HW 55 stock styles

[MDriskill]

Was doing a bit of airgun maintenance earlier, found myself in position to take this shot which I thought might be of interest - these are the five basic stock styles used on the Weihrauch HW 55 target rifle over time. Top to bottom:

+ HW 55M. The basic walnut “Match” target stock. This is a late-1960’s example with “Burgo” markings, a barrel weight sleeve, and the typical checkering pattern of the day.

+ HWB “Champ.” This is a junior target rifle made very late in the 55’s production run. This rather odd rifle has a shortened barrel with a sleeve, an adjustable-position trigger blade, and a really small (pull is 12”) ambidextrous beech stock with adjustable buttplate.

+ HW 55T. The famous Tyrolean walnut woodwork. This is a nice example from the early 1970’s, note large areas of “squared-up” checkering often seen on 55’s of this vintage.

+ HW 55S. This is the all-round beech stock, which to me is much nicer than many people give it credit for! The finish is not original on this one.

+ HW 55CM. A true dedicated 10-meter rifle first made in the mid-70’s. Big deep stock with accessory rail and adjustable Anschutz buttplate. This one is an older example of the style and has a barrel sleeve.

[DanD]

Beautiful, sir.  I love that simple S model.
I'd like to contribute a photo of my 1975 lefty.
Would it be an M? What is the MM?

[Pneumatic-Addict]

Dan,  Just going by a photo on Vintage Airguns Gallery, I'd say yours is an M; but I'm a complete rookie, so let's see what the boss says.

Mike,  That's a great reference photo.  I'm really liking the M that I was given by my brother in law; so much so, that I'm keeping my eye out for another.  I'd like to find an early M or CM (top and bottom in your photo).  Were the shrouds on the HW 55's removable?

[MDriskill]

Dan: to be honest, I’ve never known the difference between an “M” and an “MM!” ln the early 80’s, a lot of M’s acquired the nice fore end accessory rail from the CM, but that does NOT seem to be the reason for the change. It may be some other minor mechanical improvement, just some advertising eyewash, or who knows what. Late “S’s” (which never had the acc rail) are called “SM’s,” but oddly I’ve never seen or heard of a “TM.”

Your lefty is gorgeous! HW farmed out stock production like most other makers. The checkering is generally much better executed on the ones with the big “squared” areas like yours, and you don’t often see southpaw Weihrauchs of any kind.

I really like the S stock. It has the same exact profile shape as the M, but in beech, with no cheekpiece, and finger grooves on the front in lieu of checkering. It feels a bit slimmer and “rounder” than an M to me. The tougher wood and smoother contours are better for banging about outdoors.

Dave: welcome to the world of HW 55 addiction, LOL. How can you not like HW’s best barrel-cocker ever? I love ‘em...

Yes, the barrel sleeve weights are easily removable, just held on by the front sight and a setscrew or two (details varied over the years). The two long ones in the photo are 400 grams (about 14 ounces). They also made a monster 900 gram (2 pounds) sleeve! I have one of these but don’t find it too pleasant to use, LOL...I traded a 400 for it, which I kinda regret.  Most 55’s also have an empty space inside the fore end for which an auxiliary weight was made, but I’ve never seen one of those.

[MDriskill]

You gents would enjoy the HW 55 photos on Danny Garvin’s excellent “Vintage Airguns Gallery” site. Gives you a great feel for the different variants and how they changed over the years...

https://forum.vintageairgunsgallery.com/weihrauch/weihrauch-hw55/

[xcalibur]

Beautiful spread!! The HW55's are sure pleasing to the eye, no matter which variation. Below is a Catalog clip showing a 55MM. Only difference from the 55M I spot is the barrel sleeve is absent.

Edit:
I have seen some Tyro stocked versions Stamped HW55T while other others have a different designation such as M or S. Does it mean the stocks have been swapped out at some point?

[MDriskill]

Edit:
I have seen some Tyro stocked versions Stamped HW55T while other others have a different designation such as M or S. Does it mean the stocks have been swapped out at some point?

