Lookey, My New Oldtimer..

[airnutz]

Hello Folks!

Well it's time for a new Project.  This one will be new Territory for sure, but Walther Air Rifles interest me.  They have quite a name for precision, and I thought this Model 51 might be a nice challenge.  Parts are difficult to acquire, but luckily a lot of them are from Model to Model interchangeable.

For instance, the spring from a Diana 34 fits in there....

Uh oh!  Look out now!

[lizzie]

Wow, that's a beauty! How old is it?

[airnutz]

Hello lizzie.

I have to wait a few more days till it's delivered to know for sure.  A peek down the barrel will tell if it's 1951, 1952 or later in the 50's.  After WW2 the Allies would not allow rifled barrels even on air guns.  In 1953 this ban was lifted.

Walther made tons of rifles for the German Army, and the folks back then were still a little sensitive about such things.  Understandable.

I do know that some parts may be difficult to obtain, so one is left to his/her own devices.  The seller assured me the gun shoots like a champ.

I'll soon know for sure.

Not many Walther's here on this site, as far as I can tell.  I'll post a photo documentation if some interest is shown, about the renewal.

Thanks for your interest.

[Brutuz]

Congrats on the new purchase, please keep us posted!

[airnutz]

Well the old gun arrived today, and I'm real happy with the condition.  The barrel is rifled, and there is a serial number on it, so I'll check the date out.  The trigger has an adjusting screw which is serviced through the trigger guard.  The butt plate is polished steel, and hardly any rust.

The beechwood is in very good shape and has an interesting grain structure,  the bluing on the system tube is quite good....very good in fact!. The barrel has some surface rust and needs attending, but this will all disappear when I've finished it.

The piston seal needs replacing, as it leaves crud in the barrel when I shoot it, and the piston really slams home, so I won't shoot it till I've gone through it and replaced the parts necessary.

I am happy and I feel this will be a very nice old vintage German Air Rifle when finished.

Pics are coming up soon.

PS: The gun feels very solid, the cocking arm is very well mounted and has no sideways action or shake to it, and the gun is for it's size quite heavy.  I'm a happy trooper.

[airnutz]

OK, I went into it today, and as I expected the piston seal is finished.  Surprisingly though, it is not leather.  I have read all 51's were leather.  I do not think someone before me was in there, it was so cruddy, and the screws were untouched (I looked closely at 10x!).

Everything else is in very good shape, I am quite pleased with the condition.

A new silicon seal as well as a breech seal have been ordered, and the metal is already prepared for re-bluing.

The wood will be started as soon as I can get info about stripping first, instead of sanding it all at once.

Here are a couple of pics.