Disclaimer.-
The conversion done here was carried out by a professional gunsmith. No warranties implied, or otherwise, are intended in this article.
Do NOT attempt this conversion if you are not completely qualified to do so.
This conversion has NOT been sanctioned by Carl Walther or UMAREX
This conversion proved safe IN THE GUN that it was performed. We cannot guarantee that all other guns will receive the conversion in the same way.
Please do not ask for measurements or dimensions, Connecticut Custom Airguns cannot provide these data.
All designs and parts' shapes and dimensions are proprietary to CCA and Carl Walther brand as applicable.
The conversion done here was carried out by a professional gunsmith. No warranties implied, or otherwise, are intended in this article.
Do NOT attempt this conversion if you are not completely qualified to do so.
This conversion has NOT been sanctioned by Carl Walther or UMAREX
This conversion proved safe IN THE GUN that it was performed. We cannot guarantee that all other guns will receive the conversion in the same way.
Please do not ask for measurements or dimensions, Connecticut Custom Airguns cannot provide these data.
All designs and parts' shapes and dimensions are proprietary to CCA and Carl Walther brand as applicable.
Background:
In the course of history, it often happens that when an entity; be it a corporation, a person, or a country, is close to the end, the entity performs their best.
When talking about spring-piston airguns, a friend has accurately commented that they are either "breaking in" or "breaking down".
Some years ago (1993), the company Carl Walther GmBH was acquired by UMAREX., the condition however was that the "Olympic and Target Style" rifles would be kept in a separate division that would be independent and that the firearms division would not get into the airguns.
So, under the guidance of the "new management" at UMAREX, the sporting section of the company began the development of a new line of spring-piston airguns.
We have already commented on the LGV and the LGU in a number of our entries, so we will not go there. We are, also, not interested in the lower line of rifles that UMAREX brought to the market to compete on price (Terrus, Parrus, etc.).
What "piqued" our interest some years ago was the very "Last Hurrah!" of the German company.
A somewhat "simplified" version of the LGV, and the last of a line that started back in the 1960's.
And I am talking here of the Walther "Century Varmint"
A very rare rifle that, AFAIK, was not even offered for sale in the USA in any appreciable numbers.
I had to purchase it from Krale in the Netherlands:
In the course of history, it often happens that when an entity; be it a corporation, a person, or a country, is close to the end, the entity performs their best.
When talking about spring-piston airguns, a friend has accurately commented that they are either "breaking in" or "breaking down".
Some years ago (1993), the company Carl Walther GmBH was acquired by UMAREX., the condition however was that the "Olympic and Target Style" rifles would be kept in a separate division that would be independent and that the firearms division would not get into the airguns.
So, under the guidance of the "new management" at UMAREX, the sporting section of the company began the development of a new line of spring-piston airguns.
We have already commented on the LGV and the LGU in a number of our entries, so we will not go there. We are, also, not interested in the lower line of rifles that UMAREX brought to the market to compete on price (Terrus, Parrus, etc.).
What "piqued" our interest some years ago was the very "Last Hurrah!" of the German company.
A somewhat "simplified" version of the LGV, and the last of a line that started back in the 1960's.
And I am talking here of the Walther "Century Varmint"
A very rare rifle that, AFAIK, was not even offered for sale in the USA in any appreciable numbers.
I had to purchase it from Krale in the Netherlands:
Of course with shipping and banking charges, it came in at a bit more, but still, this price was something that realistically COULD have been paid by a good many precision interested shooters.
So, after some waiting, and a lot of tinkering, I ended up with this beastie:
So, after some waiting, and a lot of tinkering, I ended up with this beastie:
From the outside it pretty much resembles the LGV, similar outside contours; and the tell-tale unlocking lever in the breech-block (where the "V" comes from since the 60's) .
The stock also resembles the Varmint stock that was sold as an accessory for the LGU.
Now, mechanically speaking there are strong differences between the LG "family" and the Century Varmint.
