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Airgun tuning


Zapp
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I've had an early 90s HW80K come into my posession.  It's in decent nick except for a couple of patches that have had rust.

The problem is, it's had some sort of Ox Spring type "upgrade" and doesnt shoot anywhere near as nicely as my old one used to.

One option would be to order and fit a genuine part (easy enough), but I always hankered after a something tuned like John Darling's Venom HW80 from back in the day.

I havent really followed the airgun scene for years, so I don't know who are the names in tuning these days.  I'd be interested to know who out there is really rated for this sort of thing.  Also, I'd like to hear opinions on having a gun tuned vs buying a kit (like V-mach for example) and fitting it myself.

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Sandwell Field Sports are right up there with the best if you can be bothered to send it off for stage 1 or 2 tuning but if it were me, for a 2nd hand 30 year old gun I'd be inclined to order and fit a V Mach or similar, getting shot of the Ox is half way through "tuning" it anyway. 

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i wouldnt know enough about this to comment..............i have only "tuned" 3 models of spring air guns..........and getting it right involved a lot ....and i mean alot of trail and error...

i cant count the number of times i had them apart...because it didnt sound right and shot poorly.............i was under the impression that OX mainsprings were airgun killers....but eventually i fitted one...it didnt perform very well and i shortened it bit by bit until it sounded right....and im surprised to say the airgun shot supremely well and is still performing well and firing at a very steady rate FPS...and Ft/lbs.............

dont thinki the Ox spring is something you can slot in and off you go...you have to work with it...........

unless you have the time ...the patience....the knowledge..which is built up over a long time of frustration...............send the gun off to a reconised turner...

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Titan are the best springs imho ,for a tune up either Ratworks ,Welsh willy or as stated Sandwell all damn fine tuners.The Oxspring needs throwing in the bin they are beyond carp .

Also have a look at Tinbum tuning kits if you want to do it yourself ,retail about 26 quid atb 

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11 minutes ago, clakk said:

Titan are the best springs imho ,for a tune up either Ratworks ,Welsh willy or as stated Sandwell all damn fine tuners.The Oxspring needs throwing in the bin they are beyond carp .

Also have a look at Tinbum tuning kits if you want to do it yourself ,retail about 26 quid atb 

:lol:....the spring i binned ...infact 2 of them were Titan...think they were Titan XS.....and i replaced them with modified ox springs

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Ox far too twangy imho ,but as you say time is the key and patience ,remove a coil refit and see what happens .

Had better results Titan than ever with Ox ,did an HW35/80 with ox hated them so Titan replacements fitted .Much better results ,B,S,A supersport got a Titan in it ,HW97kt has a fell Welsh willy kit inside which includes trimmed Titan spring  done by w/w himself ,great improvement to factory standard .

Got of all things a SMK b2 fitted with a HW97 spring and acetal guides ,polished internals and thanks to a fettler of transfer ports does 10lbsft from 3.9 when new atb and good fettling .

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51 minutes ago, clakk said:

Ox far too twangy imho ,but as you say time is the key and patience ,remove a coil refit and see what happens .

Had better results Titan than ever with Ox ,did an HW35/80 with ox hated them so Titan replacements fitted .Much better results ,B,S,A supersport got a Titan in it ,HW97kt has a fell Welsh willy kit inside which includes trimmed Titan spring  done by w/w himself ,great improvement to factory standard .

Got of all things a SMK b2 fitted with a HW97 spring and acetal guides ,polished internals and thanks to a fettler of transfer ports does 10lbsft from 3.9 when new atb and good fettling .

excactly.........:good:.........the air rifles i was rebuilding....i could not get over 10.2ft/lbs...whatever i did...and i was using the recommended titan xs spring and tried 4 different lubricants....thats why i went to an ox spring....and after a great deal of experimentation i finally got 11.9ft/lbs.....and even after a 100 shots it was still on the button more or less ..and shot really smooth and sweet...

bloody spring air rifles are a dark art..

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They are Ditchy like woman theyre all different :hmm:,what works with Fat Sarah doesnt work with skinny Susie so each 1 needs lubing,probing and reaming out with the correct hands on the tools .

Trial and error and a good shed to hide away in help ,having a friendly toolmaker as a backup  helps the more serious mistooks be corrected .As u know if it can be broken it will be broken as we all learn what goes where atb :good:

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1 hour ago, Whitebridges said:

Zapp here's my HW80k fitted with Tinbum Pro Tuning Kit installed, including short-stroke extension.  

Shoots smooth and lovely. Very consistent 11.8 ft lb

See: http://www.airrifletuning.com/product-category/tbt-tuning-kits/weihrauch-beeman/hw80-35-beeman-r1/

HW80KCS500.jpg

That's a very handy looking gun.  Thanks for the link also.

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If you pm me I'll send over thr details for Blackmax. Weihrauchs are his specialty, its worth a chat with him. I have had all my HWs tuned and serviced by him, new and old, and find him really professional and thorough. You can also mail your kit to him on confidence. Hope this helps.

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Following the enthusiastic discussion, about it I went to a meeting called "the Boinger Bash" primarily just for spring airguns and dusted off my Airsporter and HW77,

My first foray into airgun tuning was the1980s an like many others I fitted an OX spring to a Webley Hawk only to find it made it very harsh. This was a great disappointment along with the week long vibratory polishing of the piston in  big industrial machine we used at work to polish breech blocks and sears and the like.

I had new PTFE seals and very carefully lubed with appropriate grease and oils so I found that a flop. 30 years on what a revelation these airgun buffs are not just tuning for power but more often for smoothness and to remove a twang.

Often they are having a sweet spot at about 11.3 - 11.5ft/lbs and will grind or linish coils off srings to achieve this or add in washers to achieve a perfect balance. Another more recent thing recent has been the addition of a well sized non metallic spring guide which helps quieten things and removes the twang.

Tinbum, not only does springs but a full kit of parts to service and tune including his lube. Was very helpful and posted mine here the next day.  

Sadly its a bit of a downward slope - no variation required to buy another and  a lot of fun, added an Original 45 I .20 to my couple of airguns and a BSA Mercury which I always wanted but could not afford at the time along with cars, bikes and now after a nice HW35E and a FWB sport both in .177 of course!

They had a strange wind flag at The Boinger bash - I would have sworn it was  wind sock to start with

IMG_7059.JPG

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6 hours ago, Zapp said:

That's a very handy looking gun.  Thanks for the link also.

You’re most welcome. Good luck with getting your 80 on the money. There are several options available as you see. If you can stretch to a stock upgrade it’s worth it. The cheek piece give great alignment to the scope. Mine is a CS500. Readily available in different flavours if you do a search.

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