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Education / Training HW 50S: Part 3

HW 50S: Part 3

HW 50S
The HW 50S breakbarrel from Weihrauch.

Part 1
Part 2

This report covers:

  • The test
  • Loose screws?
  • Air Arms Field dome-bag rested
  • Air Arms Field dome-artillery hold
  • Teaching point
  • Adjust the rear sight
  • RWS Superdomes
  • Air Arms Falcon
  • Crosman Premier Heavy
  • Adjust rear sight down
  • JSB Exact 8.44-grain
  • Shot cycle
  • Stock screws at the end
  • Discussion
  • Summary

Today we start looking at the accuracy of the HW 50S. This will be an interesting report.

The test

I’m shooting with the sporting sights that came on the rifle. With each pellet I shot 5-shot groups off a rest from 10 meters. I tried both resting directly on the sandbag and using the artillery hold.

Loose screws?

Remember at the end of Part 2 I said all the stock screws were loose? Well, they were all tight at the start of today’s test.

Air Arms Field dome-bag rested

First to be tested was the 8.44-grain Air Arms Field dome. Hmmm — do we know of any other 8.44-grain domed .177 pellets? Perhaps from JSB?

The first group was shot with the rifle rested directly on the sandbag. The first pellet went into the 8-ring of the bull, so I thought there would be no sight-in. The remaining four shots went into a 0.201-inch group outside the black. The first shot opened the group to 0.671-inches at 10 meters. I felt this was a great group and that I just had an aiming error on the first shot.

AA field bag
The HW 50S put 5 Air Arms Field domes into 0.671-inches at 10 meters, but the last 4 are in 0.201-inches. 

Air Arms Field dome-artillery hold

Next I shot five of the same pellets using the artillery hold with my off hand just touching the back of the cocking slot in the stock.

This time five pellets went into 0.564-inches at 10 meters. But look at the group. The shots are scattered within it. I think the bag rest is the way to go with this rifle.

AAField arty
When I used the artillery hold the shots went into 0.564-inches at 10 meters, but within the group they are scattered.

Stock Up on Shooting Gear

Teaching point

This is for reader Airman of the Board who asked on Monday, “Thanks for the reply and recommendation on pellet brands and sizes.

I still wonder about how experimenting with the hold (especially with springers) works in conjunction with pellet selection in the pursuit of accuracy. So many variables makes controlled testing complicated.

Thanks again,-Airman”

And I answered him, “Airman,

The best hold works with all pellets. In other words, try a pellet and find the best hold. Then stick to that hold and try other pellets.

BB”

You just had an illustration of how that works. I used a premium pellet and tried two different holds. I like the first group better because of the last four shots. So for the rest of today’s test I rested the rifle on the sandbag.

Adjust the rear sight

I adjusted the rear sight to bring the shots over to the center of the bull. This is when I noticed there are no indications of how the sights adjust. So I watched the notch and counted clicks. I moved the rear notch 7 clicks to the left.

RWS Superdomes

Five RWS Superdomes went into 0.439-inches, with four going in 0.237-inches. They landed in the center of the bull, left and right. They are still a little high. This is a second good pellet!

Superdomes
Five RWS Superdomes went into 0.439-inches at 10 meters, with four going in 0.237-inches.

Air Arms Falcon

Next to be tried was the Air Arms Falcon. Five of them made a 0.523-inch group at 10 meters. It’s almost a single hole but a larger group.

Falcon
Five Air Arms Falcons made a 0.523-inch group at 10 meters.

Crosman Premier Heavy

Next I tried five of the 10.5-grain Crosman Premier Heavys. They made a group that measures 0.422-inches between centers.

Premier Heavys
The HW 50S put five Crosman Premier Heavys into a 0.422-inch group.

Adjust rear sight down

All the groups had been high to this point in the test. At this point I adjusted the sight down four clicks.

