MATCH AIR RIFLE TEST(4)


 Five high-performance spring-air target
rifles get a Test Report workout-Anschutz,
Winchester and three different  Feinwerkbaus.
by JOHN T.AMBER/THE GUN DIGEST  

     These match air rifles are invariably furnished with micrometer-click rear sights, fully adjustable for windage and elevation, and with detachable interchangeable posts and apertures. These are excellent sights, if my limited experience with this lot of 5 rifles forms a basis for judgment, but I can say that they answered the helm in every respect whenever I wanted to move the point of impact. There is one thing to watch out for, however--disregard the markings on the elevation and windage knobs and simply move the sights in the U.S. fashion--the direction you want the shots to go--and you'll be OK. That is, clockwise for impact movement to the left, and counter clockwise for bringing the point of impact higher, and vice versa. Apparently some of these peep rear sight discs are assembled without any lubricant, and apparently tightened with a torque wrench! I had to use heavy pliers to remove a couple of them.

     Target grade air rifles are now offered with an amazing variety of accessorics in general, almost to the point where they have about as many gadgets available as a rimfire or centerfire match rifle. With the latest FWB sent to us by Air Rifle Hq,. the kit contained the following items:2 spacers, each about 3/8-inch thick, to lengthen the vertically-adjustable buttplate; a "clearing" lens of about 1 1/2x for use in the globe front sight; another 1 1/2 power magnifler, combined with an adfustable aperture and a yellow filter, that Siebert-make last item very much--I'd bought two of them years ago in Germany, and they do much for my old eyes when I'm trying to use iron sights. An extra grip cap, this in addition to the grip cap already standard on the FWB 300, which has a small shelf of sorts running around the perimeter, and which acts nicely as a hand stop.

     Small combination tools are standard with all of these rifles, these for adjusting the triggers, etc,. and the Anschutz is furnished with a cleaning kit as well--a pull-through, plus a couple of brushes, etc.

     The 10-shot groups illustrated-- one for each of the 5 rifles--were selected to show how well the rifles can shoot. Some practice groups were, of course, much worse, but when I did my part and conditions were reasonably right, the targets shown resulted. These rifles will put 10 shots in to  much smaller holes from a machine rest or in the hands of younger, keenersighted shooters.

     RWS, H&N and Anschutz 177 pellets were used in testing the 5 rifles. RWS and H&N pellets were packed loose in small tins and packed individually as well. The Anschutz pellets were on hand only in the latter form.

     Examined under a strong glass, it seemed to me that the H&N pellets showered a trifle less uniformity from one to another in comparison with RWS pellets, but I found no difference in their shooting. True, in the loose packing a few dented or deformed pellets were found--which is guarded against in the individual packaging--but these were easily detected and not used.

     Minor imperfections were visible on all pellets examined, and I could see no real difference between the loose pellets-- of any brand--and the singlepellet pack. Aside from virtually all single-pack paleelts being uniformly good, it has been said that the more expensive (about twice the price) single-pellet packs carry pellet packs carry pellets selected by trial as showing superior accuracy. I couldn't detect any difference, but mine was a relatively brieftest,

MATCH AIR RIFLE TEST(3)


 Five high-performance spring-air target
rifles get a Test Report workout-Anschutz,
Winchester and three different Feinwerkbaus.
by JOHN T.AMBER/THE GUN DIGEST                                                       

     In any case, I got the best performance from my light-barreled FWB M150. I have put probably 800 to 1000 pellets through this barrel, and it did seem to me that the ease of operating the rifle, the movement or vibration when the trigger is touched off--small though it is with any of these rilfles--was a bit less with the light FWB. In any case, I did seem to do a bit better with it also, from group to group. Another shooter, certainly, might have done better with one of the other rifles, but none of the others has had the same break-in shooting that this light FWB  has run through.

      I hadn't shot the heavier-barreled FWB150 nearly as much, but as evidence that breaking-in does help, it seemed to me that the handling and operation of this rifle was improving as I kept shooting. Group sizes ran fust a hair bigger than with the light 150, though the best groups with this FWB would hardly have made 10-shot possibles--on the old target!

      The new FWB M300 performed just as well as the rifles previously mentioned, but I couldn't see that it shot any particular bit better, and I would certainly tell anybody who has a 150 to keep it and use it. The changes that have been made in bringing out the M300, while doubtless worthwhile and helpful to the match shooter, do not seem to me to be absolutely necessary to fine performance. I'll readily admit that I am no competition match shooter--far from it--and it may well be that the serious competitive air rifle shooter could well detect and make use of the differences built into the later FWB.

