The 3-12 Bug Buster looks like it was made for the HW 30S.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4 — Rekord trigger
Part 5 — lube tune
This report covers:
- The scope
- The test
- Sight-in
- JSB Exact 8.44-grain dome
- Norma Golden Trophy FT dome
- RWS Superdomes
- RWS Meisterkugeln Rifle
- Discussion
- Summary
Today we will see the results of scoping the HW 30S, and be able to compare them to the groups that were made with open sights in Part 3.
The scope
What scope should I mount on the HW 30S? If that isn’t an obvious choice you must not be an airgunner. The only scope for this little sweetie is one from the UTG Bug Buster line. I selected the Bug Buster 3-12X32 scope with one inch rings.
The test
I tested the rifle off a bench at 10 meters. The rifle was rested directly on the sandbag. It’s now shooting very smooth and a bag rest is fine. I shot 10-shot groups with the three best pellets from the first accuracy test with open sights. That was in Part 3 and I told you I was having trouble seeing the correct sight picture that day, so this will be the chance to compare what I did then to a scoped rifle.
I also tested a Norma pellet that is new. The other day when I asked about testing pellets the best advice I received said to find a rifle or pistol that shot them well, because there is no way to establish a baseline for accuracy without shooting groups. All the measuring and weighing in the world is meaningless without accuracy results. Therefore I will go right on doing what I have been — running new pellets into my accuracy tests from time to time, to identify those up-and-coming pellets. Let’s begin.
Sight-in
The first task was to sight-in the rifle, since I had just mounted a scope. Since this is a Bug Buster that focuses down to nine feet, there was no problem. At 12 feet the pellet struck the target to the left and low, but close enough to the aim point that I knew I would be on paper at 10 meters.
From the bench at 10 meters the second shot was slightly higher and even more to the left. Two more shots with scope adjustments had the pellet on the left side of the bull.
Remember, with a scope I’m not interested in hitting the center of the target. That destroys my aim point and allows the group size to grow. If I were sighting-in the rifle for general shooting I would of course get it shooting to the aim point, but for accuracy testing that center dot must be preserved.
JSB Exact 8.44-grain dome
The first pellet I tested for accuracy was the JSB Exact 8.44-grain dome. It was also the sight-in pellet. Ten of them landed in a group that measures 0.24-inches between centers. When I shot the same pellet with open sights in Part 3, five of them went into 0.49-inches. So today with a scope, twice as many pellets made a group half the size! I’d say that was an improvement!
At 10 meters the scoped HW 30S put 10 JSB Exact 8.44-grain domes into 0.24-inches.
Okay, we’re on a roll. This is the kind of accuracy I was expecting from this rifle. Let’s try a Norma pellet
Norma Golden Trophy FT dome
The next pellet I tested was the Norma Golden Trophy FT dome. These pellets are supposed to be the equivalent of RWS pellets, and I am told this one is the equivalent of the RWS Super Field domed pellet. In my past testing this pellet hasn’t done well, and I was told that their head sizes are intentionally small because 10-meter target shooters advised the design team. So today I thought I would measure some pellet heads with my Pelletgage.
Out of ten pellets, five fell through the Pelletgage hole at 4.48mm. The rest measured from 4.47 to 4.51mm. No wonder they are not accurate in most airguns! First of all, their heads are way too small. I search for pellet head sizes of 4.53mm and larger in .177-caliber pellets because they are what most sporting airguns prefer.
The variance of five of the ten pellets from 4.47mm to 4.51mm is a second reason they are not accurate. Measure a tin of JSB domes and you will seldom see a variance of more than one-tenth of a millimeter.
Ten Norma Golden Trophy FT domes made a group that measures 0.415-inches between centers at 10 meters. It is a small group, but it is also the largest group of this test and substantially larger than the groups made by the other pellets that were tested. I’m glad I measured their head sizes because now I believe I know why they perform like they do.
I didn’t test these Norma pellets in Part 3 so there is no comparison to be made.
The HW 30S put ten Norma Golden Trophy domes into this 0.415-inch group at 10 meters. Except for that lone stray off to the right, they stayed together well.
