WALTHER LGR

You’ll be hard pushed to find a more accurate Walther than the LGR, Bruce Potts believes

In the 1970s, the Feinwerkbau 300 series of classic match air rifles was winning every 10m competition available, with the Original 66 and Anschutz 250 rifles close on its heels. They all used the spring-piston propulsion system, often using a recoil sledge or twin pistons operating in opposite directions to reduce recoil. Walther wowed the shooting world when it produced a new rifle called the LGR. This did not use the conventional spring-piston system but an ingenious single-stroke pneumatic propulsion system to launch the pellet down the barrel.

It was not a new principle but the match quality of Walther’s system soon had it winning medals from its competitors.

Most of the match air rifles of the time were also side-lever operated to cock the rifle. This allowed the shooter an easy, effortless cocking action and a pellet could be placed directly into the barrel.

Walther used the same side-lever principle for these reasons but used an in-line toggle-type lifting breech system. This meant the whole action and barrel were perfectly in line with only the lifting toggle, with twin air seals at both ends, that allowed direct access to the barrel. It was a very neat and effective loading system.

The cocking arm was unique to the LGR. Being a single-stroke pneumatic, it was used to move the piston rearward as on a conventional air rifle. But instead of the piston locking at the rear, ready to move forward when the trigger was released and push air behind the pellet, the Walther LGR worked differently.

Unlock the cocking lever with the large plastic grip, and the articulated lever was opened to the right of the action to its rearmost position with no effort at all. When the lever was returned, the piston moved forward and compressed air into a reservoir to be used when the trigger was pulled.

This required a bit of effort to compress the air at the final arc of the lever but it then resulted in a totally recoil-less rifle as there were no moving parts. When the trigger was released, it allowed a heavy spring-loaded hammer to strike a lever that hit an exhaust valve, releasing the air in the reservoir behind the pellet.

Attention to detail

It was an ingenious, if pretty complex, system but Walther’s attention to detail was immaculate. At 10m it was capable of 0.07in groups centre to centre — in other words, pellet on pellet. It had a velocity of 580fps so was never intended for hunting, but many early field-target shooters used it with scopes for knock-down targets. I use mine, scoped, on rats in barns at 10 yards.

The trigger is superb and fully adjustable with a light, crisp pull. To make the LGR safe, all you have to do is lift up the pellet-loading toggle. The stock is well designed and appointed with a deep target-type fore-end and butt section that perfectly balances the LGR, which weighs 10.8lb. Stippling on the fore-end and pistol grip ensures a firm hold. An adjustable cheekpiece for height was originally intended for aperture sight use but is equally handy for scope use.

The LGR is a quirky classic gun, usually sought after by target or bell target shooters these days. But they also make superb back-garden plinking guns as they are superbly accurate and quiet.

“This quirky air rifle makes a superb back-garden plinking gun as it is accurate and quiet”