Given this is a vintage area the lack of love for vintage springers amazes me

[45flint]

I have to assume you collect what you know and shoot in your youth.  But in the last several years of collecting, I have found early springers to be some of the best and most collectable rifles.  For the last several days I have been taking my new to me Webley Mark 3 out to the backyard.  Machined, blued piece of art, that functions as good as it looks.  Makes me want to focus my collection around similar guns.  Below is a pic of the Webley on the left and my two other early springers in the collection so far.  Cool thing is with these early guns they have leather seals that are so durable, never had to work on any of these, shoot like new, even though they average 60 years old.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Very nice Steve.
 I would venture to guess more of the inmates vintage airgun collectors on GTA are Americans and Springers just weren't as available or as popular to us back then.
 Now in Europe / Great Brittan, I bet the numbers would surely swing the other way.

[TooJung2Die]

Cool thing is with these early guns they have leather seals that are so durable, never had to work on any of these, shoot like new, even though they average 60 years old.

Very nice collection. They're beautiful air rifles. I like old spring piston air rifles too but old pumpers are much easier to find in the USA. The spring piston rifles didn't begin to catch on in the USA until the 1980's or so. Everyone my age or older most likely started off with a Crosman, Benjy or if your were lucky a 'Dan. I didn't hear about springers until I was in my thirties.

I find it remarkable that your leather sealed air rifles are still using the original seals. I have one leather piston seal springer; a 1981 RWS Diana Model 45. I'm the owner since 1987. I thought it was shooting great until I bought a chronograph. That's when I found out it had lost over 200 fps. I tried every lube and trick recommended and even though the leather seal looked and felt like new it was losing pressure.

That's when I installed an o-ring piston head. What an improvement! It gained back all the velocity and then some. RWS claimed 810 fps in the catalog. It now shoots medium weight pellets at 840 fps. Back then any air rifle that could shoot over 800 fps was considered a magnum.

Jon

[oldair]

I think if some of the folks looking for their first springer would opt for one of the 'classics' (e.g older Walther, Hy-Score, BSA, BSF, Haenel, Hämmerli) they'd be highly pleased - as Steve often points out, wood and steel guns with modest power and great craftsmanship bring a lot of enjoyment.  These don't have to be expensive and often show up at any of the airgun shows.  Yes, they may not have scope rails and muzzle brakes or put out 14 ft-lb but the fun is there.

JMHO,
Don R.

[BrushPopper]

Love my old springers, but posting on them here doesn’t get much response.
I get kinda’ bored reading the same, recycled Benjy/Sheridan posts here. Good guns, small question, but there were other manufacturers...

[eeler1]

I think if some of the folks looking for their first springer would opt for one of the 'classics' (e.g older Walther, Hy-Score, BSA, BSF, Haenel, Hämmerli) they'd be highly pleased - as Steve often points out, wood and steel guns with modest power and great craftsmanship bring a lot of enjoyment.  These don't have to be expensive and often show up at any of the airgun shows.  Yes, they may not have scope rails and muzzle brakes or put out 14 ft-lb but the fun is there.

JMHO,
Don R.

Bingo!  Especially if the gun is intended for younger shooters.  One of my gripes is when a guy brings his kid to an airgun show, where there are numerous smaller, accurate vintage guns laying on the tables, and then gravitates to some heavy magnum that the kid can barely hold up.  Geez, get him something that he can have some success with!  Plenty of time later for the magmuns.  Learn to shoot first.

Agree with comments of others.  Other than a few brought home by servicemen based overseas, springers just weren’t widely available until the 1970’/80’s. 

[45flint]

Cool thing is with these early guns they have leather seals that are so durable, never had to work on any of these, shoot like new, even though they average 60 years old.

Very nice collection. They're beautiful air rifles. I like old spring piston air rifles too but old pumpers are much easier to find in the USA. The spring piston rifles didn't begin to catch on in the USA until the 1980's or so. Everyone my age or older most likely started off with a Crosman, Benjy or if your were lucky a 'Dan. I didn't hear about springers until I was in my thirties.

I find it remarkable that your leather sealed air rifles are still using the original seals. I have one leather piston seal springer; a 1981 RWS Diana Model 45. I'm the owner since 1987. I thought it was shooting great until I bought a chronograph. That's when I found out it had lost over 200 fps. I tried every lube and trick recommended and even though the leather seal looked and felt like new it was losing pressure.

That's when I installed an o-ring piston head. What an improvement! It gained back all the velocity and then some. RWS claimed 810 fps in the catalog. It now shoots medium weight pellets at 840 fps. Back then any air rifle that could shoot over 800 fps was considered a magnum.

Jon

I’m sure the reason my seals are still good is I tend to buy guns that aren’t used much.  Leather can wear out with use but in my experience they hold up well to age?  I know myself and I have a tendency to love the last gun I bought? Lol.  But these moderately powered springers are great as you grow older and or are a backyard shooter. Guilty on all counts.  I have a Beeman R-1 I rarely use now.

[bantam5s]

Springers aren't generally my thing, but I can't deny that those 3 rifles there sure are some real Lookers with a very apparent high level of manufacturing standards.

[45Bravo]

Very nice looking rifles there.

Vintage co2 pistols are my normal area of interest.

But since you brought it up.

I recently picked up a 1979 Webley Tempest spring pistol, made in the UK.

