Mike D. Could you please share any information about this Beech Tyro HW55?
JC
HW 55T Beech
- Thread starter kingfisher61
- Start date
Mike D. Could you please share any information about this Beech Tyro HW55?
JC
Although I'm not Mike D. I was about to chime in with "The HW55T was walnut"... until I saw your photos. Your's is definitely Beech. I never knew those existed.
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Very interesting 55 John. You seem to be able to find the unusual and extra fine airguns!
Bill
Almost forgot to mention - the forearm has a slotted section instead of checkered. Wonder why that was done ?
Bill
Almost forgot to mention - the forearm has a slotted section instead of checkered. Wonder why that was done ?
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Bill
If you go to the Vintage Airgun site there are a few blogs about the HW55. Mike D. adds his extraordinary knowledge to the posts. Lots of great eye candy as well.
Hope you are enjoying your HW55 M....she's a beauty!!!
JC
If you go to the Vintage Airgun site there are a few blogs about the HW55. Mike D. adds his extraordinary knowledge to the posts. Lots of great eye candy as well.
Hope you are enjoying your HW55 M....she's a beauty!!!
JC
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I don't know many unique things about beech 55 Tyros per se, except that yes they did exist! I've seen a couple others over the years, seems to have been a market for them up into the 1960's anyhow. If lacking the translucency of walnut, old-growth beech like that has beautiful graining as you can see, and is a rather denser, tougher wood which can be useful.
I'd be very interested to know the serial number of that gun, it has some unusual details I'd love to compare to other examples.
The finger-groove fore end is a very traditional German detail, whose looks and and handling I really like (note the large area of checkering under the fore end though). Here's my oldest T, serial 37363 from 1956.
I'd be very interested to know the serial number of that gun, it has some unusual details I'd love to compare to other examples.
The finger-groove fore end is a very traditional German detail, whose looks and and handling I really like (note the large area of checkering under the fore end though). Here's my oldest T, serial 37363 from 1956.
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Thanks! But...sorry to be a pain...I can't read it.
BTW, here's the link to the HW 55 stuff on the Vintage Airgun Gallery as mentioned above. Lots of great pics of older guns there. (Yikes...I just now discovered that the very last post in this thread is some stuff I recently wrote on 55 triggers. The pics show other details of older actions, rear sights, grip area, etc., that might be useful.)
https://forum.vintageairgunsgallery.com/weihrauch/weihrauch-hw55/
BTW, here's the link to the HW 55 stuff on the Vintage Airgun Gallery as mentioned above. Lots of great pics of older guns there. (Yikes...I just now discovered that the very last post in this thread is some stuff I recently wrote on 55 triggers. The pics show other details of older actions, rear sights, grip area, etc., that might be useful.)
https://forum.vintageairgunsgallery.com/weihrauch/weihrauch-hw55/
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Thanks! But I'm not done being a pain yet, LOL. Are you sure the first digit is a zero, and not a lightly-struck six, eight, or nine? 014435 would be a VERY early gun, like from 1954 or 55. The details of the receiver tube, trigger and guard, and front and rear sights are all much newer than that.
That date may actually be about right for the stock, though. Again the finger-groove fore end and beech wood mark it as an early one for sure. I have only one HW 55 with that style of red rubber buttplate, HW 55M no. 711, which is from 1954, give or take (and I'd wondered if 711's buttplate is original, as it's the only one I'd seen, but your gun confirms that it probably is).
Odd stock details to my eye: 1) White-line spacer at the buttplate. I've personally never seen that, but it surely has a vintage OEM look, and other old 55's do show a variety of buttplate spacers. 2) Grip cap and spacer. The bottom of all my HW 55T's grips are actually slightly convex (i.e., could not mount a flat plate), BUT my oldest S and M stocks ARE flat there. So T's of the day could have been the same, and the cap might also be OEM.
IMHO, it's most likely that the action and stock were not originally together. BUT...if the two don't match detail-wise, they are very similar condition-wise, if that makes sense. It's not impossible that the factory fitted a NOS stock from the back storage room? Either way, it's a gorgeous collectible, in superb condition, especially that old and rare stock variant.
The Vintage Airgun Gallery link posted above has many details worthy of study. If you like I can post some details of a couple 55's I have that may be relevant, too.
That date may actually be about right for the stock, though. Again the finger-groove fore end and beech wood mark it as an early one for sure. I have only one HW 55 with that style of red rubber buttplate, HW 55M no. 711, which is from 1954, give or take (and I'd wondered if 711's buttplate is original, as it's the only one I'd seen, but your gun confirms that it probably is).