JSB Exact 8.44-grain

The last pellet I tested was the JSB Exact 8.44-grain dome. Five went into 0.552-inches, with four in 0.159-inches. This group looks very promising to me!

JSB 844
Five JSB Exact 8.44-grain domes went into 0.552-inches, but four of them are in 0.159-inches at 10 meters.

Shot cycle

The rifle is very buzzy with every shot. It also moves a little in recoil. And the trigger could stand to be adjusted lighter.

Stock screws at the end

The stock screws are still tight after all these shots. I think they were just loose from the factory, because I didn’t put anything on the threads before I tightened them last time.

Discussion

Given what I see from today’s test, I think this HW 50S is a very accurate air rifle. I’m dissatisfied with the tune that’s on it and I want to tear into it to see what’s what. My hope is to go to the Vortek PG3 SHO tune next.

Summary

The HW 50S seems to be shaping up a lot faster than the HW 30S did. I’m ready to give her a good tune and really start testing her!

38 thoughts on “HW 50S: Part 3”

  1. BB,

    Is the flier relatively consistent with the first shot? Might be a little more work but how about a ten shoot group after you have settled on the best pellet in a series?

    Siraniko

  2. B.B.

    When you say, “The first group was shot with the rifle rested directly on the sandbag”, please be more specific? After much trial and error, I have found out that all my HW 50’s like to be bag rested with the bag pretty close to the trigger guard. Certainly closer than the fore end mounting screw. If I rest the gun closer to the muzzle my groups open up. Whatever you do, always rest it in the same place.

    -Y

      • My German made breakbarrel rifles all prefer bag resting at or near the balance point. They are Diana 34 in .177, HW30S in .177 and HW50S in .22. No idea which one is the most accurate. Each will win on a given day. All 3 are sub 1/2 inch 10 shot groupers at 25 yards. All have scopes currently. I think these are typical scores among those who comment on this blog.

        Deck

        • Deck
          You mention the balance point. I usually go back towards the trigger like I mentioned to Yogi.

          What that seems to do for me anyway is it makes some wieght towards the muzzle end of the gun which to me makes the gun more stable.

          I even shoot that way when I shoot standing unsupported. My forearm hand is in front of the trigger gard. And I lock both my fore arm and trigger arm elbows into my ribs and tighten up my arm muscles. Kind of like making fists and squeezing both hard. It makes for a very locked in hold. That’s how I taught my daughters to shoot rifles and they do well.

          This reminds me of my brother when he shoots a rifle. And note he is a very good pistol shooter but not a top notch rifle shooter. When he shoots a rifle standing unsupported his forearm is like 7 inches or more away from the trigger and arm not locked in and his trigger arm elbow is pointed straight out horizontal from his shoulder. I can watch him standing there and doing figure eights with the muzzle of the barrel. He has no control of a rifle hold at all. And he just don’t care or something cause he won’t change. But like I said give him a pistol and he can shoot one or two handed standing unsupported very good.

          I like my lock up hold when I’m shooting rifle standing unsupported.

          • GF1

            When rested the balance point is close to, even touching the trigger guard on my HW30S. The HW50S is an inch away and the 34 is a bit farther. I can snug them against the tg to get a muzzle heavy setup. Works well with the Weihrauchs.

            Good method you use for rifle standing. It has been years since I shot standing. Hunting is a cherished memory now.

            Any word on Chris?

            Deck

        • Deck
          I bet the way and what type of scope we are using is chanfinging the balance point. We’ll somewhat anyway. And maybe are bags hold the guns different too.

          You know that is something I really never took goodness of was balance point with different sight setups or bags and such. It’s got to make some difference.

          And no I haven’t heard from Chris. I told him I didn’t want to bother him. But in my mind I keep wanting to see what is up. But I do definitely pray for him. I’ll have to send him a email. I’ll let you know what’s up.

          • GF1

            I’m praying for Chris too.