RWS Superdomes
The next pellet I tested was the RWS Superdome. Ten Superdomes went into 0.20-inches at 10 meters — the smallest group of the test. In Part 3, shooting with open sights, five of these same pellets made a 0.533-inch group at the same 10 meters. So this time the scoped HW 30S put twice as many pellets into a group that is almost one-third the size of the group made with open sights at the same 10 meters.
The HW 30S put 10 RWS Superdomes into this 0.20-inch group at 10 meters. It is the smallest group of today’s test.
RWS Meisterkugeln Rifle
The last pellet I tested was the RWS Meisterkugeln Rifle wadcutter. The HW 30S put 10 of them in 0.327-inches at 10 meters. In Part 3 the same rifle shooting with open sights put 5 into 0.542-inches.
Ten Meisterkugeln Rifle pellets made a 0.327-inch group at ten meters.
Discussion
The HW 30S did extremely well today. Apparently I was having a lot of difficulty with the 30S and open sights when I shot in Part 3. I think it was because I used a square post with a Vee rear notch.
I think the rifle will do just as good when I mount a rear target sight for the next test. I will also install the front aperture insert. The good thing about that is I can adjust the sights to hit the center of the bull for that test, because it won’t ruin my aim point.
Summary
With today’s test we have established that this HW 30S is quite accurate. The trigger has been adjusted to perfection and the powerplant has been de-buzzed with Tune in a Tube without loosing any velocity.
The next test will be with a target aperture rear sight. Then I will disassemble the rifle to look at all the internal parts and finally I will tune it with a Vortek PG-2 SHO kit and test it again for velocity and accuracy. For the accuracy test I will use the most accurate method of sighting that has been discovered during this testing.
I’ve had the best accuracy at distance with multiple R7’s and HW30’s with Beeman FTS / H&N FTT pellets. Best head sizes vary slightly based on bore size but .177 Weihrauchs are typically tight at the choke/squeeze at the end of the barrel.
B.B.,
If the 10 meters target rifle pellet head size assertion is true then you should include this pellet in your shoot off between the FWB 300s and the Diana 75. I don’t quite understand why a pellet with an undersized head will perform better than one with a right sized head.
Couldn’t log in at all yesterday. Felt like a kid looking through a glass window while the other kids were enjoying themselves in an arcade.
Siraniko
PS: Section Sight-in 1st paragraph 2nd sentence, “Since this is a Bug Buster that focuses dow (down) to nine feet, there was no problem.”
Siraniko,
Fixed it. Thanks,
BB
B.B.
I agree that the Bug Buster sized scopes are perfect for the HW 30. However, what is with those rings. They seem to mount very high, like pant legs that are 4 inches to short! It that your preferred heads up shooting position? Before you mount the apeture sight, move back, way back and tell us the maximum effective range of this gun? I would wish that you would start to incorporate that in all you airgun tests. Maybe something like an average group size twice what the 10 meter group is?
Just a suggestion, but something most new airgunners want to know.
-Y
Yogi
I would totally like to see that in BB’s reports. The maximum effective range.
And BB always seem’s to mount his scopes higher than I like. I always try to keep the objective bell about a 1/16″ to a 1/8″ away from the barrel if I can. Of course that depends on the line of sight and the cheek weld.
Yogi,
I would likely want rings like that myself. It is actually hard to get “down” enough with that stock to use the open sights. Fortunately you need to adjust the rear sight up a good bit.
Yogi,
Curious, how would you define and determine the maximum effective range (I call that MER 🙂 ) of a gun?
Myself there are two components to MER, the maximum accuracy range and the maximum energy range. The maximum energy range is a consideration for live game and pests.
To determine the maximum accuracy range of a gun I use 10 shots and one inch group as the reference moving the target back in 5 yard increments until the one inch group can not be obtained. The one inch group distance is the MER for gun/sight/ammunition combination for the current conditions. Cold, heat and (especially) wind can affect the MER.
To determine the guns MER I shoot from a bench. But (because I don’t bring my bench hunting LOL!) I also check my off-hand, leaning and sitting MER.
Hank
Yogi,
See my post to you down the Replys a way. The system just wouldn’t let me post a reply directly to you…must have been outside the effective range?!
shootski
Hello.