Yes! I’m convinced that’s why HW quit doing that. The actions are all identical and easily removable, which no doubt has confounded many collectors over the years.

As an example...the HW 55CM in my photo above is a former club “mule” with “HW 55T” on the breech block.

[Pneumatic-Addict]

From the gallery and the catalog clip, the checkering on the sides of the MM forend is in the early '60's style, but there is no checkering on the bottom of the forend, like the top gun in Mike's photo has.  There is a rail, instead.

[xcalibur]

FWIW_Tyro's weigh in at 7.6LB without the barrel sleeve. Making them fairly light walk-about plinkers.

[lizzie]

Wow!.....very nice Mike!
Thank you for posting those. A couple of them were unknown to me!

[MDriskill]

Here’s a link to the rest of that little catalog, a Weihrauch factory brochure from 1959:

https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=149252.0

One thing I learned early on while fiddling with old airguns, is that model names, sub-variant suffix letters, etc., seem to change with the wind, LOL. Designations come and go over time, manufacturers may use different ones simultaneously in different markets, and often distributors or retailers toss their own stuff into the mix.

All of which I mention to point out that the “MM” and “SM” designations in that old German brochure...probably have absolutely nothing to do with the same designations used by Beeman in the 80’s! And to be honest I still don’t know what either one really signifies.

[MDriskill]

From the gallery and the catalog clip, the checkering on the sides of the MM forend is in the early '60's style, but there is no checkering on the bottom of the forend, like the top gun in Mike's photo has.  There is a rail, instead.

Dave, the two pics below show the basic checkering patterns on the 55M/MM. My strictly unoffiical terms are “W” and “square” patterns, LOL.

Early 55’s seem to always have some variation of the W pattern, but in the model’s real heyday of the 70’s and 80’s, it seems to go back and forth between the patterns - there was no point where one changed permanently to the other. No doubt there were two different subcontractors who made the stocks in small batches.

In my observation, the square pattern covers more area and is a little more finely done, maybe 18 lines-per-inch, vs. 16 LPI for the W pattern. But all HW 55’s are pretty!

[MDriskill]

Minor correction to previous post: the “square” checkering pattern first appeared in the 1960’s.

(Why does the “Modify” button disappear so fast these days?)

[tallpaul]

I always wanted a 55 M or mm... I found and bought a HW 55S locally at an auction at a price I could not leave it behind   It shoots nice but I want to rebuild her one day to smooth her out a bit. But she does shoot great! I am not surprised since I have had the old style 50's and read about the 55's for so long

[Pneumatic-Addict]

Dave, the two pics below show the basic checkering patterns on the 55M/MM. My strictly unoffiical terms are “W” and “square” patterns, LOL.

Early 55’s seem to always have some variation of the W pattern, but in the model’s real heyday of the 70’s and 80’s, it seems to go back and forth between the patterns - there was no point where one changed permanently to the other. No doubt there were two different subcontractors who made the stocks in small batches.

In my observation, the square pattern covers more area and is a little more finely done, maybe 18 lines-per-inch, vs. 16 LPI for the W pattern. But all HW 55’s are pretty!

Thanks for those photos!  I've probably overlooked it, but I don't recall seeing the square pattern with checkering on the underside instead of the rail before.  Nice!  I thought the MM might be the Match Meister; but apparently it's the Mystery Match. 

[MDriskill]

Thanks for those photos!  I've probably overlooked it, but I don't recall seeing the square pattern with checkering on the underside instead of the rail before.  Nice!  I thought the MM might be the Match Meister; but apparently it's the Mystery Match.

Ha - "Mystery Match" is as good a guess as any for the "MM" tag, LOL.

Each of these two basic checkering styles had many minor variations over time. Probably changed a bit with each new batch of stocks the factory ordered up.

The older M's and T's of both checkering patterns did have a full-sized patch under the forearm, but those shrank over time. The "square" M in my photo dates from 1970, which I would guess was near the end for this detail. I've seen quite a few later ones that have a small triangular "goatee" of checkering just in front of the trigger guard, which was also seen on older S models. The MM with rail dates from 1980, you can see that underside checkering was extinct by then.