Webley Hawk Mk II Accuracy

And General Handling.

4x32 Range Right scope fitted to the Webley Hawk and one unimpressed pooch

Now i'm happy with how the Webley Hawk is performing after a little tinkering, it's time to see just how accurate she can be with what ever .177 pellets i have. All pellets sit deep in the breech when loading, but there is no more than 10 FPS variation in velocity. I perfer pellets to sit firm and flush in the breech, but in this case i'm going to have to make a tool to seat them the same depth each time which should reduce some of the variation in velocity. I always felt that deep seating a pellet increases the transfer port size and effects a rifles power, though that is not always the case.

Making dinner while changing the main spring

With both inner and outer Relum main springs fitted the rifle takes a little more effort to cock than before, though i'm happy to note that it hasn't made the rifle any harsher to fire. 

Inner and outer Relum spring replacing the tired original with top hat, the inner spring bound up with the top hat.

To much preload to guide by hand

Blood on spring compressor to prove the point.

A block of wood helped guide the spring.

Fitted on 1st attempt.

The trigger has no first stage travel and breaks cleanly without pulling the shot, just like my other 1970's British springers. The off hand balances the rifle about four inches in front of the trigger guard, 

Point of balance shows the rifle is front heavy.

 this is at the end of the the cocking slot on the stock which is pretty long because of the one piece cocking link. 

Very long cocking slot.

The rifle is front heavy because it sits in a Mk III stock and not the Mk II it should have, 

Trigger catches on the Mk III trigger guard.

and because of this i turned the trigger guard around to give the trigger some clearence. 

Before.

After, trigger doesn't catch on the guard.

Though whether this gives the rifle a little more pull length i'm not sure, it's certainly comfortable for me to shoulder and my cheek rests on the combe without having to stoop my neck.

Because the rear sight is not adjustable for windage until i can repair it and probably fill a whole blog on it's own, 

Rear sight in need of repair.

i fitted the Range Right 4x32 scope which gives a clear and crisp view as it did to great effect when i used it for hunting with the Sharp Innova. 

4x32 scope will sight the rifle.

It's just unfortunate i only have barrel cleaning rods for .22 as the barrel could do with a good clean, though i do have a brass wire brush in .177 i will have to wait till i get some cleaning patches to clean it properly.

The brass brush alone will not clean the barrel thouroughly.

Using a left over cardboard box as a target and for sighting in the scope i went down the woods where it wasn't blowing a gale, 

Old boxes left over from Xmas are good for target practice.

five shots had it sighted in enough for me to test the grouping. I hadn't cleaned the barrel so whatever groups i achieved would improve when i got around to cleaning it, but for now it would give me a fair idea of how it would shoot even though my off hand wasn't in exactly the same place for all shots. Out of the AA Diabolo's, H&N Field Trophies and Geco Wadcutters i found the 

In the woods and ready for target practice.

Geco's to be the most accurate at 15 yards, giving me a two pence size group every time if i sat with my back to a tree holding the rifle gently and supporting my off hand on my knee. 

Pretty good for 15 yards with a dirty barrel.

There was very mild surge and recoil so following through was easy. however at 30 yards there was too much crosswind and the wadcutters loose it at that distance. What i did discover was that the scope had crept back 3 mm along the dovetails while testing the rifle, i suppose i will have to fit it more securely next time or invest in a scope stop.

Have to do something about that scope shift.

Happy with these results i headed back home where i cleaned the barrel by pushing a .177 brass wire brush through the barrel, using some Map Pro 7 gun cleaning oil on the end of 3 mm thick metal wire being careful not to touch the rifling. I repeated this about ten times then pushed through small squares of dried baby wipes, the first one came out filthy so i repeated this till they came out clean. 

Yep! that barrel was pretty dirty alright.

Looking down the barrel i could see a marked difference as it was now clean an very shiney, all i need to do now is put some pellets down it to coat the rifling before i test it again. I also need to take it out more often so i can find a hold that is constant from shot to shot, as with all my springers that would be supporting the stock in front of the trigger guard with my off hand.

Ready for a retest.

Now all i have to do is wait for a less blustery day or find a more sheltered part of the woods, until then..

TTFN

Wing Commander Sir Nigel Tetlington-Smythe

Trigger reassembly

This is how safety, sear, trigger, and two springs should sit inside the trigger housing.

Slide in safety, fit spring in sear pin hole then fit in housing,  with the aid of needle nose pliers line up spring loop over the sear hole and safety hole in trigger housing, then insert pin.. Sear pin first, followed by safety pin.

Fit circlips to secure pins.

Use pliers to get sear in correct position and fit trigger with return spring in place, then insert pin through housing hole, safety, and trigger.

Fit final circlip to the trigger and you should be ready to go, if not just try it again till you get it right eventually.

And that's how it's done