Webley and Scott Hawk Mk II accuracy at 30 Yards and other stuff

The Webley Hawk with the two Relum springs fitted can put out 10 ft/lb with manageable recoil, however it did cause the 3-9x40 AGS scope to shift as the Hawke medium mounts needed fitting more securely. So with the screws tightened all the way up and the stop pin pressing tight down on top of the compression tube I took it down the woods for a test, i had also built a new bit of stock for the pump arm on the SMK B45-3 as the old one was too short and moved. So the multi pump could have a field test as well, it would be nice to see how well the open sights worked now the rear sight had been moved forward a bit.

Webley and Scott Hawk Mk II and SMK B45-3 multi pump, both in .177.

I sighted the scope at a little over 10 yards, then moved back to a tree a little over 30 yards away and resighted. My shooting position was sitting with my back against the tree with the rifle supported on my fore arm which was wrapped around my knees, this is quite comfortable and the rifle is nearly as stable as it would be in a rifle rest. I have found that i had to concentrate on my breathing in this position, and my heartbeat can effect the shot a little as the rifle is rested against my shoulder no matter how lightly.

A4 target paper on a tree 30 yards away.

Changing the target paper i then shot groups of 8 or 10 shots, and though the sun did interfere with the scope a little the groups were generally about an inch and a bit with .177 RWS Superdomes.

Not the best 8 shot group of the day, but most the groups were similar to this.

The scope did shift a little but stopped and the only spread in the groups were from left to right, which i would put down to the sun shine in my scope and a slight side wind. All in all the Webley Hawk Mk II with the .177 barrel would appear to be a capable hunting rifle out to 30 yards at least, maybe a bit further once i got to grips with it's hold over and any side wind.

SMK with the original stock and pump handle.

Happy with the Hawk i started on the open sights on the SMK B45-3 .177 multi pump, the rear sight had been moved forward and the square notch and post were a tight fit and proved to give good accuracy. I love this air rifle because it is so accurate with a scope fitted, it can give ragged hole groups out to 40 yards at times and that was with the old stock.

SMK with new stock Mk I, the bend in the pump arm is exposed.

Making a new stock for it made it feel more comfortable to shoot as  the combe held my head at the perfect height for the scope, But the stock on the pump arm was a bit short. So i built a new longer piece with the last of the wood i used to build it, which made the pump arm a lot more stable and secure.

SMK with new stock Mk II, does it really look like i want an Air Arms s410?

Happy with both air rifles i spent the rest of the afternoon shooting both of them at a hole in a steel drum some 40 yards away, i moved a bit closer for the multi pump as i couldn't see the hole without a scope from 40 or 30 yards.

Well it looks like i did want an s410 after all.

I must have put half a tin of Superdomes through the Hawk and nearly all went through the 1 1/2 inch wide hole, those that hit the drum still had plenty of energy and splatted flat against the metal.

A couple of mullered .177 Superdomes from 40/45 yards down range, these were hard to find as most were on target and passed through the hole.

It would be nice to get the other .22 barrel for the Hawk now the power plant is working well, also i reckon fixing the stock so its more like the Mk I and earlier Mk II and a reblue would not be wasted on this lovely 70's British springer. 

TTFN

Wing Commander Sir Nigel Tetlington-Smythe

Webley and Scott Hawk Mk II

A blast from my early teens

After removing the rust from the Webley Hawk and taking a closer look at the name engraved in the top of the action, memories started to trickle in to my mind of using this air rifle as a teenager. Did my uncle have one he use to let me shoot up Lickey Hills?, or was it the one me and Paul Pedley used when we skived off school and take down Langly Mill to blast cans with? But there's no mistaking it, i have had dealings with this air rifle in my youth. So when this dawned on me it was a no brainer, this is the one to fix up first.

For now i just want to clean her up and reseal the piston and breech as the rifle was only putting out two ft/lb, if things look promising i might then invest in a new main spring, remove the paint and blue it, sand the stock, treat with oil and possibly varnish.

First i removed the stock which is held on with a philips head bolt at the front of the trigger guard and two longer philips head screw bolts that run 45 degrees upwards on the fore stock.

