tale of two springers

[HW 96.5 11]

First off a little background may be of interest.

Having just clocked up a personal half century I realise I have been airgunning for well over 30 years.

It seems like yesterday my Mum woke me at 10 am screaming in protest upon finding dead things hastily stuffed

in her fridge after me being up all night shooting.

My first gun was a Gat pop out pistol at around the age of 14 it was fun in the garden but I yearned for more.

my first decent rifle was a mint used HW35 in .177 with a 4 by 30 scope, this gun stayed for over 20 years

and it taught me how to shoot springers well. Holdover was worked out by marking the hit and returning to

look through the scope to determin aim off point .177 shots were too hard to see at 50yds with a mediocre scope.

The HW35 was credited with many Rabbits out to distances that made the gun the envy of my friends who all had

webly's or BSA's invariably in .22 cal.

In literally tens of thousands of shots the only glitch was a broken spring, the leather seal was fine.

My gun was always well looked after and remained in great cosmetic condition despite lots of field use.

One day I managed to fall heavily on the gun as I stalked a river bank and badly marked the stock on a stone.

I was so gutted that I re-finished the stock by hand, this took a whole week of sanding and oiling.

The result was well worth the effort.

Eventually I sold the HW35 which was really dumb as I still hanker after the total synergy I had with that gun.

I suppose there are many like me out there who put themselves in the very same position.

A PCP followed and the ease of shooting and the lack of movement needed to re-load was a revelation both great

assets in the field.

Another 10 or so years pass and the hankering for a spinger of repute was still there and by now I realised my

springer shooting ability would need alot of work.

I considered selling the AA S410 to fund a nice new Weihrauch springer but common sense prevailed.

I needed another answer, lots of research on the net followed and I compared all the candidate guns to the

old HW.

Eventually I settled on two guns the HW95 and the HW98 in .177 if possible. Much scouring of the net used

sections was in order but it seemed all the guns at the right price were too far away.

I needed to see the gun first hand and hopefully get a few shots to asses its suitability.

Time seemed to stand still when I found a .22 HW 95 in a 98 stock within reachable distance. 120 miles to Ayre.

I rang the owner to ask the usual questions.

This is a lovely part of the country so I checked a possible route and factored in the cost. We agreed a time

at the owners gaff and I dreamed of the possibility of owning a nice HW springer again.

After a nice conversation and checking out the great looking gun shooting a few pellets was out of the question

in the garden due to being small and overlooked, so and old telephone directory was pressed into service for a

single shot.

Suitably smitten I handed over the cash and returned home.

The following day I took the gun out on one of my permissions with a target and set up at 25 yds to zero.

I liked the feel of the gun and ajusted the cheek piece to fit my face and the butt pad height to get a nice

balance between different shooting positions. I set about zeroing and very quickly realised something was amiss

the pellet speed was very very quick for a .22

and the firing cycle was harsh to say the least. I set out another target at 50 yds and measured the pellet

drop from the aim point. The result eas a drop of 1.5 inches less than my 11.5 ft lbs AA410.

You dont need to be a genius to work out how hot the new gun was.

The first conclusion I drew was shooting a gun into a directory at a steep angle masks reciol. If I could

have shouldered the gun properly I would have sussed it pretty quick.

I went home grabbed the chrono and the result confirmed the rough pellet drop estimate. The gun was quickly

stripped and left in bits untill I could get to sorting it out.

I could not rest so I set about taking measurements and assesing what could be done without waiting for a new

spring to arrive. I set about trying to sort it out with what I had.

First off was I found 14.5mm of washers inside the piston these came out and I re assembled the gun.

ten shots over the chrono said the thing was still pretty hot so another strip was done.

Nothing else to do but hack a coil or two off the spring and re form the end. Two full coils came off and I

rebuilt the gun.

Chrono again and a much better firing cycle was immedately evident. I was now under the limit so off I

went to the field.

Targets set up and re zeroing commenced, It was getting smoother with every shot so I elected to rattle off a

whole tin that took until dusk. Went home pretty happy with my efforts.

