Paul, looking forward to shooting it.


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Posted By: J-S
Date Posted: 24 Nov 2020 at 11:01am
Originally posted by dvlnme dvlnme wrote:

man thats come out awesume,credit to you mate,looks better than factory.
 cheers mike

Cheers Mike, im pleased with it so far. Still have to see how it shoots!


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Posted By: dvlnme
Date Posted: 25 Nov 2020 at 8:10am
iave put it all together right and used all good parts etc,it will function and shoot just fine,these are top quality airguns mate.
 cheers mike


Posted By: J-S
Date Posted: 27 Nov 2020 at 1:09pm
Well... I got Ron to install the new spring and guides, much to his annoyance as he now recalls how much of a pain these are to work on.. but nevertheless he is a good sort and got it done and the gun DIDNT WORK!! He did the spring install, the rest was my problem..

Turns out reinstalling the sears one of them dropped under another so it wasnt engaging. 
Out come the pins (carefully as I didnt want to ruin the coating), out comes the cylinder (luckily this is self contained now), out come some other trigger mech parts and flip up the sear. 
Back together again being careful not to slip the pin punch, and IT WORKS!

I shortened the spring 1.5 coils to ensure it wouldnt become coil bound with the new spring guides, polished the ends as usual, and combined with the new softer parachute style piston seal it lets off with a nice 'Thock' rather than the Weihrauch Twang. 

The kick is subdued and gentle but still present which is noce in a spring airgun, and the pellet flies out at 500fps. A little lower than factory but expected with the spring shortened. I need to wear in the spring to see if that changes, as well as check the barrel clearance is correct to ensure good contact with breech seal. 

The final things to do are A) get a new breech seal as the one I have is a little chewed but still ok, but could benefit being new.. B) Set up the trigger as per an easy tutorial by Jimmy Dee, that results in a nice crisp setting that breaks very cleanly. 

Will take some more pics then... Im not sure.. I guess put it away in a case, or up on trademe..
I really dont get a lot of chance to shot pistols, and need to decide if I enjoy the gun or the process of restoring it. 

Trigger tutorial for anyone interested:  http://www.jimmiedeesairguns.com/manufacturers/weihrauch/weihrauch-hw45-trigger-adjustment/" rel="nofollow - http://www.jimmiedeesairguns.com/manufacturers/weihrauch/weihrauch-hw45-trigger-adjustment/




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Posted By: dvlnme
Date Posted: 28 Nov 2020 at 7:18am
you wont have any trouble selling it but you will proberly regret doing so,know that from experience having parted with many firearms and airguns i should have kept over the years,i never sell guns i have rebuilt or hand built myself now days as way things are today you cant replace them,this is particually so with pistols,as very few are now imported,so few you may as well say none are allowed to be imported now,some times guns are just keepers mate.
 cheers mike


Posted By: Pauly5
Date Posted: 28 Nov 2020 at 9:23am
I would agree with that. None of my pistols are really noteworthy as both yours Jono, or Mike, but the fact that once gone, they won't be replaced is sad.
You can keep that one with the pride of having brought it back to life.
But of course, if you don't want it, I will swap it with my 1377.


Posted By: J-S
Date Posted: 28 Nov 2020 at 10:31pm
Cheers guys. I do understand sellers remorse.
I had the same with a customised Crosman 2250 pistol I did, nothing amazing but I think maybe the first airgun I had modified / customised, I would still like to do another of those..

I have listed on trademe, but the reserve is at a point where is someone wants to pay that then that’s ok, as I can probably afford to do 2 more custom jobs with it!

So am not expecting to sell, but am ok with it if it does.



-------------
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Air Arms TX200('s)
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HW77
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Current projects:
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