Christmas with the FWB150

Four weeks ago, I bought a FWB150 from the German auction site eGun. It was described as recently serviced (important as servicing can cost a significant amount if you don't have the skill to do it yourself) and had a reasonable "buy it now" price. An email to the seller to confirm she would post internationally, and it was mine. However, it was not until this week that I was able to shoot it; I spent Christmas at a friend's house, with a 50 metre garden to play in.

This example of the 150 appears to have been made in 1965 or 66, judging by the serial number (23xxx). It has clearly been restored recently, not just with a service of internal parts but with a reblue of the metalwork and a refinish of the stock. The blue is a little thin, and although I expect the varnish on the stock is close to the original, an oil finish would have been nicer. However, it is still a beautiful rifle.

Compared to the FWB300S I have, the stock is more like that of a sporting rifle; the grip is chequered rather than stippled, and the forend is shallower. The forend feels wider than the 300S, but as my other rifle is back in the UK I cannot compare the two. I particularly like the pattern of chequering on the grip of the 150, the way the two panels meet at the top.

The grip is beautifully shaped, with a slight swell on the right that fits my fairly large hand perfectly. Although the stock is not an ambidextrous design, my left handed friend found it comfortable to use. This example has a fixed rubber butt pad; I do not know if this was standard on the 150, or if an adjustable pad as found on the 300S was an option. Length of pull is about 345mm, a little short for me but still comfortable. In the future I might replace the pad with one from a 300S, and add a spacer. A UIT type rail is fitted under the forend, so that a bipod or hand stop can be fitted, and there is also a screw hole for the attachment of a weight to alter the balance. 

The 150 was available with a barrel sleeve as an optional extra, and mine has one fitted. I like the look; as for balance, I think it would be equally good without it. As can be seen from the photograph below, there is a small gap of about 5.5mm between the barrel sleeve and the front sight. This led me to suspect that the sleeve or the sight might not be an original item, and I was told on AirgunBBS that Feinwerkbau fitted a different front sight to rifles with the sleeve. The ideal solution would be to find an appropriate front sight, but in the mean time I might have a blued steel spacer made to fill the gap.

As befits a target rifle, the sights are of the diopter type. The rear sight on this rifle is of the same type as fitted to my 300S, with a 1.1mm iris; I do not know whether this is original or not, whether an earlier version was made. The front sight takes replaceable elements of 16mm diameter. This rifle came fitted with a 4mm globe element, and a member of AirgunBBS kindly sent me a post type to try too.

The cocking lever of the 150 is quite different to that of the 300S, being longer and having a different type of latch.

Here is a photo of the mechanism open. The whole rifle is superbly well engineered, and I am sure it will outlast me. You can also see the separate rail onto which the diopter sight is fitted; the later 300S uses a conventional 11mm dovetail. The horizontal grooves at the front are for reference when adjusting the position of the sight on the receiver, while beneath the sight are deeper grooves into which fits the cross-bolt, to prevent the sight shifting under recoil. 

When you buy any of the Feinwerkbau spring powered match guns, have a look at the breech seal. Modern replacements are blue or green, whereas the originals are now yellow and brittle. Original seals should be replaced, along with the piston buffer from inside, as continuing to use a rifle with worn seals can cause damage as well as poor accuracy.

Now on to the most important question: how does it shoot? As anyone who has owned a FWB match gun will know: wonderfully. Although it is fairly heavy, it comes to the shoulder easily and balances nicely. Cocking is light and smooth, with a reassuring safety ratchet mechanism to prevent accidental release when fingers are in the breech. The trigger is brilliant, maybe not quite as good as that of the 300S but still superb. The sledge recoil system works well, and very little if anything is felt when the rifle discharges.

I zeroed at 25 metres, using JSB Exact RS Diabolo pellets. Obviously, if using the rifle for match shooting I would use wadcutters, but as I will be using it for plinking out to 50 metres I chose roundheads. I will not quote group sizes, as I am an embarrassingly poor shot and cannot do the rifle justice, but I will say that shooting from a standing unsupported position, hitting bottle tops was easy at 25 metres. At 50 metres, with 36cm of hold-over, I was hitting a 5x8cm target consistently. From a rest, I have no doubt that the 150 is capable of groups of well under 3cm at 50 metres on a still day. Regarding velocity, I do not know. The original manual states 180 metres per second, but a 36cm drop at 50 metres from a 25 metre zero with 0.475 gram pellets suggests 145 metres per second for my rifle, using Hawke ChairGun. It certainly felt like more than that, but it could be that the rifle is still settling in after its restoration, or that my pacing of 50 metres leaves something to be desired and that it was more like 55 or 60 metres. Whatever the velocity, the important thing is accuracy, and the 150 has this in abundance.

As stated in earlier posts on this blog, I am no expert on these guns, so I am always eager for any further information readers may have.

Happy New Year, fellow Feinwerkbau enthusiasts!