It pays to keep looking! 300s Tyro

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AirSupply

AirSupply

Member
Jan 12, 2017
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Victoria, Australia
As many I’m sure do on this forum I am always looking at what’s for sale on the local (Australia) on line sites. Not really to buy anything in particular just seeing what’s out there. Window shopping I guess 

Occasionally there’s an older Feinwerkbeau comes up for sale. It’s the old 10m rifles I’ve grown to appreciate. Fueled in a large part by the experts and collectors here on the forum. I purchased my first 300s over a year ago and shooting that gun has only made me appreciate them more. 
So scrolling though the airgun section online and there is a 300s and that’s all the description says “Feinwerkbau 300s” So I take a look and to my surprise it’s a Tyrolean I’d only ever seen match stocks before never a Tyrolean

I shot some pics off to Joe and Mike (dualmagmike) who both though it looked the goods The price was right and I ended up getting it today. It was a dealer who had the gun and he had acquired it from a deceased estate. He had no idea of its history and hadn’t fired the gun I spent some time polishing the stock with a natural beeswax product tonight and I’m really happy with how improved the look. I think the 50 year old timber was grateful for some attention

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It’s serial no is 110812 which makes its likely manufactured in 1972. It has the full length sleeve/weight which is from the 300 series so I guess it’s a transitional gun. 
The rest seems to be all original and standard for a 300s. The only query I have for the experts is the trigger blade? That doesn’t look stock to me. 
I wasn’t sure what I’d find when I cocked the gun and looked at the seals. They are red so I knew they had been renewed at some stage. Thought I’d be safe to try and shoot the gun. No surprises thankfully. 
This is my first attempt at 25m through the peep sight. Shooting Jsb 10.3g 5 shots

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Happy with that. How can you not smile and enjoy shooting these old beauties! My plan is to put a scope on it and see if I can knock over a few starlings..old school! As I understand it a 300s purchased with a Tyrolean stock was for recreational shooting not competition as the stock had been banned by that point in 1972. Love to know what percentage of the 300s left the factory with the Tyrolean stock. I read they stopped making them in 1978. The shape of the stock is very comfortable to shoot standing for me. I could see how having such a fitting shape could be a problem if it didn’t....fit! 
If you contact Feinwerkbau directly are they able to tell you what configuration your gun was by the serial number? 
I checked the speed and the 10.3 where shooting at 470fps. I had some final match heavys 8.18g and they shot at 510fps. Have I got a problem with the speeds that low? Maybe the springs are a bit tired? 
Do 2 300s make me a collector 😉
Thanks Michael 


 
Congratulations! I could be mistaken, but I think the only thing Fienwerkbau will tell you is the year of manufacture.
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Thanks. Yes I think your right. I’ve never seen any evidence to the contrary. I guess Feinwerkbau don’t know numbers of any particular stock type. 
Interesting also is the serial no of my 300s match is about 350 “earlier”than this gun yet it has the correct 300s barrel weight. So they didn’t just use up all the 300 series barrel sleeves as gun came in numerical order and then stop and change to the new design. 
 
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I would try the tissue paper test. I have a lot of the 300s guns and they shoot from IIRC 600-718fps with 7.0gr none modified. If yours shoot fine and you're not going to kill birds out to 65 yards then I'd just leave it be.

If it were me and plan to shoot at 50 yards or farther with a scope and that breech seal is squashed with tell tale sign by tissue test id soak it in Alphabet org Trans stop leak quick fix for couple hours and wash thoroughly and use it again or order a replacement breech seal.

I used my primary scoped 300s strictly for pesting out to 65 yards max with most shots 55 yards and under.
 
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Thanks Yo. I’ll check that next time I shoot it. 
I couldn’t remember the serial number on the match. I knew they were close. 110593 for the match and 110812 for the Tyrolean 219 separating them. Maybe they made the trip from Germany to Australia together. 
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Ok you guys have convinced me. I’ll shoot the Tyro with the peep sight for now. No scope 😊

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<snip> As I understand it a 300s purchased with a Tyrolean stock was for recreational shooting not competition as the stock had been banned by that point in 1972. Love to know what percentage of the 300s left the factory with the Tyrolean stock. I read they stopped making them in 1978. <snip.
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All I know is, Jim E has said the 300S Tyro's are rare.
 
