by B.B. Pelletier
Here’s a bit of history for you. Back in the late 1980s and early ’90s, Beeman was selling two popular mid-power spring rifles. The R7 and the R8. The R7 was the smaller of the two and was based on the Weihrauch HW 30. The R8 was larger, more powerful than the R7 and was based on the HW 50.
The R7 remained in the lineup, of course, and for a few years after the 1994 sales of the Beeman company, the new management even cataloged it next to the HW30, but rated both the power and accuracy of the R7 that was based on it as better. They still rate them that way. But the R8 went away. The HW50 remained for several more years, and a curious new R-series rifle called the R6 made a brief entrance and exit. I have been told by several people that the R6 is also based on the HW50.
Shown with the diopter sights for target shooting, the HW 50S is a classic spring rifle from Weihrauch.
The point is that the R8 and R6 are both history, yet the HW50 lives on. Now that it’s no longer in the Beeman lineup, importers are able to bring in variations that Beeman never would – such as a .22 caliber version! Pyramyd AIR has just made a large purchase of the HW50S and is stocking both calibers with either open sights or peep sights. Starting at $312, you can own a rifle that may not be around much longer – certainly not for that low price. The way the Euro keeps escalating, the price of the HW50 will soon rise to more than $400, where it will be challenged by top new spring guns from China. Those new guns are very good, but the HW50 has a couple things they don’t have and probably never will.
The Rekord trigger
Ain’t no two ways about it – the Rekord is a fine trigger. Not only is it adjustable to a fine degree, but it breaks as clean and crisp as you could hope for. Back when Beeman was pushing the R7 over the HW30, the big selling point was that the 30 they sold didn’t have a Rekord, but as far as I know the 50 has always had one. So savvy airgunners knew they could buy an HW50 and save about a hundred dollars over the Beeman equivalent. The only real difference was the stock. All the R-series guns have American-style stocks, while the HW series often have the Bavarian-style stock with shorter forearm wood and a slope behind the cheekpiece.
You can’t do the same with an HW30 and an R7 because the HW30 doesn’t have the Rekord trigger. If you want the trigger, you have to get the R7.
Weihrauch barrels
Maybe you aren’t aware of this, but Weihrauch made their reputation with fine single-shot target rifles in .22 LR caliber. They were considered the equivalent of Walther before WW II, which was to say the best in the world. Weihrauch knows how to rifle a barrel! In fact, when Mac-1 decided to manufacture the USFT rifle, they chose Weihrauch barrels for their world-class field target rifle. This is one thing no other manufacturer can give you – a classic Weihrauch airgun barrel.
Is this all just hype?
Actually, no, it isn’t. Weihrauch quality is the equivalent of BSA, Webley and FWB sport airguns. Their triggers are better than any of the triggers from those brands. The Beeman R1 I used for the spring gun tune series is a Weihrauch with…I don’t know how many thousands of shots on the clock. It has been tuned and re-tuned numerous times, the trigger has been adjusted to perfection, the gun has worn more than 20 different scopes and it still looks and shoots great. This is the kind of lasting performance you can expect from Weihrauch.
Tomorrow, I’ll cover the options and performance of this rifle. I’m waiting for a nice range day to test the Hammerli Storm Elite. Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten.
bb
ive been looking through your blogs, but i cant find the 3rd report on the genesis….after the long break in. just wondering if you got to that yet or not. if you did, could you let me know which month it was? thanks.
Dave
Dave,
I must not have done it because I can’t find it either.
B.B.
bb
any chance that could be a blog sometime soon? i read a lot of ammeture reviews on it, and for the most part, ppl hate it, and i wanted a more knowledgeable review. also just curious if the tac-1 extreme is the first break barrel .22 cal from crosman, or if there are other old ones. thanks.
