Haenel 312 10-meter target air rifle: Part 7

Haenel 312.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

History of airguns

This report covers:

• The test
• RWS R10 Match Heavy
• Adjusted the sight
• H&N Finale Match Light
• H&N Finale Match Heavy
• Qiang Yuan Training pellets
• JSB S100
• Vogel target pellet
• Firing behavior
• Trigger
• Summary

Today we see the accuracy of the freshly tuned Haenel 312. I don’t expect a change, but we shall see.

The test

I shot the rifle off a sandbag rest at 10 meters with the rifle resting directly on the bag. I shot 5-shot groups so I could test more pellets.

I had removed both sights during the disassembly and assembly. The rear came off to get access to the sidelever block pin and the front to put the barreled action into the spring compressor. So did I need to sight in? I felt that it would be fun to just start shooting without a sight-in and see where my shots went. Remember — I also did that in the first test. And, no, to whoever asked if I typically shoot warm-up shots in accuracy tests. I sometimes do, but it’s not a habit.

I shot many of the same pellets from the first accuracy test in Part Three.

RWS R10 Match Heavy

Well, wouldn’t you know it — the very first pellet was also the most accurate. Five R10 Match Heavy pellets went into a group that measures 0.109-inches between centers. That is a gold dollar group!

The Haenel 312 put five RWS R10 Match Heavy pellets into a 0.109-inch group at 10 meters. It’s the best group of the test.

In Part Three five of these pellets went into 0.241-inches. So, yes, this is better, but as you’ll see, it’s also not typical. It may just have been luck.

Adjusted the sight

Notice that the pellets didn’t hit the target too far from the center of the bull. After seeing where they hit I dialed the rear sight down five clicks and left 2 clicks. Because the remaining pellets were different weights and head sizes I probably won’t try to center any of them.

H&N Finale Match Light

The second pellet I tested was the H&N Finale Match Light pellet. In the first accuracy test (Part Three) five made a 0.259-inch group. In this test five went into 0.28-inches. That is more consistent with how well I believe this rifle can shoot.

The Haenel 312 put five H&N Finale Match Light pellets into a 0.28-inch group at 10 meters.

H&N Finale Match Heavy

Next I tried an H&N Finale Match Heavy pellet. These weren’t tried in the last accuracy test, so there is nothing to compare them with. Five went into 0.277-inches at 10 meters, so not much different than the Lights.

The 312 put five H&N Finale Match Heavy pellets into this 0.277-inch group at 10 meters.

After seeing this group I adjusted the rear sight one click to the left. And it seemed to make a difference.

Qiang Yuan Training pellets

The next pellet I tried was the Qiang Yuan Training pellet. They made the largest group in the last accuracy test, at 0.295-inches for 5 shots. Today they also made the largest group at 0.499-inches, but one of those shots was a called pull. I called it as going up but the stray shot in the group actually landed lower. The other 4 shots are in 0.227-inches between centers.

Five Qiang Yuan Training pellets went into 0.499-inches at 10 meters with 4 in 0.227-inches.

JSB S100

The next pellet I tested was the JSB S100 Match pellet. This was another new pellet for the rifle. The 312 put five of them into 0.28-inches at 10 meters. That’s not bad for this rifle.

Five of the JSB S100 target pellets went into 0.28-inches at 10 meters.

Vogel target pellet

The last pellet I tried was the Vogel wadcutter. It was also the first time I tried it. The 312 put five of them into 0.304-inches at 10 meters.

Five Vogel target pellets went into a 0.304-inch group at 10 meters.

Firing behavior

The rifle still shoots with a minimum of vibration. There is a little, but it’s nothing compared to what it was before. And as mentioned in Part 6 the rifle cocks with 8 pounds less effort. I could get rid of the rest of the vibration with more Tune in a Tube, but I don’t need that.

The rifle sits quietly when fired. There is no recognizable recoil, but that was true before the tune.

Trigger

The trigger is still single-stage and vague. It is a weak spot of this fine rifle. But the pull is light so I won’t sweat it.

Summary

The accuracy hasn’t changed a bit — just as I thought. That one super-tight group at the start was pure luck. At least that is my belief.

I have always wanted to test a Haenel 312, to find out how it stacks up against the other target rifles of the 1970s-90s. Now I know. It’s okay but not great. I can live with that.

Tom Gaylord (B.B. Pelletier)

Tom Gaylord, also known as B.B. Pelletier, provides expert insights to airgunners all over the world on behalf of Pyramyd AIR. He has earned the title The Godfather of Airguns™ for his contributions to the industry, spending many years with AirForce Airguns and starting magazines dedicated to the sport such as Airgun Illustrated.

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