Need to not miss? Then this is it. Paul Watts tuned HW97K
I had planned on blogging my Daisy 747 next, but AlanL’s fever for serious spring rifles has pulled this one up in the queue.
Accuracy
This is a tricky subject, I would dare say most HW air rifles have a similar potential, the issue is the shooter realizing that potential. That is the key to the 97. First the barrel is less than a foot long. That means the time you need to stay on target is greatly reduced. It is still important to follow through once you squeeze the trigger, but not like one of those 18 inch babies need.
Short and sweet
Next, it is a fixed barrel so lock- up is not a concern. That barrel will be in the exact same spot every time you aim down range.
Heavy weight. While it may benefit humans to carry less poundage, a spring rifle profits from the extra load. Let’s face it, when you pull the trigger you start a mechanical reaction that a lighter rifle will transfer to the shooter. If you doubt this, shoot a BSA Lightning XL, fine little gun but it jumps like a cat that’s had its tail stepped on. The HW97K just lays there.
Way Smooth
Now all of this doesn’t mean squat if the trigger is not up to snuff, but no worries are needed when it comes to the Rekord unit. They are good from the factory and amazing when tuned properly. The key is that they remain predictable at lower settings, so oopies are rare.
I’ll finish this up with one more post, but in the meantime here is video of the latest offering.
http://gunmart.net/video/weihrauch_hw97k_-_thumbhole_stock_version
Goodies in the box
By the way, sorry about all the background clutter in these photos, but you can click on them for a better look. Just for fun, see if you can spot the FX Whisper’s magazine. One of the FX Cyclone’s magazines sits on its absolute favorite pellets – the discontinued Accupells
Posts
Volvo,
ReplyDeleteThat was a most insightful comment you made about the shorter barrel not needing to stay on target as long. For a wheezing, trembling duffer like me, that's huge! I had shied away from carbines before but this point will make me look at them anew. Thanks!
AlanL
AlanL,
ReplyDeleteThe short barrel advantage only applies to spring powered rifles. In the land of PCP’s and firearms, a little extra length helps. Also when using open sights a long sight radius is a plus.
Volvo
ReplyDeleteThe whisper magazine is obviously on top of the Crosman Premier tin. I could not find Waldo however.
What really caught my eye was the Gamo PBA ammo. Perhaps you are writing a blog entitled, "Volvo Chases the 1700 fps Barrier With His GAMO SOCOM Tactical Recon Big Cat Bone Collector Hunter Commando Extreme." That should be enlightening.
Derrick once commented that the HW97 was probably a little heavy to be your favorite, which I took to be a searing indictment that you probably have little bird arms. (Unlike AlanL, who has arms like pythons)
So my question is, given its portly specs, what niche does this gun fill for you? Also, what pellet does it like best?
SlingingLead,
ReplyDeleteFavorites change over time; you can verify that with my first wife. Heck, Tom wrote a book on the R1 but seldom even recommends it anymore. Derrick was basing his guess on “PCP Volvo” that no longer looks to spring guns for power, in which case he is correct. But just a short time ago, the HW97K was “it”. The proof is in my little crow story. Moving as fast as I can to secure a rifle to dispatch the pest I pass up three racks filled with air rifles and instead grab a key to get the HW97K out of its resting place to make the 50 yard shot. The 97’s heavy is not like the Kodiak, as carbine it balances well. Needless to say, being from Shootingville I was soon digging a hole.
S.L.,
ReplyDeleteLOL. The Raptors almost immediately caught my eye, too. I think Volvo has some explaining to do.
Volvo,
If that new thumbhole stock HW97K had been available when I bought the TX, my decision might have concluded differently. What a beaut! Now, if it only came with fish-scale checkering...
- Orin
I lower my head in shame as I type this.
ReplyDeleteOkay, you guys got me on the Gamo ammo. I was planning a wild pig hunt…
Actually, I just had to try some for myself. They were horrendous, the guns sounded like I had dry fired them and the accuracy was Red Ryder like at even indoor distances. Silver Bears are the lightest worthwhile pellet I have ever come across.
The other scam in the photos is the Napier Power lube you can see the top of. It claims to increase accuracy and power and is endorsed by top shooters. Not so much. I buy some and begin shooting over the Chrony. Nothing. I add more and I see a little increase, so I drown the pellets in it. They do go faster. WOW. Then I realize by the sound and smell the rifle is simply dieseling on every shot. Seems if you are limited to 12 ft lbs it is the way to go, but not here in the States.
ReplyDeleteVolvo,
ReplyDeleteI did notice the bottle of Napier, but I assumed it was the sample-sized bottle of Power Airgun Oil (that came with my TX) instead of the retail-sized bottle of Power Pellet Lube. The container is exactly the same. I've dumped all the Napier (oil) on a rag that I keep in a plastic bag, and I use for wiping down my guns. For that, it works really well and smells very... masculine. Too bad the Pellet Lube sucks.
- Orin
Which came first, the TX? or the HW? I've heard multiple arguments from each side.
ReplyDeleteOn another note…
I'm not the kind of person to post braggadocios hunting stories on the Yellow, but your comment about 50 yard pesting reminded me of a highlight from last weekend. I took a trip to my parent's house in So Cal to fix their computers and found myself with a fair amount of time for some ground squirrel hunting. After two days, at 12 confirmed kills, I put what probably amounted to a fingernail-sized dent in their 10-acre squirrel population. But my proudest moments were 3, 80-yard head shots with my trusty .177 TX and some Baracudas (benched, of course). According to Chairgun, the energy at that distance is only just over 6 FPE, but surprisingly, it was still plenty to dispatch the critters.
