HW/Weihrauch HW35 1975 Vintage

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harrympope

harrympope

Member
Jun 28, 2015
330
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richland Washington
This just came in the mail this morning. I got it at an auction and I was suspect as it had been sold a couple times and then relisted.
It was all gunky but the original leather seal was in great shape. The internals were just gunked up with brown waxy grease?. All I did was clean everything out and a light coat of molly with some maccari tar in the middle.

I just got done getting a zero at fifty feet indoors.
There's definitely some promise with this one.
.177 Caliber.
it's shooting 8.5 FPE

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Beautiful rifle! Older HW's are just lovely things.

The heavy brown grease was the standard factory stuff for many years. Not the best performance wise, but it's good long-term insurance for the gun against amateur users, ha. If the gun was stored standing on its butt, it of course migrates aft and congregates around the trigger.

The power seems pretty decent if that's the original spring, but normally a .177 HW 35 will shoot maybe 10 FPE. Try other ammo; I find mid-power springers generate a bit more muzzle energy with lighter pellets.

I often use a heavy silicone oil to condition leather seals, but then soak out the excess before installing. I would not squirt the stuff down the transfer port - silicone is a TERRIBLE metal-to-metal lube, so you don't want it loose in the action. My favorite maintenance lube is the old Beeman Ultra Lube or Abbey SM 50.
 
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Sqwirl57 said:
Great find man! Those old 35s definitely pull their own weight. I have 1 from 1966 and a second from 1975
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Wow Squirl, that's two beautiful HW 35L's! I have a similar one, in great condition but with fairly plain-jane wood. Recently picked up a 35E with Euro 22-inch barrel that's a bit more of a looker, though.


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MDriskill said:
Beautiful rifle! Older HW's are just lovely things.

The heavy brown grease was the standard factory stuff for many years. Not the best performance wise, but it's good long-term insurance for the gun against amateur users, ha. If the gun was stored standing on its butt, it of course migrates aft and congregates around the trigger.

The power seems pretty decent if that's the original spring, but normally a .177 HW 35 will shoot maybe 10 FPE. Try other ammo; I find mid-power springers generate a bit more muzzle energy with lighter pellets.

I often use a heavy silicone oil to condition leather seals, but then soak out the excess before installing. I would not squirt the stuff down the transfer port - silicone is a TERRIBLE metal-to-metal lube and you don't want it loose in the action. My favorite maintenance lube is the old Beeman Ultra Lube or Abbey SM 50.
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thanks for the info.
now to try to locate SM 50 in the usa.
 
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MDriskill said:
Wow Squirl, that's two beautiful HW 35L's! I have a similar one but with pretty plain-jane wood. Recently picked up a 35E with Euro 22-inch barrel that's a bit more of a looker, though.


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A BIT more of a looker??? That 67 is so pretty I actually had to come back an hour later just to see it again. Beautiful.
 
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jeefberky said:
Mike-- I love the long barrel on the '67 export. How many years did they make them that way?
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I believe the 22" barrel was the OEM fitting on the "Export" variant in Europe for many years, up into the 80's and 90's at least. ARH brought some in back in the day (including mine probably), but Beeman apparently didn't like it. His imports with that stock were dubbed "HW 35 EB" and had the standard 19" barrel.

The extra length has a surprisingly noticeable effect on balance; I prefer some muzzle-heaviness, so kinda like it. But you won't mistake if for a quick-handling brush rifle, lol! With a diopter, the line-of-sight is a semi-ridiculous 36" (the sight in this pic is even older than the gun, prolly from the mid-1950's).

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mj102 said:
Matthew, that 35L is the most amazing 35 I have ever seen.
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To me the "Bayern" HW 35L is one of the loveliest air rifles of all time. And the best stock ever put on the 35 - the rounded fore end was made as narrow as possible, neatly masking the bulk of the 35's fat receiver tube; and it has perfect balance, making this heavy rifle seem much lighter than it really is.

My late mentor Professor Gaines Blackwell had a 35L with the interesting serial 350035 (!), which had absolutely THE most stunning piece of tiger-stripe walnut I've ever seen on a Weihrauch. I've wondered if it was a presentation piece for a special client, retiring employee, or some such. So Matt's is "only" the SECOND most amazing, LOL...!!! 😁
 
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