Posted by mako on April 07, 2001 at 21:33:11:
The loaner Walther LP300
that I have comes with a 200 bar Gehmann type pump adapter and a 300 bar adapter
that looks similar but longer. The manual does not say how to go about getting
300 bar into the cylinder. My Gehmann pump only goes up to 250 bar.
I guess
I can use the 200 bar adapter and hand pump the cylinder to 250. [I have in fact
done this.] Is the 300 bar adapter for use with scuba tanks?
Posted by JimM on April 07, 2001 at 22:57:39:
Standard SCUBA tanks (the
ones I dive with anyway) are pressurized to 200 bar (about 3,000 psi). I'm told
that fire departments use higher pressures in their rescue tanks so maybe you
could try them. I've wondered why Walther went to the trouble of building 300
bar cylinders when there's so little infrastructure to support it.
How do
you like the LP300?
Posted by mako on April 07, 2001 at 23:27:18:
I suppose in Germany the
infrastructure is in place. I believe a lot of the clubs have their own
compressors. Walther claims the following:
the breakdown in Europe is
approx.: (as opposed to the breakdown one sees at large international
events.)
FWB 50%
Steyr 20%
Walther 20%
other brand like Morini,
Hämmerli, etc. 10%
These quantities can change extremely from area to area,
i.e. in the Ulm area where Walther is situated the percentage on Walther pistols
is nearly 90%.
There is no Russian air pistol on the German
market.
Starters are using air pistols which belong to the shooting club like
old FWB 65 or Walther CP2/CP3. But there are now also brand new pistols and
rifles in most of the clubs to educate youngsters.
LP300 - if it was a car it
would be a Mercedes. Very solid feeling. Seems heavy but it's weight is
supposedly 1018 gms., barely more then the 1000 gm Hammerli AP40 which feels
light!? Perhaps the LP300 feels heavy because of its extra sturdy 300 bar air
cylinder which makes it a bit front heavy. The LP300 is shooting at 530, the
AP40 at 470 fps. The LP300 has a very quiet, dead feeling when shot. Virtually
no vibration or recoil. It does incorporate a recoil absorber. The brochure's
drawing indicates a spring loaded cylinder behind the pellet loading ram. The
long breech opening lever is very smooth and light. Compared to the P34 and AP40
the loading area is large.
The grip is made out of the typical Walther
colored "plywood." The grip happens to fit me almost perfectly. The texture is a
bit too rough for me. The grip is mounted on a ball joint so you can very easily
and quickly change its position and then lock it down with one allen bolt coming
through the bottom. I don't know what happens when you want to take the grip off
- you'll certainly loose your grips position but as I've said, it's very easy to
set.
The trigger is crisp like the FWB P34 trigger, but not quite as
"hard" feeling.
Front sight is a triangle with three different widths: 4.2,
4.8 and 5.2 mm. Loosen one allen screw and rotate to which ever position you
want. Rear sight is adjustable in width but not depth.
Comes with only one
air cylinder, you can get a slightly lighter (by 40 gms) cylinder that does not
have the built in pressure gauge. Of course since you can pump these cylinders
to over 200 bar, you get more shots then with the usual 200 bar cylinders found
on most PC AP's. Comes with two 20 gm weights that can slide on a balance bar
below the air cylinder. You can remove the balance bar to remove a bit of
weight.
Unfortunately this Mercedes of AP's doesn't come with automatic 10's
... :-( Not sure of the price.
Posted by David M on April 08, 2001 at 07:11:54:
Be careful, the markings
on German pressure tanks are not fill or working pressures.
They are burst
pressures. I.e. a 300 bar marking has a safe working pressure of about 200-240
bar, do not attempt to fill to 300 bar.
You need a German translation of the
words on the markings, not just the numbers.
Posted by mako on April 08, 2001 at 11:11:39:
Walther is the one AP that
does fill to 300 bars. The tanks are extra heavy duty. Most AP air cylinders
weigh 7 oz. The Walther LP300 cylinder weighs 9 oz. I'm fluent in German, I've
read the manual, I've read the Visier articles, the pistol comes with 200 and 30
bar adapters...
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