Rovers delights Pardini K58

[stuart]

The cocking leaver on my FWB 100 snapped during a match so a friend loaned me his Pardini K58 to finish the competition. He wanted to sell the pistol so Iasked if I could continue to use it till my FWB was repaired and said I would buy if I liked it, he agreed.
From the first few shots I thought what a great pistol, the grip need just a little blue tack to build out the palm area. I have a Steyr LP2, a FAS 604, a Walther LP2 and the FWB 100 but the Pardini K58 is the best balanced pistol I have held at arms length. The trigger is better than any of the other pistols, very smooth and crisp. I am aged 70 and only after 50 or more shots did I begin to find cocking the pistol a chore, a lady or child might find it hard work but a reasonably fit man should not have a problem.
There are a few things I do not like, on the gun I have there is no dry fire mechanism, in the USA the importer modified some K58s before the were sold so this might not be a problem over there. You can adjust the width of the rear sight on modern pistols and even FWB early pistols but not on the K58, as light levels change I do like this feature.
My conclusion after 4weeks shooting 500 or so shots is it is a pistol that I will add to my collection and shoot regularly in postal comps. The Steyr LP2 can come out for the 60 shot should to shoulder matches but for 20 shot postal rounds once a week this will be ideal. If you a fortunate enough to find one buy it and try, if you don't like it you can sell on and not loose any money.

[Gwelo]

Reading comprehension fail! I'll go back to my Parcheesi match now. Carry on.

[DFWdude]

There are a few things I do not like, on the gun I have there is no dry fire mechanism, in the USA the importer modified some K58s before the were sold so this might not be a problem over there. You can adjust the width of the rear sight on modern pistols and even FWB early pistols but not on the K58, as light levels change I do like this feature.

As a former Pardini dealer (back in the Pardini-Fiocchi days), I can confirm that the K58 never had a dry fire feature, anywhere. The CO2s (K60, K90) had this feature but not the K58.

Rover will tell you that in exchange for the DF feature, with the K58, you get a cocking lever, instead...

[stuart]

Thank you for the information about the dry fire not being available in the USA, I was told it had been done but could not work out how it was possible. Another bit of miss information found on the internet and passed on I expect.

[stuart]

I just read the first reply again, no Rover did not sell this gun, I am in the UK and the price SSP pistols sell for in the USA are much higher than here. I called it Rovers delights because he loves SSP pistols so much, it is a passion I share, no air bottle, adaptors, cylinders, just pick up and shoot.

[j-team]

Can't you just open and close the loading gate (without pumping the lever) to dry fire?

[fc60]

Can't you just open and close the loading gate (without pumping the lever) to dry fire?


I just fired an Air Gun Match in West Seattle today. The shooter to my left allowed me to "dry fire" his K58 by opening the loading gate and closing it.

Nice piece of machining, by the way. Although much heavier than my Steyr-Mannlicher "scuba" gun.

Cheers,

Dave

Oh yes, my neighbor out scored me. We assumed I got a tank of "bad" air.

[stuart]

opening and closing the loading gate on my K58 does not set the trigger for dry firing, I thought it would as doing the same thing with the FWB100 sets the trigger and partially lifting the cocking handle on the FAS 604 allows dry firing.
But it is still the best SSP pistol I have shot, the shot cycle is so smooth, I have never shot an electronic trigger but I imagine it must be similar.

[john bickar]

Can't you just open and close the loading gate (without pumping the lever) to dry fire?


I just fired an Air Gun Match in West Seattle today. The shooter to my left allowed me to "dry fire" his K58 by opening the loading gate and closing it.

Nice piece of machining, by the way. Although much heavier than my Steyr-Mannlicher "scuba" gun.

Cheers,

Dave

Oh yes, my neighbor out scored me. We assumed I got a tank of "bad" air.

Dave,

Sounds like your gun is "shot out". Send it to me and I will dispose of it, free of charge.

I'm a giver.

[Rover]

GO TO THE LIGHT!!!

RE: Dry firing. I know that Don Nygord (Pardini distributor) used to install dry fire switches, but here's an old thread on the subject:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10351&hilit=k58+dry+fire

I always thought the Pardini was a tiny bit crude, but still the best designed AP out there.

Hard pumping? You don't say that about your teen girlfriend. Besides, your Doc told you to get more exercise.