I have taken the liberty to use an Exploded parts Diagram from the Bagnall and Kirkwood website, they offer some spare parts, so the link is always useful:
The stock also resembles the Varmint stock that was sold as an accessory for the LGU.
Now, mechanically speaking there are strong differences between the LG "family" and the Century Varmint.
I have taken the liberty to use an Exploded parts Diagram from the Bagnall and Kirkwood website, they offer some spare parts, so the link is always useful:
B&K were sent an EMail with a respectful request to use this diagram in this article. Good time was allowed for them to answer. Without an objection, it is used here in the spirit of "Fair use" and with full respect of their copyright.
The first thing you may notice is that this piston does NOT have a stem.
So, naturally, the trigger's sear is a sort of "ramp" that goes up and locks the piston at the skirt's edge. When the sear breaks, the ramp is pushed forwards by the piston's skirt and then it can fall down, freeing the piston that is pushed by the mainspring, to fly forward, completing the spring decompression fase of the cycle and compressing the air in the compression chamber.
In opposition to the LGV, this gun does NOT have an inserted "Sleeve" to form a compression chamber of smaller bore. This piston, the seal and the compression chamber are all 28 mm's, while the piston, ID of the compression chamber and seal of the LGV are 25 mm's
"Cognoscenti" among us will immediately say "that is no good!" And they would be right from the POV of shooters that are extremely happy with guns that deliver truly smooth power at 10-12 ft-lbs. and weigh (in practical FT garb, between 15 and 20 lbs.
BUT, this gun was not designed for those shooters.
This gun was designed to put out between 12 and 14 ft-lbs with good accuracy and medium weight at a low / median cost.
In reality it achieved all of these goals. It weighed less than the LGV because it did not use a sleeve. It delivered more "stable" power because the swept volume of a 28 mm piston can do better than a 25 mm's piston with the same pressure. And it cost substantially less than the LGV because the piston was simpler, the trigger housing smaller, the parts less complicated, and the rest of the parts were less sophisticated.
Those "Cognoscenti" shooters received with a cold shoulder the LGV and then the LGU, and some of them are now lamenting not having purchased one (of each) .
Inevitably, the conclusion for "Firma Walther" was that the market was not ready for high quality springers.
At any cost.
And, in a way, they were right, only recently have high quality spring-piston airguns achieved that price bracket, first the DIANA 54 and now the AA TX-200 US.
So, after a VERY short run (something in the LOW hundreds), the WHOLE of the Walther Spring-Piston rifles was removed from the roster.
So, WHY did this rifle failed to save the line?
The trigger.
I had always wondered why German airguns from the year 2K forwards, seemed to be designed by people that have NO IDEA of what shooting is all about.
Until I went to Germany.
With the "remodelling" of the whole country (as the "Berlin Wall" fell), a multitude of elder workers at all levels were displaced by younger persons with degrees and PC - CAD capabilities which seemed to be able to solve everything from the design phase. The solutions proposed made sense from the materials, production, and engineering sides. "Wunderbar!" ¿no?
Well, no. A lot of those solutions made no sense once analyzed from the shooters/tinkerers/gunsmiths POV's
And this is the perfect example. If you look at part 601.200.08.1 you see a "well designed trigger blade"
Except that it is made of plastic. Not only plastic, it is "structural" plastic, meaning it is not even solid.
AND, if a lot of shooters protested and cried their hearts out when DIANA came out with the T01 plastic trigger blade that is stout, rigid, and, more importantly for us gunsmiths: Customizable....
This trigger blade is a joke.
The rest of the gun is a masterpiece. The barrel of the one I have is good, accurate and stable. The Muzzle piece, being threaded and not having a particular orientation, can be used as a Harmonics Tuner. The lock at the breech block is taken directly from the LGV, so it is quality.
Guide, spring, tophat, piston, seal, everything mechanical is truly an engineering achievement.
But that trigger!.....
