by B.B. Pelletier
The FWB 300S is considered the gold standard of vintage target air rifles.
Some more history
The first part of this report was certainly met with a lot of enthusiasm, so I think I’ll add some more history today. In the comments to Part 1, we had a discussion of the sport called Running Target. Some called it Running Boar, which it was for several decades, and long before that it was called Running Stag.
The sport originated in Germany, I believe, though it was probably popular in Austria and perhaps even in Switzerland. It existed at least as far back as the mid-19th century and was shot outdoors at a target pulled on tracks by human power. The original target was a male chamois made of wood with a target where the heart of the animal would be. But that target evolved into a male red deer, called a stag. The stag was exposed to the shooter for a specific number of seconds.
In time, the stag was replaced by a running boar, because the stag was thought to be a noble animal and the boar wasn’t so highly regarded…though in England they did have a similar sport called Running Deer.
As the match evolved, it picked up rules. There was a slow presentation of the target (5 seconds) and a fast presentation (2.5 seconds), and the shooter was supposed to shoot one shot on each pass. The target was engaged in both directions during the match. It wasn’t long before the wooden animals were switched for paper targets that were both cheaper and easier to score.
The Running Boar target was double-ended so it could be used in both directions on the same track.
The aim point was usually the animal’s nose, but that was the choice of each shooter.
Over the years, the rifles they used changed from muzzleloaders to centerfires, and eventually to rimfires and airguns, because of the increased opportunities for range safety. Today, both rimfires and airguns are still being used at the World Cup level.
The guns have traditionally used sights that account for the movement of the target and allow the correct amount of lead. When scopes came into the event, they were specialized with reticles that allowed for the lead to be dialed in. Anyone who owns an FWB 300S Running Target rifle with the correct scope has something to prize.
Gary Anderson brought a running target range to the Roanoke Airgun Expo back in the late 1990s, giving many airgunners the opportunity to closely examine the target setup. By the 1970s, the sport had become Running Target — to assuage those who felt shooting at boars was not politically correct. The sport was part of the 1992 Olympics, but was dropped after the 2004 games. It’s a sport that goes in and out of fashion as the years pass; but it’s still a World Cup event, so we may see more of it in time.
When the change was made to Running Target, the target was changed to a target with one central aim point and two bulls — one for each direction.
Velocity of the FWB 300S
Today is the day we check the velocity of this FWB 300S, so let’s get to it. When it was new, the 300S was advertised with a velocity of 640 f.p.s., though the pellet they was used to get that number was never specified. I will use a range of pellets I believe are appropriate to the power level of a spring gun like this. And, in a departure for me, one of the pellets I test will be domed.
Air Arms Falcon
I tested the Air Arms Falcon pellet even though it’s a domed pellet that’s not appropriate for target shooting, because many readers use these rifles with scopes for plinking and other pursuits. So, I’ll also shoot this pellet for accuracy — just to see what it can do.
This was the first pellet I tested, and I’m so glad I own a chronograph, because I learned something valuable about the 300S in this test. This rifle needs to warm up before it’ll shoot with stable velocity. Think of an older car from the 1950s that had to be warmed up for a minute or so and then driven slowly for the first mile to allow the parts to expand and start sealing as they should. Heck — most car engines from that era developed leaks pretty quickly, and you did whatever was necessary to keep them from wearing faster than they should. Well, this FWB 300S needs the same kind of warmup. Let me show you the first 9 shots.
Shot Velocity
…1……543
…2……560
…3……580
…4……615
…5……635
…6……633
…7……639
…8……647
…9……656
So, if you shoot a 300S — or any of its derivatives — for score, maybe you better shoot about 10 shots just to warm the action before expecting the rifle to do its best.
After shot 9, the rifle became very stable and averaged 658 f.p.s. with the Falcon pellet. The low was 655, and the high was 671 f.p.s. At that speed, this pellet generates 7.05 foot-pounds. That’s pretty brisk for a 300S; but Mac, who traded the rifle to me, said it had just been sealed and overhauled by Randy Bimrose, so it’s performing at its best.
A couple observations
Before I move to the next pellet, I’d like to make a few observations. First, I said in Part 1 that the 300S action doesn’t need to be levered forward at the end of the cocking strike like the action of an RWS Diana model 54 Air King, but that was incorrect. It does have to be levered forward into lockup in just the same way, but the 300S action is so smooth that I didn’t notice it until now. With a Diana 54, you always notice it.
