GTA
Airguns by Make and Model => Weihrauch Airguns => Topic started by: a5m on August 20, 2013, 11:00:03 PM
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Hello everyone,
Thought I'd share this with you all. Recently I had started looking for a San Rafael or Santa Rosa R1 to make it my one and only, go-to gun. Fortunately enough, not long into the search I came across a R1 .20 San Rafael. So I bought it :).
(http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/7730/3dbi.jpg)
(http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/2738/jtsn.jpg)
(http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/8454/gc2t.jpg)
(http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/821/r45i.jpg)
(http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/9730/9adc.jpg)
(http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/8388/6r51.jpg)
(http://img802.imageshack.us/img802/9809/wxjy.jpg)
(http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/7898/ein0.jpg)
It is all original in stock form. Never disassembled or modified. Trigger never adjusted. Beeman Muzzle Brake was purchased with the gun, and has been on ever since. Bluing is EXCELLENT for it's age, looks 10x better than the DIANA Model 34 IMHO. Stock is in very good condition, with a few small scratches and dents. Like I've seen mentioned on the internet somewhere, the finish has become very smooth and shiny over certain areas where it is touched most, like the pistol grip. Seller also gave me a bunch of old Santa Rosa accessories, like the oils and oiling sticks, degreaser, cleaning pellets, and pellets (including Silver Stings) ;).
The seller didn't even advertise the fact that it was a San Rafael addressed R1. I don't think he knew they were highly sought after. I figured it out by looking at the pictures closely and comparing to other San Rafael and Santa Rose R1's on google image search. According to the serial #, it's from '87, and I think one of the last R1's from San Rafael. Gun was originally purchased in '92. All in all, very very happy with my purchase ;D.
What do you guys think?
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She is a beauty...I love mine shoots 750fps with JSB 13.89 and prints one inch groups at 60 yards off a rest. Mine was a .177 and swapped a .20 R9 carbine barrel on it, much happier in .20 than .177. Mine was a little rough at first due to PO abuse but she is a laser now, Shoot it and enjoy it, congrats my R1 friend.
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Nice, Nice and Nice. Great looking R1. Have to agree, the bluing on these old guns looks so much better than on some of the newer guns out there. Also like that style stock over the newer R1's. I picked up a R1 that was originally purchased in '92 or '93 but it's a Santa Rosa. Looks just about like yours. Great find, let us know how she shoots.
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That's a beauty. I have an R10 .20 Santa Rosa, West Germany, deluxe stock like yours.
Mine also has the shiny darkened areas where it has been handled at the pistol grip,... lots of history in these.
The collector I got it from grew up in Santa Rosa and said he knew the Beemans, says he bought some guns from their back door at their home, Mrs Beeman used to give him cookies.
Sounds cool eh
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Just to be on the safe side, I'm sure you enjoy your RWS Diana as well, right?
Can't be too careful, don't want to hurt any feelings.
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The Beeman's did not live in Santa Rosa. They lived in San Anselmo. Their store in San Rafael was at 47 Paul Drive They ran the company from their home. After retirement they moved to Healdsburg where they live now. Dr. Beeman has an active website. Just a bit of history. Mrs. Beeman is of Japenese anchestory and had most of their best pellets made there. Great people, too.
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Thanks Zippy! Grateful to be amongst the proud owners of vintage Beemans ;).
Glad you like yours in .20. Those are great #'s btw for the weight of those JSB's.
Thank you scooterman :). Happy that people still appreciate the amazing build quality of things from the past. I was first looking at the HW80 and the new Beeman R1's. You're right, the stock is different on the R1. But the HW80 seems to still have the old style R1 stock. But when I read up on Beeman and their love for airguns and their history, I just NEEDED to have either a Santa Rosa or San Rafael R1.
I saw your thread about the R1, the Laserized one right? I liked how you said it still looked like it was new. That's a even nicer find. I wish I could see it in person. You must really enjoy that one.
That IS very cool! Cookies? I absolutely love the history behind these Beemans. Yours sounds very nice as well. Tempted to have a San Rafael collection.
Also, didn't know it was a 'deluxe' stock, thanks for mentioning that.
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Yes I very much still enjoy the Diana. But let's be honest, it is what it is. I can say that even the '120 Year Anniversary Edition' Diana doesn't match the feel of a ~26 year old Beeman. The quality of the R1 simply surpasses that of the Diana.
Loving the history, keep it coming! Never heard about the Japanese ancestry. Sheds some light on the Silver Stings being made in Japan. I have two boxes of .20 Silver Stings, 300 ct, one of which is still sealed.
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WOW! ;D You have a knack for finding some very nice air rifles! ;) That is one fine rifle you have there. The R1 in .20 is, IMHO, just about the perfect combination in an air rifle. Congratulations on a great find! 8)
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yep I like the R1 in 20 ;) very nice gun you have bro ;D :P
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BEAUTIFUL!!!
I am very jealous. Enjoy it its on my bucket list for sure!
