Newest project in - a pickup from trademe with very little info and bad pics. I could see its a Weihrauch underlever so for the price it was worth taking a punt.

Got it home for a check and it has a brass extra setback trigger, and a steel muzzle weight. Adding pics onto a couple of facebook groups the consensus is its a Venom HW77 or at least had venom parts added.  serial number says its around 1987, venom was started early 80s so the timing is right.

Shooting is very smooth, no spring noise on cocking, no twang when firing, not like a standard Weihrauch.. so Im looking forward to stripping it down and seeing whats inside.

Power is 11.5 footpound, and shot variance of about 19fps - not bad but room for improvement. May have a hardened seal, spring may be weak.

The bluing is worn and there are a few rust spots, so currently investigating getting it re-blued to a high gloss finish.

I don't really know, but have always wondered the  reason behind that design difference.

good question - it may just be the older models; the 35 / 55 / 80 all have the screw off jobby and the 95 has the plug type.. May be a case that it was the on all their models and the ones that have carried on as is (change means less interchangable parts between old stock, new stock etc of the same model), while newer ones have 30 / 57 / 95 have the newer way of doing things...

'insert shrug icon here'

Most tutorials I see insert the spring and rear guide using the block and awkwardly trying to screw it in under tension etc, but Ron mentioned he has a jig to push the spring past the screw hole, put a pin punch in the screw hole, screw in the cap with no tention, remove pin then snug it all up.

If I go V-mach there is far less preload with the shorter strong spring - more like the TX200 (clever poms)

CS500 from cutom stocks UK. Should be here on Wednesday..

Pauly5 wrote: First new nail polish, now a new dress. Oh behave!

Then a good ol' lube up.

 cheers mike

"select grade" is basically hand selecting a piece rather than lucky dip / next in line. It doesnt guarantee special figuring but simply the best piece they have from the lot.

The blanks are cut from whole slabs of walnut rather than ordered as blanks.

Still, this side has some nice colour going on

The other side is a little plainer but I do like the grain in the fore end on this side and it has some nice red-brown colouring too. And besides, this is the side my face sees when shooting!

Just gotta sort the internals and get it all together.

This could be a "looker".

Pauly5 wrote: Very nice Jono. I like the plain look. Do you get to hand burnish some massage oil into it?

No Pauly, just some light fondling for now..

The finish isnt too bad, and they finish with danish oil - Id need to see whats compatible if i want to refinish or smooth it, but ill likely leave it for now

I like the scope and close proximity to the chamber.

very nice. Are both piston and cylinder Titanium? It'll be good to hear how it shoots?

Is that Paul Short stage 4 titanium kit an alien artifact?!!! 

The jeweled part is the visible section, the rest is less bling.. But i got a cool sticker too!

I imagine the piston is titanium, the comp tube doesnt need to be..

It was chronoed at 11.6fpe before leaving UK so will be interesting to see where its at in the old 77

 

Thanks, it looks great installed with the jeweled finish in the breech area.

Yes, it was expensive compared to some kits, about the price opf buying a cometa fusion...

But when you consider that the piston is titanium, and its the complete internals including the compression tube with breech seal, piston, piston seal, piston liner, spring, spring guides and spare washers, the finishing etc, and the labour to make it all, prelubricate it so its a 'drop in' kit, and test its power before getting out the door, im ok with the price.. oh, and a sticker too..

Its installed now ands shooting 11.2ft lb, and its nice and smooth. Not super fast - 740fps-ish, but nice to shoot.

Thanks, but im just putting together other folks bits so cant claim any of their kudos, but its coming together nicely.

The CS stock is nice, the thumb up groove is really comfortable. They've been making stocks for a lot of the UK brands in the 80s and 90s (Theoben, Venom, Air Arms, etc), and their current offerings are still in that style which i like. 

Cheers; At the moment its in the safe, only a small job to do which is smooth out the cocking slot for a screw to ride in that keeps the piston centred; its a bit tight and gritty but other than that it shoots well.

Power vs accuracy is often a matter of pellet choice and getting used to how the rifle likes to be shot.

considering the HW77, full power is only around 15-16fpe so no magnum anyway so its not a huge difference to the uk power. Ive had the most changes in my TX200, which summarised below:

(the TX200 mkiii is really made for export / high power, so the brits are less keen on this one compared to the older mkii which was 12fpe)

- Factory standard full power - 15ish fpe; snappy cycle with a bit of thump, stacked pellets with JSB exact Heavy 10.34gr. 

- added spring guides from TBT - made rifle smoother but didnt change power or accuracy

- reduced power for target shooting with TBT short sproke extension; this uses the full power spring for a quick snappy cycle with less felt recoil, and reduced air volume which basically replicates the older mkii.  Best pellet now JSB exact Express (hates the heavies now with reduced power) and around 11fpe

- went to a skirtless piston from UK, recoil is reduced further, spring is still a strong spring so a quick cycle - very efficient. similar power to above but slightly lower, now it likes QYS Streamlined pellets which is unfortunate because they arent readily available here.. JSB Express are second in line.

so a matter of getting used to the rifle and how it shoots, how it likes to be held, and pellet testing when you change power. magnum power will be harder to control, think 22fpe HW80, Diana magnums etc, but if they have a good barrel and predictable trigger they have the potential to be just as accurate as low power if you do your part - low power is just easier to achieve the accuracy / consistency..