I have owned airguns since I was 12 years old, starting with a
Harrington Gat push barrel pistol and progressing through most of the
1990s range of BSA spring rifles. As a patriotic and brand-loyal
teenager, these BSAs - the Meteor, Supersport, RB2 Airsporter, Goldstar
and Superstar - represented the height of precision engineering. My eyes
were opened somewhat when I spotted a second hand Air Arms TX200 in the
rack at the gun shop, and for the next few years I was an Air Arms man,
following it with a TX200HC and a Pro-Sport. Eventually, owing to lack
of a place to shoot and lack of funds, I sold the rifles and had just a
TAU 7 target pistol hidden away in a dusty cupboard. I had given up
shooting, and lost interest in airguns. Then a few years later, working
abroad with a lot of time for daydreaming and a little spare cash in the
bank, my thoughts returned to shooting. I toyed with the idea of a
Weihrauch HW35 fitted with a diopter sight, then my eye was caught by an
advertisement for a second hand FWB300S. I knew nothing at all about
these rifles, other than that they were highly respected for build
quality and accuracy. So I bought it, and a few weeks later the seller
knocked on my door and delivered my first Feinwerkbau.
This example was made in 1976. The general condition is very good, but there is some scratching to the top of the cylinder, probably the result of a clumsy attempt to remove light rust. My first impression was one of perfect quality. The BSAs of my youth were well made, and the Air Arms even better, but the FWB300S is in a different class. The excellence of the trigger, the effortlessness of cocking and the infallible accuracy have all been mentioned in my earlier post about the FWB300S Junior, so I will limit this post to a few other observations.
The above photo shows the short scope grooves. These are not sufficiently long to properly fit the Sportsmatch OP22C mount made for Feinwerkbaus, so I would recommend a set of two piece double clamp mounts if you intend to fit a scope, or maybe a one piece design without an arrestor. Later rifles like my 1982 300S Junior had longer scope grooves, so this would not be a problem.
I found the length of pull just a little too short, and so I added a 10mm spacer to the butt. This feels perfect for me. Any extra, and I think longer screws would be required - I used M5 60mm slotted cheese head machine screws when I extended the butt of my 300S Junior.
