FWB FWB 300 .....anyone else have one?

bowzette · Apr 2, 2024

I have a 300s Mini. Not going to post a pic of my ugly child. No defects or rust-just not pretty like these. But it does shoot. Reminds me of the old song "Never Make a Pretty Woman Your Wife". Advice I ignored 56 years ago

I just got back into air rifles and chrony mine yesterday which was placed about 5 yards from the muzzle. The states on the 300s are:
JSB Exact Diabolo, 8.44gr, ave velocity 576 fps, 6.22 fpe, ES 10, SD 2
For comparison my Beeman/WH30 tuned by Paul Watts shooting the same pellets are: ave velocity 580 fps, 6.31 fpe, ES 10, SD 2
The ugly old girl is doing pretty well for her age

In all honesty i don't know what stats are consider "good" for the 300s. I assume the standard size 300s and mini produce the same stats. I assume because the Paul Watts tuned R7 and the 300s are producing practically the same performace the FWB is doing well. I would be interested in stats others have with the 300/s.

MDriskill · Apr 2, 2024

The 300S Junior (aka Mini) action differs from the full-size model only in the barrel and stock. The action is identical in size, power, trigger, etc. The much lighter shorter barrel with no sleeve is highly prized these days for real-world shooting - the heavy set up of the full-size models was of course intended for match shooting with heavy glove, jacket, etc.

10-meter air rifle equipment regs are similar to those for firearm "standard rifle," which (unlike "free rifle") forbid any sort of wrap-around hand support. The UIT (today the ISSF) deemed the flared grip cap to act as a small palm rest, and thus banned it at some point, so later FWB's deleted it. Seems odd in light of the hyper-adjustable "space gun" stocks you see on top-level stuff today...but they still don't have grip caps, LOL.

Chuck-in-Ohio · Apr 2, 2024

bowzette said:
I have a 300s Mini. Not going to post a pic of my ugly child. No defects or rust-just not pretty like these. But it does shoot. Reminds me of the old song "Never Make a Pretty Woman Your Wife". Advice I ignored 56 years ago I just got back into air rifles and chrony mine yesterday which was placed about 5 yards from the muzzle. The states on the 300s are:
JSB Exact Diabolo, 8.44gr, ave velocity 576 fps, 6.22 fpe, ES 10, SD 2
For comparison my Beeman/WH30 tuned by Paul Watts shooting the same pellets are: ave velocity 580 fps, 6.31 fpe, ES 10, SD 2
The ugly old girl is doing pretty well for her age
In all honesty i don't know what stats are consider "good" for the 300s. I assume the standard size 300s and mini produce the same stats. I assume because the Paul Watts tuned R7 and the 300s are producing practically the same performace the FWB is doing well. I would be interested in stats others have with the 300/s.

Your rifle is shooting fine velocity wise, assuming that it is running an OEM or OEM equivalent spring.
You can juice a 300 up a bit with a Macarri Arctic spring, but it does give the rifle a snappier shot cycle. The accuracy should not suffer, but the shot cycle will change a bit.

Enjoy that rifle, and post up a pic or two of it. Rifles like that are not beat up or ugly, they simply have character, and we love em all.

beerthief · Apr 2, 2024

houston said:
Fwb 300 w/ org stock

View attachment 450154

looks like an ambi stock lefty or righty , nice as i am lefty . thankyou .

houston · Apr 2, 2024

beerthief said:
looks like an ambi stock lefty or righty , nice as i am lefty . thankyou .

Had to look...not ambi.

Cvans · Apr 5, 2024

bowzette said:
I have a 300s Mini. Not going to post a pic of my ugly child. No defects or rust-just not pretty like these. But it does shoot.

I have the same gun in the same condition. I'm in my middle 70's and have been shooting and working on airguns since the 1960's. Out of all the airguns I've owned this Mini is going nowhere. It is still more accurate than I am and used throughout the spring and summer to keep Starlings and English Sparrows off the Purple Martin house and other places they don't belong.
My advice is if your thinking of selling your FWB-300 is don't! Or at least think long and hard before doing it.
Enjoy.

MDriskill · Apr 5, 2024

I have my Junior action in a re-finished 300SL stock. I really like the look of it - but to be honest, its rather dinged up OEM wood balances a bit better.

olde grunt · Apr 17, 2024

Good morning... Been awhile since ive been on. I have a question for those that shoot the FWB 300 su.. what distances are you shooting targets at. At 10, 15 and 20 meters its an absolute tac driver. Was wondering if anyone shoots further distances with it?

MDriskill · Apr 17, 2024

I regularly shoot with a friend, and we enjoy assassinating 2-inch tall pill bottles with springers. We put them out to a measured 35 yards, where he can easily hit 9 out of 10 with a scoped 300S off a rest. I'm not TOO far behind, using the OEM diopter with a 1.5x magnifying iris. Not what you'd call "serious" target work by any stretch, but not too shabby for a couple old guys.

I am always pleasantly surprised by how hard even a 600 FPS .177 cal gun hits at those ranges. A round-head pellet will easily penetrate both sides of those tough little targets, and send 'em flying quite a distance.

Cvans · Apr 17, 2024

Most of my shooting is at 25 yards or less and generally off of some kind of rest. For the pest control I use it for Super Domes or Super Points work the best and are very accurate.

Chuck-in-Ohio · Apr 17, 2024

And since we have swerved into discussing mini sniping rigs

Started as a 300SL club rifle that was purchased for 125ish USD.
Total rebuild using a Macarri Arctic spring in addition to all new FWB internal bits, loves 10.3 JSBs, and is a chipmunk murder machine.