Webley Hawk Mk ll, the best Christmas present a big kid could get in the70's.

Using 0000 wire wool and gun oil i removed all the rust from the action and barrel, this left about 50% of the original enamaling that had not come off with rust and general wear. 

Looks almost respectable once the rust had been removed.

There was a long crack in the stock running from the end of the cocking slot to the side of the trigger guard, i eased the crack apart and let Locktite run into as much of it as i could then pressed together for ten minutes. This works amazingly well from past experience, and any excess gets sanded of when treating the stock.

 The trigger housing is welded onto the end of the compression tube, there are three pins that hold the trigger, sear, and the safety slide which are secured with circlips.

Removing the circlips then drifting the pins out allows the trigger and its tension spring to be removed then the sear, safety, and sear tension spring can slide out, i thought it best to take a photo so it would be easier to remember how to put it back together,

The tab that bends 90 degrees to hold the trigger in place on the safety slide had snapped off

The breech was loose in the forks so i drifted the pivot pin out and applied pressure to the forks in a vice in small stages,  using rubber inner tube to protect the metal.

The amount of old British air rifles from the 70's i have to do this to is unbeleivable

Now it fits nice and snug with no play what so ever.

No play in those forks any more

I don't know what it is about British air rifles not using Screw bolts for the breech pivot, it's one of the things that do let these excellent air rifles down.

A new breech catch spring might be in order, but the old one will do for now.

I was very careful to catch the breech catch pin and spring, but luckily it was not under to much tension.

I also noticed the .177 barrel was moving in the breech block slightly, this just needed a hex head grub screw on top of the breech block tightening to hold it firmly.

A hex grub screw holds the .177 barrel in place, two small hex bolts hold the rear sight on as well.

The Webley Hawk Mk11 came with two barrels originally you could interchange, but alas i only have the .177 with this one.

The end cap came of really easily as i was able to push the retaining pin out with no pressure on the end, the spring was in pretty bad shape at one end with zero preload overall.

Nice solid end cap, but a spring guide would help here for sure.

The piston is quite weighty so doesn't need a spring with loads of preload as a rule, and at first glance all lubrication had dried up.

One grubby piston with the knackered main spring next to it.

The whole of the inside of the compression tube was generally grubby along with all of its components.

The hand tells how dried and grubby it all was.

There are two piston rings made of PTFE or something similar, these had become very worn over the years and quite brittle. I broke one when i removed it but the other came out in one piece, they cost about £ 20 for spares so i think i will try rubber O rings. whether it's two O rings or one O ring and the undamaged PTFE ring, it all depends on which combination gives the least friction.

PTFE  piston rings beyond repair, 19 mm ID and 2.5mm thick. However a 17 mm ID x 2.5 mm rubber O ring makes a good replacement as the 19 mm ID was to big in rubber.

Now it was time to give the compression tube a clean with white spirits and OOOO wire wool, and definately scrub the piston down more importantly. Then white spirits on a cloth to remove any wire wool bits left behind, this was done with the aid of a rod and tape to secure the wool and cloth on.

White spirits and wire wool shift all grime, but does tend to struggle with disintegrated buffer washers on BSA's.

Now it was all nice and clean i spent the next hour polishing the compression chamber and piston with Autosol metal polish, it was well worth it as they were gleaming at the end of it.

Smooth and shiny inside and out, and a bloody aching arm.

I slipped two O rings onto the piston and tried to see if there was much resistance, though this was after i filed all the sharp edges off before i had cleaned and polished the rifle admittedly. The piston moved down the chamber with about two pounds of pressure, and moved a tiny bit and stopped still when i tried with my finger over the transfer port.
The transfer port was looking okay but i decided to rejuvenate it with some silicone grease, I also applied a smear to the piston O rings as well.

Logun silicone grease protects and rejuvenates rubber seals, ideally used on PCP's but it's always done my breech seals the world of good.

For now i'm going to make some slip washers and a delrin top hat and use the old spring, if it all looks good then i might invest in a new spring and treat the stock and metal work. So that's it for part one for now, part two will be real soon as all the rifle parts are sitting in a box on the kitchen table and getting in the way.

TTFN

Wing Commander Sir Nigel Tetlington-Smythe