Barnett International Spitfire

[Ronno6]

Not sure what I have gotten into here.
A Barnett International Spitfire popped up on the bay.
Side cocker tap loader made by Webley.
Looks to be in very nice condition.
I made an offer and the seller accepted.....

I couldn't find out anything about other than it was made by Webley......
This oughta be interesting.

[Toxylon]

Barnett Spitfires are rebadged Webley Trackers. Not sure what the International stands for here.

Webley Trackers are classic 80's guns with loads of info on them on the airgun sites. They are somewhat remarkable for their compact, highly pointable, downright beautiful design, for being Blasts from the British Past, and for their bomb proof construction, but vary wildly in actual performance, re: velocity and accuracy, due to the taploading geometry with myriad inherent issues, as well as more dramatic factory foibles such as some guns having curved receivers, with zero avenues to get the gun to shoot well. They are also reportedly pretty hellish to take apart. Once plentiful replacement parts have also dried up pretty bad within the past five years or so.

I've wanted a Tracker to play with for years now, but I just can't buy one unseen & untested, and even then it would have to be cheaper than I've seen them go for, for the quasi-curiosity the gun would be, in the end, to me.

[Ronno6]

Thanks for the info.
The thought occurred to me at 0300: How does one check for a clear barrel in a tap-loader?
Even better, how does one remove a pellet stuck in the barrel of a tap loader??

I guess you put a cleaning rod down the barrel and see if it can be inserted all the way to the loading port....

I may have stuck my neck out a bit on this one. We'll see when it arrives.
But, it is different, and I like different.......I'm not much of a shooter anyway...

[Toxylon]

I have one taploader in my arsenal to date. They are a chore when it comes to bore work. For checking the bore, you need to take the powerplant out, for a see-through all the way. Taking just the tap out would facilitate some operations, but they need to be extremely accurately put back together, or the gun won't shoot well. I'm so glad taploaders went by the way of the Dodo, even when they are safe enough for a toddler to operate.

When I managed to get some felt pellets stuck in my taploader, mid-bore, I learned you could push them back into the tap via the muzzle, where they could be picked up.  With the felts some needed picking with an awl, others literally shot out of the tap when I turned it open, due to accumulated pressure. A lead pellet would probably shake out once back in the tap, thanks to gravity.

[Ronno6]

My father had a tap loader BSA Stutzen.
It was stolen, and he replaced it with a Stutzen with the rotary block loader.
I have that one......somewhere....

[MDriskill]

As noted, the "Barnett Spitfire" is a US-import version of an early-version Webley Tracker. Here's mine (also a Spitfire):



The Tracker was introduced in the early 1980's, replacing the earlier Webley Osprey.  Trigger is shared with the Webley Vulcan, C1, etc., and it has the efficient "power intensification" Webley piston seal sytem of the day (a PTFE seal with a shock-absorbing O-ring beneath). Beautifully styled (IMHO) compact gun. The piston is smaller than the Vulcan, they will run 9 to 10 FPE when set up well.

The early ones don't have a proper spring guide so are pretty buzzy (later Trackers added a floating spring damper, wider trigger blade, and other refinements). They can sometimes have problems with tap alignment but this can be tweaked with careful shimming. There is nothing to fear from tap-loaders in general - ask any owner of a Diana 50, Webley Mk 3, or uber-classic pre-war BSA.

The muzzle weight is an ingenious design, floated from the barrel by two O-rings (to remove, pop the weight backwards, pull off the heavy front O-ring, then the weight slides off to reveal the thinner rear spacer ring). The front of the barrel is turned down to a smaller diameter and can mount a Vulcan front sight if desired.

Unlike the Tracker, the Spitfire cannot take a breech-mounted open rear sight (which gives a pistol-like 11-inch sight radius, LOL). Most Spitfires were set up for scopes, but a weird open rear sight - adapted from a Barnett crossbow unit and clamping to the rear rails - was also offered. A Williams peep sight is the best iron-sight option.

There was a long-barreled British version called the Viscount, both were offered with chekered walnut sporter - and even Tyrolean - stocks for a time.

[Ronno6]

Very nice rifle.

I'd like to get some info or see pictures of the Barnett rear sight....
 

[Ronno6]

As fate would have it............
Whilst rooting around thru some boxes on a top shelf, I came across
what appears to be a Williams  FP-AG receiver mounted peep sight marked "Beeman"

Went on like it was made for the Barnett.......

[MDriskill]

Very nice rifle.

I'd like to get some info or see pictures of the Barnett rear sight....

I had another Spitfire many years ago when they were new. Did not hang on to it, and don't have any pics of the rear sight. It was much like this one (an old Barnett pistol crossbow in the pic), similarly "backwards" mounted, screwed to a cheap stamped frame that clamped to the scope rails. It was pretty worthless!

I forgot to mention the Spitfire's front sight was also unique. The UK-market open-sight Tracker used a long Vulcan sight that mounted in place of the muzzle weight. But the Spitfire used a short C1-type sight, bored out to fit the fatter barrel, that fit behind the weight. On my current gun you can see the dimple left behind where it mounted.

[Ronno6]

A couple of photos....
rifle is a bit dusty....I really wish I had a better eye for taking pictures.......

[MDriskill]

Thanks! Nice gun, good pics, and great look at the unique front sight setup.

[Ronno6]

This 'un is more better.....

[Yogi]

This 'un is more better.....

Cool, let us know how it shoots.

-Yogi

[MDriskill]

Thanks for the info.
The thought occurred to me at 0300: How does one check for a clear barrel in a tap-loader?
Even better, how does one remove a pellet stuck in the barrel of a tap loader??

To supplement Toxylon's excellent reply, first open the tap. Then insert a rod in the muzzle (a flexible plastic one that won't ding the crown is best), push the pellet until you feel it hit the tap, then open the tap and give it that last little nudge.

The hole through tap is tapered; its bigger side should face up when it is open (though on some guns it's possible to get it upside down). The taper helps the pellet skirt, which is bigger in diameter than the head, to seal properly. The taper also lets you knock the pellet back out, just hold the gun upside down and give it a firm tap.

[MDriskill]

Geez...I just noticed the dumb mistake in my last reply. To get a pellet out of the barrel:

1. Open tap
2. Push pellet from muzzle until it hits tap
3. CLOSE the tap (duhhhh)
4. Nudge pellet that last bit, into the tap taper
5. Open tap
6. Pull or knock pellet out