I mention this because, like the Diana 54, the 300S uses the sledge-type anti-recoil system; and even though it’s a gentle rifle, it has to operate in the same way as the more powerful Diana. Moving the action forward into lockup prepares the action to release when the gun fires and to move on the steel rails in the stock just a fraction of an inch, canceling the feel of recoil.
The second thing I noticed this time is that I can feel the cocking link bump over the mainspring coils as the cocking lever moves back to the stored position. I sometimes feel that same roughness in other spring rifles, where the tolerances are tight, and I thought I’d mention that this one does the same thing.
RWS R-10 Pistol pellets
Next, I tried the RWS R-10 Pistol pellet, which weigh 7 grains, even. I tried them because of their weight — not because I think they’ll be the most accurate pellet. I just want to show the rifle’s velocity with a reasonable range of pellet weights.
This pellet averaged 658 f.p.s. with a low of 640 and a high of 664 f.p.s. The low shot was the only one that went slower than 656 f.p.s. At the average velocity, this pellet generates 6.73 foot-pounds of muzzle energy.
H&N Finale Match Rifle pellets
The final pellet I tested was the 8.18-grain H&N Finale Match Rifle pellet. It averaged 609 f.p.s. and ranged from 597 to 616 f.p.s. The average velocity generated a muzzle energy of 6.74 foot-pounds
There you have it. This 300S is extremely healthy and ready to go target shooting in the next report! It’s still a joy to shoot and is a rifle that you should continue to covet if you’re so inclined.
One additional thing. There has been some talk of how accurate these rifles are at longer range. If you want, I’ll schedule a special fourth report in which I shoot this rifle outdoors at 50 yards. I’ll have to wait for a calm day, of course, but wouldn’t it be fun to see how this rifle shoots at that range?
If you get a chance to get a FWB 300S, grab it. They’re not making any more. They are a joy and a wonder.
B.B.
A quick question…
How long had this rifle been sitting around without being fired before you ran the chrono strings? Rough guess…
twotalon
twotalon,
Maybe three weeks.
B.B.
Morning, B.B. Here’s a vote for a 50-yard report. Yes, that does sound like fun!
As your 300S “warms up,” does its velocity become hyper-consistent like many of the finer match-grade specimens you’ve shown us?
Thanks,
Jan
Jan,
Well, it seems to, and then it throws a wild shot. So the answer is no. Not like a good PCP.
B.B.
30 years newer, in the hands of a serious shooter who’s shooting 100-200 shots a day, they were probably very consistent. Also, in serious matches, you’re using the really expensive pellets that come in packs with each pellet in its own little hole in the “loading block”, no dented skirts etc there! If you’re really good, you didn’t pay for them either.
In a match there are “sighters” and you can shoot as many of those as you like before shooting for record. I believe – it may have changed to 10 sighters or a certain amount of time to sight-in (which is generally really just warming up, for the gun and for you).
B.B.
What was the low velocity for the Falcon pellets? I don’t think you meant 65.
twotalon
twotalon,
It was 655. I have updated the blog. Thanks!
B.B.
This came in to the wrong address, so I have reposted it here.
Hi, I have been reading your writings for years now. I was wondering if you might be able to help me out with something. There used to be a gentleman named Jan Kraner who did amazing checkering work. Do you know if he is still around? If so, do you have contact info for him? I am interested in getting some checkering work done.
Thanks!
Joe
Joe,
I vaguely remember the name but have no idea of where he is today.
Can anyone help?
B.B.
Joe,
Here is the last contact info I have for Jan Kraner:
janfkraner@aol.com 201-943-3271
Mr. Kraner is certainly gifted when it comes to stock finishing, refinishing and checkering. Friendly piece of advice that applies to all business dealings. Get a quote in writing for the total checkering job cost up front. A price per hour is meaningless.
kevin
B.B.’s FWB 300S is not only a fine specimen but is shooting right where it should. Fresh tune from Randy Bimrose hopefully means that as the piston ring is worn in the velocity will increase a little and the current tight spreads will shrink even more.
The additional history lesson on the RT (Running Target) game is greatly appreciated.