Getting carried away in the garage, fettled the new trigger as it was slightly stiff, found the issue ( it was tooo thick ) and started playing with a new stock idea…. : – ) Robert. PS His mounts are high so he can see over the iron sights. I know as I have done this before and wondered why my scope was blurry…PPS maybe I am going to put the Gamo SuperExtra custom XR4000-RR on a weight loss program. OR go full bull pup again.
Front HW sight are easily removed and reinstalled.
-Y
RobertA
I have not had a blurry sight because of the open sights on a gun. Probably the magnification you have your scope set at is making the problem your talking about.
What magnification do you shoot at?
Roibert,
Thaks for understanding why I use high mounts. It’s not the front sight but the rear that I want to see over. Sure, if this was my only air rifle and I had all the time in the world I might do things differently, but my fat face pushes my eye up anyhow, so these mounts are no problemo!
BB
BB,
I walked around the rabbit finding place for a good hour with this smudge in my scope that was bending the sight picture just a bit, I was thinking my old Tasco scope was on the way out. I finally started looking through the scope and waving my hand to see if there was correlation between what I was experiencing and something that may be in front of my scope and…. my hand finally came to rest on the front globe sight I had left on. Oh it’s you! So I used my pellet poker to loosen the screw and take off the globe and BINGO no more bad scope view. So I did learn a lesson that day. You THINK your scope will miss all those obstructions…. well maybe not!
And your eye level is not actually that high imho, it looks high because of the gap between the 32 mm Objective end and the spring tube.
I can swap between my 32 mm and my 42mm scope on the same mount. The eye level is the same! ( yes I can slide a thin thing between my bell end and the spring tube… ) I guess this is “scope limbo dancing” …. : – ) Robert. PS I really appreciate this blog and I randomly read previous reports with pleasure. Awesome!
RobertA
If you use lower magnification you don’t see that when you look through the scope.
Plus if it was to show up it would be in the lower part of the ocular lens. What distance are you shooting at anyway to need that much hold over on the gun?
GF1,
The globe sight was making the entire reticle weird. So no hold over required! And it was a fixed magnification 4x scope. I learned that things in the way of the scope can play havoc, best to avoid them ! : – ) Robert.
RobertA
True would be best to keep the open sights out of the scope view.
And probably the only time I ever noticed what your talking about was with a globe front sight and it was actually on my hw30 too. But I only saw it in the lower quarter of the scope when I had the scope up at 10 magnification. Down at 4 magnification which is what magnification I usually shoot at I wouldn’t see it.
And usually at either of those magnification I would never see the front post or rear notch sight through my scope.
I was thinking about somebody reading our comments and saying to theirselves now I only can get me a air gun with no front or rear sight to scope it and see correctly through the scope.
Which is not true at all. Even with low scope mounts. I didn’t want someone making a choice to not get a paticular air gun because of the reasons we are talking about.
There is a lot to look at when scoping a gun no doubt about that.
GF1.
I am pretty sure no one reading these comments is going to ignore the photo of BB’s rifle with both sets of sights onboard. Will put my iron sights back on my Gamo with the low 42mm scope and see how much difference it makes. and then I will put my globe on , heck I will put my dioptre on as well. ( go fully tacticool ) and a torch dagnabit. If I had a 100mm Objective I could probably set all this gear infront of the scope. Will send pics. : – ) Robert.
RobertA
How long will I be waiting to see that picture. 😉
GF1,
heading out to the garage now! Robert.
RobertA
🙂
GF1,
Well dang it I got sidetracked bullpupping the Gamo X-treme 9000 RS. the grip and wire stock is just to get things rolling in the right direction. More LOP, and thumb hole stock. Balances much nicer than the last stock, should be less wobbly. And the grip is much higher than the last bullpup stock. So better CoG. Oh yes, iron sights and gank attached to the rifle. Right. Next time! Too much drilling taping filing sawing marking out rasping sanding gluing fun to have! Robert.
RobertA
Ok let me know when you get the pictures of those sights we talked about.
GF1. Roger that. Wilco. Coffee first. Had an awol kitchen stove experience…. simmerstat went full on and smoked my beef. the smoke…… and yes smoke detectors really do work! Far out my heart was racing. I will never trust a stove again. three hours of scrubbing tar off the everything in the kitchen. sight! yes I get the picture. I see where this is going. I have a clear view of the situation. ; – ) Robert.