Dave
Hello BB,
Off subject and asking for advice again. I have a Leapers 3-9x32A.O. on a GamoShadow1000 and am trying to figure out which one went south. The gamo is 9 mos old with probably 3000 shots, on its second spring (broke after 2000 shots). The Leapers is 4 mos old with 2000 shots. The combo would consistently make one (large)ragged hole 5 shot group at 10 yds, both before and after the spring replacement. Then recently the groups became inconsistent with 2 or 3 shots in the same hole and one 3/4″ to the left, and I have to keep making adjustments to stay centered on the target. And if anything, it’s getting worse. The scope is optically centered with an adjustable mount as you suggested. Everything is tight and there has been no rough handling. Velocity is consistent per chrony readings. I put a cheap BSA 22 scope on and it seems better than the Leapers right now. Without having a know good scope to swap to isolate the problem, is there a way to determine if its the gun or scope or me? For $44 I am amazed at how nice the Leapers was, but maybe I just got the 1 in a 100 or 1000 that wasn’t quite up to snuff. For $44 I could just let it go, but I’d like to know.
Thanks again for this great resource.
I need to find a local club, but that’s another question!
Pestbgone
Pestbgone,
Two things to consider. First, is your barrel dirty? Is it time to clean the barrel with JB bore paste?
Second, is the elevation screw all the way up on the Leapers? If it is, you may be experiencing some bouncing of the erector tube.
Clean the gun if it’s possibly the first problem. Dial the elevation down about 1.5 inches and watch what happens to your groups. You may need an adjustable scope mount.
B.B.
Dave,
If I still have the rifle I’ll do part 3 soon.
B.B.
B.B.
(Sold!)
You did it again. I had to order this Weihrauch 50S from Pyramyd today. I was assured that the rear diaptor assembly is metal vs. plastic that I was concerned about. The other gun you just had to convince me of is the TX200 that I enjoy every time I shoot it. Keep up the good work.
KTK
Hi BB
Is the reticle on the 6x Bug Buster as coarse as the 4x? I had the 4x and it was a bit hard to see the bullseye. I have the illuminated 8-32 and the reticle is very fine – works great.
Thanks for the help
MCA
Hi bb
I had a question concerning loading the talon. i read tom gaylords review and i get the bolt part but there seems to be a gap between the tophat and the barrel. am i seeing this right? i know it must work. does the tophat come forward when you close the bolt? im very confused.
Nate in MASS
Nate in MASS –
The pellet goes directly into the barrel, the space between the valve (top hat) and barrel remains. The high pressures involved with this PCP means that you don’t have to have the valve or transfer port right up against the pellet. I have seen some confused souls try to balance the pellet on the top hat and then close the rifle and fire.
KTK,
Good for you. I think you will really enjoy this rifle. Be sure to read tomorrow’s blog.
B.B.
MCA,
You remembered!
Yes, they appear identical.
B.B.
Nate,
What happens is the bolt actually travels backwards to hit the tophat when the striker bumps the bolt. The bolt acts like a croquet ball that you stand on when knocking another player’s ball away.
Is that clear or do you need more?
B.B.
Nate,
Have you really seen people doing that (balancing the pellet on the tophat)? The owner’s manual tells shooters exactly how to load the gun, and I believe it is online.
B.B.
sorry off topic but does anyone know if RWS 460 magnum has the same kind of “troublesome” scope rail? I would like this air rifle for my collection and I would like to maybe mount a bug buster or a leapers 4-12*44 on it but without to much scope slip. This will be my first RWS please help thanks everyone. Robert 1250
Robert,
Yes, the 460 Magnum has the same scope rail as all the others. A Bug Buster will not fit because you will not be able to position the eyepiece far enough back to work. The other Leapers scope sounds fine.
B.B.
Hi B.B.,
It seems like mounting short scopes is kind of a pain when it comes to getting proper eye relief. I nearly pulled all my remaining hair getting a Bug Buster mounted on a Crosman 2250.
I finally decided to mount both rings of a 2-piece mount on the same scope tube, between the objective and the turrets. It seemed okay to do, for a low power non-recoiling CO2 pistol, and is working, so far. I’m not completely happy with the eye relief, but it’s much better. I don’t think I’d want to do that on a spring gun… especially a magnum one.