I really like the configuration of this gun. Back in the day, when you ordered a new FWB 300S you had a menu of options for configuring the stock. Fixed or adjustable butt pad, flared grip cap, straight grip or sloped, shrouded barrel or unshrouded, etc. I would have ordered this gun just the way it’s set up. Straight grip, flared grip cap, adjustable butt pad and stepped barrel shroud like all RT guns have. B.B.’s FWB 150 didn’t have the stepped shroud. The additional stock weight in the FWB 150 probably canceled or muted the muzzle flip but I still prefer the barrel shroud on the FWB’s.
B.B.,
IF you haven’t completed the accuracy testing on the FWB 300S for this series would you please consider using the same gehmann color filter on the FWB 300S that you did in the accuracy testing for the FWB 150? Be interesting to see the comparison “all things being equal.”
kevin
Kevin,
The Gehmann color filter is on the 300S. I have shot the 300S in the past and have been quite pleased by the accuracy, so I’m expecting great things this time. It may not repeat that once-in-a-lifetime group I got with the Haenel 311, but I’m not expecting miracles. Just good shooting.
B.B.
B.B.,
Tough not to be pleased by these guns. They’re often shooting marvels. I’ve learned they have a cult like following for a reason.
If you elect to shoot the 300S out to 50 yards and If you get a perfectly calm day to warrant this test please consider shooting 20 shot groups with each pellet. Weigh out 10 pellets of each type you plan to shoot and shoot them alongside of the same unweighed pellet. There’s no better testbed of weighed vs. unweighed pellets than an FWB 300S shooting at 50 yards IMHO. Besides, it gives you a good reason to stay longer at the range.
PS-Based on my experience, if you clean the bore on the 300S I suspect you will remove a lot of rust.
kevin
Kevin,
I think you want me to shoot two 10-shot groups, rather than one 20-shot group. You want to see the relative accuracy of the weighed pellets against those that are not weighed.
I’ll try to do that.
B.B.
B.B.,
Yes, that’s what I meant. Two ten shot groups with each type of pellet. One group with weighed pellets the other ten shot group with unweighed pellets.
This is another example of why you’re a writer and I’m not.
kevin
twotalon made a great comment over the weekend about his pellet experiments. Among other observations he said lighter pellets aren’t always fastest.
Did you notice in todays report that the heavier air arm falcon pellets shot faster than the lighter R-10 pellets? The average was identical.
I cast my vote for B.B. to shoot his FWB 300S at longer range since it’s so healthy and has a great long range set up in the stock configuration. Not only that, B.B. may not shoot this gun for another 4 years.
kevin
kevin…
I thought nobody read my comments. Or maybe though my comments were hogwash.
Then again, maybe everybody already knew all that.
This morning I dragged a couple rifles to the basement to run some strings after they had been sitting for weeks. 50 degrees in the basement. Did the same with two other rifles a couple days ago. Just wanted to see how they ran from a cold start.
Learning what I can learn about each ones rules.
twotalon
twotalon,
I read all your comments. I’ve learned a lot from your shooting experiences.
kevin
twotalon,
I read what you wrote, too. It agrees with my experience, though there are general trends that do apply. But nothing is for sure, which is why we test.
Keep on experimenting.
B.B.
B.B.
I think I need to wait for spring to do much more. Need to take it outside, unless you can loan me a heated indoor range.
Have lists of certain pellets to try in a particular order.
twotalon
I can add a couple cents to twotalon’s yesterday observations. At 10m the H&N Baracuda 10.65gr is the most accurate pellet so far, for my Crosman Challenger PCP, out of the 22 different variations of pellets I have. It is, also, the heaviest pellet I own. The boxed Crosman Premier at 10.5gr comes in second. Too bad neither of these is a waddcutter. The worst pellets for accuracy are the RWS Hobby 7.0gr and the RWS R-10 at 7.0gr, which are waddcutters. However, these two are very accurate in other rifles. I was amazed that the heavier pellets were more accurate in this rifle.
Two other pellets that tied with the Crosman Premiers as second best in accuracy are the JSB Exact 8.4gr (domed) and the H&N Finale Match Pistol 7.6gr (waddcutter) in the square plastic box with foam holder. The various head-sized Finale Match Pistols in the tins (unweighed) didn’t do as well as the plastic boxed ones.
