TargetTalk

Matter resolved

Go back to the early 1970s. About the only two air rifles you heard about were the Anschutz LG250 and Feinwerkbau 300, later the 300S. At that point in time the stocks were clearly wood and the dimensions of the air rifle were modeled after what was know as the "standard rifle".

The the old Anschutz 1407 was the quintessential "standard rifle", modestly deep forend, fixed cheekpiece and a buttplate that would only travel up and down, and then only a limited distance. Weight was set to less than 11 pounds. Air Rifles followed the same dimension and weight rules as the "standard rifle".

The forend of the LG250 and FWB 300 were by today's standards, shallow, the "universal" (read fixed) cheekpiece height was low. The sights were similar to today's sights but adjustments were more coarse. The sights had no dust covers on them, so you just saw the frame of the sight, giving them a dated appearance. If riser blocks existed nobody used them.

Both the examples I am siting were "springers". Meaning that as you squeezed the trigger, eventually a large piston driven by a spring would be released to compress the air driving the pellet. The LG250 had a hydraulic damper while for the FWB 300 the entire barreled action would slide back on pins to absorb the recoil of the piston.

Yes, the 10 dot was larger, I am not sure about the other scoring rings.

Legend has it that it was the performance of the Walther LGR (the first single stroke pnuematic) that ushered in the reduction in ten dot size. The difference between the Walther LGR and the FWB 300 was remarkable as comparitively when you fired the LGR you did not feel anything, just heard a sound. Of course I suspect if I was to fire a Walther LGR from the late 1970s and a Walther LG300 from now I expect I would consider the LGR to be coarse and unrefined.

That is your quick rundown. Perhaps someone else can add this thread. Sorry, no pictures but if you poke about on the web I expect you can find some examples.

'Dude

Yes, the 10 dot was larger, I am not sure about the other scoring rings.

'Dude[/quote]


How much larger (anything like the current Gamo targets with a white inner ring)? Also, what was the standard of clothing back then? I just bought a 300s 2 weeks ago and I'd like to know "the way it was" back in the day when it would have been in competition. Thanks.

The 10 dot, now 1/2mm, was 1 mm. Not sure if the other rings were proportionately larger.

I don't think the other rings changed, just the ten dot we were concerned with! Clothing-wise, the jacket was standard leather with a light canvas lining, with three buttons. Later (late 70's?) changed to 5 buttons. Wore 1 or 2 sweatshirts underneath. Shoes, pants, & gloves were rather similar to today. I got my LGR in 1979 and used it for a dozen years, including the '84 Olympic Tryouts at Chino (Los Angeles) California. Bought my first pair of boots right there at Neal Steppe's ISS trailer. Good memories of those times. Coach Paula, Wheaton Club.

http://www.google.com/images?q=rws+75&o ... v&ei=OMkOT

http://www.google.com/images?q=Anschutz ... e=univ&ei=

http://www.google.com/images?q=fwb+300& ... iv&ei=o8kO

http://www.google.com/images?q=walther+ ... _group&ct=

The target was the same size other than the ten which was 1 mm as against the current 0.5 mm. The world record was 393 ex 400 held by the present president of the ISSF Vasquez Rana. My wife was GB ladies national squad air rifle in the late 70's early 80's with a PB of 385. She initialy used an original 75 and later a Walther LGR Junior which she still has.
After a 25 year break and now at 60 she has restarted as a retirement pastime and initially used her old LGR but has now changed to an LG300 XT Junior and has all the modern kit. She finds the LG300 easier to use but her scores are not significantly higher. She found the biggest advantage was the reduction in physical effort and the use of a stand to load and rest.
Yes, the new rifles are better, but having crossed both era's we think the majority of the reasoning behind the higher scores nowadays are down to a little by better clothing, but mostly modern techniques and coaching and the gains made by using Scatts for analysis. I would like to see a current olympic level shooter shoot with his current techniques and equipment but with a 70's rifle such as a FWB 300 or Walther LGR, I doubt with a little practice there would be much of a drop in score?
Good shooting
Robin

The rifes used were just as the picture on 10P files in Coaching and Info on this site.
Good Shooting
Robin