Walther LGR

The LGR was the first match air rifle that employed the then futuristic single-stroke pneumatic method as power source.

After a long development period the Walther LGR emerged as the main rival of the successful Feinwerkbau 300(S) match air rifle series, that were powered by a spring-piston coupled with an ingenious recoil absorbing system that allowed the barrel and receiver to slide back and forth on a rail system.

[1] Immediately after its introduction in 1974 the LGR broke the individual and team 10 metre air rifle world records.

These late spring piston era match air rifles, the Anschutz LG 380 and the Diana Model 75, were certainly of high quality and very accurate, but spring piston technology, with its complex recoil cancellation mechanisms and slow lock times, was no longer cutting edge.

The Feinwerkbau 600 was easier to cock than the Walther LGR, lessening shooter fatigue over a 60 shot match and had an even faster lock time.

[1] The LGR shoots virtually recoilless and vibration free, since only a few small trigger parts, a light striker piece and lever that open a small air valve in a compression chamber and the 4.5 mm (0.177 in) air gun pellet move in the rifle during shooting.

This minimal movement and balance shifts coupled to a fast lock time favour the practical accuracy capability and made the LGR superior to previous match air rifle designs.

The lever sports a large synthetic bulbous knob that provides a firm grip when cocking the rifle.

[3] On top of the air cylinder an 11 mm (0.43 in) integral dovetail rail with shape connection drillings for one or more recoil lugs provides for fixing a match diopter or mounting components for telescopic sights.

Walther offered two part ring mounts for telescopic sights with a tube diameter of 26 mm (1.02 in) or 1 inch.

Though appearing a straightforward engineering solution, the loading trap mechanism provided the most problems during the development phase.

This high end target aperture sight offering windage and elevation correction in 0.2 mm (0.008 in) (≈ 0.069 MOA) increments at 10 m (10.9 yd) came with a rubber eye shield.

The complementing globe front sight is mounted on dove tails on top of the barrel and has the possibility to easily insert various notch elements.

The stocks were designed to conform to UIT regulations and offer match shooters a great degree of comfort.

The rear of the buttstock can be lengthened with 10 mm (0.39 in) thick spacer plates so the length of pull and can be tailored for the individual shooter.

Walther factory 10-shot group
Walther LGR cocking lever and loading trap operations
A typical 10 metre air rifle sight picture
Walther LGR Moving Target
Walther LGR, the basic model
Top to bottom; Walther LGR Match Universal, LGR Match and LGR Moving Target variants