Weihrauch HW55M arrived

Jump to latest Follow Reply
wijib

wijib

Member
Jul 8, 2020
573
708
Leland, North Carolina, United States
I recently acquired a 55M and now I'm setting to work on it. The stock has some dents / handling marks and will be refinished by me with Napier's London Oil. I will strip the gun and examine the internals but the rifle cocks and shoots very smoothly as it is now. Breech seal looks good but it's coming out. I'm expecting that it and the piston seal will be OK as is but may need some TLC there. Then I'm going to completely disassemble everything on it and have the metal work re-blued. Will take photos all along the way. Will be a spectacular airgun. Many thanks to Scott Blaire for his guidance to date. Teaser photo below :

pix356476327.1624280528.jpg

 
Looks pretty good in it's present condition.
Click to expand...

Yeah, so does Barbara Streisand... at 30 feet. Seriously though, what the photo does not show are some pretty deep dents and scratches. The surface rust isn't all that objectionable but I want to see this airgun back to its former glory. I'll probable retain the leather seals and spring (if it's straight). Inspecting the breech seal indicates that it is synthetic so I'm not sure what is on the piston. Either way, I need to tear it down and make sure the internals and inner surfaces, etc are up to snuff.

Bill
 
Upvote 0
But why? If it was me I would leave it be as is and shoot it. If you want a mint 55 buy one and sell me yours.
Click to expand...

You make a valid point except for the part about a mint 55; let alone a mint 55M. Try finding one for sale...anywhere. Anyone who has a mint 55M wants a mint for it. If you know someone who has one for sale at a reasonable price please let me know and I'll buy it and sell you mine.

Bill
 
Upvote 0
Looks pretty good in it's present condition.
Click to expand...

Yeah, so does Barbara Streisand... at 30 feet. Seriously though, what the photo does not show are some pretty deep dents and scratches. The surface rust isn't all that objectionable but I want to see this airgun back to its former glory. I'll probable retain the leather seals and spring (if it's straight). Inspecting the breech seal indicates that it is synthetic so I'm not sure what is on the piston. Either way, I need to tear it down and make sure the internals and inner surfaces, etc are up to snuff.

Bill
Click to expand...

I hear you ! How do you plan on dealing with deep dents ? Filler and sand ? Why stick with a leather seal ? Don't they make conversion kits ? And by the way...Barbara Streisand hasn't looked good in a long time !
 
Upvote 0
The infamous Weihraugh. I wasn't surprised at the hammer price. Could have been more if seller spelled Weihrauch correctly? Even though it stayed pretty low till the end. Typical. From the pictures I saw the blue will come out pretty nice with a steel wool rubdown. The pictures aren't great. The seals are probably still good. I'd use your preferred method to freshen up the existing leather seals and shoot it. Would be ok to clean it up inside for sure. The grain looks nice. Nice piece of wood. I don't see anything that won't come out from steaming. But I already mentioned the pictures aren't great so maybe there's something I missed.

I got a higher output spring from ARH for one of my scoped 55's but have been too busy to install it. That might be something to consider.
 
Upvote 0
I seen you started a thread on changing the 55 piston seal over to synthetic Bill. Smart move.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your comments. Yes, there are conversion kits out there. However, some people feel that keeping the leather seal is a preferred way to go. Dunno yet. My gun seems to shoot well and the cocking cycle is very smooth. As for the deep dents...I plan to steam them first. Failing that, I will get me some European Walnut and cut and shape a piece to seamlessly fit into the dent. I will use clear epoxy to affix it together. Then I'll carefully sand it. A lengthy process but the results are better than using filler. There was a rather poor repair attempted on the right side of the stock that did not show up well in the photos. I plan to address that in the same manner.

Kind regards,

Bill


 
Upvote 0
The only reason I can think of for keeping a leather seal is solely for the purpose of keeping it "original". Sort of like someone who acquires a fully restored 1957 Chevrolet and want the white wall tires to maintain the "original look". 

My Feinwerkbau 124D has a dent (I posted a thread on improving the stock) on the stock that steam was used to try and remove. If there that deep it won't remove it. Improve yes...remove No ! Here's a pic. You can see that this dent wasn't removed and the finish damage caused by the steaming process.

20210317_094746.1624373615.jpg

 
Upvote 0
The only reason I can think of for keeping a leather seal is solely for the purpose of keeping it "original". Sort of like someone who acquires a fully restored 1957 Chevrolet and want the white wall tires to maintain the "original look". 