Odd stock details to my eye: 1) White-line spacer at the buttplate. I've personally never seen that, but it surely has a vintage OEM look, and other old 55's do show a variety of buttplate spacers. 2) Grip cap and spacer. The bottom of all my HW 55T's grips are actually slightly convex (i.e., could not mount a flat plate), BUT my oldest S and M stocks ARE flat there. So T's of the day could have been the same, and the cap might also be OEM.
IMHO, it's most likely that the action and stock were not originally together. BUT...if the two don't match detail-wise, they are very similar condition-wise, if that makes sense. It's not impossible that the factory fitted a NOS stock from the back storage room? Either way, it's a gorgeous collectible, in superb condition, especially that old and rare stock variant.
The Vintage Airgun Gallery link posted above has many details worthy of study. If you like I can post some details of a couple 55's I have that may be relevant, too.
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Mike
Man I need glasses!! Got out my magnifying glass....actually the SN is 696896. Lol
Sincerely appreciate your time and input on this old girl. What would we do without you?!!
JC
Man I need glasses!! Got out my magnifying glass....actually the SN is 696896. Lol
Sincerely appreciate your time and input on this old girl. What would we do without you?!!
JC
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Thanks for the kind words, and ya know I love this nerdy stuff - always learn new things in the process!
696896 dates the action from about 1978. Just for giggles, below are some shots of HW 55M no. 711, from approx 1954. Again, I suspect your stock is of similar vintage - it's actually the oldest HW Tyro I've ever seen - but I've highlighted some points of this old action that are different: pre-Rekord trigger, chunky trigger guard, slim diopter sight, and recess around the receiver rear end.
696896 dates the action from about 1978. Just for giggles, below are some shots of HW 55M no. 711, from approx 1954. Again, I suspect your stock is of similar vintage - it's actually the oldest HW Tyro I've ever seen - but I've highlighted some points of this old action that are different: pre-Rekord trigger, chunky trigger guard, slim diopter sight, and recess around the receiver rear end.
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Mike
As always you are a wealth of knowledge!! If you wrote a book I would be a buyer. That 55M is beautiful!! Thanks for pointing out the various ways in which it differs.
Many fellow members feel as we do that the HW55 was Weihrachs pinnacle rifle. It's hard to argue with that!!
John
As always you are a wealth of knowledge!! If you wrote a book I would be a buyer. That 55M is beautiful!! Thanks for pointing out the various ways in which it differs.
Many fellow members feel as we do that the HW55 was Weihrachs pinnacle rifle. It's hard to argue with that!!
John
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Mike
As always you are a wealth of knowledge!! If you wrote a book I would be a buyer. That 55M is beautiful!! Thanks for pointing out the various ways in which it differs.
Many fellow members feel as we do that the HW55 was Weihrachs pinnacle rifle. It's hard to argue with that!!
John
As always you are a wealth of knowledge!! If you wrote a book I would be a buyer. That 55M is beautiful!! Thanks for pointing out the various ways in which it differs.
Many fellow members feel as we do that the HW55 was Weihrachs pinnacle rifle. It's hard to argue with that!!
John
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Mike
As always you are a wealth of knowledge!! If you wrote a book I would be a buyer. That 55M is beautiful!! Thanks for pointing out the various ways in which it differs.
Many fellow members feel as we do that the HW55 was Weihrachs pinnacle rifle. It's hard to argue with that!!
John
As always you are a wealth of knowledge!! If you wrote a book I would be a buyer. That 55M is beautiful!! Thanks for pointing out the various ways in which it differs.
Many fellow members feel as we do that the HW55 was Weihrachs pinnacle rifle. It's hard to argue with that!!
John
Upvote 0
Mike
As always you are a wealth of knowledge!! If you wrote a book I would be a buyer. That 55M is beautiful!! Thanks for pointing out the various ways in which it differs.
Many fellow members feel as we do that the HW55 was Weihrachs pinnacle rifle. It's hard to argue with that!!
John
As always you are a wealth of knowledge!! If you wrote a book I would be a buyer. That 55M is beautiful!! Thanks for pointing out the various ways in which it differs.
Many fellow members feel as we do that the HW55 was Weihrachs pinnacle rifle. It's hard to argue with that!!
John
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I am always fascinated with HW55 information. The more I learn the more I want to know more (geez, say that as fast as you can three times). Guess I'm of the nerdy ilk too LOL. Restoring the 1969 vintage HW55M taught me a lot and I love that gun because some of me is in it and will always be. It will surely out live me so I view myself as a "caretaker" not the owner and will pass it on to some deserving soul sometime down the road. I've posted photos of this fine airgun before but here's some more. The iron sights are not on the gun because I haven't decided if I'm going to put on a scope. Serial # 313981
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