Product Details
A RARE .22 NORMAN MAY 'VIXEN' WEIHRAUCH HW35 EXPORT BREAK-BARREL AIR-RIFLE, serial no. 731072,
circa 1979, with blued 19 5/8in. barrel, 'VIXEN' marking to the right side of beech-block, tunnel fore-sight, adjustable rear-sight, polished chrome-finished manual breech-catch, blued air-chamber with machined telescopic sight rail, rear-mounted push-button safety without indicator, walnut half-stock of 'Export' style with additional chequered panel to the underside of the finger-grooved fore-end, polished blacked trigger guard and factory sling swivels with a period basket-weave leather sling, the whole appearing little used and retaining its original custom internals (see below)
Provenance: The company of Norman May of Bridlington, U.K. were well known importers of quality German air-rifles and had in their portfolio the BSF range as well as Weihrauch. Weihrauch dominated the adult UK air rifle market in the 1970's to 1990's, with their HW35 model being the best seller in all its guises. Norman May Co. did the unthinkable towards the end of the 1970's and decided to customise these Weihrauch rifles, giving them the new name of 'Vixen' and improving on what most buyers already considered perfection. It took a couple of years for the final version to be arrived at and modifications included cosmetic alterations such as chroming certain pieces of the furniture but the main difference was internal. The piston was sleeved down making the mainspring a tighter fit and less likely to buckle. The piston was also polished and chromed and a special bespoke guide-rod fitted, unique to each rifle and different for each calibre. A special longer nickel-alloy coated Swedish steel mainspring was also utilised. The transfer port was also modified and particular to the calibre.
Three versions were produced with customer request sometimes mixing the specifications. The Standard model used a 22in. barrel and the action was fitted in the plain beech stock. A 'Luxus' version with walnut stock and a shorter barrel as the example here was also available, as was an 'Export' version, both using the Weihrauch stocks of the same name. Officially, the Export version came with the longer 22in. barrel, but as mentioned previously, customers often mixed and matched and the extra chequering on this example is a rarity. Full chrome versions are also known but are extremely rare.
It is believed around 200 examples were made in .177 and around 500 in .22 across all models. With the retail price of an HW35 being approximately £54 in 1979, the Vixen at £157 for the top model was a considered purchase.
These Weihrauchs were the first commercially available customised and tuned pieces and paved the way for later companies such as Venom and Air-Masters
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Estimate £400-600