GF1,
The “scope and globe” bar and grill at your service. Slapped the globe and the iron sight on, scope does look over the rear but not the globe. as you can see. A fine front sight might be hard to see but the globe not so hard. Top pic is 3X bottom is 9X. ( the Tasco scope I used with the globe on is 3X …. ) . : – ) Robert.
RobertA
There is a problem with your picture though.
Now take a picture of the globe sight looking at a target and we will see a different thing about the globe sight through a scope.
Your picture just shows it against a white back ground. Your camera is focused on the globe sight not the target.
Try again.
GF1,
The best I can do with out digging out my DSLR. I think we can safely say that the globe sight is indeed in the sight picture. With my 32mm 3X Tasco it was less obvious but seemed worse… Go figure. Robert.
RobertA
I could hit that target no problem looking through the sight in that picture.
Thanks that is what I was looking for.
RobertA,
Boring a bunch of holes in the right places will put your Sweetheart on a weight saving program that will surprise you! Just NO straight lines of lightening holes along stress vectors! Little to no loss of strength but she will be way lighter in all the right places.
PLUS a cool tactical style…if you are in to that.
shootski
Shootski,
Boring holes = “Drillium” lightest material known to man. I guess you could say that I am just flexing my creative DIY skills. I really don’t have a clue and am just making it up as i go along. No I am not a tactical fan at all but then I am not a fan of “every line has to be a curve” either. Most of the time I am dealing with constraints and some kind of issue. Either lack of material or lack of machines. BUT you won’t find any CNC/ CAD stuff here,! Nor 3D printing! Nope! The hard work is part of the journey. Take my trigger that I made, must be hours of filing in that. Now I “own” that trigger. Next one will be real steel and even cooler. The best thing about all this making stuff for the Gamo is that I can strip it all off and do it again because I made the Gamo stock into a sort of platform. The plastic stock has a alloy plate screwed to it so I can use that with ease. For every new stock idea I have I do not have to do the inletting etc etc. Вы понимаете?
This new version is actually pretty cool. I am thinking of ways to make it ease on easy off and yet solid. AND did you note that I used my old grip? Backwards compatible! I was forward thinking when I made that first grip. It’s part of an ecosystem! But instead of silly bits of alloy clamped to other bits of silly I opted for a slab of alloy/wood with tapped holes. It’s super solid, square and rugged. Everything is bolted together with 6mm Allen screws. So you only need one tool! ( the grip needs a long reach one though ) . Next version of this stock will be light, fixed LOP and specific for the scope and stance. Heck I could just make and adapter and buy all the AR based stuff and be done. But that is boring! 3D milled bling for your Gamo XR3000 Sir? No thanks! In fact I was looking at a piece of Pittosporum that is drying out in my wood pile and though, maybe leave the bark ON and use the wood to make the stock? How weird/cool would that be? REAL-BARK !!!!! Wow it looks so real! Well son, it is real…. :- ) Robert.
BB,
How do you like that 3-12 Bug Buster? I have one on top of my Maximus. UTG now has a 3-9 just like it. I am going to have to get me one. I do wish UTG would go to a fine etched glass reticle on these little buggas, but that thick reticle does help when you are looking up through the canopy at Mr. Fuzzy Tail.
I am glad you picked up an HW30S and decided to show it to us. I have really been enjoying this series. Now, with the Vortek PG-2 SHO kit, what kind of results will you be expecting from it?
Maximum effective range? Hmmm. What Yogi and Gunfun1 seem to be forgetting is when you are shooting an airgun that has some legs, you usually do stretch it out unless it is just shooting so badly it is not worth it. This HW30S has really short legs. Yeah, I can kill feral soda cans with it at or a little past 25 yards, but get a group at that range?
Personally, I would not expect much, not out of this thing anyway. Indoor shooting might be OK as that reduces wind effect. Since you have scoped it, I can understand their curiosity. Both you and I have shot 10 meter air rifles out to 50 yards.
You could always look at this as an excuse to shoot this little jewel a bit more, you know, for test purposes. Yeah, that’s the ticket. 😉
RR,
I like the 3-12 Bug Buster a lot. Yes, a thinner reticle would be nice, but I think I do pretty good with this one. 😉
BB
Hi folks,
speaking of Weihrauch, I’d like to give a shout-out to them for excellent customer service!