CW
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Thanks peeps! :)
Steve it seems that way huh lol. But this is the one for me. I too like the .20 best, although it seemed as if some like the .22 more. But frequently the reason for .22 over .20 is pellet availability. I'm not worried about that at all.
Mark thanks my man ;). Feeling good about it being .20 8).
Haha Brian I can understand, and I hope you find one for yourself one day :D. Keep an eye out on gunauction, armslist, gunbroker, and the yellow.
I've been shooting it, and WOW it's a beast. It definitely needs to be freshened up, but it's still deadly accurate. Consecutively hitting bulls-eye using Beeman FTS 8).
Going to send it off to David Slade at Airgunwerks for Field Master Tune and Trigger Tune.
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Beautiful rifle! Thanks for sharing that lovely Fräulein. 8)
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You're most welcome Niko ;).
I can say the same about your collection. It's always nice to see your posts because of your sig and avatar ;).
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Thanks! 8)
Your R1 reminds me of the good 'ol days I when I used to walk in my favorite gun shop in the 80's to look at all the beautiful HW's, Diana and FWB air guns.
Not only is that rifle really nice, it happens to be my favorite caliber. Love the 20!
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It's great that these rifles can still stir up some great memories. The way you describe it I can paint a picture of what that must have been like. Wish I could do that. I'm content now with the caliber, it was the perfect choice ;).
Got a response from Weihrauch regarding the Serial #:
Dear Sir,
thank you very much for your email of 13.08.2013.
The mod. with the number 1066957 was delivered in 1987.
Best regards
Hans-H. Weihrauch
She's 26 years old :).
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a5m,
I have a "thing" for all things HW or original Beeman, especially the vintage R1's in any flavor. Your R1 is yet another masterpiece of Beeman history! Love it!
Looked long and hard for mine, eventually finding this one, in "Santa Rosa" flavor, purchased in '93 from Beeman's shop. The orginial and only owner of this rifle who purchased it new from Beeman as he lived nearby the shop, and purchased it with all the possible "fixins" available at the time. The muzzle break, Blue Ribbon scope and mounts (I replaced the original high mounts with medium BKL mounts), and professional tune, were add-ons to the basic rifle. The former owner even supplied all the original purchase documentation given by Beeman at the time. The original owner stated he had never fired the rifle, and decided to sell it because it didn't deserve to only be a safe queen. NO DOUBT!!! Glad to join in the fun!
Thanks!
AT
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Wow! Both R1's look very very nice.
Someday I would like to play with a .20 R1 -- so far the only .20cal I have messed around with is my Sheridan Blue & Silver Streaks.
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AirTrigr,
Thank you very much! Every day I appreciate owning it more and more. But more importantly, wow! That is the probably THE BEST Santa Rosa R1 sample I've seen! That is one beautiful rifle you have there, and although I also own a vintage R1, I'm still jealous! But in a good way ;). I absolutely love the stock on yours, the grain is gorgeous. I think Santa Rosa R1's had better looking stocks than San Rafael ones, at least from what I've noticed. Hopefully one day I'll find such a clean sample. I don't know if it's fair to say this, but I now have a 'thing' for vintage Beeman's too. It's all because of the history, and I appreciate that with a lot of things. I think I'll be keeping an eye out for a clean original Santa Rosa R1. Thank you very much for sharing the pics, and like the pic with your best friend :).
cnjl3,
One day you will my friend. Seems unbelievable but somewhere, someone always pops up with a R1 they bought 20+ years ago and never shot or barely shot. Wish I knew where every single mint/new R1 was!!
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a5m,
Again, thank you for appreciating my R1, as it truly is my favorite and most prized air rifle not to mention my dog "Buster Brown", and for being a fellow vintage Beeman "addict". Welcome! There are many others here on the GTA that can provide additional info on these guns, much as they assisted me with my search. These rifles have an unbelievably large following and can be difficult to locate, and due to various factors, can bring premium prices. Persistence pays off though, as I found this R1 on another AG forum classifieds section for a very reasonable amount. But like many others, if you find "just the right rifle", the price can sometimes be secondary... My plan is to unquestionably keep it in it's original stock form, but eventually send it to one of our fine professional air rifle tuners for an over haul.
Cheers!
AT
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R1 in .20 is a sweet gun. You have a super nice one.
Evereyone knows that I love the .20 calibers and would buy another one in a heartbeat.
The older guns are real quality peices.
Enjoy!! ;)
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AT,
Your rifle most definitely deserves to be appreciated. Now when I try to search for a vintage R1 it's very difficult to find them so I know exactly what you mean. I got extremely lucky. And I'm glad you decided to keep it in original condition, and tune in the future when necessary. I wish I could have done the same with mine, but the previous owner actually used it. Not in a bad way, but it could use a freshening up. After reading around about tuners, to retain it's originality, David Slade from Airgunwerks seemed to be the best option. He was the senior gunsmith for Beeman back from 93 or 94. Impatiently waiting for it to get back!
WHITEFANG,
Thank you :). I just joined so I didn't know you loved the .20 caliber. I have no regrets now of getting mine. As I had initially thought, it is the best caliber ;).