Even the stock, yes they are ALL synthetic (ALL Century Varmint stocks I've seen are Synthetic, not to be confused with the Century LGV that is a different gun altogether, that has both, wood and synthetic stocks); they fit well, are truly ambidextrous, and make shooting comfy.
I did not resist the temptation and improved the stock somewhat, but we'll come to that later.
Let's look at the Shakespearean "Fatal Flaw" of this rifle.
So, naturally, the trigger's sear is a sort of "ramp" that goes up and locks the piston at the skirt's edge. When the sear breaks, the ramp is pushed forwards by the piston's skirt and then it can fall down, freeing the piston that is pushed by the mainspring, to fly forward, completing the spring decompression fase of the cycle and compressing the air in the compression chamber.
In opposition to the LGV, this gun does NOT have an inserted "Sleeve" to form a compression chamber of smaller bore. This piston, the seal and the compression chamber are all 28 mm's, while the piston, ID of the compression chamber and seal of the LGV are 25 mm's
"Cognoscenti" among us will immediately say "that is no good!" And they would be right from the POV of shooters that are extremely happy with guns that deliver truly smooth power at 10-12 ft-lbs. and weigh (in practical FT garb, between 15 and 20 lbs.
BUT, this gun was not designed for those shooters.
This gun was designed to put out between 12 and 14 ft-lbs with good accuracy and medium weight at a low / median cost.
In reality it achieved all of these goals. It weighed less than the LGV because it did not use a sleeve. It delivered more "stable" power because the swept volume of a 28 mm piston can do better than a 25 mm's piston with the same pressure. And it cost substantially less than the LGV because the piston was simpler, the trigger housing smaller, the parts less complicated, and the rest of the parts were less sophisticated.
Those "Cognoscenti" shooters received with a cold shoulder the LGV and then the LGU, and some of them are now lamenting not having purchased one (of each) .
Inevitably, the conclusion for "Firma Walther" was that the market was not ready for high quality springers.
At any cost.
And, in a way, they were right, only recently have high quality spring-piston airguns achieved that price bracket, first the DIANA 54 and now the AA TX-200 US.
So, after a VERY short run (something in the LOW hundreds), the WHOLE of the Walther Spring-Piston rifles was removed from the roster.
So, WHY did this rifle failed to save the line?
The trigger.
I had always wondered why German airguns from the year 2K forwards, seemed to be designed by people that have NO IDEA of what shooting is all about.
Until I went to Germany.
With the "remodelling" of the whole country (as the "Berlin Wall" fell), a multitude of elder workers at all levels were displaced by younger persons with degrees and PC - CAD capabilities which seemed to be able to solve everything from the design phase. The solutions proposed made sense from the materials, production, and engineering sides. "Wunderbar!" ¿no?
Well, no. A lot of those solutions made no sense once analyzed from the shooters/tinkerers/gunsmiths POV's
And this is the perfect example. If you look at part 601.200.08.1 you see a "well designed trigger blade"
Except that it is made of plastic. Not only plastic, it is "structural" plastic, meaning it is not even solid.
AND, if a lot of shooters protested and cried their hearts out when DIANA came out with the T01 plastic trigger blade that is stout, rigid, and, more importantly for us gunsmiths: Customizable....
This trigger blade is a joke.
The rest of the gun is a masterpiece. The barrel of the one I have is good, accurate and stable. The Muzzle piece, being threaded and not having a particular orientation, can be used as a Harmonics Tuner. The lock at the breech block is taken directly from the LGV, so it is quality.
Guide, spring, tophat, piston, seal, everything mechanical is truly an engineering achievement.
But that trigger!.....
Even the stock, yes they are ALL synthetic (ALL Century Varmint stocks I've seen are Synthetic, not to be confused with the Century LGV that is a different gun altogether, that has both, wood and synthetic stocks); they fit well, are truly ambidextrous, and make shooting comfy.
I did not resist the temptation and improved the stock somewhat, but we'll come to that later.
Let's look at the Shakespearean "Fatal Flaw" of this rifle.