Next time out I took the chrono and found the gun was a bit short on safety margin to the limit bit it was

shooting quite well and my ability was steadily improving. In all the chrono tests the shot to shot consistency

was impressive the worst was 20 fps with crossman prems the best was H&n ftt's or AA fiels at less than 10fps

spread regardless of overall power mods. this I put down to a to a venom seal that was in the gun when

purchased.

During this time the gun was never taken via public road or paths as I was not totally confident in the guns

ability to pass an inspection by the law so another strip was required and first one then another coils were

compressed and the spring re tempered each time varous spacers were tried to get the preload something like.

The Hw was now shooting very well coupled with a further improvement in my ability.

I was finally enjoying shooting hybrid HW with one inch groups at 40 yds at times shooting prone.

In the follwing months chrono tests were done occasionally all at 11.4 and very consistent 10fps spreads recorded.

I am shooting AA fields at 16grn as both my guns like them and they are giving great groups out to 50yds in

ideal conditions. The HW clocked up pigeons and rabbits albeit I left a few more distant shots that

I would Have taken with the S410.

Evenually I stopped being paranoid about the power until one cold night after a long and fruitless

walk I shot down the field to empty the barrel and bang lots of noise and more reciol than usual. I went home

and stripped the gun there was a tiny amount of grease in front of the seal so had a good clean and re greased

sparingly. Chrono tests were fine at 11.4 so I went to bed very late.

By this point I could strip the HW in minutes and began to try and find the holy grail of springers.

The ability to aproach the accuracy of a pcp. I messed about with spacers spring preload and different seals to

find a combination with smooth shooting, acceptable power and consistency. After much testing eventually

another mishap showed me the way.

During a target session the firing sound changed a little, so I did a strip and found the palstic top hat had

broken no doubt stressed by the earlier high power levels. So with nothing to loose I removed it and cleaned

and assembled the gun. I realised if the loss of 3mm of preload affected the power or firing in an

anacceptable way another strip would follow in short order, but no the gun was much sweeter and power was at

11.0 I shot quite a few pellets over the chrono and it did rise a little during the test but this was very little.

The gun is now so nice to shoot I cannot believe that an unforseen event tipped the balance of the firing cycle

right ino the sweet spot. Later chrono tests confirm just over 11 with AA's and a really sweet shooting rifle

consistency is still within 10 fps from cold over however many shots you would like. Despite the long and sometimes

stony road I have arrived here with a sweet gun and a story.

Would I buy another used gun? Yes without hesitation despite the trials I have learned a fair bit and saved

quite a bit but if I had been stopped by the law on the way home things could have been very different.

Next time I will take the chrono to look at a used gun and maybe use the info to barter with.

I generally still take the PCP for quarry when longer shots may be needed but the HW Hybrid gives more pleasure

if I reduce the max range accordingly, the callenge now is to close that gap.

Steve

 

Edited October 19, 2012 by HW 96.5

[zini 1,939]

Nice read that pal.

 

You will find a lot of the lads in this section now own and shoot a HW or a springer.

 

Si.

[thursodog 353]

Really enjoyed that read mate.

I've 4 weihrauchs all second hand and shooting great.

Saved a small fortune and really enjoy doing the work on them.

Yep can't emphasise how important the chrono is eh!

 

Cheers Chris.

[HW 96.5 11]

Thanks Si. I must say seeing your stuff on springers certainly helped make the starry eyed longing a must have.

 

Steve

[HW 96.5 11]

Really enjoyed that read mate.

I've 4 weihrauchs all second hand and shooting great.

Saved a small fortune and really enjoy doing the work on them.

Yep can't emphasise how important the chrono is eh!

 

Cheers Chris.

 

Thanks Chris

 

Too much at stake these days to be without a chrono.......

 

Steve

Edited October 18, 2012 by HW 96.5

[Lewis Ste 245]

Had at little situation like that at the meet taking my hw97 apart then back together and apart again but now it running at 11.1 a sweet as you get. There's a great set of lads on here who showed me how to take the Hw apart and tune

[HW 96.5 11]

Had at little situation like that at the meet taking my hw97 apart then back together and apart again but now it running at 11.1 a sweet as you get. There's a great set of lads on here who showed me how to take the Hw apart and tune

 

11 seems to be the sweet spot for many Weihrauch's. Maybe I will try another Hw 35 in .177 some day....