Raining today, so played with the Tempest inside.

10 meters, 2 hands, Crosman 7.4gr competition wadcutters.

1 inch dots.

[45flint]

Very nice looking rifles there.

Vintage co2 pistols are my normal area of interest.

But since you brought it up.

I recently picked up a 1979 Webley Tempest spring pistol, made in the UK.

Raining today, so played with the Tempest inside.

10 meters, 2 hands, Crosman 7.4gr competition wadcutters.

1 inch dots.

Looks good don’t get me started on Webley pistols I bury you with pictures! Lol

[Agate47]

My youth sized springer is probably from the 80's. I had read the Beeman catalogues, but felt I could not quite afford one of his springers. Then on a cargo mission to Yokota Air Base in Japan in 89,  a friend took me to the Base Sportsman Club. There I found my Indian S-450 springer. I bought for $30 and shot it as my primary airgun until Christmas of 2012, when I finally upgraded to a new HW 50S.

I replaced the leather seal several years ago, but these days I suspect the spring is sprung out. FPS is down, but it still shoots. Sorry my pictures are not cooperating tonight, maybe later.

Steve

[45Bravo]

I have always wanted a tempest and a hurricane since I first saw one back in the early 80’s.

This is my first one.

Not my first springer, but first of the webley design.

Had to learn the right hold for it. 

A lot like shooting bullseye with a 1911.

[MDriskill]

Very nice Steve.
 I would venture to guess more of the inmates vintage airgun collectors on GTA are Americans and Springers just weren't as available or as popular to us back then.
 Now in Europe / Great Brittan, I bet the numbers would surely swing the other way.

What’s weird is, when I was the age to first get seriously interested in airguns - the 60’s and 70’s - springers actually WERE quite available. The US was experiencing its first golden age of European airguns, courtesy of Robert Law and his Air Rifle Headquarters in West Virginia. The man imported and sold thousands of awesome Dianas, HW’s, FWB’s, Walther, Anschutzes, Webleys, and others, along with a world of top-quality ammo and accessories; all sold at fair prices and backed up with legendary customer service.

Andt somehow I totally escaped hearing about them!

It really says a lot about the modern changes in how information travels I guess. I grew up in a small town, no big sporting goods stores that might have had a European springer on the rack. Contact with the outside world came through magazine ads, sporting goods catalogs, and the like. I simply never heard of ARH until after Beeman had just about killed them off in the early 80’s.

I did have a Benjy 347 then and loved it...but gracious, if I’d seen an ARH catalog, or held something like a Webley Senior or Diana 27 in my hands, I reckon I woulda died of sheer ecstasy! So now of course, I mostly look for exactly the sort of stuff that you see in the old ARH catalogs...!

[45flint]

Very nice Steve.
 I would venture to guess more of the inmates vintage airgun collectors on GTA are Americans and Springers just weren't as available or as popular to us back then.
 Now in Europe / Great Brittan, I bet the numbers would surely swing the other way.

What’s weird is, when I was the age to first get seriously interested in airguns - the 60’s and 70’s - springers actually WERE quite available. The US was experiencing its first golden age of European airguns, courtesy of Robert Law and his Air Rifle Headquarters in West Virginia. The man imported and sold thousands of awesome Dianas, HW’s, FWB’s, Walther, Anschutzes, Webleys, and others, along with a world of top-quality ammo and accessories, and with total top-flight service and fair prices.

But somehow I totally escaped hearing about them! It really says a lot about the modern changes in how information travels I guess. I grew up in a small town, no big sporting goods stores that might have had a German springer on the rack, and contact with the outside world came through magazine ads, sporting goods catalogs, and the like. I simply never heard of ARH until after Beeman had just about killed them off in the early 80’s.

Now I did have a Benjy 347 and loved it...but gracious, if I’d seen an ARH catalog, or held something like a Webley Senior or Diana 27 in my hands, I reckon I woulda died of sheer ecstasy! So now of course, I mostly look for exactly the sort of stuff that you see in the old ARH catalogs...!

I’m going through the better late than never.

[joek]

The lack of love is fine by me, I have been able to buy some very nice vintage springers for bargain prices .

[lizzie]

I absolutely LOVE my vintage German springers, and especially the ones with leather seals. When I need to have work done, I will try to find a tuner who will do old- school type work. I don't want the newest and most technologically advanced. I want them to shoot as they are built to.

[bantam5s]

The post about springers in the US and folks liking the kind of guns they grew up with reminds me about something.

Whenever the subject of airguns comes up around my dad and uncle they always remember the break barrel their oldest brother got for his birthday as a teenager back in the mid-late 70's.
They're always recalling how powerful and accurate it was, and how they'd never seen anything like it before.
I guess his first airgun having been a springer would explain why the first he bought as an adult was a Ruger airhawk.

[Horatio]

Simply never seen or shot a springer until around 2008? My dads Gamo 800 or something. I was surprised by how accurate it was.

[bantam5s]

Simply never seen or shot a springer until around 2008? My dads Gamo 800 or something. I was surprised by how accurate it was.

It was '06 for me, it was the Airhawk my uncle had just bought and I was impressed with how I could not cock it and how it had more recoil than his .22
It also had this nice big scope that I was impressed with compared to the tiney 4x15 on my 66 powermaster.

[Yng@hrt]

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