N/A FWB 120/124Dw

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kingfisher61

kingfisher61

Member
Feb 23, 2017
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Rhode Island, United States
Got a visit from my friend Mike yesterday afternoon on a blustery New England day. He was carrying a very rare and special airgun....an FWB 120.

Now I'm sure some of you have never heard of an F120. Not surprising as they were made 50 plus years ago!! They are a product of a man named Robert Law from the former Air Rifle Headquarters in West Virginia.
He used a tuned FWB 124 action as the base gun. He then produced a very interestingly shaped Walnut rifle stock for it. The stock is "ergonomically" designed.....function over form. This gives it a distinctive look.
This particular rifle was a labor of love by Mike. The action is an FWB 127 and was tuned by Scott Blair from Airguntunes.com. He did a wonderful job with the tune. The rifle shoots with a thunk and no vibration. Truly an amazing result!
The stock was finished by Paul Watts. He did a tremendous job on the checkering and finish. What excellent craftsmanship!!
Take a look for yourself. Unfortunately, the 3D quality of this Walnut isn't captured by my camera. To see it in person is really the only way to fully appreciate this functional work of art.

Next to it is one of my old Factory Walnut stocked FWB 124Ds. A plain Jane next to the 120.

Here's a quick picture for your perusal.
Enjoy!

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Good lookin' stick. Nice proportions. Try making a short video and it will post on the forum just like a foe-toe. We'll be able to see the "action" in the figure. Would love to see that. I was a school kid when those were made. Drooling over the cool guns I couldn't see in person in the Shooters Bible. Way out there on the farm in central PA.
Would be awesome to see Paul Watts make the scene again. I still watch his videos.
 
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Yes, Robert Law and his original Air Rifle Headquarters were good marketeers! Ole Doc Beeman put Mr. Law to shame though. We owe a lot to these two guys for introducing adult airguns to the USA.

ARH, as it was known, had some special models of its own. These were guns that they customized to the nth degree, including fancy stocks, scopes, accurizing and other added perks. The Feinwerkbau F12 came before the model 124 and was a model 121. ARH sold it as-is for $144.50 in 1973. But when they accurized it and added their own electric guitar-style walnut stock, it became the model F120 and the price went to $234.50. Often the stock on the model F120 was referred to as a "Guppy stock" because of the deep belly. You are so right when you say the ergonomics are good. Better than the deluxe or sporter stock on the FWB 1124/127 IMHO. Your friend has an exceptional piece of wood on his F120. Paul Watts is gifted at checkering and did several for me.
 
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Ah, the Robert Law Custom 120X. My first German airgun was one of them, via a local classified ad in 1981. When I called Mr. Law to ask just what it was, he described his project with Richards MicroFit in producing about 200 of the special stocks, as his proudest achievement. I suspect the beautiful woodwork on kingfisher61's rifle is a Maccari turnout, as he made some gorgeous replicas of the Robt Law design without the grip cap and white spacers.
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Don R.

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DonR said:
Ah, the Robert Law Custom 120X. My first German airgun was one of them, via a local classified ad in 1981. When I called Mr. Law to ask just what it was, he described his project with Richards MicroFit in producing about 200 of the special stocks, as his proudest achievement. I suspect the beautiful woodwork on kingfisher61's rifle is a Maccari turnout, as he made some gorgeous replicas of the Robt Law design without the grip cap and white spacers.
View attachment 443351
Don R.

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Don R. I should have known that you would have one of these. Thanks ever so much for adding to this thread.

Yes....it's a JM finished by PW.
The actual owner of it is Mike O. He does have a few original ones. I thought I was being clear that it wasn't an original....apologies if I wasn't.
Hers a picture of the original ones.

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KWK said:
Good lookin' stick. Nice proportions. Try making a short video and it will post on the forum just like a foe-toe. We'll be able to see the "action" in the figure. Would love to see that. I was a school kid when those were made. Drooling over the cool guns I couldn't see in person in the Shooters Bible. Way out there on the farm in central PA.
Would be awesome to see Paul Watts make the scene again. I still watch his videos.
Click to expand...
K
Thanks for the kind words. It certainly does take you back to nostalgic times.
Didn't know you grew up farming. NOT easy!!!! I could go on, but I'll just say that farmers are the backbone of this country since day one. Done.
I'm not sure what's up with PW. I can only pray he's doing well. He did the stock a while back. Heard he's not working at all presently.
 
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kingfisher61 said:
Don R. I should have known that you would have one of these. Thanks ever so much for adding to this thread.

Yes....it's a JM finished by PW.
The actual owner of it is Mike O. He does have a few original ones. I thought I was being clear that it wasn't an original....apologies if I wasn't.
Hers a picture of the original ones.

View attachment 443416

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Click to expand...
Wow!!!! Those are incredible
 
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kingfisher61 said:
Yes....it's a JM finished by PW.
Click to expand...
Ha! I just asked a question on another thread about stocks, and a couple minutes later, find the answer; there was some collaboration between Jim and Paul.
I'll never forget seeing a 124/127 stock that Jim had listed; one he called Emperor grade. Wish I had bought it, but you know what they say about snoozing.
 
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Pneumatic-Addict said:
Ha! I just asked a question on another thread about stocks, and a couple minutes later, find the answer; there was some collaboration between Jim and Paul.
I'll never forget seeing a 124/127 stock that Jim had listed; one he called Emperor grade. Wish I had bought it, but you know what they say about snoozing.
Click to expand...
A friend of mine bought that Emperor grade 124 stock from JM. He gave it to his 85 year old father for his FWB127. The 127 had what he called a "Mississippi Mud" finished stock....aka plain Jane brown like some of those stocks.
 
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