            For these rifles I use a narrow front to back leather bag (2-3 inches) which easily locates the balance point. I have a thin silk ski hoodie covering the leather.

            I have tested peeps vs scopes many times on the Weihrauchs for accuracy. I can get only a hair better accuracy with scopes at 25 yards. The main benefit for me is knowing where pellets are landing.

            Deck

        • Deck
          My bag is 3-1/4″ wide front to back where the stock rests on the bag for whatever it matters.

          And I should add that on my standing unsupported hold I also tighten my upper arm muscles while tightening my fist grip which tightens my forearm muscles. I actually feel my forearms each arm pull in. Then my upper arms pull out then I lock my elbows to my ribs. Many a dirt clods got busted that way when I was kid with my air guns as well as my semi-auto .22 rimfire back then. 🙂

          And I did just email Chris. I’ll let you know if he answers back.

        • Deck
          Just letting you know I did talk to Chris today. He said he is still doing his chemo and radiation treatments. He said they say he is doing good as expected.

          He said he thought about selling his air gun stuff for a good price. I told him to try to hold onto it unless he really needs to let it go. After he gets past this he will probably want to shoot here and there. But he said he will stay in touch. I told him I would be praying.

          • GF1

            Thanks for the update on Chris. Readers need to keep praying for his recovery. I have had 3 different types of cancer and all are in remission. I don’t question the power of prayer.

            Stay well.

            Deck

  3. BB
    I took 2 inches off the spring on my 50. And added some blue tacky grease. A very light amount. It had what looked like a light film of oil on it from the factory. But now it is a much smoother shooting gun and very quiet when it shoots.

    Oh and the spring was canted on the piston end of the spring where it’s not on the giude. That’s the end of the spring I cut off.

    And to note mine is the new style 50 with the new stock they have now.

      • Yogi
        Ya know I thought I liked the older stocks. Well I still do. But I do really like the newer stock too.

        It really feels more balanced and lighter to me. I never checked the weight of the old and new 50 but the knew 50 sure seems to feel lighter when you hold it. Which is a good thing.

  4. It is starting to sound like Weihrauch may need to invest in some hornet spray.

    Likely, they are trying to cut corners as much as is possible to financially compete with these other companies that are buying cheap Chinese airguns and rebranding them.

    I just hope they do not go too far with that. I would hate to see them ruin a good name and product line. The 110 is bad enough.

    • RR,

      I’m not sure that cutting corners is the cause of this. I think if they wanted to do that, they wouldn’t use Minelli stocks and install excellent open sights (that many people don’t even use). The spring is probably not the most expensive part in an air rifle.

      I do think they are having some trouble with their spring manufacturing or gun assembly process on some models.

      They should sort it out because it doesn’t reflect well on their quality.

      Stephan

  5. B.B.,
    That’s some nice groups; it appears this rifle is not “pellet-picky;” it’ll be nice to see how she responds to your tune up. 🙂
    Take care & God bless,
    dave

  6. Well I figured I would do some show and tell today since we been talking a shooting competition and target types and groups and people have been posting targets and groups.

    This is shot with my .177 Marauder FT that is regulated from the factory and also comes with a Lothar Walther barrel from the factory. And this is how my targets look. Remember I’m a pester and a hunter. Pests and such don’t have refrence places to get your sights level and lined up and all that other stuff.

    And here is the topper. I have been practicing with Crosman Premiere 7.9 grain hollow points. Most here know I’m a big fan of the JSB and AirArms 10.34 grain pellets. But these 7.9’s have been doing very well in my .177 guns.

    Here is the target I use and the black circle is at .375″ on the outside diameter so that should tell the group size. And the shot on the right is a pulled shot and the shot on the left is a flier. That is a 10 shot group also. Forgot that is 50 yards resting the gun on a bag with it about 2 inches in front of the trigger gaurd.