      There's a 2-inch shorter cocking lever, and reportedly a 15% reduction in cocking effort, but I couldn't detect the changes, The new barrel is 2 3/4  inches longer, resulting in a longer--and lower--sight radius and line, the new trigger offers 4 adjustments, and the stock has been redesigned via a better pistol grip, etc.  I did like the new stock treatment better, especially the more vertical, closer pistol grip and the higher combline.

     These and many other aspects of the new Faninwerkbau match rifles--plus a great deal of information on munerous other air rifles--match grade and sporting--will be found in Air Rifle Headquarters'1970-71 Full Line Catalog. Its 48 pages are loaded with excellent data on the history, care and feeding of air guns--and it's free!

      The Winchester333 and the M250 Anschutz shot just as well as the others, again in my own experience. I was fust a bit surprised at the excellent shooting qualities of the M333. I had thought that the break-open barrel system would not give quite as good a performance as the solidbarrel types certainly do, but I could  detect no trace of difference in group to group. All of these 5 rifle, by the way, were shot during the same period--within a few hours of each other on the days when they were fired.

     All of these match rifles have adfustable triggers--for weight of pull, for initial take-up and over-travel, etc. Most of them have a fair amount of initial take-up before the actual release point is reached, but I found this easy to get used to, being an old military-pull man anyway! As received, all these 5 rifles have a fair bit of trigger over-travel unless the adjustments are used to get rid of it; in this respect the Winchester M333 exhibited a trigger pull that most U.S. shooters would be more at home with--there was some initial take--up, but the trigger letoff itself was considerably crisper than with the others, and the after travel of the trigger was at a minimum. I made no attempt to adjust the triggers on any of these rifles, not having time to do them all, therfore I felt that to adjust one for my personal taste would work an infustice on the others.



MATCH AIR RIFLE TEST(2)

 Five high-performance spring-air target
rifles get a Test Report workout-Anschutz,
Winchester and three different Feinwerkbaus.
by JOHN T.AMBER/THE GUN DIGEST
             
         Because of our extremely wet spring this year, I haven't been able to get in as much shooting with these 5 air rifles as I'd hoped, but I have done enough, I believe, to let me find out just how they perform--at least in my hands and with my aging eyes, I'll have to admit. All of this shooting was done with iron sights, of course, in that these are the only type of sights legal for organized competitive shooting, as in the Olympics or in ISU matches. I was rather surprised myself by making some fairly good groups at the standard 10-meter distance using flat top posts, but I feel more confident when I'm using aperture fronts; and I think I did do just a bit better with the apertures.
         Just about all of this air rifle shooting had to be done on weekends, and I sim;ly could not get the wind to stay still on any day. I tried to shoot when there was a minimum of wind but invariably there was a bit of a breeze blowing, even if only of a few miles per hour. In spite of the breezes, I got 10-shot groups that were almost always in one ragged hole, but very few of them would have made possibles--the new ISU target is a tought one!
          These match air rifles don't require the break-in period that lower-cost air arms do if the latter are to perform at their best. It generally takes some 1,000 rounds to get the average air rifle to operate at its smoothest and to schoot most accurately.
        However, I did notice a gradual easing of functioning with four of the rifles, as you'll read later. Accuracy itself was excellent from the very beginning.

MATCH AIR RIFLE TEST(1)

 Five high-performance spring-air target
rifles get a Test Report workout-Anschutz,
Winchester and three different Feinwerkbaus.
by JOHN T.AMBER/THE GUN DIGEST


          I've had an opportunity this spring to make a side-by-side comparison of 5 different target-grade air rifles, all in 177 caliber, and all in perfect working order.
          Several years ago, while in Germany. I bought one of the Model 150 Feinwerkbau air rifles in target-grade, this one with the lighter barrel, and with the Tyrolean form of buttstock--that is, the one we would normally call a schuetzen-type with a cheedpiece that lets the cheek lie snugly in possition for offhand shooting. A year or so later, John Weir(then with Winchester-Western's German office), knowing of my new intersest in match air rifles, obtained and sent to me another FWB 150 model, this one with the heavier barrel, and with the regular target stock--the one with the straight, high-comb line.
          Toward the end of 1969 Winchester sent us one of their Model 333 match-grade air rifles, along with the proper array of target sights, etc. This is of break-down barrel type, as opposed tto the solid-berrel systems of he FWB rifles, a system also used by Anschutz.
          Then, early this year John Marsman of Savage sent me one of their Model 250 Anschutz 177 match rifles, and a bit later Robert Law of Air Rifle Headquarters, following a phone talk with him, shipped over to us one of the new model Feinwerkbaus, now designated the Model 300. The Model 300 shows a number of refinements over the earlier M 150, but in all mafor essentials it's the same rifle.
photo by http://airgun-academy.pyramydair.com/