HW/Weihrauch What's the opposite of a safe queen...?

Bought an original design HW85 today, comp tube rail and all. It needs sights and breech block shims, but has already been gone through and the worn out cocking shoe replaced, as well as some cosmetic first aid and fresh seals.

This rifle has certainly been around, and it has its fair share of dings and little imperfections. But it has charm like an old pickup and it's all the better for it, at least in my opinion. I won't be worried about adding another scuff or two, though that doesn't mean that I'll handle/maintain it any differently that my others.

I knew that I had a set of sights stashed away, so they went right on. Scope can wait until after I spiff up the pivot point, if I mount one at all. I should, of course, because my old eyes need the help. But in the past I did a lot of shooting with open sights, and I immediately liked the sight picture its giving me. When I can see the point of aim (!), the rifle shoots impressively.

I gave up trying to see the printed diamond points and added some 1/4" or larger dots to the flip side with a magic marker. Couldn't see those either. Finally, I made one dot very large, and I could see that one through the blur so I fired a group of RWS Hobby's at it.
I had to add a 6th shot because I goofed one up (top right, ignore that one) but the one honest 5 shot group of the night looks the very best I've fired across my basement in years with open sights:

This one is all about the shooting. 👍

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Ah Ha..!! I just learned something 👍

It turns out the hinge pin doesn't screw into the opposing nut to sandwich the forks. It threads into the opposite fork, and the "nut" is really just a cap/thread protector. Mine was loose and the cap was out of thread travel, so after looking at pics of hinge pin assemblies (which have a split washer on either side, whereas mine does not) I made a poor assumption. Doh!
I snugged up the hinge pin correctly, and all is well - a half inch of loose barrel wobble is now G-O-N-E gone.

That HW85 just went from the outhouse to the penthouse as far as shooting straight with a scope mounted.


Looking good Billy Ray!


"Feeling good Louis..." ha ha!
 
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