The HW 35 has a little leaf spring attached to the compression tube assembly that presses down on the cocking linkage. This spring broke on my rifle which resulted in grinding noises while cocking.
None of the dealers I checked had this spring as a spare part, just the entire compression tube, so I contacted Weihrauch directly and asked if I could get just the leaf spring.
They simply asked for my address and sent me the spring free of charge! Pretty cool, isn’t it?
Kind regards,
Stephan
Yup! That is what CS should be all about.
-Y
Stephan,
I agree with Yogi.
BB
BB,
Glad it all worked out. I do not shoot opens much at all. I prefer the no-guessing of a scope. The 499 peeps do work very well. To me, opens will always have a bit of user subjectivity in their use,.. but that is just me.
Chris
Chris,
I’m gonna start training my Royal Rangers boys and Girls Ministries gilrs with a 499 tonight! 🙂
BB
B.B,
I hope it is a great success and all of you have a great session with everyone having FUN…including you Tom.
shootski
BB
This is one of my favorite test series.
I am curious to find out what advantage a Vortek PG-2 SHO kit gives to a HW30S. I say this because mine is so smooth I chose not to not even use TIAT on the steel spring and I am a huge TIAT fan. If there is notable improvement in group sizes I will be looking to get the kit. But if accuracy gets a boost I’ll be wondering why Weihrauch hasn’t incorporated it.
Deck
Deck,
I spoke to Tom Gore of Vortek yesterday and asked him what the difference is between the PG II and PG III. The III has more guides for the mainspring was the answer. I’ll still probably get the II.
BB
Tom, I think you meant that you see variance in JSB pellets of one hundredth (0.01) mm head diameter from nominal. That’s 0.0004 inches. And I do agree, inconsistent head diameters of the range you saw in the Norma pellets is bound to affect accuracy.
BB
Looking forward to seeing what aperture you mount. I have a couple that work okay. One that should but doesn’t is the Williams peep that Crosman Custom offered. Sighting in presses the aperture against the stock so firmly it leaves a scar. Wondering why Weihrauch doesn’t offer their own.
Deck
Deck,
They used to. When the HW 55 was made they offered a peep and it is my hope to use it.
BB
There seems to be a diopter sight for HW rifles: https://www.versandhaus-schneider.de/product_info.php/cPath/40_96_1690/products_id/35927
(they also sell the front and rear sights separately)
I’m not too sure if the rear sight is really made by Weihrauch, though. It seems to look identical to the “Gamo” one.
Out of curiosity, I checked whether my FWB 300 S diopter will fit on a 11mm rail. I can’t tighten it. Apparently, it needs the vertical grooves of the 300 S rail.
Stephan,
I have many rear target diopter sights. When my buddy Mac died, I inherited all of his. I’m sure there is something I can use.
BB
I love this series! I look forward to see one of those elegant classic peeps mounted on this little jewel. On that topic, it would be nice if you could also suggest a commercially available peep sight for this rifle. If not the Williams, perhaps the AirForce?
Henry
Henry,
I will try to remember to do that. I think the AirForce sight would be a good affordible one, and also the Crosman peep.
BB
CptKlotz,
The rear aperture I have is for the FWB150. It will not tighten down on the 11mm rail either. Apparently the FWB150 and FWB300 has a slightly wider groove.
CptKlotz,
You’re right. That sight combination you linked to is not made by Weihrauch but probably gamo. If not gamo then it’s a knock off.
If you want a weihrauch diopter sight they’re out there but require some searching. The airgun forums and ebay are good sources. Just make sure you buy the sight that fits your gun since they were made for 13mm and also 11mm dovetails.
Don’t limit yourself to a weihrauch made diopter. The late model walthers (not the ones made to fit a rounded top dovetail) and the anschutz diopters for 11mm dovetails are my favorites. Lots of anschutz diopters out there:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/283893504053?hash=item42195f1835:g:0gkAAOSw~cRezqRb
https://www.ebay.com/itm/283581935821?hash=item4206ccf0cd:g:jYQAAOSw04ddVcTD
Here’s a late model walther:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/284110826753?hash=item4226532d01:g:v8EAAOSwh2ldgplP
Don’t overlook the sporting peep sights made by williams specifically for airguns with 11mm dovetails (the FP-AG series):
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1005990396/
“The HW 30S put 10 RWS Superdomes into this 0.20-inch group at 10 meters.”