The other solution I’ve considered is the BKL 1-piece cantilever mounts (253A & 254) sold my Pyramyd Airgun Mall (PAM). They’re currently out-of-stock, but also the specs are confusing to me. Says both have 3 inches between ring centers, but the picture sure doesn’t look that way!
I think BKL also manufactures 2-piece cantilever mounts, but it doesn’t look like PAM stocks them.
Anyway, seems to me a cantilever mount could be used backwards, to get proper (or, close) eye relief with short scopes.
What do you think, B.B.? Has my figuring gone haywire somewhere along the way?
Cheers,
GH
GH,
Yep, one of those two pictures is wrong.
Yes you can mount a catelever mount backwards. I have done it many times with a two-piece set I have.
I have forwarded your observation about the photo to Pyramyd AIR, for them to look at.
B.B.
BB –
Regarding the balancing on the top hat for the AF Talon. Yeah, someone has admitted to me that they tried to do that. Quickly corrected them, and made them feel a little sheepish, but otherwise no harm done.
Sorry off topic here… B.B. I’m trying to learn everything I can about my air rifle (Beeman imported RX-1) made by weihrauch, model- HW90. I bought this in .177 cal. and want to order a .25 cal. barrel. I am told the power plant is the same for all calibers (?) is this true? I know this isn’t the right place to post a question but couldn’t find where to do it. Thanks.
RX-1,
You only have to ask once. I answered you on the other post.
B.B.
Point me to it please.
B.B.
I just received my HW50 and I am a little disapointed. Maybe there is something wrong with mine but my gun weights in at 7lb 12oz with the open sights the cocking effort is about the same as my R10 and much heavier than my FWB124 with less power (790 fps w/crosman lites) than either. I dont mind the lower power, could even be less, if the gun weighted less and was easier to cock, but right now I dont see any advantage to it. I was really looking for something between the R10 and my HW30 ie: Light, easy cocking, accurate plinker with a good trigger. Maybe a detune and skeleton stock.
Sam
B.B.
Nothing takes the joy out placing an order quite like a posting like Sam’s above. It gives one pause. In general, for a guy that really appreciates a good trigger, and appreciates a well made rifle as a work of art, will I feel short changed on the HW50? (That kind of quality is there in my P1.)
Also, how do you like the HW50 diopter and/or do you like one of the after market diopters more?
Kevin,
I find it difficult to fault the 50S. Maybe it was so different from what he expected.
The 50S is just as fine as your P1.
The new rear aperture sight from HW is made in China, I think. Gamo, Daisy, Crosman and others are getting them therte.
I haven’t examined it, but that’s what it looks like. I can’t comment on the quality without seeing one.
B.B.
I am sorry if my post above discouraged anyone about the HW50s. I found the problem with the cocking effort on mine, the little roller bearing in the cocking arm that rides on the bottom of the receiver was locked up. I freed it up and loaded it with moly grease and the cocking smoothed out more than I thought would be possible. I tried JSB pellets and even thought they are heavier they get the same velocity (765)for aprox 11 ftlbs. The rest of the gun is up to the usual HW quality Which is why all of my spring guns other than 1 FWB,1 Diana and 1 AA are HW’s
Sam
Just tried to order the HW50 – and they were all gone.
I liked the idea of the “middle size” so I tracked one down at another dealer. Not an easy task – most dealers were out.
Lastly, it seems the new HW-50S are actually the equal to the R6-HW99, not the old R-8. Just an fyi if you order parts for a tune.
Happy shooting.
i have a Weihrauch HW 50 S but its pretty old, bout 15 or 20 years, and its lost a lot of its shooting power. id like to replace the piston spring, seals and any other part that will make it shoot with more power. please do you know any shop, preferably that has a web page that i might get these spare parts. thanks in advance.
LuisGarcia,
Based on the age of your HW 50 it probably has a leather piston seal.
Before you tear apart your HW 50 S I'd suggest oiling the seal and see if the power doesn't come back. Stand your gun on its butt and put 5-10 drops of lightweight silicone oil or 3 in 1 oil down the barrel. Let it sit overnight.
If the power doesn't return you can get parts from air rifle headquarters owned by Jim Maccarri. Do a google search.
kevin