Looking to buy a FWB 65 or 80
- Thread starter jkingrph
- Start date
I went with the 80. Gentleman selling sent better pictures and description than the one selling a couple of 65's. When I asked about shooting condition, he cronographed it at 472 in New Hamphsire weather yesterday. He said some rust spots but could not see in pictures, plus I wanted target grips and the more adjustable trigger, along with barrel weights. From all I read just a more refined version of the 65. I went ahead and ordered a breech seal and buffer to have on hand, and an new copy of an owners manual.
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The FWB 80 arrived today, with a complete set of barrel weights. The seller said it had signs of us, as it had been used quite a bit in some match shooting, some rust. Rust turned out to be some freckling on the barrel, not bad. I used an old trick of taking a new or unused drill bit, holding the fluted end in my hand and rubbing the freckled parts with the shank end and some oil. It seems to crush any rust spots and the almost dissapear, but can be seen on close examination as slightly darker spots, but no longer looks like rust. Does not damage the blueing if the bit you use are totally smooth and unscarred. There was one spot near the front sight where I could not quite get to with the bit so I used the back of my pocket knife blade which had been polished smooth and rounded.
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The older collectors and purists preferred the 65 as i do. Especially if it had the ”Bull barrel weight shroud.
The move away from the traditional curved trigger guard to a more angled trigger guard for the later variant of the 80 and its connecting block barrel weights, and longer tang spoilt the look slightly.
However, you could get a tiny bit more out of an 80 on target, with its greater amount of trigger adjustments. The 65 trigger angle was not adjustable, only weight and pull length, you could get a better trigger position going on the 80.
The connector block barrel weights of the 80 wrecked the looks, but perfect balance preferences could be achieved.
However, the 80 simply did not have enough time to prove itself better than the 65 as the 65 had been in production since the 60s and having won everything…Had it been in production longer, i am sure it would have caught the 65 up and past it, but it did not have time to do it before the Gas pistols came along and confined it to history.
Electronic trigger 90s never seemed to catch on and by that time, Gas pistols had taken over.
The move away from the traditional curved trigger guard to a more angled trigger guard for the later variant of the 80 and its connecting block barrel weights, and longer tang spoilt the look slightly.
However, you could get a tiny bit more out of an 80 on target, with its greater amount of trigger adjustments. The 65 trigger angle was not adjustable, only weight and pull length, you could get a better trigger position going on the 80.
The connector block barrel weights of the 80 wrecked the looks, but perfect balance preferences could be achieved.
However, the 80 simply did not have enough time to prove itself better than the 65 as the 65 had been in production since the 60s and having won everything…Had it been in production longer, i am sure it would have caught the 65 up and past it, but it did not have time to do it before the Gas pistols came along and confined it to history.
Electronic trigger 90s never seemed to catch on and by that time, Gas pistols had taken over.
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I totally agree about the looks, preferring the more rounded trigger guard of the 65. I went with the 80 because of the extra trigger adjustments and the gun was in better external condition than the 65's I could find. Right now I do not see any provision for adjustment of trigger angle, however I do have an owners manual on order so will learn about the adjustments when It arrives. I did learn last night that the width of the rear sight notch is adjustable,which might be good for my old eyes. I do like the adjustment for trigger pull length, I have the trigger set all the way forward so I can only contact the trigger with the distal third of my finger pad. It did come with a complete set of weights,with one attached which I just took off and will see how well I shoot with the lighter weight. I am looking to learn about the pull adjustmets, I have been shooting a IZH 46m with a trigger pull of just a few ounces so like those light pulls.
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