    • Hi Gunfun1. Nice shooting! I had tried to respond yesterday evening but had to put the “smart” phone down before I finished and lost the message. I am amazed by the folks who can shoot that precisely and accurately at distance. My eyes seem to be tuned to see up close. While I can take off my glasses and read the microprinting on US currency, I struggle to see well enough at 25 yards to shoot open sights, even with my glasses. And with presbyopia setting in, it’s time to invest in new glasses and some magnified optics to shoot even at 25 yards with any degree of precision.

      And your target (along with Hank’s swarm of flies target) gives me another idea for a variation of the shooting contest we have been talking about, but for “hunting accurracy.” How about an event where we see how many small targets can be hit in a row, with the idea being everyone challenges themselves so they are hitting about 50% of the targets. That might be sufficient to establish everyone’s “handicap.” Then a month later, how many more can be hit in a row without a miss. The idea is to judge who can improve the most. Again, I defer to you or others, so I hope you are not annoyed, I’m just sharing ideas.

      Anyway, I hope to shoot as well as you someday. Have a great day.

      • Roamin
        I guess I need to clarify. I shoot mostly with a scope at 4 or 5 magnification and dot sights. That group was shot at 5 magnification with a scope. And to note the center of the cross hair fit my black circle I made on the paper. Like I keep saying matching the sight to the target is so important. But also this is one of my more accurate guns too. So it’s not all me.

        And it’s funny you say that about your hunter type target shooting. That’s pretty much how I practice for hunting or pesting. I will draw usually 6 or 9 black circles on my white copy paper and I take one shot at each target. That’s telling me how consistent I’m hitting to each aim point which is very important to pesting or hunting. I have submitted pictures of those targets on the blog before along with shooting at different distances and aiming at the black circle. What that does is tells your different hold over or under at different distances.

        So yes I was just trying to keep the competition simple with what I mentioned on previous blog reports so more people would participate. But if we want to make it a little challenging I’m for it. 🙂

  7. Hey Tom have you considered trying Vorteks new PG4 Steel tune kit? It looks like they have them available in both standard and ho variations for the 50.

    I have HW50-Hunter model from AOA and enjoy it very much as it seems to hit a sweet spot between power and compact/lightness. I recently purchased a HW57 from PA in hopes of trying to find the similar power & lightness as the 50 but in under lever form. I was considering this new pg4 kit for it.

  8. Morning all. BB, your target results pretty much mirror mine – first shot stays away from the next group of 4 pellets. While I use a bag, I still put my hand between the rifle and the bag to try to maintain a semblance of the artillery hold. BUT, I hadn’t been experimenting with the position of the bag/hand on the stock forearm. Back to the range!!

    OH, my 50 is or was very buzzy as well. You’ll love this – I took out an ancient can of wheel bearing grease (always grease those wheel bearings when you do a brake job) and used a tiny screw driver to put some of that grease on the spring through the cocking slot. It worked pretty well and with that can, I probably have three lifetimes supply of grease for this!

    Fred formerly of the Peeples Demokratik Republik of NJ now happily in GA, y’all

  9. Morning BB

    Thank you for your reply the other day, and demonstrating the theory in practice with today’s report. I continue to play around with different hold techniques and pellets, even after observing some combinations perform better than others. I am able to get my air rifles to group, but with the goal of shaving one or two hundredths of an inch for consistently smaller groups, I question whether I should apply tolerances at that same scale to my hold. That is, if I vary the placement of my air rifle on a shooting bag by an eighth of an inch, could that translate to group sizes that are by some degree larger than the groups possible had the hold been consistent to an even finer tolerance? I recognize that this is splitting hairs, but that is something I aspire to be able to do with my airguns (joke). I have been considering marking my shooting bag with reference lines for more consistent registration. It has been interesting to read in the comments today how other marksmen have had success. Sometime I am displeased with my performance and results, but I always enjoy the practice. Thanks again for entertaining our questions and sharing your experience.

    -Airman

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