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Your Tyro is awesome looking. I am considering buying a 300s but a little concerned about parts. It's a complex gun and the trigger alone looks like the insides of a Swiss watch. So, if something breaks on the gun do you know if you can you still get parts?
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Hi wijib, problems are actually rare. There built tough but I think you can still get parts from Feinwerkbau. They are really fun really enjoyable guns to shoot. Very easy and amazingly accurate as I’m sure your aware. If you’re serious about one talk to JoeWayneRhea here on the forum. He’ll sort you out with a reliable gun and can fix them if need be. 
Michael
 
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Beautiful rifle!

I think you are exactly right in its being a transitional model between the 300 and 300S; I believe the earliest "S's" are from 1972.. The trigger blade, rounded trigger guard, and unstepped barrel sleeve are model 300 parts.

The latter is interesting, though, as the 300 had a longer barrel than the "S" (so if its barrel is the same length as your other S, then the sleeve may have been modified).

The other main exterior diff between the two was the cocking lever. The 300 had a longer lever with a swing-out hinged latch release at the end; the "S" a shorter lever with the small push-down release on top.

I've seen other transitional examples but don't recall one with the earlier trigger, fascinating. The photo is a 1969-vintage, beech-stocked model 300.

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Ahhh that’s my trigger! Thanks so much for posting that. I was seriously thinking I’d have to find a genuine trigger blade to put back on it. I’d convinced myself it wasn’t original. I better leave it alone. 
I didn’t know the trigger guard was different either. 
The trigger mechanism was one of the major differences between the 300 and 300s yes? 
I presume it’s just the blade that is 300 vintage and not the mechanism itself. 
I think the barrel is the same length as the Match but I’ll check. I’ll take some photos of the other side of the gun tomorrow. It’s defo the 300s cocking lever. 
Thanks so much for your comments and photo. 👍😊
 
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To be honest, I don't know about Internal trigger differences, or if a 300S blade can be made to work. You can see that the way the 300 blade directly attaches to the rest of the mechanism is quite different from the "S," though (which clamps to a bar allowing fore-aft adjustment).

I've heard that 300 trigger blades are rather hard to come by these days, so do take care with it.

I had an interesting chat with ex-Beeman mechanic Dave Slade a couple years ago. The trigger guard on 300S Tyros is a 300 part. He mentioned that Beeman bought a batch of Tyro stocks from FWB and used them to make up "new" 300S Tyros in his shop. Those obsolete plastic trigger guards suddenly became worth their weight in gold, LOL. 
 
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As best I can tell the trigger mechanisms are the same. Also barrels are the same length. That is between the Match and the Tyrolean. 
I do wonder if the Tyro was more likely to have the older 300 inventory. If you were a competitive shooter and bought yourself a new Match you would expect it to be the latest spec. It had a much more modern (for the time) look. You would definitely expect the new blade trigger. 
They knew on the other hand the Tyro wasn’t going to be a competition gun. It’s looks could also be see (in comparison to the Match) as old fashion. 
They may have thought the older trigger and barrel sleeve were more in keeping with the look of the Tyro. 
In the picture in the old Beeman catalog the trigger also looks to be a 300 series and they offer the barrel sleeve as a opinion. It doesn’t have the stepped barrel weight. 
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I would think my Tyro came from the factory as it is as I doubt Australia had a middle man like Beemans adding there options to guns. Maybe the Tyroleans with the blade trigger and stepped barrel weight were all done at Beemans? 300s Match guns put into the Tyrolean stocks there in America. What do you think?

Michael

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I don't really know of course, but given the early-S serial/date of your Tyro, my hunch is it's all factory-original. The Beeman house-made Tyros were much later in the production run. Tyro stocks were banned for UIT-sanctioned competitions in the mid-70's I think, so I speculate Beeman may have bought a batch of NOS stocks that weren't selling in Germany.

Whatever its story...a pretty awesome air rifle!
 
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