HW/Weihrauch HW50 , the challenge continues

[crowski]

I picked up this older beater HW50 8-9 months ago. Something to get some experience on. I tried repeatedly to put a spring in it, until someone mentioned a new model spring won’t fit in an older 50. Once with the proper spring, it was a piece of cake. Bet I tried that new spring 30 times over a few weeks.

Yesterday I brought it to the range. Shot at 25 yards the Center of a 12 inch plate. Swing and a miss. Hmmm. Aim for the top of plate. Swing and a miss. Aim for the bottom. Bingo. Barrel droop. Check this out.

I have no idea of this guns history. I’m wondering if the barrel was swapped out.
I don’t think the breach fits square.

I couldn’t adjust the sights down, even the adjustment screw seams wrong. Got it closer with an Allen key.

It shoots and sounds great. But I‘m stumped.
Is there an adjustment to make breach fit better?
Bend the barrel?
Any suggestions?
Crow

 

[beerthief]

the easiest option is to bend the barrel , carefully ! a little goes a long long way . MY HW30 looks the same @ the breach .

 

[A.G.R]

That’s breech hang up. The bottom area under the block need to be filed to let it drop to level it as well as may have to relieve the face a tad. Depends. It’s all by experiance And feel . Seals will need to be fitted to.

It happens mostly with barrel swaps as tolerances can carry and .05/+- mm can make a huge difference when the breech hits that flat area under the chisel detent

HW RARELY have barrel droop and mostly from fly ups while cocking.
You need to disassemble it check the breech for strait ness to barrel .. I use my granite counter top

Bending won’t fix a poor sealing lock up. Only slight material removal to fit the action will you can clearly see innthe pic the difference in the side pic of the breech line to fork gap.

 

[Mycapt65]

The droop is a non issue with both sights on the barrel. I'm pretty sure the adjustment screw is wrong. It looks too tall. Probably from a later sight. Stack washers between the adjustment screw and sight leaf until it works right. You might have a problem with the adjustment screw obscuring the notch.

 

[MDriskill]

Random thoughts:

1. Serial number is from 1972 or '73. The original HW 50 of 1950-1998 is a different gun from today's (first called the HW 99). The new receiver tube has the same exterior dimensions but the innards are much revised.
2. That's a crazy amount of barrel droop, I've been into a LOT of old HW 50's and 55's and never seen anything close.
3. Don't bend the barrel. Your pics look like the barrel aligns with breech block, so IMHO you are correct - the issue is how that breech fits. You really have "breech droop!"
4. Check first if the breech seal is properly seated. The gun may have had a leather seal that was not completely removed before sticking in one of the current plastic ones, or some such. If the seal is OK, you may be right about its having a barrel/breech block from another gun (see pics below).
5. An HW that old will have 13mm spacing on the scope grooves. The original piston seal was leather.
6. Back in the day, those simple sights were typically seen on a base model with the simpler Perfekt trigger. That could indicate either the barrel is not original, or the Rekord trigger was a post-factory add.

Mycapt65 is correct, a little droop shouldn't matter per se. But with such a severe misalighment, at 25 yards the wild disagreement between trajectory and sights might be very low velocity from the transfer port not fully aligning with the bore?

Can you post a pic of an open breech? The seal should protrude only a few hundredths of an inch.

A 50 that old may have part of the serial number under the breech block, if so that will immediately show whether it's original to the action.

 

[crowski]

the easiest option is to bend the barrel , carefully ! a little goes a long long way . MY HW30 looks the same @ the breach .

Thanks. Thought of this but thought to ask the gun geniuses first. And glad I did. Crow

That’s breech hang up. The bottom area under the block need to be filed to let it drop to level it as well as may have to relieve the face a tad. Depends. It’s all by experiance And feel . Seals will need to be fitted to.

It happens mostly with barrel swaps as tolerances can carry and .05/+- mm can make a huge difference when the breech hits that flat area under the chisel detent

HW RARELY have barrel droop and mostly from fly ups while cocking.
You need to disassemble it check the breech for strait ness to barrel .. I use my granite counter top

Bending won’t fix a poor sealing lock up. Only slight material removal to fit the action will you can clearly see innthe pic the difference in the side pic of the breech line to fork gap.

Thanks. I suspected a switch.
What you say makes sense. I will try that when I get a chance. Crow

 

[crowski]

The droop is a non issue with both sights on the barrel. I'm pretty sure the adjustment screw is wrong. It looks too tall. Probably from a later sight. Stack washers between the adjustment screw and sight leaf until it works right. You might have a problem with the adjustment screw obscuring the notch.

Both sights on barrel, makes sense.
Your right. It bottoms out premature. Washers will look better than a wench. Thanks Crow

Random thoughts:

1. Serial number is from 1972 or '73. The original HW 50 of 1950-1998 is a different gun from today's (first called the HW 99). The new receiver tube has the same exterior dimensions but the innards are much revised.
2. That's a crazy amount of barrel droop, I've been into a LOT of old HW 50's and 55's and never seen anything close.
3. Don't bend the barrel. Your pics look like the barrel aligns with breech block, so IMHO you are correct - the issue is how that breech fits. You really have "breech droop!"
4. Check first if the breech seal is properly seated. The gun may have had a leather seal that was not completely removed before sticking in one of the current plastic ones, or some such. If the seal is OK, you may be right about its having a barrel/breech block from another gun (see pics below).
5. An HW that old will have 13mm spacing on the scope grooves. The original piston seal was leather.
6. Back in the day, those simple sights were typically seen on a base model with the simpler Perfekt trigger. That could indicate either the barrel is not original, or the Rekord trigger was a post-factory add.

Mycapt65 is correct, a little droop shouldn't matter per se. But with such a severe misalighment, at 25 yards the wild disagreement between trajectory and sights might be very low velocity from the transfer port not fully aligning with the bore?

Can you post a pic of an open breech? The seal should protrude only a few hundredths of an inch.
View attachment 572742

A 50 that old may have part of the serial number under the breech block, if so that will immediately show whether it's original to the action.
View attachment 572757

No serial number.

Thanks Crow

 

[Silver Ace]

it looks like something may have happened to the breech jaws. Notice the way the light reflects differently where it meets the spring cylinder? Not sure if this has anything to do with the barrel droop or not.