Gun Show Find - Beeman .177 Webley Vulcan

[c801tfd]

Found this Beeman .177 Webley Vulcan while walking around a local gun show this weekend. I really had no interest in it, I must have walked around this table a dozen times while looking for other items. Each time I stopped at this vendors table I would look it over, but I knew nothing about the Vulcan and still don’t know much.

The seller saw me looking at and told me it was a great air rifle and that he had bought it new in about 82 or 83 to deal with a starling problem at an apartment complex he owned. He told me if I were interested in it he would let me have it for just $125.00, I almost passed but decided the price made it worth getting. Unfortunately I forgot to ask him which version it was, I am thinking it is a Vulcan MkIII but it may be a MkII I just cannot tell.

[SteveP-52]

At least by your description and what the seller told you, it kinda sounds like the MKII version. Blue Book descriptions of both the
MKII and MKIII versions and why my guess. $125 is pretty cheap considering some of the crazy prices I've seen them sell for on
various sites.

Webley Vulcan MKII:
VULCAN II
.177 or .22  cal., SP, BBC, SS, 830/650 FPS, PTFE and O-ring piston seal, PG beech stock with rounded forearm and plastic grip cap, shallow cheekpiece, ventilated rubber buttpad with white line spacer,
adj. trigger (to 3 lbs.) with constant sear engagement, manual safety, 43.6 in. OAL, 7.65 lbs. Mfg. 1981-1984.

Webley Vulcan MKIII:
VULCAN III
- .177, .22, or .25 (carbine) cal., BBC, 870/660/620 FPS, 11.37 (carbine) or 17.5 in. barrel with threaded muzzle brake, single-stage "hunter" adj. trigger, integral scope grooves,
open sights, beech Monte Carlo stock with recoil pad, 7.6 lbs. Mfg. 1984-2000.

[KWK]

A Mk3 has a fake two stage trigger. Just a hinge. Mk2 doesn't have it.
Vulcans are excellent rifles. Shares much with a Stingray. The Spring tamer guide works pretty well. Sometimes they break. Just make a new one from delrin. Polish, lube, and adjust can really improve the triggers. Easy to work on. No compressor needed if you have strong hands. Just push the back block against a workbench.

[Van]

  That looks like a Mark 2 to me.  My Mark 3 has a more curved trigger.  You have the Beaman muzzle break to replace the front hooded sight for scope use.  I have a Mark 3 bought about 1992 that I put in the Air Rifle Headquarters tune kit which has a new spring, front top hat and spring guide. It is about the same power at 615fps with 14.5g Superdome RWS pellets but is much smoother, twang less firing and cocks easier than stock.  It likes pellets with a wide skirt because of the flared loading chamber.  I think the stock is Beech wood.  I refinished mine as I had got scratched over the years and liked getting rid of the opaque brown finish that came on it.  For speed it shot the Beaman Silver Bear 12.65g hollow point pellets at about 650fps and was very accurate but I don't know if they still make them.  When I first removed the rear sight, the barrel moved a bit forward out of the receiver block when the mounting screws were removed.  I might should have put them back in the block. This was after a lot of shooting, and I wondered if they had helped hold it in place. since they rested on the barrel when tightened down. I tapped the barrel back in place and drilled a shallow hole through the sight mount holes into the barrel and put set screws under there to anchor it. It worked and never happened again.