I picked up my .177 hw80 in 1983 while traveling Europe in Amsterdam and brought it back to San Diego. About 7 years ago, I installed a Vortex piston/spring kit and in doing so, the saftey never worked again not realizing the saftey spring got lost. Anyway, this resulted in a bear trap which split the stock along the forearm, one of the forearm mount welds, bent the barrel, stripped the stock and trigger guard screws. I glued the stock with wood glue, had the forearm mounting tabs rewelded and some basic barrel straightning. Got overwhelmed with the other repairs and shipped it off to Steve at Pamona air guns. He found out today that the bent cocking lever and shoe will need to be replaced in order to shoot. Right now I'm sitting at about $250 plus shipping to repair if nothing else gets discovered moving forward. Steve thought there could be other problems pop up if we moved forward. Feel like I'm in a tough place. originally we were hoping for around $100 in repairs. Now I've realistically got to be wiling to put out $350 with shipping without guarantees it won't go higher. If I quit now, haven't spent much other than $37 in shipping to get it there. What do you guys think?
My HW80 is on life support after bear trap injury
- Thread starter donz
- Start date
whenever you have a basket case as you have and i will call that it that because it is not functioning
you have to do your own search for parts and the UK at Knibbs or Chambers is the place to look
although they are just parts they are the hard items needed
the labor the shipping has to be factored in and your connection to the gun is it very important or is it just a gun
now after saying all that which i would assume you know, how far underwater will you be and could you sell what is good to make a down payment on a new or used rifle
there is the point of no return and you well could be there on this project
sometimes we need help in this hobby but it normally is to expensive
just some thought nothing more but if the stock and barrel were in factory shape as new you would be in better shape
you have to do your own search for parts and the UK at Knibbs or Chambers is the place to look
although they are just parts they are the hard items needed
the labor the shipping has to be factored in and your connection to the gun is it very important or is it just a gun
now after saying all that which i would assume you know, how far underwater will you be and could you sell what is good to make a down payment on a new or used rifle
there is the point of no return and you well could be there on this project
sometimes we need help in this hobby but it normally is to expensive
just some thought nothing more but if the stock and barrel were in factory shape as new you would be in better shape
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I'm sorry to say but I'd save the trigger, piston, vortek kit and other loose hardware and scrap the gun. With a little bit of diligence and patience you can find a good working R1 for the same money you'll have into rough one.
I had a lot of time and money into a RX1 and shortly after I got it right the fixed detent on the compression tube wore away. The only fix was to replace the 350 dollar compression tube. I called it quits and parted out the rifle.
It sucks but sometimes we have to let the patient die.
I had a lot of time and money into a RX1 and shortly after I got it right the fixed detent on the compression tube wore away. The only fix was to replace the 350 dollar compression tube. I called it quits and parted out the rifle.
It sucks but sometimes we have to let the patient die.
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This newbie respectfully requests an explanation of what exactly a 'bear trap' occurrence is please! I'm assuming it's a spring release while the barrel is 'broken' for reloading?
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Correct.
It causes the barrel to slam closed rather abruptly, and can cause all sorts of mayhem, as described above.
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Unless you need the power, but want a high-quality replacement, throw the crap away and order a brand new Weihrauch from Krale in the Netherlands, Or order from Airguns of Arizona. Put the HW80 on the wall as a reminder to not let things go that far. We all have done some dumb stuff if we have shot airguns long enough. Most of my failures have been either buying or selling airguns. Some of my fault, some of the various shipping companies. But the relative price of a new Weihrauch is better than patching up a lame horse. Say hello to Steve.
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I inadvertently let go of the barrel of my old R1 after I thought the piston had been caught by the sear, but I realized a little too late that it had only started to catch. I loosened my grip on the barrel, and it snapped back to the closed position. I was able to slow it down a little, so I only ended up with a cracked stock at the upper wrist just around the rear of the trigger guard. It is an lovely old Abernathy walnut stock. It is in the process of repair by a gun/stock maker. If the gun had sustained the level of damage that your's did I would probably part it out after saving the parts that I wanted.
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Sorry to hear that!!
A HW80 from 1983 is a treasure. I’ve heard people say that the newer HW’s are not in the same level of quality as those older ones.
I’m not familiar with current prices in the USA... How much would you have to spend to get a used HW80 / Beeman R1, in an “acceptable” condition? I mean, not an excellent condition, but just good enough, to be comparable to your current gun, assuming you would first fully repair it.
A HW80 from 1983 is a treasure. I’ve heard people say that the newer HW’s are not in the same level of quality as those older ones.
I’m not familiar with current prices in the USA... How much would you have to spend to get a used HW80 / Beeman R1, in an “acceptable” condition? I mean, not an excellent condition, but just good enough, to be comparable to your current gun, assuming you would first fully repair it.
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Save the trigger, vortek kit and sights. Buy a new/old R1. I tried to save a broken HW30 and it cost me a lot of time and money for a rifle that will not shoot.
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I would think about 400 ish. since they are offered new at 650. At this point would probably just keep my pcp in .22 and not replace right away. Maybe opt for a new Huben GK1 pistol, some kind of more compact set up or even a larger bore to round things out. The new stuff is getting quite good.
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Mycapt said the same thing about those parts. Can you do anything with the trigger and sights without the same hw80? In the shop so would have to pay for the vortek disasembly and shipping. Steve thought the spring could be damaged as well but haven't got to that point yet.
can the sights be used on other types of guns?
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Mmmmmmmm.
En estimate of $ 350 for repairing, and $ 400 for getting a replacement. Probably best not to repair. You can sell it as parts gun, or sell the parts that are still OK. Not an easy choice anyways.
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The Rekord Trigger will fit any modern Weihrauch. The piston and Vortek kit will fit any HW80/R1 definitely worth keeping. There's plenty around. The sights are worth money and fit other Weihrauchs. The rear sight is s little more specific to the early grooved breech block. Either way the rifle IMO is worth more in parts.
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the rifle can be rebuilt but with labor and parts as stated a hard pill to swallow but with just parts maybe you have a shooter again
money solves all problems and my money and your money is not the same because i'm a cheap SOB
we have all been on the fence before do i fix it or part it out and the fence has two sides you just have to pick one side
the parts are at Knibbs in the UK
money solves all problems and my money and your money is not the same because i'm a cheap SOB
we have all been on the fence before do i fix it or part it out and the fence has two sides you just have to pick one side
the parts are at Knibbs in the UK
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Is a cocking lever and shoe hard to replace without special tools? Looks like about $30 shipped from Knibbs. Also, about how much is it worth in parts? I have to have it shipped back for about $40 or donnate to the shop.
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No, I think it is not hard to replace.
You need a spring compressor (those can be built home-made). It is also good to have a “ball” hammer in order to properly finish the rivet that attaches the cocking lever to the barrel. IIRC that’s about all the special tools you will need.
If you are mechanically inclined / If you have ever disassembled a spring piston gun before, then you will have NO problem.
However, there are people not mechanically inclined, people not used to fix things at home etc... For them this might be a difficult task.
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If you're gonna get another 177 Weihrauch to replace it. I'd recommend a HW95 or 85. They're lighter, similarly sized and less jumpy. That's if you can get by with about 2 FPE less power.
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