I have not been weighing pellets for these results and I don’t have crony results, either.
Based on these observations I should buy a ca$e of H&N Finale Match Pi$tol 7.6gr in the $quare pla$tic box with foam holder but I keep thinking there i$ a cheaper waddcutter out there $omewhere.
-Chuck
Chuck…
You said something interesting…..
Heavier domed mostly work best. Domed pellets….Challenger….
You have a LW barrel, right? You can get a crummy one. I have. Rough bore or bad crown.
Wadcutters usually have a very narrow contact point on the head. They are fed in with the bolt. We have a transfer port and the rear edge of the rifling waiting to snag it. A domed pellet might be more inclined to ride over the snag with less damage.
You might want to have a little look at certain things….
twotalon
twotalon,
You could be onto something there with the waddcutters being clipped on insertion. I do notice a slight catch while closing the bolt. I’ll take a closer look at that.
-Chuck
Chuck…
I want you to try some things…
Drop a pellet in the breech and close the bolt just far enough that the pellet won’t fall back out. Then roll the rifle on it’s side or even on it’s back before closing the bolt the rest of the way. Still feel a “catch” ? Does it feel different? Make sure to do it slowly and concentrate on the feel.
Try loading a pellet by pointing the barrel straight down, then bumping the rifle on the side a couple times before closing the bolt. Feel any different ?
twotalon
twotalon,
I tried the things you mentioned. Nothing is snagging at the opening to the barrel, however, when I look down inside about 1/4 inch it looks like a shelf, like a tube inside a tube. The edge in there looks sharp and could be catching the pellet. It’s difficult to see because of the angle but does yours look like that or is it smooth from the opening on down?
-Chuck
On second thought I think what I’m seeing is the transfer port? I wish I could see in there better but I don’t want to take it apart.
-Chuck
Chuck…
I don’t have that kind of rifle, but any time you have a 90 degree transfer port you have the same potential problem. You start with a larger opening that has the transfer port just inside. The pellet fits loose. Just forward of the transfer port you have the rear edge of the bore. That’s when it tightens up…as the pellet starts into the bore. The transfer port and the rear edge of the rifling are often sharp.
I wanted you to try those different things in an attempt to keep the pellet from snagging the transfer port. The rear edge of the bore will still be there though. It was something to look at. Of course it could be catching both in the first place, so eliminating just one will not fix the problem.
Then there is another thing….
There may not be a problem other than it just does not like the wadcutters.
twotalon
Chuck,
Try pushing a pellet through the barrel and then look at the edge of the skirt. If there is a burr, that will reveal it.
Kevin,
I also spent some time at the chrony yesterday with my new 634 and various pellets. I can confirm twotalon’s observations.
Based on that time spent, I can see that this particular 634 needs some work, so I’m going to tear into it soon and se what I find.
/Dave
/Dave,
If I remember correctly you recently bought that new slavia 634 in .22 caliber? If it is .22 caliber could you please tell me how many foot pounds it’s shooting?
kevin
It’s .22 and shooting right at about 8 ft/lbs, depending on the pellet. The ES’s and SD’s are around 30 and 8, so I could wait until it’s broken in, but the trigger needs some work. I bought it brand new, and after a few hundred shots it makes some squeeks like it needs a little lube along with the gritty trigger, so I’m going to open it up and see what makes it tick. We’ll see what it does when I’m done smoothing it out. Other than those fairly minor problems, I like it! It feels good in my hands!
/Dave
/Dave,
Thanks for the info.
I have a 634 in .177 that Paul Watts tuned. Wonderful gun even though it’s pellet fussy. It shoots jsb rs (7.3 gr) pellets well. Doubt if this will translate to your .22 caliber but thought I’d mention it.
kevin
/Dave,
BTW, I’ve got a pretty good selection of .22 cal pellets. If you want to stop by I could make up a pellet sampler for you and include the pellets you may not have.
kevin
/Dave
Those numbers look like the power plant is throwing a major fit about something.
I hope the problem area is obvious enough when you look for it.
twotalon
twotalon,
Yeah, I’m kind of thinking bad or cut seal myself, but I’ll have to dig in to find out what. The gun has plenty of grease everywhere else, but never really smelled up the basement like a freshly lubed one will at first, so I wonder if it was put together dry. I’ll let you guys know what I find, and come looking for help if I can’t find anything obvious.