Wadcutter · Apr 18, 2024

Chuck-in-Ohio said:
And since we have swerved into discussing mini sniping rigs

View attachment 456629
Started as a 300SL club rifle that was purchased for 125ish USD.
Total rebuild using a Macarri Arctic spring in addition to all new FWB internal bits, loves 10.3 JSBs, and is a chipmunk murder machine.

Nice! I like the old club guns.
Here's one of my favorite chipmunk snipers. The stock was painted flat black when I got it.

Chuck-in-Ohio · Apr 18, 2024

Wadcutter said:
Nice! I like the old club guns.
Here's one of my favorite chipmunk snipers. The stock was painted flat black when I got it.
View attachment 457023 View attachment 457022

I wish that I could have scored a universal stock from the big Pilkingtons club rifle sell off, where mine came from, but they were all bog standard Match L models as far as I can remember.
I am debating swapping the standard twin springs back into it, as the Macarri spring does put more stress on the recoil sledge than it was designed for, and parts are not getting any easier to find.

I also looked back through some old paper work, and Pilkingtons sold those FWB 300s off for $120 apiece in 2014...... I wish I had bought a dozen.

rcarlisle · Apr 19, 2024

There are some nice looking guns in this thread. I do not have any springers, but if I ever need to scratch that itch, it'll probably have to be with one of these.

Franklink · Apr 19, 2024

Top is a 300, bottom is a 300s Mini

The 300 is in the exact state I bought it. It appears that somebody refinished the stock at some point. There is evidence of the normal stippling in the grip area but it was mostly sanded out. Seems to be a walnut stock.

The 300s Mini stock was redone by me. It was a rough looking dude when I got it, wasn't hard to envision it getting drug down a road to create the wear patterns on the stock. Between sanding and steaming I got most of em out. Had to restipple the grip area, and then dyed it black. Chose to stick with blond after a couple subpar results from staining other beech stocks. At least I'm pretty sure this one is beech.

Fun little guns. Something about their design and operation makes me feel like I missed out on a simpler time, a time when craftsman took pride in their handiwork.

MDriskill · Apr 19, 2024

BEAUTIFUL guns, and nice work on the Mini! To the best of my knowledge, all 300S Junior (Mini) stocks were beech, and you've really made this one sing.

beerthief · Apr 19, 2024

yes wonderful guns

bf1956 · Apr 19, 2024

MDriskill said:
BEAUTIFUL guns, and nice work on the Mini! To the best of my knowledge, all 300S Junior (Mini) stocks were beech, and you've really made this one sing.

Well....sort of. More to come later.

specie · Apr 20, 2024

Franklink said:
Top is a 300, bottom is a 300s Mini

View attachment 457081
View attachment 457082

The 300 is in the exact state I bought it. It appears that somebody refinished the stock at some point. There is evidence of the normal stippling in the grip area but it was mostly sanded out. Seems to be a walnut stock.

The 300s Mini stock was redone by me. It was a rough looking dude when I got it, wasn't hard to envision it getting drug down a road to create the wear patterns on the stock. Between sanding and steaming I got most of em out. Had to restipple the grip area, and then dyed it black. Chose to stick with blond after a couple subpar results from staining other beech stocks. At least I'm pretty sure this one is beech.

Fun little guns. Something about their design and operation makes me feel like I missed out on a simpler time, a time when craftsman took pride in their handiwork.

bf1956 said:
Well....sort of. More to come later.

Franklink said:
Top is a 300, bottom is a 300s Mini

View attachment 457081
View attachment 457082

The 300 is in the exact state I bought it. It appears that somebody refinished the stock at some point. There is evidence of the normal stippling in the grip area but it was mostly sanded out. Seems to be a walnut stock.

The 300s Mini stock was redone by me. It was a rough looking dude when I got it, wasn't hard to envision it getting drug down a road to create the wear patterns on the stock. Between sanding and steaming I got most of em out. Had to restipple the grip area, and then dyed it black. Chose to stick with blond after a couple subpar results from staining other beech stocks. At least I'm pretty sure this one is beech.

Fun little guns. Something about their design and operation makes me feel like I missed out on a simpler time, a time when craftsman took pride in their handiwork.

Did you use oxalic acid to bleach the Mini stock?...beautiful. Is that maple, does not look like beech?? Reason I ask is because I wonder if a beech stock would bleach out as nicely as your's...

Franklink · Apr 20, 2024

specie said:
Did you use oxalic acid to bleach the Mini stock?...beautiful. Is that maple, does not look like beech?? Reason I ask is because I wonder if a beech stock would bleach out as nicely as your's...

No acid or bleach. That blonde wood color is what was under the factory stain (which is more paint than stain, as is often the case with beech stocks).

Steps were: stripping down to bare wood by sanding off the factory finish, cut new lines for the stippling panels, restippled (after much trial and error on scrap pieces of lumber) dyed the stippling panels black (with permanent marker of all things), then finished with a bunch of coats of boiled linseed oil, and then a couple coats of Formby's furniture polish (advertised as tung oil but isn't much tung oil in it).

The mini stock, as received, doesn't look nearly as beat up in the photos as I remember it, lol.

Here are some photos of three different stocks I was concurrently refinishing. The most red one is a stock from a Chinese clone of the FWB300s. That stock was a challenge. I had to plug holes to make it fit an actual FWB300 (not the clone it was meant for) and had to fit a buttpad and make hardware for it. Big project. The lefty is a walnut FWB300s stock, and of course the Mini stock is in there too.

This is what the walnut lefty looked like before I stripped it. Why in the world gun makers slather that crappy brown color on a walnut stock....I just can't fathom it.