History of the
FWB-300S
From research by Mike Driskill
1949:
FWB FOUNDED
The company name Feinwerkbau Westinger & Altenburger KG was registered in Oberndorf, Germany, in April 1949. "Feinwerkbau" is chosen as the trade name.
1961: "SLEDGE" ACTION PATENT
Development of the famous "ride the rails" recoil-compensation action started in 1959.
German patent number DE PS 1,140,489, covering its design in detail, was granted to
Karl Westinger, Ernst Altenburger, and Edwin Wohrstein in February 1961.
1963: MODELS 110 AND 150
FWB's first recoilless gun, the model 150, was released to the market in January 1963.
In addition to the ingenious and simple means for eliminating felt recoil, the gun has a
fixed barrel, side cocking lever, and sliding breech (no doubt influenced by the
Anschutz 220 of 1959). The excellent trigger, fine workmanship, easy cocking, careful
attention to fine design details, and efficient and durable action make an immediate
impact in the marketplace. Not to mention its astonishing accuracy, of course.
While the basic action is the same as later models, the 150 looks quite different. The
cocking lever is unlatched by a hinged handle at the end (rather like a car door) and is
quite long, the end of the latch being even with the point where the barrel enters its
mount block. The
stock looks more like what we'd associate with a deluxe sporter than
a match rifle today, with a long slim forend with rounded contours and a raked
checkered pistol grip, though with a vertically-adjustable buttplate. Available options
include a barrel
sleeve weight and a Tyrolean
stock.
In Germany, where target shooting is a national passion, the marketplace is much more
sensitive to small differences in price and features than we are here.
FWB therefore
simultaneously introduces a less expensive version of the gun, the model 110. This is
externally identical to the 150, but eliminates the recoil-compensating system. The
action is thus mounted directly to the
stock without internal rails, and the gun has slight
recoil. These are very rare today.
1969: MODELS 200 AND 300
Two revised models, the rare recoiling model 200 and recoilless model 300, replace the
110/150 in January 1969.
The barrel of these guns is 2 3/4 inches longer than the 150. The cocking geometry
was revised to reduce cocking effort, and the sidelever is shortened about 2 inches, so
that the "car door" latch ends at the rear of the barrel mount block. In response to more
refined competition from Anschutz and Diana, the trigger is revised for a finer action,
and now has four adjustments. The barrel
sleeve and Tyrolean
stock remain as the
most frequent optional features.
Early guns retain the model 150
stock, but this is soon revised. The new
stock has a
similar profile shape, but with more angular edges, and a more vertical pistol grip which
is stippled rather than checkered, and has a small plastic hand stop plate at the bottom.
1972: MODEL 300S
The perfected recoilless Feinwerkbau spring-piston rifle replaces the model 300 in
June 1972 (the cheaper recoiling version, never very popular, is dropped). In spite of
the similarity in names, this differences between the 300S and 300 are really greater
than those between the 300 and 150.
The barrel is once again shortened to about the same length as the 150. The sidelever
is again revised, shortened to about the front of the movable breech
sleeve, and the
complex "car door" latch is discarded in favor of a simple push-down release catch and
fixed handle. The trigger is again refined, the blade now able to be moved and pivoted.
The simple straight barrel
sleeve of the earlier models is replaced by one with a
"stepped" front end, available in different weights and usually epoxied in place.
The basic Match
stock is made much taller, especially the fore end which now comes to
the bottom of the trigger guard. A revised square guard fitting flush with the
stock is
thus fitted (though Tyrolean guns--discontinued in 1978 after this style of
stock is
disallowed in ISU matches--continue to use the previous trigger guard).
Remaining in production for almost 30 years, other basic versions of the gun eventually
appear. The Mini (called Junior in Europe) uses a shorter
stock, and shorter barrel with
no
sleeve, to create a gun more suited to smaller shooters. The Match L has a longer
fore end and higher cheekpiece, and is discontinued in 1984. The Universal, similar in
shape to the L but with an adjustable-height cheekpiece, is released in 1978. A special
version for Running Boar shooting (called the 300 LS or "Laufende Scheibe" in Europe)
has a greatly revised
stock and a different trigger assembly.
The basic 300S action is revised in detail over the years, with different front sights,
trigger blades, and minor internal refinements. All of the woodwork models receive
various revisions and sub-variants as well, creating enough differences to fill a small
book!
Postat: 12 okt 2008, 21:57