/Dave
I’ve had the pleasure of watching various folks shoot FT matches with the 300S, including Rex with his lovely RT version. I predict that the 50-yard test will be as impressive as the 10m results. The first time I saw Rex drop DIFTA’s Long Tom at ~48 yards with the 300S, I was hooting and jumping around like some old gold prospector. It wasn’t any surprise that he cleanly hit the .75″ killzone – it wasn’t the first time – but actually bringing that thing down with such a spitball shooter was a thing to behold.
Folks, Long Tom is an old-school FT target. I believe B.B. had a major hand in acquiring Tom and his cousins. These targets have no spring mechanism like most FT targets, and they fall only by the gravity and momentum of the target paddle being knocked back. Long Tom is a ~2.5 foot tall turkey, and he goes down like a California redwood, even when you zing him with a 20-footpounder. There must have been a 3-4 second delay after the feeble ‘ding’ from the 300S impact. Good times.
We’ve actually had to tweak the way we prepare targets at DIFTA, in deference to low-power shooters. The 12 foot-pound class is getting ever more popular, and quite a few maniacs bring the occasional 6 fpe gun like the 300S. We had been putting brightly colored electrical-type tape on the killzones, rather than spray painting them for each match. But especially with the wonderful old gravity targets, this sapped too much energy, even from 12 fpe shots.
B.B., remember that old crow target with the huge (3″?) killzone? That’s one that you really can’t tape. The big kz is really an illusion for lower-powered rifles: you’ve got to nail the paddle towards the top for better leverage!
-Jan
Jan,
Long Tom was originally built for me. I ordered it for The Airgun Letter. It was made by Ron Juneau, as I recall, though I might not remember that right. I wanted the most realistic field target that could be made. Tom is a life-sized turkey that has a kill zone in its head. I ordered this target with a kill zone reducer and when the guys at DIFTA saw it they decided to make it the 50-yard target. Field Target was limited to 50 yards in those days.
Tom takes forever to fall and sometimes he doesn’t. It’s pretty dramatic when it happens.
I loaned it to DIFTA and when they used it a couple times they decided to buy it for the club. At the time it was the most expensive field target we had ever purchased. It was $100.
I used to paint Tom for the big matches, but for the regular ones he was just black.
That’s what I remember.
I do remember a flog with a 2.5-inch kill zone, but I don’t seem to recall the crow. Maybe they got him after I left.
You know, we started DIFTA using target borrowed from a FT club in northern Virginia, and bought them as we could afford to. It took a couple years before we had enough for a full match, as I recall. I still have about 8-10 targets that I had bought and loaned to DIFTA.
B.B.
That’s it B.B.
Now you have NO choice but to come to the AAFTA nationals this year. I want YOU (and Edith.. I’m having a couples class and you guys will win for sure:-)))) and I want those targets! NO is not a possibility!
Hunter class is made for you. Buckets and Bi-pods. Start practicing in the backyard with those targets…
YOU got me to start a club back in 2008, and now I’m hosting the AAFTA nationals out here in Oregon. I came to visit you.. ya’al come visit me!
Wacky Wayne
BB: I’d like to see a 50 yard accuracy test on this gun too.
B.B.,
That two-headed running boar target that you shown here is what I remember. I never saw the two-bull target without the boar picture. Also, when I competed (especially the big matches), I never saw any competitor use anything BUT the H&N Finale Match Rifle pellets. And you rarely saw round tins. Instead, you saw the rectangular tins with pellets individually loaded in a foam loading block. My understanding back then was that these pellets were individually sorted for diameter, for maximum accuracy. Shooters that didn’t want to make the extra expense, bought a gauge that allowed them to sort them themselves.
I’ve never shot my 300S beyond 50 feet, and it was very accurate at 50 feet. I never would have even considered taking it out to 50 yards. That will be interesting.
Victor
The boar and references to it “running boar” were gotten rid of in the mid 90s, to not offend Muslim competitors. That sounds fair to me, I have no problem with it. The name was changed to Running Target.
Yes, we must all be politically correct.
flobert,
Thanks for that detail. I wondered about that.
You know, it’s always something.
