A few random notes:
+ Walther never made a recoilless springer (though the LGV is so heavy it comes close). They went straight to a single-stroke pneumatic action with the legendary LGR sidelever in 1974...a rifle so good, they ended up shrinking the UIT 10M target!
+ With all the Walther LG 53 / LG 55 / LGV / LGV Spezial line, perhaps the trickiest part of a rebuild is the auto sliding safety which is kinda like one of those Chinese wire puzzles! Another odd touch is the stock-mounted spring which holds the cocking link in place; on the 55 it's a coil spring so tiny you might miss it, but a sturdier leaf type on the LGV.
+ The LGV's big change was the superb smooth breech locking lever, which enabled use of a heavier barrel sleeve. It says a lot about its quality to note that it was introduced - and apparently sold well - in 1968; a few years
after FWB, Diana, and Anschutz all had recoilless rifles on the market.
+ The LGV series traded the hand checkering of earlier models for stippling, but to me the lovely rounded "Olympia" stock is the most elegantly styled and ergonomically perfect ever on a match rifle. It's my favorite Walther.
+ Walther made changes so often that it's hard to distinguish models just by looking: The early LGV had the "Olympia" stock, but later went to the more squared up "UIT" stock. The LGV Spezial continued the UIT wood, but later went to a deeper stock, and a heavier action with milled scope grooves instead of the welded rail. In other words...an early Spezial looks more like a late LGV, than it does a late Spezial!
+ The double counter-wound mainspring and some trigger mods were the Spezial's distinguishing changes. The length, diameter, and wire size of the spring are identical to that in the FWB 300S.
+ These all use 25mm piston seals. I rebuilt both my LGV's with Weihrauch seals on steel adapters and they work perfectly.
+ Photo top to bottom: LG 55T, early LGV Olympia, early LGV Spezial. All three have a 15mm diameter barrel; the 55 wears a 19mm sleeve, and the LGV's a massive 23.5mm one. Note the different diopter sights: well-known rounded pattern on the 55; upgrade steel one on the LGVO; later alloy model on the LGVS.
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