Theoretically an adjustable two stage trigger; when we open it we see this:
In the picture above, the two springs (one for the lower lever and the other for the trigger blade) have been removed for clarity.
Do note that the sear is the "ramp" we talked about and that it has an elongated hole that allows is to move aft and fore with the cocking cycle.
The steel bushing on top gives strength to the assembly, aligns the piston's skirt and works as a retention point for the skirt. Between the bushing and the ramp, the piston cannot go forwards without a trigger pull.
In usage, the trigger is only adjustable so much, and definitely not up to what is required for precision shooting.
We need to remember that hunting with an airgun is an exercise in precision because we cannot count on energy to do the job for us. Placement is everything.
Part of the fault lies in the adjustment screw, it is too short and abuts before the trigger can become really crisp., so we changed that screw:
Do note that the sear is the "ramp" we talked about and that it has an elongated hole that allows is to move aft and fore with the cocking cycle.
The steel bushing on top gives strength to the assembly, aligns the piston's skirt and works as a retention point for the skirt. Between the bushing and the ramp, the piston cannot go forwards without a trigger pull.
In usage, the trigger is only adjustable so much, and definitely not up to what is required for precision shooting.
We need to remember that hunting with an airgun is an exercise in precision because we cannot count on energy to do the job for us. Placement is everything.
Part of the fault lies in the adjustment screw, it is too short and abuts before the trigger can become really crisp., so we changed that screw:
A healthy coat of Vibra-Tite ensures that the adjustment does not "disadjusts" by itself.
And we need ANOTHER screw to actually make it sensitive, so we added a nut:
And we need ANOTHER screw to actually make it sensitive, so we added a nut:
AND a screw:
Since the blade is very thin molded plastic, we used a manual drill to avoid mishaps.
Could we have made a metal trigger? Yes, at considerable cost in time. Time that I did not have.
Once that was done, we could tackle the pellet selection process.
We tested some pellets then made a worksheet and sorted by energy levels. It often happens that the best performing pellet is at the top or top 3 of the energy performances of any given spring gun.
Could we have made a metal trigger? Yes, at considerable cost in time. Time that I did not have.
Once that was done, we could tackle the pellet selection process.
We tested some pellets then made a worksheet and sorted by energy levels. It often happens that the best performing pellet is at the top or top 3 of the energy performances of any given spring gun.
In this particular case, the A-A Field Diabolo did give the best ME, but at the cost of a higher sSD (sample Standard Deviation - 18% higher-). AND it also happened that in testing at the target (at 25 m / 27 yards), some groups were VERY good, some VERY bad. I suspect that this particular tin was not the brightest candle in the chandelier. Perhaps other tins may behave better, but in THIS case, the H&N B-8 were the best, more on that later.
Once the pellet was chosen, the muzzle piece was "tuned" using calibrated washers. The rifle needed less than 0.2 of a mm to go from good to great results (you can barely see the separation/washer in the picture) and what is important is not the results here, but the fact that the muzzle piece CAN be tuned to other pellets or other pellet batches.
Once the pellet was chosen, the muzzle piece was "tuned" using calibrated washers. The rifle needed less than 0.2 of a mm to go from good to great results (you can barely see the separation/washer in the picture) and what is important is not the results here, but the fact that the muzzle piece CAN be tuned to other pellets or other pellet batches.
I mentioned that the stock had been "improved", so let's talk here about the stock and the interfase between stock and action.
In spring-piston airguns, one of the main enemies of consistency and accuracy is the mating of the action to the stock. The vibrations inherent to the operation of a spring as a powerplant, induce vibrational forces that can loosen the stock screws, so the screws were changed and star & Nord-Loc washers provided to all the stock wells that had previously received flat steel washers:
In spring-piston airguns, one of the main enemies of consistency and accuracy is the mating of the action to the stock. The vibrations inherent to the operation of a spring as a powerplant, induce vibrational forces that can loosen the stock screws, so the screws were changed and star & Nord-Loc washers provided to all the stock wells that had previously received flat steel washers:
The other aspect that needed improvement was the buttpad.