Had it been a cow, it would have “offended” one group. Had it been a rat, it would have “offended” another. The same would probably be true for an eagle, a buffalo, a snake, a cat, a dog, etc.
I wonder how the world would feel if we made the target with ZOMBIES!?!
Victor
Victor,
I am offended by zombies.
-hm
That’s why they chose no animal, just a round target.
Same with the duell stage of sport and standard pistol, and rapid fire, targets, they used to be man-shaped now they’re just round.
I’m surprised that the FW 300S works for running boar. The rifle is shaped like my Anschutz 1907, and while it is terrifically ergonomical for static positions, it is the antithesis of handy. On the subject of hunting, I came across an interesting YouTube video of someone hunting rats at night with an airgun. What was most interesting was that the guy had figured out how to use nightvision and hook up a camcorder so you could see the action through the scope as he was shooting. He used an HW100 rested from a car. It was rat armageddon, and the rats never knew what hit them; they didn’t even seem to notice when another rat dropped right next to them. Well, rats have just got to go.
PeteZ, I would never even think of trying to carry anything that looked like a weapon into another country. My experience is that national borders are a kind of no-man’s land where immigration officers exercise dictatorial control.
Flobert, pepper spray is wonderful! Highly effective, non-lethal. I’ve even looked into “pepper spray martial arts.” One tactic is to spray out a wall of gas and the back up, allowing the assailant to charge into it. Another is to discreetly release a puff at someone following you and listen to them start coughing… Another equivalent weapon is a fire extinguisher. In one case, one of the repo agents on the Lizard Lick towing show repelled a crowd of angry race fans with a fire extinguisher.
Thanks to all for the interesting observations about the multiple opponents. Duskwight, is it true that a traditional folk recreation in Russia is for two teams of guys to have a mass fight? They really seem to hit each other although it seems to be fairly good natured and no one gets stomped. The contact that I’ve seen is probably equivalent to American football.
Victor, your son sounds like he is too hard on himself. Maybe the thing for him is some form of ritual to snap him out of any bad feelings. Perhaps some form of commendation….I enjoy reading the Medal of Honor citations whose language is very beautiful I think…”stout-hearted and indomitable…reflects credit on himself and…in the highest the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service etc.”
As more real life information about multiple combat which I would avoid at all cost but am glad to read about, here are a couple more incidents. At the ambush at the Vidalia Sand Bar where Jim Bowie gained fame for himself and his knife by fighting of numbers of bushwackers, it’s said that one of the attackers came up behind Bowie and broke a revolver over his head. This had no apparent effect other than to annoy him…. A great technique but not one I would recommend. And then there is the little-known case of Henry Johnson from WWI. Working as a bellhop in New York City, he joined an all-black unit for WWI and was shipped over to France. While on guard duty, a German raiding party came over and badly wounded a friend of his, then tried to drag him away as a captive. Johnson emptied his rifle, then chased them down, fought them off with his issue bolo knife and rescued his friend. The bolo knife I understand was an issue weapon in 1917 and was adopted after experience against the barong knife in the Philippines in the Spanish-American war. The barong is approximately a bowie knife without the clip point, so where we could say that we gave the Philippines the 1911, they gave us the bolo. In the course of his action, he took out five enemy soldiers and wounded another 24. Do not mess with your NY bellhops. As he described the fight, he taunted the German raiders, “Hey you Bushies [Boche].” And during what he described as an hour-long fight, he “whanged them on the dome” and did all sorts of things. The Distinguished Service Cross that he received in the Clinton era is in process to be upgraded to a Medal of Honor which I think is only fair. However, he died 10 years after the war, penniless in a veteran’s hospital and estranged from his family. So, for all his exuberance, the experience definitely marked him.
On another subject, B.B. if you haven’t read Watership Down, I highly recommend it. It is like Clan of the Cave Bear with rabbits. No joke. If you can hang in there and accept the premise, I’m sure it will be rewarding.
Matt61
Matt – I’m helping out a street musician in New Orleans, and I sent off my better pepper spray to him, figuring he’s more likely to need it than I am. I’m left with one that’s big, but dribbles the good stuff on my hand. Maybe I need to do some drills with it and decrease the amount that’s in there a bit so it won’t ooze out everywhere.
I believe the Sabre brand is the best, Big-5 sells it, although if I get the chance I should try striking up a conversation with a cop about the stuff, see if they actually us Sabre, if they know any mistakes to avoid etc.
