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Air Guns FWB 600 single stroke pneumatic target rifle: Part 6

FWB 600 single stroke pneumatic target rifle: Part 6

FWB 600
The FWB 600 10-meter target rifle.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

History of airguns

This report covers:

  • Recap
  • The deal
  • Research
  • Assembly
  • Does it work?
  • Sight-in
  • Old fake FWB sight
  • Oh, no!
  • Nope!
  • NO BB!
  • Plan

It has been quite a journey, but I believe I have finally gotten the genuine FWB rear target sight mounted correctly on the FWB 600 single stroke pneumatic target rifle.  Let’s see where we have been.

Recap

While sighting in for the accuracy test I discovered in Part 3 that the front sight that came with the rifle wasn’t correct. So I swapped it for a lower one with Scott Pilkington from whom I bought the rifle. But that didn’t fix things. The new lower front sight lowered the impact of the pellet too low, so I installed a BKL sight riser under the rear sight. That raised the rear sight too high to hit the center of the bullseye.

FWB 600 rear sight riser
The BKL sight riser put the pellet impact too high at 10 meters to hit the center of the bullseye.

Then I removed the rear sight that came with the rifle and installed the rear sight from an AirForce Edge. Because that sight has a huge amount of up and down adjustability I was finally able to get the rifle hitting the center of the bull. HOWEVER — my Edge rear sight belongs on my Edge! It’s a far better rear target sight than anything I have seen from FWB, Anschütz or Walther. I just wish AirForce would make another run of them, I’d buy another one, simply because they are so flexible.

The bottom line is — I wanted to get my FWB rear sight working as it should. HOWEVER — that was when I discovered that what I got with the rifle isn’t even a real FWB rear sight. It’s a good copy, but it didn’t come out of Oberndorf. So I bought a real used FWB rear sight to mount on the 600. HOWEVER — that one also shot too low, and with the BKL riser it shot too high. What’s a fellah to do?

The deal

While all this was happening I was shooting lots of groups. That’s when I discovered that this FWB 600 may possibly be the most accurate 10-meter target rifle BB has ever fired. I was getting groups so small that I actually had to use a new comparison coin for groups smaller than one-tenth inch!

RAW HM-1000 coins
These are my 4 comparison coins. The dime on the left is 17.91 mm. The silver three-cent piece (trime) next to it is 14 mm in diameter. The gold dollar is 13 mm and the silver Chuckram on the right is 5.34 mm on the short side and 5.81 mm on the long side.  The Chuckram is for groups smaller than 0.10-inches. The gold dollar is for groups smaller than 0.15-inches. The trime is for groups smaller than 0.20-inches and the dime is for everything else.

Research

At this point I did a lot of research and discovered something. Most FWB 600 do not have their original rear sight mounted. Of those that do a fair number of them have a low riser mounted underneath. Was there an FWB rear sight riser that was significantly lower than the BKL riser? Indeed there was! I bought one.

FWB riser
The FWB riser on the left and the BKL on the right. The FWB is obviously lower. Sorry for the blurryness. I used a tripod, but I was still out of focus.

Assembly

As Roseanne Roseannadanna on Saturday Night Live often said, “It’s always something.” The FWB sight’s dovetails were slightly smaller than the dovetails on the riser and they didn’t fit. Well — nothing was stopping old BB at this point! Out came the Dremel tool and I got to work.

FWB riser modification
I just touched the grinding wheel to the two sides of the riser dovetail to make an approach the FWB rear sight base could follow.

That done, the FWB sight went on firmly. I put it all the way onto the base, which it fits with a little room on the base left over.

FWB sight with riser
The FWB sight is mounted on the FWB riser.

Hunting Guide

Does it work?

So the question is — does this new riser make it possible to use the genuine FWB rear sight? This won’t be an accuracy test, just a sight-in and one group to see that we’re okay. Oh, boy do I hope we are okay!

Sight-in

I shot from a rest at 10 meters. I aimed at the center bull of a 5-bull target. I used Qiang Yuan Training pellets because this rifle shoots them well. Shot one hit near the top of the paper. I dialed the rear sight way down. Shot two landed an inch below that. I dialed the rear sight as low as it would go. Shot three hit the bullseye about a half inch above the center.

Old fake FWB sight

In frustration I mounted the old fake FWB rear sight in the hopes that I had somehow made a mistake about it. It was not on the new riser. Shot one hit a couple inches below the bull. I cranked the elevation halfway up. Shot two hit an inch higher. I cranked the rear sight up as high as it would go. Shot three hit next to the bullseye about a half inch too low. I adjusted in for left adjustment and the next shot went a little higher and to the left.

Oh, no!

I have spent more time and money and the 600 still won’t work with the sights — even with the new riser. Wait a minute, the riser came as a set — with a short riser for the front sight. Could THAT be the solution?

FWB front sight with riser
Yes the set from FWB also came with a front sight riser.

FWB front sight with riser installed
Front sight with riser installed.

The first person to comment that with the riser the front sight now looks like the other front sight that I swapped with Scott Pilkington gets banned from this blog for eternity plus a day! On the other hand, being the rodeo clown that he is, BB sure hoped that this was the answer!

Nope!

First shot hit the target about four inches low. With all the elevation cranked in it is still a half-inch too low.

FWB target
The sight-in target. Every one of those pellet holes is described in the text.

NO BB!

Say it ain’t so, BB. Tell us there’s a happy ending.

Sorry folks. Sometimes the bear eats you!