[hundert]

I agree the force needed to pump is greater than feinwerkbau 100-103 and the build quality feels "raw", looks a bit like raw aluminum in certain places, but the balance, the factory grip and the trigger are very nice, especially the trigger is very smooth and scratch-free

[stuart]

Thank you Rover for the link about a dry fire modification to the K58.

The finish is a little crude compared to my FWB 100 and and more than a little compared to my Walther LP2 which is the best finished pistol I own, just not such an easy pistol to shoot as it has its point of balance and weight towards the grip, if your trigger release is anything but perfect the muzzle will move as lack of weight forward means there is no damping down of the movement. The FWB is much more weight forward and it feels heavy, this slows any slight movement. not enough to keep the shot in the 10 ring but enough to stop being totally embarrassed. The K58 has (for me) the balance just forward of the trigger and feels just right, in fact so right you don;t notice the balance of the pistol until you think about it.

I was saving to buy a Walther LPM1 when I was loaned the K58 and I had the chance to shoot it. Once I have saved enough cash again I expect I will start searching for a LPM1, the finish will be better I am sure, but if it has a better balance, trigger and grip I will be amazed but very happy.

[Rover]

Well, I DO like my LPM1. The trigger pull is fine, but the trigger itself is somewhat lacking. I had to take a file to it to make it suit me. Build quality....very nice.

I had a FWB 100 and it shot well....lots of power. I just felt it was somewhat on the large side.

[The Bear]

Oh yes, my neighbor out scored me. We assumed I got a tank of "bad" air.[/quote]


That must have been why my glasses were fogging up. ;-)

I bought the toy new from Mr. Nygord. I was talking to him about the Daisy 747 and how I liked shooting it. He talked to me about seriously looking at the K-58. It came with the cocking system to dry fire. I was sold after shooting it. I have had the cocking piece break on me once. I was able to fashion one from a piece of plastic from a 22 LR box. It worked great. I sent it in a few years back to get it resealed and the great folks at Pardini USA replaced the cocking piece. I really like the ability of traveling with it and not worrying about how I will get the cylinders filled. It would be nice to see them bring them back, I would be right in line after Rover to get mine.

[DFWdude]

I am curious to understand how this later K58 dry-fire mechanism works. Can someone post a picture?

As mentioned before, the Dry-fire feature on the K60 is a physical hammer block... In the picture below, there is a cylindrical steel part, on the RT side of the frame. Internally, part of the cylinder is milled away. In operation, the cylinder is rotated so that the milled portion is parallel with the Hammer cavity. This allows the hammer to complete its travel and fire the airgun. To dry-fire, the cylinder is rotated to block the full travel of the hammer, preventing it from firing the charge. Cock the pistol and set the hammer by raising the loading cover. In dryfire, you get the sensation of the hammer flying forward, although blocked before hitting the valve pin.

The K58 does not (from the factory on the early models) have this physical modification to the frame, including the rotary block. Thus, it can't physically mimic the forward flight of the hammer in dry-fire mode. Yes, I agree that opening the loading port cover cocks the pistol hammer back on both pistols in standard design. But with hammer cocked, I would like to understand how the hammer is stopped on the K58 in "dry-fire" mode.

[Rover]

I don't know the answer to your question (imagine that!), but the K60 and K58 switches were identical, as were many of their parts.

[DFWdude]

I don't know the answer to your question (imagine that!), but the K60 and K58 switches were identical, as were many of their parts.

Pictures don't lie... For the several years that I sold/serviced Pardini K60s and K58s (1987-1995) the frames were not identical as shown above. Nor were the "switches" identical, because the K60 was the only model with a visible dry-fire "switch."

Others have posted that the K58 dry-fire was an aftermarket modification, or a later model. I would simply like to learn how it was accomplished.

And if it became available on a later model (from the factory), what year did it first appear?

[hundert]

they look identical to my eyes

[DFWdude]

they look identical to my eyes

Look closely. The K58 does not have the rotary switch that the K60 has... (ie., the frames were NOT manufactured identically at the factory.)

[DFWdude]

By the way, those of you still shooting K58 or K60s, you may have found the weakest link in these pistols is to be able to find that specially-made, cream-colored seal for the bolt probe. Made only by Pardini, it is a bespoke part that is not only rare, but expensive. Worse, the last factory replacement I bought from a well-known US distributor was dry-rotted on delivery. I suspect these are long out of production.

Accordingly, I have discovered an alternative solution. You can replace the factory seal altogether, with a pair of 1.2mm x 3.5mm common o-rings. (Metric 1.2x3.5 BN70). They work great for either pistol...