[pianoman 3,589]

That was a great read from a man who clearly seeks an affinity with a spring rifle. The Holy Grail of Spring rifle shooting lies in the rifle that gels so well at your shoulder it almost talks to you when you shoot with it.

 

No PCP rifle exists out there to convince me I'm missing out on something or shooting with inferior kit. (HW80, HW77, Air Arms TX200 and TX200HC)

 

A Weihrauch HW77 .177 for competition shooting is my next intended rifle.

 

Welcome to the section HW96.5 ( I like that!)

 

Pianoman

[HW 96.5 11]

That was a great read from a man who clearly seeks an affinity with a spring rifle. The Holy Grail of Spring rifle shooting lies in the rifle that gels so well at your shoulder it almost talks to you when you shoot with it.

 

No PCP rifle exists out there to convince me I'm missing out on something or shooting with inferior kit. (HW80, HW77, Air Arms TX200 and TX200HC)

 

A Weihrauch HW77 .177 for competition shooting is my next intended rifle.

 

Welcome to the section HW96.5 ( I like that!)

 

Pianoman

 

Thanks Pianoman

 

I have read and enjoyed much of your writings esp. the springer stuff

 

There is an art to shooting springers well for sure. Theres no art in PCP shooting no zen either.

 

Glad you like the username. You have probably geussed its the numerical average of the guns components.

 

Steve

[davyt63 1,845]

hi Steve

welcome to the THL

 

a good read that buddy,and good choice of spring powered rifle,i have a HW97kt .22 my self and shooting sweet @ 10.2fl/lbs with H&NFTT 5.53

 

a man after my own heart, you must have a man cave and spent many a hours tinkering/fettling as i do.i had some of the similar problems you had with the top hat breaking,but this was on the TX,but i sorted that.then it went of to sand well field sports for some TLC and it shoots nice now

 

while i am up at Si's the week end i am having a look at another possible toy TX200HC .177 MK3 in a Walnut stock,then hopefully a visit to Tony wall for his magic touch

 

but if the truth be told,i shoot the 97 .22 better than the TX

 

SPRING POWER IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[HW 96.5 11]

hi Steve

welcome to the THL

 

a good read that buddy,and good choice of spring powered rifle,i have a HW97kt .22 my self and shooting sweet @ 10.2fl/lbs with H&NFTT 5.53

 

a man after my own heart, you must have a man cave and spent many a hours tinkering/fettling as i do.i had some of the similar problems you had with the top hat breaking,but this was on the TX,but i sorted that.then it went of to sand well field sports for some TLC and it shoots nice now

 

while i am up at Si's the week end i am having a look at another possible toy TX200HC .177 MK3 in a Walnut stock,then hopefully a visit to Tony wall for his magic touch

 

but if the truth be told,i shoot the 97 .22 better than the TX

 

SPRING POWER IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Thanks for the nice comments Davy

the 97 is about the only full size HW I have not shot at some point but the hw57 was a stormer of a gun. I was weaned on break barrels maybe one day I will try harder to get along with the underlever. The most impressive HW I have shot was a full power HW80 at around 40 lbs it was a right mother to shoot. Power yes but head shots at 45yds would be out of the question. I wanted my little gun back because I could not trust its accuracy. To prove the point I placed 2 used shotgun shells at 45 yds and bet my little 177 could down on in less shots. I let the owner have half a dozen shots before I scored a first shot hit from kneeling. Made my day.

 

Steve

[gurtwurz 793]

Excellent read mate, you just can't beat a bit ood red hot springer action.. Never tried a hw35, but I love an , even more than me pro sport(!)

Very hard pushed to beat a tuned hw, especially the older ones when they really were built like panzers..

 

Cheers, wurz

[Skot Ruthless Teale 1,701]

going to have a play with my 95 over the weekend its been ages lol 97 bullied her way in and 95 has been neglected!

[silentshot1 206]

That was a brilliant read and an amazing looking rifle at that!

 

Thanks for sharing!

[Roy Williamson 15]

great read, would love to meet up with someone from my own area (merseyside) to show me the ins and outs of stripping my hw99s. I have looked at strip down articles, but with no tools and no experience of ever stripping an air gun I would be scared of ruining a perfectly good gun .