Tuning Paul Watts

Someone got a beauty. Saw it end the other day 😳 they have got to be one of the sweetest shooting little springers out there.

I had an R7 with the same treatment. Still kicking myself for selling that one. Sooo smooth and accurate. He definitely put all right the touches to truly refine these guns. Night and day from stock.


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Most guys probably don't understand all the work listed.
Personally, I prefer a Monte Carlo stock for the drop and high comb. Some cast doesn't hurt. And not a fan of laminate but some guys like it a lot.
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Agreed on the work he does. If you watch his YouTube videos he shows the attention to detail and the amount of work he does. Far cry from my lube tunes, spring kits install and cylinder honning.
 
Most guys probably don't understand all the work listed.
Personally, I prefer a Monte Carlo stock for the drop and high comb. Some cast doesn't hurt. And not a fan of laminate but some guys like it a lot.
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Yes, the laminate I could take it or leave it. Same stock in walnut would be beautiful but what can ya do. I have the factory stained beech stock on my .20 R9 with the same treatment. I would love to upgrade that Some day.

Great litte rifle though. I was in to snipe a bid if it stayed anywhere near 800-900. I remember back in the day my R7 direct from Paul was a little over $600 and that was many years ago. I’m of the mindset those rigs are worth whatever someone is willing to pay. Agree on the level of craftsmanship involved, I have no idea how much time he would spend on a tune like this but man what a difference it makes.
 
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Education of the "WHY" specific tricks in tuning are applied or not applied is far more important to understand than a blanket set of "Do this or that" generic guidelines.
Statements of non rotating pistons or seals as "Bad" design is simply not true and require there own little tricks to keep them happy for long life service. Fully floating / rotating pistons / seal types as well may require something a bit different.

On & on it goes with each manufactures style of models being different enough in design specifics that there is for a professional tuner in No Way a one size fits all approach in tuning them.
 
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Agreed on the work he does. If you watch his YouTube videos he shows the attention to detail and the amount of work he does. Far cry from my lube tunes, spring kits install and cylinder honning.
I have a PW tuned .177 R7 that he did for me about 10-12 years ago. I don't have any records, but I think the tune cost something like $300-$350. In addition, it was a full 8 months from when I shipped my R7 to when it got it back, and I had to make several follow up calls to check status.

I would not do that again, and certainly would not pay $1k for a PW tuned hw30s. Yes, my R7 was better after his work, and it continues to shoot well to this day. But IMHO the difference was incremental to what most people can achieve with a drop in tune kit, not 2x or 3x better. Not trying to diminish his skill, just trying to anchor some of the PW mystique/hype back into reality.
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Finally got around to shooting the D54 today. Threw a Hammers “springer” scope from Amazon on it so we’ll see how long it lasts. Ended up adding 4 gaskets behind the barrel weight for harmonics control/accuracy. The trigger is good; lots of take up but breaks fairly cleanly.

I really enjoyed shooting it today, but I’m pretty certain that I was loading it the “wrong” (not the safest) way. There is a ratcheting safety, but I shouldn’t depend on that.

I started my crazy airgunning obsession with PCP, but had I gotten a springer first I might have had more of them. I just really liked grabbing the D54/pellets and being able to shoot immediately with no extra gear needed. And I didn’t find the cocking action to be annoying or tiresome.

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