B.B.,
That’s great, but I’m hardly surprised; these little jewels shoot well. And I fully concur that the UTG BugBuster scopes are a perfect mate for these little rifles. I took your advice on them and grabbed a couple of the fixed 6X Bug Buster scopes (so the the reticle would subtend less target, appear thinner) before they stopped making them. It’s worked out perfectly so far. But it’s good to know that, should anything happen to that scope, I can grab one of these 3-12X Bug Busters as a replacement. This is shaping up to be a great series. Perhaps more airgunners will realize that, while power has its place (for hunting, pesting, etc.), a nice lower-powered airgun can just be a ton of fun. =>
Take care & God bless,
dave
B.B. and Readership,
In early 2019 Hard Air wrote this about NORMA’S move into airgun ammunition:
https://hardairmagazine.com/news/just-announced-norma-airgun-pellets/
This year the company has these pellets on their site:
https://www.norma-ammunition.com/en-us/products/air-rifle
and this: https://www.norma-ammunition.com/en-us/products/dedicated-precision/ammo/pellets/norma-s-target-match/s-target-match-45mm—2411407
My opinion; if i was shooting competitive 10M today I would pass on their pellets given the dearth of technical specifications and lack of clear information on Lot number production.
I would have loved to have had the TOOL of Social Media to get inside the competition’s heads! This talk about NORMA small head size giving a leg up on smaller group size because they make smaller holes make me LOL! “WOW! you all need to buy NORMA pellets!”
What is that phrase??? Fool me once….
shootski
Yogi,
“…like pant legs that are 4 inches to short!”
Those are some serious High Waters! I was taught to have a slight break in the front of trouser leg and at the rear the pant leg needed to reach the top of the heel stack unless you were wearing Spurs.
Effective range is almost as difficult a thing to test for as the pellet testing question Tom put to us the other day. Your proposed idea of double the size of 10 meter group is interesting for .177 and .20 caliber but misses the mark (pun intended) for .22 and above calibers.
I think B.B. would need a fully instrumented and automated Test Range before most of our “wish he woulda-coulda” are ever answered…and then there would be his IT Staff….
I get what you would want though!
shootski
BB,
The topic of testing pellets keeps on coming up and it is an important subject. Hope you don’t mind if I voice a couple of thoughts…
Over my career I have been evolved in design and the subsequent testing, done a lot of this kind of thing.
First step is to identify exactly what is to be tested, in this case it is the pellet and the pellet alone. Using multiple guns in multiple senerios will just muddy the waters.
To do a proper test, the variables have to be minimized so that only the subject is tested. In testing pellets/slugs there are two considerations, the consistency of manufacture and the design itself.
Manufacturing variables can be minimized by sorting so that leaves only the design to be tested.
To test the design there needs to be some “rules”. For example, the same platform, tuned specifically to the pellet, shot at the same range under identical conditions ( e.g. indoors).
The “platform” should be known to be consistent, accurate and have the capability to be fine tuned. (The ability to swap calibers would be a bonus.)
To prevent mechanical problems, pellets should be single loaded from a tray and no moderator used.
The range should be far enough that design problems would be apparent. From my experience many pellets will preform well under 30 yards but start showing issues around 40 yards. I think that 40 yards is a reasonable distance as it seems to be the maximum range that most people typically shoot. People who shoot at longer ranges are going to be doing their own “gun specific” testing anyway.
All this will test the pellet design for stability and flight characteristics but the ultimate test will still be determined by the airgun that it will be used in. And that is the fun part 🙂
Done rambling, heading out to do some more shooting 🙂
Hank
BB,
I was ruminating on why Air powered shooting sticks have become more popular.
and trying to keep it simple ( the ruminating ). So after a bit of thinking I settled on this single basic idea: Less noise. No hecking loud BANG. This alone is a major draw card, it may not be so obvious but I think on a subconscious level it is quite important. Would all these new shooters be so thrilled if their new rifle was supersonic and SUPER LOUD ? In built up areas, around the urban maze, people just don’t want BANG BANG all the time.