Plan

I will reinstall the Edge rear sight and sight it in. Then I will be able to shoot  the FWB 600 against the FWB 300S, which has been my goal all along. Maybe someday the sun will shine on BB but not today. Today there is no joy in Mudville; mighty BB has struck out!

author avatar
Tom Gaylord (B.B. Pelletier)
Tom Gaylord, also known as B.B. Pelletier, provides expert insights to airgunners all over the world on behalf of Pyramyd AIR. He has earned the title The Godfather of Airguns™ for his contributions to the industry, spending many years with AirForce Airguns and starting magazines dedicated to the sport such as Airgun Illustrated.

30 thoughts on “FWB 600 single stroke pneumatic target rifle: Part 6”

  1. Just so I understand, this is a ten meter target rifle that everyone takes the correct sights off and chucks them down a well before reselling? Does anyone have the correct sights to loan to B.B. for his test?!

  2. Woo- Ray and Boy Howdy . . . am I pumped, as my new Air Venturi Seneca Dragonfly in .22 cal. is on the truck for delivery today. I have waited for seemingly a long time for this new rifle, so tell me again BB, that my waiting hasn’t been in vain. I’m eager to hear from others what they find, and from you BB, what optics might be best in your next blog. I’ll wait, Sir for that Blog installment, but I’ll thank you now. Orvil Hazelton.

  3. BB,

    Reading today’s blog make me suffer in compassion. Sometimes it is like this, Germans have this sentence for this: “life is not a pony farm”.
    Nevertheless I’m glad you are not giving up! Please bring this long awaited comparison to the ultimate end. I really can’t wait for it. Let the power and patience be with you!

  4. Could this be the problem.

    BB you remember how many times you say you don’t sight in for the bullseye because you don’t want to shoot out your aim point.

    Maybe one of them sight match ups intentionally hit high. So basically the smart 10 meter competitor that wins all the time has the gun sighted like a 6 o’clock hold. That way that person always has true aim point every shot.

    You know what I’m saying.

    • GF1,

      These things do not work that way. You should know that. You replace the front sight until you find one that surrounds the round black section and leaves a very thin white ring and you adjust to hit center.

      • RR
        Who really knows? But it sure seems like BB has gone through alot of trouble and getting you know where.

        I guess we will have to wait and see if he comes up with the right combination.

  5. BB,

    I must have been very fortunate when I bought my FWB601 as everything was correct.

    Just so everybody knows how well these SSP FWBs shoot, in I believe 2000, a young lady from Cuba won the Pan Am Games with a FWB601. Everybody has gone to the PCP because it is less effort to fire them, not because they shoot better.

  6. Feel your pain and frustration; still wrestling with that Tru-Glo front sight installed on the HW95; after yesterday’s sighting/shooting session and accounting for FM’s mediocre shooting skills, results were still too erratic so, back to the original front sight it is. After all, Weihrauch designed it for that rifle and it works.

  7. This probably doesn’t help but I got out my steel rule and did some measuring on the rear sight it is approximately 22mm (+/-) from the top of the dovetail to the center of the sight. On the front site it is approximately 18mm (+/-) from the top of the dovetail to the center. So the rear sight is setting quite a bit higher than the front. (Note the rear sight sits on top of the receiver and the front sight is attached to the barrel shroud increasing the distance even more that the 3mm difference.) My rear sight on my 601 and my C60 do not look like the rear sight in the photos above. The rear sight is shorter and has a much thicker base. Assuming the bore centerline is the same and the barrel is straight I think you probably need another 3-5mm of height on the rear sight to get it on target and have some adjustment left.

  8. BB

    I’m thinking some custom made firearm barrels 100 years old and more could compete with anything made now. For air rifle barrels those made beginning in the 1960’s-1970’s by Germany’s best for 10 meter competition could still compete today except for both time and stamina issues. Also one barrel may be better than the next. The upcoming match between your two Feinwerkbaus from different eras is something I am excited about.

    Deck

  9. BB
    Hate to laugh but it looks like you have ben successful at creating a mountain out of a molehill.
    On the lighter side I just found a company that sells 3D T shirts, among other clothes, that promote ‘Toxic masculinity” through manly statements.
    One suggests that the hard right join in on being politically correct and demand that from now on AR-15’s, and all other guns for that mater, that are called assault rifles be referred to as ‘Cordless Hole Punchers” from now on!
    There is one I thought fit me … However it sounds like something our current president would say. Might restore your confidence in yourself after trying to fix those sights. 🙂

    that’s what I do
    I FIX STUFF
    and I know things

  10. In my opinion, single stroke pneumatic target rifles can make excellent plinkers.

    Pick a powerplant similar to this one and mesh it with a stock like HW30’s and sights like HW30’s as well – you will have a great backyard or indoor plinking fun.

    Power is tad bit weaker than HW30’s, perfect for plinking purposes. One stroke, and you’re there; as a plinker, I would take it over a 397 any day.

    • I mean take the old 853 for example. Give it a crisp 2 stage trigger, replace the sights with something similar to the stock HW30 sights, and make the stock adult size. The stock can even be synthetic to cut the costs. She would be an excellent .177 plinker.

  11. Blog was unclear to me– did you try the “fake” FWB sight with the new thin riser block?

    I’d try the set of Crosman sights as well.

    There is an adjustable height riser base set from Centra. Champion’s Choice has it in stock.
    http://champchoice.com/store/Main.aspx?p=ItemDetailOptions&item=19915901

    I recall reading something about the sights when this rifle first appeared. I’ll see if I can go through the old Beeman literature and find anything.

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