I'm trying to get past my bias of springers and I've been offered an HW 35 in .177 for $150 and need some info. It has the walnut export stock, and as I recall is stamped on the left side of the breech block with HW35 (no E or E/B), Weihrauch, made in Germany, and .177.
The right side is very lightly stamped (barely readable) with Beeman's San Rafael CA stamp. Serial # is on the bottom of the barrel and in the 700,000's. The stock finish is pretty good but does have some dings and scratches consistent with field use.
The metal finish is dark and pretty much all there but does have some very light surface rust but no apparent pitting or light spots under it. I've found plenty of general info such as length of production, muzzle energy and velocity, model variations, etc.. However nothing about determining age or current used values, so I'm looking for is approximate age and whether it's worth the asking price in it's current condition.
If the walnut stock is in relatively decent shape it could be worth that much by itself, if not a bit more depending on the grain pattern it has. Not really sure about the overall value but I can tell you that I paid right at $300 for my second hand HW35K with the standard beech stock and feel like I got a good deal on it. FWIW, if I came across a walnut 35 for that kind of price I'd probably grab it. But then I like springers so...
As far as dating it, here are a couple of links that might help with that.
You can put the serial number into this link and it will give you the approximate date of manufacture.
http://www.weihrauch-database.eu/dywp
Or you can scroll thru this list until you find serial numbers on either side of the one you have to get the approximate date.
I'm with Jim. I'd buy just about ANY HW35 for $150. This goes back probably 10 years or so, but I bought a rusty/crusty HW35 for around $100 at an airgun show. I refinished the stock, and discovered beautifully grained walnut underneath years of crud. I had the action professionally bead blasted and re-blued at a local gun manufacturer (Shaw Precision Guns) for less than $100. Maccari provided a spring and seals for around $50. I sold the rifle at Roanoke for over $400.
Thanks guys, I'll likely go ahead and pick it up tomorrow. Based on your links it looks like it's around a 1980 or so. The stock has a nice grain pattern and IMO isn't bad enough to need refinishing, all of my guns are outdoor shooters and most of them have a flaw or two. I think the surface rust will clean up fine also.
I may be opening a can o' worms here, but I would buy that gun and, if it has a leather piston seal, immediately convert it to synthetic. I have a 1978 HW 35 that had a leather seal that turned to garbage inside my gun. A lot of guys love leather seals and seem to be able to nurse them through existence for a long time. I am not one of them guys! My gun sat for years and one day (a long time ago now) I took it out and chronographed it at something like 600 fps. I bought a conversion kit and new spring and my gun immediately shot lightweight Beeman pellets at 818 fps.
Now, I read some discussion about leather seal guns having 4 mm transfer ports and synthetic seal guns having 3 mm transfer ports and the need to sleeve the larger port down when doing the conversion. My gun seems to shoot fine like it is. It's tired now and I don't know what it chrono's at, but the shot cycle has always felt about like my other Beemans so I don't know what, if anything, that says about needing to sleeve the transfer port. Good luck.