I do agree there is lots more to consider if you were to try to understand the increase in interest, sure. but on a base fundamental: quiet = good. and people like good. So they become interested. Then things like cost, are you simply target shooting etc etc come in. and good advertising. Word gets round. Hey it’s not just for kids!
Anyway, I thought about this after reading one of your reports, so you only have yourself to blame for my rambling. : – ) Robert.
You can also get quality air guns starting from a lower price range than even rimfires. The HW30S sells in the same price range as a bare bones 10/22 in a birch or plastic stock. The HW45 or HW75 are priced in the same range as many of the nicer Ruger or Browning .22 pistols, and that’s a fairly entry-level price point for centerfire pistols.
Nathan
rpmdouble May 15, 2021 at 1:30 pm
Going on my fourth year with an HW30S and it’s been a pleasure to shoot and to introduce friends to air gun target. With low effort to cock and low weight to hold, this rifle has charmed my experienced friends as well as those who never held a gun before. It just feels right from the moment they pick it up.
Reactive targets with green splatter let everyone see their success. I tape the targets to a box which holds a bag of rubber mulch from Lowe’s. Silences the target impact. The HW30S itself is quiet, well-behaved for the backyard, and likes to take car trips to the mountains and desert.
In the first month, I added a Hawke Airmax 2-7×32 AO, which focuses down to 7.5 yards, perfect for the garage. The trigger is smooth and predictable, and doesn’t jar the sight picture, so my beginner friends improve in less than an hour. We shoot at a distance of 10 to 15 yards. Some of these new shooters go home and talk to their neighbors about a backyard range.
I still have a ways to go after four years, and I can offer one suggestion to people with modest skills. Shoot 30-40 pellets as many days as you can. Stretch out to 100 once in a while. It’s practically effortless with the HW30S. Keep your paper targets; it will be encouraging to see progress over time.
I often consider the incredible technology in the latest guns, but am so happy with what I have, all the rest is an enjoyable reading adventure.
Should mention that my previous shooting over the past 25 years was .22 rifle at target ranges and 12 ga on clay courses. I sort of miss it, but not enough to go out and buy it again. In particular, the Anshutz .22 field bolt action was an elevating experience. But I feel the same way about it as with the Weihrauch. They are each mechanical works of art in their own way. But now I don’t have to put up with the shock wave of a .357 at the next stand in what should be limited to truly small bore at the range.
Thanks for the series.
rpmdouble
That’s why air guns are cool.
That’s why I like them too. Agree 100%.
Speaking of globe sights, had been having fun zeroing-in the .22 HW95 and almost had it where I wanted it; had put about 40 pellets through it firing at a target 25 yards away, but it was getting late, arms and eyes getting tired.
Next day was given the opportunity to do some “pest control” at a friend’s afflicted with pesky reptilian invaders. After firing about 10X, when getting ready to reload, realized the globe sight had fallen off; FM had never touched it and it seemed sturdily mounted on the barrel, so went with the IIABDFI (If It Ain’t Broke Don’t Fix It) Rule. The part fell onto uncut thick grass on sloping ground next to a seawall. FM scoured the area several times, at one point with the aid of binoculars and a mechanic’s “pickup” magnet, without success. No metal detector available, unfortunately.
Lesson learned: after the replacement sight comes in, lock & Loctite! Still no plans to scope the rifle. Stuff happens, specially to amateurs.
FM,
I would have figured it would fall off right between where you had taken your last shot and where you’d walked to, so I’m wondering how the binoculars factor in.
The magnet isn’t a bad idea, but only the knurled end cap and I think the insert are steel. The rest of the globe sight is probably aluminum – I just checked with my HW30S and a fridge magnet.
Nathan
Thought the same – “it has to be by my feet!” But no – the ground was covered in uncut grass, with patches of black soil and dried out roots. The part could have bounced or rolled. The binoculars were an idea based on desperation and to compensate for aging/damaged eyes. That didn’t work. A metal detector would have been the tool of choice but none in sight. Pun intended. Maybe if the opportunity presents itself will go back and search for it some more. One thing this incident motivated FM to do was to pick up a starter gunsmith’s kit which includes some nice hollow-tip screwdrivers to help keep things nice and tight without “buggering” screw heads and doing other damage to the rifle. Sometimes bad things need to happen to make other good things happen.