My Feinwerkbau 124D has a dent (I posted a thread on improving the stock) on the stock that steam was used to try and remove. If there that deep it won't remove it. Improve yes...remove No ! Here's a pic. You can see that this dent wasn't removed and the finish damage caused by the steaming process.

20210317_094746.1624373615.jpg
Click to expand...

Sorry to see that. I had a 124D that had some small dents and couldn't real get them out but I didn't have any finish damage either. As I understand it, Beech is difficult to work with when using steam and the finish on the stock blocks the steam too. I talked to an airgun tuner and he said that he puts tiny needle pricks where the dent is and then steams it. He then blends in some stock finish to cover the pin pricks. I really don't know first hand. I've steamed out plenty of deep dents in wood but never on finished wood.

Bill
 
Upvote 0
The rifle is known for accuracy to light a match stick at 10 meters every time.

I would not alter a newly acquired used or new air rifle that I spent "hard cash" on.

I'd sit and think before destroying it in my own "professional" way like a typical garage mechanic deciding to apply the same training skills to a fine air rifle by HW. And a collector's item for the hoarders of it. I've seen pictures of this very rifle multiplied around 100 times on the wall of a collector of these rifles.

Buy an HW35E .177 before altering your HW55. That's my advice.

Kindly,


 
Upvote 0
The only reason I can think of for keeping a leather seal is solely for the purpose of keeping it "original". Sort of like someone who acquires a fully restored 1957 Chevrolet and want the white wall tires to maintain the "original look". 

My Feinwerkbau 124D has a dent (I posted a thread on improving the stock) on the stock that steam was used to try and remove. If there that deep it won't remove it. Improve yes...remove No ! Here's a pic. You can see that this dent wasn't removed and the finish damage caused by the steaming process.

20210317_094746.1624373615.jpg
Click to expand...

Sorry to see that. I had a 124D that had some small dents and couldn't real get them out but I didn't have any finish damage either. As I understand it, Beech is difficult to work with when using steam and the finish on the stock blocks the steam too. I talked to an airgun tuner and he said that he puts tiny needle pricks where the dent is and then steams it. He then blends in some stock finish to cover the pin pricks. I really don't know first hand. I've steamed out plenty of deep dents in wood but never on finished wood.

Bill
Click to expand...

I didn't correct the dent completely but the finish looks a heck of a lot better. Like to see some shot groups with that rifle Bill. My 124D during repair.

20210328_091659.1624397803.jpg

 
Upvote 0
Condition is everything to collectors especially with a model like this that isn't exceedingly rare. I'd just hold out for a mint one and drop the coin if that's what I wanted. This "Weihraugh" has already been around the block so do as you please with it. My opinion is a tasteful restoration on this one would make it more desirable. Strip the stock, again. Raise the dents that will come out. There are some tricks to employ if certain dents can't be raised. Then use the finish you like. It's yours. Make it nice for yourself. You'll likely enjoy that. From what I see the blue will clean up well enough with steel wool. This gun could be very nice again
 
Upvote 0
Condition is everything to collectors especially with a model like this that isn't exceedingly rare. I'd just hold out for a mint one and drop the coin if that's what I wanted. This "Weihraugh" has already been around the block so do as you please with it. My opinion is a tasteful restoration on this one would make it more desirable. Strip the stock, again. Raise the dents that will come out. There are some tricks to employ if certain dents can't be raised. Then use the finish you like. It's yours. Make it nice for yourself. You'll likely enjoy that. From what I see the blue will clean up well enough with steel wool. This gun could be very nice again
Click to expand...

Your repair looks good from what I can see in the photo.

Condition is everything to collectors especially with a model like this that isn't exceedingly rare. I'd just hold out for a mint one and drop the coin if that's what I wanted. This "Weihraugh" has already been around the block so do as you please with it. My opinion is a tasteful restoration on this one would make it more desirable. Strip the stock, again. Raise the dents that will come out. There are some tricks to employ if certain dents can't be raised. Then use the finish you like. It's yours. Make it nice for yourself. You'll likely enjoy that. From what I see the blue will clean up well enough with steel wool. This gun could be very nice again
Click to expand...

Thanks for your perspective. Don't know the provenance of this gun so I'm not sure about it being "around the block" but I happen to agree with what you are saying.



Bill
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Home
Forums
Resources
Menu