Pepper spray martial arts sounds like an excellent idea. I can probably find some stuff about it on youtube.
Matt61,
My son didn’t dwell on it for too long. But understand that he grew up with his best friend, and his best friend was seriously hurt. For him, it was like a heavy loss, and that’s why it hurt so much. His best friend is fine now, but it was a fairly long recovery.
Victor
Matt61,
Crossing a border is all a matter of paperwork; get it right, and you’re fine. Get it wrong, and you’re in trouble. I did take my old FWB C-20 back and forth from the UK to the US. that little F-in-pentagon did the trick.
But let me take you back to early 1939. My Jewish father in law left southern Germany for Switzerland a few months before. He finally got an immigration visa to Sweden. Now the tricky part. He carried only a German passport, and that marked with a big J for Jewish. How do you get safely past the Gestapo and the customs folks? In 1939 it was a long flight for a nearly broke refugee, and would have meant a dogleg thru France. Pappi made the assumption that the Germans mainly cared about Papieren (papers), so he made sure that every paper was in order including the exit visa from Switzerland and the transit visa for Denmark.
He made it! Me, I would have gone to the French coast and taken a ship or ships. He told me that would have wasted too much time. He and his mother ultimately got out; his brother didn’t.
Pete,
my father in law has a similar story. They believe they were one of the last families to cross the German border into Belgium before Hitler closed the borders September 1, 1939, I believe? They crossed over the day before to board a ship from Antwerp to the US.
Fred DPRoNJ
I am glad you father in law was able to negotiate the path that brought him to a safer place.
I have pre-OP this morning. I am set to go under the knife next Monday morning. I am optimistic; the rest isn’t up to me.
Have a good one,
Ken
Watership Down is a pretty good story, there’s an animated version online that I thought was good.
The 300S is a delight to shoot but it certainly is a heavy weight. With a big scope on it, I wouldn’t even think about trying an off-hand shot. I’ve only shot mine at 28′ ranges but would love to know what it does at 150′. I guess I have to Chrony my rifle to see if it’s in the zone, so to speak.
Fred PRoNJ
Fred PRoNJ,
That heaviness is important for target shooting. The large stock helps the shooter position the gun for offhand shooting. Shooters usually either rest the stock on their closed fist, or they rest it on their open hand. The weight helps to stabilize motion. But understand that even this kind of rifle is MUCH lighter than a smallbore freestyle rifle, which can weight close to 18 lbs when equipped with counter weights for prone shooting. I found the 300S to be almost perfect for 10 meter offhand shooting (without a scope, of course).
Victor
I am curious if anyone has tried the H & N Barracuda Green and the Field Target Trophy Green in a 10 meter rifle. As light as they are, they may do well at “long” ranges if they are as well made as their lead brothers. HMMM… Perhaps there could be a blog in this.
Tom, I gotta thank you for doing these articles in general and these on the 300s in particular. Some really good insight on a subject very dear to my heart.
DanB,
There is more coming! Mac sent some photos of the details of some of the other 300S models that I haven’t shown yet. They will be in the next installment.
B.B.
BB, Just saw your article on the FWB300(110). I have a Mod.110. It is from the first pellet rifle match shot in competition in America. The match was in 1972, at a college competition. I believe it was the Walsh Invitational though it may have been the Kansas State Turkey Shoot in Manhattan, Kansas. I shot for Murray State University Rifle Team. The match was a 40 shot, standing match. The prize was the rifle being used. The match was sponsored by the National Rifle Association. The NRA was attempting to introduce pellet rifle competition, as they believed the 300M Free Rifle Olympic Competition was on the way out and NRA wanted a substitute ready to go. Ed Etzel of East Tenn State Univ had shot a 360 and everyone thought he had won it hands down. I shot a 361. Several others shot after me. Ed put up a lot of money challenging my score, and his score. To no avail. I won. I just thought you might like to know a bit of history. Now, 50 years later, a 361 would be marksman class score, not to win much of anything. But that day, a 361 x 400 won a fine rifle.
Roger,
You have a fine vintage target rifle! While the 110 is not recoilless, it is still made with the same precision manufacturing care that Feinwerkbau used with all their airguns.
Congratulations and welcome to the blog.
B.B.