SSP air pistols

[Gerard]

Working on the internals of a 46m can be challenging by comparison. Durability of the piston seal is a problem, as the synthetic they've used seems to stiffen over two or three years, resulting in more and more velocity loss. Mine dropped from around 470fps with 7gr pellets to about 435fps over 2 years. Replacing the seal with a new one from Baikal Canada brought it up to 470fps again, but only for a year or so, then it started falling off again very gradually. This is while observing a faithful regimen of lightly oiling the seal with silicone oil, about two drops after every tin of pellets fired. The resulting POI downward shift is subtle, but needs correction eventually. Not a huge deal, but I'd really like to see a more durably elastic urethane seal from a third party supplier. I've tried to make one myself, but chose too hard a urethane at 95durometer hardness for its machinability. I'll try again sometime with 90durometer rod and sharper tooling on the lathe if I can manage that (thought the cutter was sharp enough but apparently not, urethane's a bit tricky to machine).

The 46m trigger is very nice as supplied, and is easily adjustable for a variety of preferences. I didn't like the blade, so replaced it with a wider one, which I made at a stronger cant so that it met my finger perpendicularly. Also made a custom grip from scratch as modifying the stock grip to fit my hand properly would have meant almost doubling its size with putty, resulting in something rather ugly. I also increased the cant by several degrees to improve wrist lock-up as the stock angle is rather too upright for a repeatable hold. Here's a visual comparison between a stock 46m and mine post-modifications:



The weight was indeed a problem for me. My forearm suffered after shooting more than 150 shots in succession. For short sessions it actually helped in steadying the pistol, but the fatigue was too significant so I machined the cylinder wall thinner, removed half the front sight block weight, removed the self-cocking assist mechanism, shortened the cocking arm, and made a handful of less obvious changes/reductions to bring the total weight down to about 1052grams, just 57grams heavier than the Pardini K12 with a similar custom made maple grip which I moved to much later.

There is nothing to complain about with the 46m's sights, as far as I'm concerned. The thing came with fore and aft blade options, which were easy enough to swap out and determine which combination worked better for my eye.

[Azmodan]

that's very nice but that level of modification is out of the question for me (not only i lack the skill and tools, but modifying a gun in any way is illegal here).
what i;m trying to determine is if i should risk buying a 20 year old FWB 100 in an unknown state from some guy in germany on eGun.de (without seeing it in person and test it, with all the risks of "buying stuff from the internet") versus buying a brand new baikal 46m from an online shop.
the price would be almost equal (~450 euros)

[Gerard]

Well if you're forbidden to modify an air pistol in any way, then it would seem an obvious choice; buy the new Baikal. A 20 year old SSP is very, very likely to need new seals at a minimum, and may need some polishing of sealing surfaces depending on how it was maintained. If such repairs/maintenance are considered modifications by your authorities then, well, I don't know how you would even use an airgun, as they do always require maintenance.

[Azmodan]

Well if you're forbidden to modify an air pistol in any way, then it would seem an obvious choice; buy the new Baikal. A 20 year old SSP is very, very likely to need new seals at a minimum, and may need some polishing of sealing surfaces depending on how it was maintained. If such repairs/maintenance are considered modifications by your authorities then, well, I don't know how you would even use an airgun, as they do always require maintenance.

maintenance for cleaning is allowed. so seals replacement could be done.
just not modifications to the "essential parts": barrel, trigger, action.

[Gerard]

I see. Silly bureaucrats making silly rules. As if a lighter weight airgun constitutes a greater danger to society. How tragically silly. Well, good luck in making your decision. If it were me, and if the FWB were as good a bargain as the Baikal, I'd probably go with the FWB simply because it is a much more refined, well-made pistol in almost every respect. Accuracy is probably slightly superior but only slightly, barely measurable, as the Russian hammer-forged barrels are really very good. But I'd choose the FWB because I have machining experience, a small lathe, and can replicate almost any part if one breaks, or modify parts appropriately. If one is following a silly law in such regards then the Baikal becomes the obvious choice, as at least it will run well for a few years without any modifications. Even if it is too heavy. If memory serves, the stock weight is about 1,165grams. Been a long while though so don't take my word for that.