- Orin
Orin,
ReplyDeleteVolvo's point to TX200 review for Slinging Lead shows a British guy who clearly states that the TX200 is the British answer to (copy of) the Weihrauch HW77. See TX200 video review.
-AlanL
AlanL,
ReplyDeleteSorry - I should have specified HW97, not HW77. I saw the video, which is probably what re-ignited my curiosity. For some reason, I thought I remembered reading that the TX was designed first (undoubtedly modeled after the HW77), but due to parts complications/delays (barrel?), the HW97 was released to the public first. Not that it really matters much. They're both obviously great guns.
- Orin
I guessed that Volvo didn't especially care for the HW97's weight because he went to so much trouble lightening his (now my) Walther LG55. I don't think he has bird arms, the very fact that he's had so many spring piston rifles is evidence enough of that. If anything, he has a Popeye arm on one side.
ReplyDeleteAs I recall, the HW77 was first, followed by the TX200. The HW97 was HW playing catch up. I'm pretty sure the TX was out for at least a year or two before the 97 was released.
Orin,
ReplyDeleteWell, I should've guessed what you meant, since Volvo's post is about the 97. There is a lengthy article about it on Weihrauch's site, actually a link to the sporting magazine's article, where they refer to the HW 97 as a "cult object". Have you seen the picture of the HW 97 KT with thumbhole stock on their site? Gorgeous...
-AlanL
Orin,
ReplyDeleteSorry, I forgot to mention that that danged article is in German...
-AlanL
The best I can tell the HW77 was first offered in 1983 and the HW97 came along in 1995. The one in the photos is of 2001 vintage.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure of the first year for the AA200 TX copy of the HW.
As far as version changes the older 77’s had a smaller compression tube and were a little softer shooting.
Off topic – did you guys see the Tom’s blog on the Kodiak \ Patriot scope mount? Hence the reason mine ended up with an aperture sight. Also note it only took 100 shots to trash the scope.
ReplyDeleteVolvo,
ReplyDeleteOf course, I wouldn't miss a chance to speak out against scopes on springers. Even if you can get it to stay put, imagine what forces are acting on the scope's internals:).
Orin,
ReplyDeleteIt’s not bragging when you are just stating facts. Actually it helps people understand what a rifle is capable of. I just watched Paul C’s review of the AA TX200 and he shoots groups at less than 20 yards, can’t say I would run out and buy $600 + rifle based on that.
Bg Farmer,
I don’t believe in scoping everything, but with the higher power accurate rifles you can’t see the things you are capable of hitting without a scope. However, certainly I would pass on glassing a dedicated Gamo pig gun. : )
This comes from Mike D. on the Vintage Forum as to the "S" on HW's:
ReplyDeleteThis is just my own surmising from what I have seen, but I believe the "S" probably stands for "sport."
Likewise just an educated guess on my part--but in German the word "sport" seems to connote more or less what we would call a "target" rifle. In other words, an upgrade from the "sporter" you'd use for hunting or plinking; but not with the precision of the "match" rifle you'd take to a top-level championship.
In Germany--where shooting is a national passion, and buyers were traditionally sensitive to small differences in features and price--this is a significant distinction.
As an example, I have Weihrauch brochure from 1959. At that time the HW 50S variant was distinguished not by a better trigger, but by better sights, while the HW 55 was their match gun of the day. In later times, when all HW's rifles were designed to take their rear diopter sight as an option, the "S" suffix came to indicate the obvious paper-punching advantages of the Rekord trigger.
I love open sight shooting and only reluctantly succumbed to scoping my .22 RWS 350. I selected the Leapers 3-9x40AO on Wacky Wayne's recommendation, with the UTG mount and 4-screw low rings, and I must say I'm very happy. My vision is crappy, so I save my open sight shooting for the HW30. It is fun to hit anything I aim at with the 350, and somehow, strangely, with the scope it seems less hold sensitive than with open sight. But maybe looking through a scope I'm just naturally more careful with my hold. It is easy to switch between Baracudas and CP heavys since it requires 32 vertical clicks on the scope at 20+ yards (1/4"/100). Making that adjustment with open sights was always a greater pain. To me, the only disadvantages of a properly mounted scope on a rifle are the extra weight and care in handling the gun that they require. This is particularly true of the huge 30 mm 3-12x44AO scope on my RWS 54.
ReplyDeleteOther than that a scope is all to the good for me.
-AlanL
Volvo,
ReplyDeleteNo, don't scope a hog rifle, they're dangerous game, you know:).
Bg Farmer,
ReplyDeleteAnyone that has watched Old Yeller knows that you don’t want to get hog cut, I will use common sense along with that .177 Gamo. Certainly the .357 is best left at home.
Volvo,
ReplyDeleteWhere's my new Saturday morning blog post? I need my fix!
-AlanL
I think the reason these guns dont get recommended anymore by TG has nothing to do with the gun. The cost has climbed up there, for sure, but once you use one its easy to feel the difference between it and a Gamo, or the thing he recommends from Mexico.
ReplyDeleteThe price is up there, especially if you get it tuned. On the other hand, once you commit the 700-800, you've got a lifetime gun.
I have a tuned 77 action in a 97 stock and I love the gun. EVERY bit the equal of a tx 200. The tx is easier to load, but the 77/97 may be easier to deal with in the long run.
AlanL,
ReplyDeleteYou failed the test. Never order a rifle from DAK or a tune from Paul Watts until you pass the next test of patience.
Rcannon,
ReplyDeleteIf I recall correctly, I think Tom liked the HW77 but had a not so good HW97 that disappointed him. As far as the recommendations for arms from Mexico, I guess we all need to make money.