The OEM buttpad is nice, but it is designed for VERY low mounts and VERY short necks, LOL!
So a Morgan adjustable buttpad base was inletted into the stock, taking advantage of the hollow rear portion:
The OEM buttpad is nice, but it is designed for VERY low mounts and VERY short necks, LOL!
So a Morgan adjustable buttpad base was inletted into the stock, taking advantage of the hollow rear portion:
Once mounted it allowed to be adjusted to the LOS of the scope and the long neck of this user:
The last obstacle we found was that the gun has "anti-droop".
Yes, and this is not the first one I find in the Walther lineup that has an upward slant in the barrel, to allow for "flat" mounts to be used without needing drooped mounts.
Well, we had prepared a ZR mount, but these have a 4 mRad droop compensation and there was no way to sight in a scope with that.
So I acquired a BKL adjustable mount.
It is a good piece of kit. BUT (always a "big but" gets in your way, LOL!), it would not go "low" enough, so some hand fitting was needed.
The rear adjustable ring was filed off to allow the roller/spacer to reach the bottom of the groove:
Yes, and this is not the first one I find in the Walther lineup that has an upward slant in the barrel, to allow for "flat" mounts to be used without needing drooped mounts.
Well, we had prepared a ZR mount, but these have a 4 mRad droop compensation and there was no way to sight in a scope with that.
So I acquired a BKL adjustable mount.
It is a good piece of kit. BUT (always a "big but" gets in your way, LOL!), it would not go "low" enough, so some hand fitting was needed.
The rear adjustable ring was filed off to allow the roller/spacer to reach the bottom of the groove:
Like so:
Once that was achieved and the mount put together, it could finally be "flat":
OK, so the question that needs to be answered:
¿Was all this worth it?
I think so.
Even though I cannot keep the gun, I came to love the simplicity, lightness, and accuracy; it comes up naturally to a "quick ready" and is a wonderful shooter; AND, I have found a very good home for it.
This little beastie is one of two airguns that have been selected to start a long time PB'er and great shooter in his path to airguns enlightenment and illumination.
;-)
AND, this is the test target that will go with the gun; what is, in general terms, a typical group:
¿Was all this worth it?
I think so.
Even though I cannot keep the gun, I came to love the simplicity, lightness, and accuracy; it comes up naturally to a "quick ready" and is a wonderful shooter; AND, I have found a very good home for it.
This little beastie is one of two airguns that have been selected to start a long time PB'er and great shooter in his path to airguns enlightenment and illumination.
;-)
AND, this is the test target that will go with the gun; what is, in general terms, a typical group:
Some of you might say:
"that's not a good group, I can shoot like that all day with my "xxxx", LOL!
Perhaps you are a much better shooter than I am,
But this group, from 27.2 yards (25 m); from a handheld sitting position (FT); in shifting winds of around 14 mph coming from all sides (hurricane Helene on the way), is no "slouch".
The black aimpoints are a bit under ½", so let's put this into perspective
"that's not a good group, I can shoot like that all day with my "xxxx", LOL!
Perhaps you are a much better shooter than I am,
But this group, from 27.2 yards (25 m); from a handheld sitting position (FT); in shifting winds of around 14 mph coming from all sides (hurricane Helene on the way), is no "slouch".
The black aimpoints are a bit under ½", so let's put this into perspective
TEN shots covered by a dime.
Not bad, ¿huh?
If you ever come across a "Walther Century Varmint" that's up for sale at a reasonable price, grab it. They are good guns that can be outstanding performers with a little bit of TLC.
Keep well and shoot straight!
HM
Not bad, ¿huh?
If you ever come across a "Walther Century Varmint" that's up for sale at a reasonable price, grab it. They are good guns that can be outstanding performers with a little bit of TLC.
Keep well and shoot straight!
HM
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