So , for a long time now I have been wanting another Tracker ... it was a rifle I had as a kid and loved it more than my Diana 34s Carbine and HW85k ... over the past couple of years I have watched them come up for sale in various places and watched them go ! I've never seen one for sale that really took my eye ... I was hoping for a completely original rifle in mint condition and firing at full power on an unopened mechanism ... I quickly realised that it didn't exist ! Combined with features I've read on various forums , namely about how even with full strips and brand new internals , Trackers today , still struggle to reach 8.5 ft/lbs , I was put off ! ... I do own several PCP rifles and a TX200HC (which have all been excellent) ... Firing modern PCP's and the TX200 also showed me clearly that my original Tracker was never shooting anywhere near full power and I bought that one brand new ! So , to be honest , I gave up looking !
Last week , I was trawling Gunstar and came across a Tracker for sale ... it was bloody miles away and the advert was rather vague , but I had a feeling ... I used common sense and ignored the feeling , but it would not go away ! ... Then another Tracker came up for sale which also looked very nice (like busses ..,. 2 at once !) but did require a mainspring (and was even further away and more expensive!)
After a poor night's sleep , and the missus saying "What on earth do you need another gun for ?" I decided to call the seller to see if he would offer some petrol money towards it ... he agreed , but only if I bought the rifle or if his description was inaccurate ... it wouldn't be , because his description was vague and he'd only marked it as "good condition for age" ... so I knew I was coming home with it no matter what !
I fuelled up on Saturday morning , made a sandwich and set off in the missus's awful diesel Punto (with no radio I might add!) for the 300 mile round trip ! ... I soon hit the massive roadworks on the motorway and for a second , did think to myself "What on earth am I doing ?" and did consider turning back and going back to bed ! , however , I pushed on and after several hours , arrived at the gentleman's house ...
Was a nice big house in a posh area (not that I'm a toff (was brought up on an Ancoats Estate!)) , but it is always a good sign over rusty bikes in the front garden ! The rifle was sitting on his dining room table and I was gob-smacked ! We have a saying in our little fraternity , it's called a "Beetroot McKinnley" (anyone very familiar with the Twins movie will understand!) we use it in the car trade ... essentially it means ... "get your money out and leave with the product as fast as you can before he changes his mind , or more likely , if you stay and chat then your own over-enthusiasm will actually encourage the seller to re-negotiate his price!"
The rifle was in mint condition , unmarked stock , beautiful deep blueing , a cracking gun slip (looks like something Lee Van Cleef would have in a Sergio Leonne Cowboy Movie !) and a very strange looking scope that looked like a Russian Firearms item ! The guy bought the rifle in the summer of 1988 and shot half a tin of Scalemead Hustler pellets (of which the other half were included in the sale) , he then put the rifle in the attic where it has been ever since ! (24 years) The only reason for it's sale was because his Nephew was just taking up airgunning and he brought it down from the attic for him ... his nephew laughed at him and said "no chance , Uncle ... I want a KT100!" After buying his nephew the said Weihrauch , the boy's father suggested that he put the Tracker on Gunstar to off-set some of the difference ... hence my good luck !
The drive home was far better than the trip there ! ... I had a grin on my face all the way home ! Probably as much from the mint find as the excellent memories that just holding the Tracker for a few seconds had brought back ! I was under no illusion though ! I knew what was coming , the rifle had not been used for 24 years (by the seller's own admittance) so would be happy if she fired at all !
I got home and contemplated for a minute or two that I should probably get her "re-commissioned" before shooting her , but the weather was nice and I have a huge back garden with lots of trees at the bottom (1/2 acre) so I took her out ...
As soon as I cocked her , I knew immediately that it was just too good to be true ... no rust , spring still factory greased , gun oil protruding from the mechanism bolts ... Wow ! Loaded her and got ready to fire the first shot (now I prepared myself because my original Tracker used to kick like a shotgun but fire like an airsoft ! ... I pulled the trigger and ... sMOOOOTH ... there was slightly more recoil than my TX200 (and I do mean slightly!) , the pellet flew straight through the bean can at 35 yards and then proceeded to slam through the waney-lap fencing at 50 yards ! I was truly Flabbergasted ! I set up my proper targets at 35 yards and proceeded to shoot a 10p sized hole with ten shots ! Wow! ... I'd not even touched the scope for alignment ... amazing !
I then proceeded to potter around the garden all afternoon , shooting over 150 pellets with pin-point accuracy and again partly the nostalgia of it and partly because , it is so easy to cock and load ... my how I had forgotten ! I can honestly say that I had more fun in that one afternoon of plinking than I have had in 10 years of PCP's ! In fact , as it all came back to me like a flood , the Tracker shoots far far faster than my single shot PCP's ! ABSOLOUTELY AMAZING !
I took her in for a clean and an oil ... the pellet trap is like brand new ... very very stiff and is so air-tight that after cocking her , when you open the trap you can hear the hiss of released air ! The Webley butt pad and pistol cap are also in brand new condition as is the original muzzle weight . I was just about to take the action out of the stock for a good cleaning when it became apparent to me that the screws had NEVER been touched ... so I left her as is !
Never have I been so happy with a second hand rifle purchase in all my life ... I still can't get over my good luck even now !
To sweeten the deal , the rifle slip is absolutely awesome ! I would very much like some info on it if anyone knows anything ? It is made of a synthetic vinyl type material with a cloth inside ... it has been triple stitched (with over-lock) to the quality of a Prada Handbag ! I work with fabrics every day and know for a fact that these materials need expert seamstresses and super heavy duty needles and by hand to make them , not to mention that it is a custom fit to the Tracker , it again , is in absoloutely brand new condition , including the sling ... Wow !
Also , the scope ! ... Wow ! It has no markings but is a very strange shape with only a small objective lense and no magnification ... but it has super build quality with a shiny finish (i'd guess that it had been powder coated and lacquered , but I'm not sure these processes were available in the late '80's ) It looks far more like a firearms scope than an airgun scope ... I assumed , when I bought it that it was just a cheapie , but now I'm not so sure ... the build quality is excellent and the clarity of the optics and the field of view is easily that of a Whitetailclassic or a Hawke Panorama ... I would be VERY interested if anyone has any info on this scope ...
I've just shot her through the chronograph with the Hustlers and it's shooting at 10.8 ft'lbs ... I'm more than happy with that so won't be altering it (didn't like the modern expensive pellets at all !~)
OVERJOYED is an understatement ! Please let me know if you have an info on the scope or bag as it will be much appreciated
Will post some pics shortly
tHANKS jjojames
Subject: New Webley Tracker 
Sun May 19, 2013 7:44 am
