TargetTalk

A while back a friend asked me if I'd be able to check out his Mom's old FWB 65. He'd like to get it up and running again, and do some shooting in her memory. It had all kinds of issues, starting with a broken (had been repaired once before - poorly) safety catch, the one that ensures that the chamber has to be sealed before firing the pistol. It needed all new seals we ordered the requisite parts, including new springs, seals and the latch to replace the broken one. I got it back together, pulled the lever all the way back, and it stays there, all the way back. I've double checked my work and it SEEMS like I got everything in place - but obviously I did not. What am I missing/overlooking? I'll take a picture or two and tack it on to this thread in a few minutes. Thanks for any tips on what to look for.

Oh. And before you tell me to take it to a smith, I'm as close to an airgun smith as there is around here. Scary thought, that...

Here's what it looks like...

The top slide needs to move forward on the frame whilst cocking to release the
detent lever (1600.1431) that allows the fully cocked lever to re-close.
I think you need to have the lower frame attached to release this lever. It can be done
manually but only if it is fully cocked and you move the right arm to release the
loading arm. Be warned if you get it wrong the spring may release with possible damage
to both pistol and your hands.

Thank you, sir. In other words, I should reassemble the pistol, completely. THEN cock it? I was attempting to make sure everything was in order prior to "buttoning it up", with the result as shown. Disassembling with it cocked is tricky, not safe, but can be done if one pays attention to what one is doing. Thanks for the feedback.

AmBraCol wrote:Thank you, sir. In other words, I should reassemble the pistol, completely. THEN cock it? I was attempting to make sure everything was in order prior to "buttoning it up", with the result as shown. Disassembling with it cocked is tricky, not safe, but can be done if one pays attention to what one is doing. Thanks for the feedback.

There is no need to reassemble the lower frame of the pistol to disengage the cocking lever. Did you try pushing the tab (part nº 1600.1431, detent lever) forward with a flat head screw driver and at the same time closing the cocking lever? If you had already assembled the pistol with the mainspring and the lever cannot be closed, DO NOT try to disassemble the gun, it is VERY dangerous and you can ruin the threads on the shoulder screw.

When you say new springs do you mean all new springs including mainspring or just trigger group springs? If you replaced the mainspring then I would suspect that the mainspring is a touch too long, this results in all available space behind the piston being filled by the compressed spring before correct compression has been achieved. You will only need to grind a fraction of a millimeter off the spring to resolve the issue. Hope this helps.

AmBraCol, did you finally manage to disengage the cocking arm? Tell us if you could fix your pistol.

Almost a year later, and finally the pistol is up and running. It's been a busy time 'round here so the FWB 65 got put on the backburner.

OK. Here's how things went.

Last year I got the pistol assembled and it wouldn't engage the sear. Advice was to polish the ends of the spring down so that was the first thing done when I tore into it again. Disassemble, polish spring both ends, reassemble. Still no sear engagement. Disassemble, check everything over, look at parts diagram once more. Aha! Some idiot (not sure if it was whoever messed with it before or if it was yours truly) lost the e clip (part number) 1600.179.1 ... field expedient fix was to take a piece of the E string off a guitar bend it into a circle, trim then press that on in place of the e clip. Voilá! We've got function! The pistol is now assembled and functional, but need to find an e clip to replace that piece of wire. Also, we're missing three or four of the 6.6799.004 e clips, those were definitely the other guy as they have pieces of wire holding them in (that's where I got the idea for the "fix" above). Any idea where those could be obtained without going back to FWB?

Thanks to all for the input on this item. Please forgive my tardy response. Your assistance in sorting it out is GREATLY appreciated! Now to move on to the 300S. Much simpler, I hope, as we're just doing a spring/seal swap.

Have you checked out this place for parts? http://www.waffencenter-gotha.de/shop/E ... :3336.html

Misny wrote:Have you checked out this place for parts? http://www.waffencenter-gotha.de/shop/E ... :3336.html

No, I hadn't seen that one yet. We'll see what my friend wants to do. Perhaps someone around here handles e clips, I'm not sure. $.60 euros is a bit steep for one clip, in my opinion. Not that I've actually shopped for them yet. :) Thanks for the link, I've got it bookmarked now.

AmBraCol wrote:Any idea where those could be obtained without going back to FWB?

Good to hear you got your 65 working again. You should ask your local hardware stores, auto parts, or those hobby shops that sell remote control cars to see if they have the e-clips you're looking for.

Not sure which clips you're looking for, but as I recall they are standard (albeit small) metric e-clips.

jky

I had the same problem but my detent lever was broken. This happens when the piston seal and buffer aren't changed in good time and the detent lever slams forward and hits the frame. By the way, Feinwerkbau no longer stocks this part, and a world-wide search has left me dry. Anyone have a used one? Or info about a new one? Part # 1600.1431

Did you try our host, Pilk? He used to be heavy into them.

Beeman's imported and repaired them back in the day. They may still have something.

I agree with Rover, try Pilkguns. My 65 was doing the same thing and I had white pieces of hard material (sealant?) breaking off and messing up the operation of it. Pilkington repaired my gun and it shoots reliably and accurately, probably better than new. I'm no airgun smith, but I tried and left out a step when I reassembled and mine acted just like OP's did. Watching YouTube videos don't always give all the steps to your repair, so be aware.
Stan