American Airguns Blog
Thursday, July 14, 2005
FWB124
I have been shooting my new FWB124 with the Williams peep sight the past few days. I stopped the other night to clean the barrel and boy there was a lot of gunk in it. I would bet that it has been many many years since the last time a patch was pulled through it and there was a lot of dark reside removed. After wards I took it to the garage to shoot over my chrony and found that the velocity had gone up and settled down to the 800-805 fps range. It is much more consistant now too which made me very happy! Looking at the gun, it appears that this rifle sat in a gun case for many years without being fired. That it too bad but it will see more action now.
My dad bought a FWB124 back in the early 80's when I was in high school. I would shoot it from time to time when I would come home from college or when I would visit in the summer after I went to work. I killed a lot of vermin with it as did my dad. It was that rifle is what got me back into airgunning. After my divorce in 1993 I decided I wanted to shoot more and an airgun was the most cost effective way for me to do that. I looked for a long time for a 124 but they were hard to find at that time, prior to the widespread use of the internet. I was talked into buy my first HW97. I still wanted a 124 but I knew I would have to wait for a while. Now I have two, one deluxe and one sport, and I am planning on keeping both of them!
One thing that really impressed me in shooting the 124 is how accurate it is, even after all these years. I have shot many rifles with aperature sights but now many airguns with them. I was really rather shocked how well I shot with this rifle wit hthe William peep sight on it. I sighted it in at 35 yards and found that I didn't have much trouble shooting a 1/2-3/4" groups with it from a seated position. The Williams sight offers a wide field of view while affording a very accurate means of aiming. The 124 is easy to cock, very accurate and a real joy to shoot. I am really glad I decided to go to the gun store that day!
My dad bought a FWB124 back in the early 80's when I was in high school. I would shoot it from time to time when I would come home from college or when I would visit in the summer after I went to work. I killed a lot of vermin with it as did my dad. It was that rifle is what got me back into airgunning. After my divorce in 1993 I decided I wanted to shoot more and an airgun was the most cost effective way for me to do that. I looked for a long time for a 124 but they were hard to find at that time, prior to the widespread use of the internet. I was talked into buy my first HW97. I still wanted a 124 but I knew I would have to wait for a while. Now I have two, one deluxe and one sport, and I am planning on keeping both of them!
One thing that really impressed me in shooting the 124 is how accurate it is, even after all these years. I have shot many rifles with aperature sights but now many airguns with them. I was really rather shocked how well I shot with this rifle wit hthe William peep sight on it. I sighted it in at 35 yards and found that I didn't have much trouble shooting a 1/2-3/4" groups with it from a seated position. The Williams sight offers a wide field of view while affording a very accurate means of aiming. The 124 is easy to cock, very accurate and a real joy to shoot. I am really glad I decided to go to the gun store that day!
Sunday, July 10, 2005
A Lucky Find
I don't know anyone that doesn't like finding something of value that is being sold for way less than what it is worth. Being an engineer, I especially like it. I like to go to garage sales on Saturday morning and look for stuff that is being sold at fraction of it's worth and I always ask if they have any airguns that they might want to sell. I once bought a RWS model 24 for $20 at a garage sale this way.
Well, yesterday must have been my lucky day as I had one of the rare finds. I was visiting a local gun shop after working out at our airgun club setting up our FT course. This gun shop very seldom has any airguns of value. They typically sell the inexpensive RWS airguns that I don't have any interest in. Well I was perusing the shop and checking out the firearms when something caught my eye in the .22 rimfire section. It was a break barrel spring gun so I picked it up and believe it or not it was an FWB124 in new shape. There wasn't a scratch or ding on it and the blueing looked like it had just been taken out of the box. The rear sight was missing but there was a very nice Williams peep sight mounted on the scope rail. I thought to myself that I didn't even want to look at the price on this. I did and just about had a heart attack, they were asking about 1/3 of the going market price! I increased my grip on the 124 and made my way to the sales counter. Again, I am an engineer, so I asked the salesperson what was his bottom dollar on this "BB Gun". He looked at it, checked that tag and took off another $20! I thought for about a millisecond and told him I would take it!
When I returned home I took my new rifle out back to give it a try. The rifle looked like it had never been taken apart since it was purchased. I cocked, loaded and shot the rifle and it sounded really bad. I opened the breech again and there sat the pellet. The skirt of the pellet had some gunk crammed up in it. It was full of bits from the original seal. I just happened to have a full Macarri kit from a previous 124 purchase, which ended up not needing it so I tore into the 124 apart. After separating the action from the stock, I got a first look at the guts of the rifle. There was grease everywhere. I removed the trigger block / spring guide and spring, then the barrel. Next, the piston came out rather grudgingly. The seal was all but gone and all the other parts were a greasy mess. I degreased everything and installed the new piston seal, breech seal, and the new Macarri spring. After reassembling the rifle I stepped out the back door and gave it another go. This time it shot fine. I took it into the garage to shoot across the chrono and I was quite pleased, 750 fps and shooting smooth. I am very pleased with my new find and I am looking forward to shooting it!
Well, yesterday must have been my lucky day as I had one of the rare finds. I was visiting a local gun shop after working out at our airgun club setting up our FT course. This gun shop very seldom has any airguns of value. They typically sell the inexpensive RWS airguns that I don't have any interest in. Well I was perusing the shop and checking out the firearms when something caught my eye in the .22 rimfire section. It was a break barrel spring gun so I picked it up and believe it or not it was an FWB124 in new shape. There wasn't a scratch or ding on it and the blueing looked like it had just been taken out of the box. The rear sight was missing but there was a very nice Williams peep sight mounted on the scope rail. I thought to myself that I didn't even want to look at the price on this. I did and just about had a heart attack, they were asking about 1/3 of the going market price! I increased my grip on the 124 and made my way to the sales counter. Again, I am an engineer, so I asked the salesperson what was his bottom dollar on this "BB Gun". He looked at it, checked that tag and took off another $20! I thought for about a millisecond and told him I would take it!
When I returned home I took my new rifle out back to give it a try. The rifle looked like it had never been taken apart since it was purchased. I cocked, loaded and shot the rifle and it sounded really bad. I opened the breech again and there sat the pellet. The skirt of the pellet had some gunk crammed up in it. It was full of bits from the original seal. I just happened to have a full Macarri kit from a previous 124 purchase, which ended up not needing it so I tore into the 124 apart. After separating the action from the stock, I got a first look at the guts of the rifle. There was grease everywhere. I removed the trigger block / spring guide and spring, then the barrel. Next, the piston came out rather grudgingly. The seal was all but gone and all the other parts were a greasy mess. I degreased everything and installed the new piston seal, breech seal, and the new Macarri spring. After reassembling the rifle I stepped out the back door and gave it another go. This time it shot fine. I took it into the garage to shoot across the chrono and I was quite pleased, 750 fps and shooting smooth. I am very pleased with my new find and I am looking forward to shooting it!
