Looking for information on putting a Vortek kit in a HW35 that has a leather piston seal and if I should change out the leather seal? Thanks for any info.
HW35
- Thread starter JimmyV
- Start date
The best things to do is contact Tom at Vortek, or Macarri and ask them. Better yet, go on the English airgun forum and ask the Brits. There's a wealth of information there on springers, especially old ones.
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Nothing Wrong with an undamaged leather seal. I have seen reports of upgraded guns seeing improved performance by going back to a properly treated leather seal. Perhaps the loss of stroke from the seal adapter is detrimental?
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WEI9062 Leather Piston Seal for HW35 [WEI9062] - $18.95 : JG Airguns, LLC
JG Airguns WEI9062 Leather Piston Seal for HW35 [WEI9062] - Leather Piston Seal for HW35 pre serial number 843753.
www.jgairguns.biz
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I had the 12fpe VORTEK kit in my 35e.
I didn’t care for it.
Why?
It didn’t feel like an HW35 was designed to feel.
It is not a hunter.
It is not a bench rifle.
It is not an FT rifle.
It is the rifle you grab when you are going on a road trip that might include some camping.
The rifle to have with you during a stroll in the woods.
It is the rifle that leans up against the back door door frame to grab just when you feel like shooting..
I would not get the VORTEK.
I had Motörhead remove mine and I had him install a brand new factory spring from AOA.
I have three TX200s, an R1, FWB601, C9a, IZH60 but the HW35e is my favorite rifle…period!
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I've recently been working on a 1980 Beeman-import HW 35 with a leather seal. The piston is slightly longer than the plastic-sealed piston which replaced these about 1983 (i.e., = shorter stroke). As rokonman notes, the leather-to-plastic conversion sets for these make the piston longer still, and are heavy to boot.
Another oddity in these old 35's is the transfer port size. In current plastic-sealed HW's, the port is about 3mm. On old leather-seaed 35's the port was 4mm, BUT seems to have changed to 3mm after Germany's "pentagon F" power-restriction law that went into effect in 1970, while smaller leather-sealed HW's of those years stayed at 4mm. There are probably other factors involved, but I've had much trouble getting good power out of my 1980 3mm one.
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How safe or reputable??
https://www.freewebstore.org/puctum-airgun-engineering/product/weihrauch-hw35-piston-head
Or ...
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I'm not familiar with either company, but that's interesting stuff!
Leather-sealed HW 35's used two different details for attaching to the piston. The oldest ones have a fixed threaded stud on the piston, while later ones use a separate screw that passes through the seal's center plug. The Punctum seal is for the earlier type, I think the Gunafrica seals are the later one.
It's possible the two types have some interchangeability, but I don't know.
Leather-sealed HW 35's used two different details for attaching to the piston. The oldest ones have a fixed threaded stud on the piston, while later ones use a separate screw that passes through the seal's center plug. The Punctum seal is for the earlier type, I think the Gunafrica seals are the later one.
It's possible the two types have some interchangeability, but I don't know.
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I believe that the seals are same same between the two affixing methods mentioned above, but the filler piece is different between the two variants. One accommodates a simple screw, while the other accommodates a wider slotted nut to affix the seal. This is just supposition based on looking at both seals and assorted bits.
I really like the replacement leather seal assemblies from TW Chambers as they are the closest to the OEM set up on the models with the screw affixed seal IMO.
I really like the replacement leather seal assemblies from TW Chambers as they are the closest to the OEM set up on the models with the screw affixed seal IMO.
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Me either.. , but ... Looking at the top one i linked it looks like the inner "nut" thing is made from sheet or round stock poly , nylon ,?? type material with a threaded insert maybe ?
Homemake??
Possibly a clue to home making one up ..
nod nod .
I posted links on making a leather seal around here or gta and some can still be had overseas shops / 1" leather pump seal
Homemake??
Possibly a clue to home making one up ..
nod nod .I posted links on making a leather seal around here or gta and some can still be had overseas shops / 1" leather pump seal
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Mike, I have a 1980 model (serial 784069) with an older Vortek HW35-PG2-12 Tune Kit and piston seal adapter. It's getting 10.5fpe with JSB Exact Express 7.87gr pellets.
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A lot of good information here. Just to simplify things. If a 4mm transfer port stay leather or you will lose power and smoothness going to a synthetic seal. If a 3mm transfer port go synthetic.
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I have a Beeman import 1980 model serial number 804123 and as near as i can tell it has a 3mm port. The leather seal assembly is bad and I have not found a supplier for the Assembly. Would like to keep it leather but may have go with the newer plastic version.
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If its 3mm a 1/8" drill bit won't fit in the port. If it fits in there, it's 4mm. Its important to know what you have
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A quick bubba way to measure the port is to mash a piece of poster putty or something similar on it.
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