The HW 50S breakbarrel from Weihrauch.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
This report covers:
- Replace the stripped rear trigger guard screw
- Tightening the new rear trigger guard screw
- Vibra-Tite thread locker
- The test
- Target one –Air Arms Falcons
- Target two — RWS Meisterkugeln Rifle
- Target three — Air Arms Field pellet
- Target four — JSB Exact RS pellets
- The result?
- Summary
Today’s report comes from a comment reader Yogi made to Part 14 on this series. Does tightening the rear trigger guard screw improve the accuracy on the HW 50S?
Yogi said, “If you replace the back trigger screw and tighten it to 12-15 in/lbs your groups will improve further. The screw IS necessary!”
I replied
“Yogi, It’s not a matter if if, but when. The new parts are enroute. And I guess it need ANOTHER test at 10 meters. Oh, well… 😉BB”
The question is — is he right? There’s only one way to find out. I gotta shoot that HW 50S at 10 meters again. Oh, well!
Replace the stripped rear trigger guard screw
The first thing was to replace that stripped rear trigger guard screw and, as long as I’m replacing it, I also replaced the captive nut that receives it. The good news is, only the barreled action need come out of the stock. No further disassembly is required.
The rear trigger guard screw screws into this nut that’s held in the Rekord housing by swaged dimples on both sides of the housing. It slides out easily.
Tightening the new rear trigger guard screw
Tighten this screw VERY carefully. The small diameter of this screw shank and its fine threads conspire to make the screw easy to strip. I don’t own an inch-pounds torque wrench so I have to use a light touch to cinch it down.
Vibra-Tite thread locker
I’ll also observe that the Vibra-Tite thread locker really does its job. The screws that had it were still in the rifle tight!
The test
I did everything in my power to ensure this test ran exactly like the one in Part 14. I shot the same pellets in the same order
I shot ten-shot groups, so we can compare group sizes to those from Part 14. I shot off a bench at 10 meters with the rifle rested directly on a sandbag.
Target one –Air Arms Falcons
First to be tested were Air Arms Falcon pellets with 4.52mm heads. In Part 14 ten of them made a 0.22-inch group. Today 10 pellets went into a 0.25-inch group. That’s too close to call one way or the other. Errors in measurement could account for the difference.
Ten Falcon pellets went into 0.25-inches at 10 meters. This one is a wash with the group from Part 14.
Target two — RWS Meisterkugeln Rifle
Next to be shot were 10 RWS Meisterkugeln Rifle pellets. In Part 14 ten of them made a 0.385-inch group at 10 meters. Today ten made a 0.337-inch group. I call that a wash, too.
The HW 50S put ten Meisterkugeln Rifle pellets into a 0.337-inch group at 10 meters.
Target three — Air Arms Field pellet
The third target was shot with Air Arms Field pellets. In Part 14 ten made a 0.546-inch group. Today ten went into 0.201-inches. This is a significantly smaller group! And it is the smallest group of today’s test.
Ten Air Arms Field pellets went into 0.201-inches at 10 meters.
Target four — JSB Exact RS pellets
The last pellet I tested was the JSB Exact RS. In Part 14 ten of these made a 0.322-inch group at 10 meters. Today ten went into 0.253-inches — another significantly better group.
Ten JSB Exact RS pellets went into 0.253-inches at 10 meters.
The result?
Two of today’s targets are a wash with the same test in Part 14. Two are significantly better. So, what’s the verdict? To find out I looked at the results of the tests from Part 12, as well, because the rifle was also scoped in that test.
Group size
Pellet……………………Part 12………….Part 14……………..Today
Falcon…………………….0.49……………..0.22…………………0.25
Meisterkugeln Rifle….0.723……………0.385……………….0.337
Air Arms Field…………0.456……………0.546……………….0.201
JSB Exact RS…………..0.475……………0.322……………….0.253
Except for the groups not shooting inside the bullseye in Part 12, all these tests were conducted under similar conditions. I think we can now say that Yogi is right — tightening the rear trigger guard screw on a Weihrauch rifle does make a difference.
I would also add that the Vortek PG4-Steel tune kit, as modified in Part 11, makes all the difference in the shooting behavior of this rifle. It takes the HW 50S from being a hard-to-cock buzzy breakbarrel and makes it smooth and easy to cock.
Summary
This HW 50S has become a favorite spring-piston rifle of mine. I was glad to “have” to run today’s test!
BB,
Great report, great results; you’ve got a sweet (accurate!) shooter there; I’m happy for you. 🙂
Blessings to you,
dave
B.B.
That rear trigger nut can be a real problem. I’ve lost several. I would suggest slightly crimping the housing around it so it does not fall out. It is supposed to be free floating, but captive. I’ve often thought about getting a slightly longer rear screw. I do not see anything that would get in the way……
FWIW-Both the Air Arms and the JSb Exacts RS are the two pellets that I shoot in my HW 50’s. Now the question is 4.51 head size or 4.52??
-Yogi
Yogi,
If you click on the link it takes you to the 4.52mm head size. Plus I mentioned it in today’s text.
BB
B.B.
I have found the JSB 4.52 head size to be very inconsistent. Maybe just a bad batch?
While the 4.51 is more consistent even if a little less accurate.
-Y
Yogi,
I’ll have to check the trigger nut/screw on my HW50 – especially if you say it’s a common problem.
My first thought is to replace the nut with a threaded spacer (or something similar) to spread the stress over a longer length of the screw. The added friction over the longer engagement should help resisting loosening.
Instead of crimping the trigger housing I would degrease the area, apply some silicone sealant or epoxy, reassemble the airgun and let it set up. The idea is to bed/glue the threaded spacer aligned to the screw axis.
You are very familiar with these springers, do you think this would be worthwhile doing?
Just curious, you have a couple of HW50 airguns and they seem to be a favorite of yours. Would you mind sharing what it is that makes the HW50 special to you?
Cheers!
Hank
Hank,
You asked for it, so here it goes…..
The HW 50 is very versatile. I have one set up as a 10M target rifle and a few set up as a 12 fpe FT rifle.
I love the cocking linkage!!!! The arc that the barrel goes through is much shorter than the arc that a HW 95 goes through. This linkage enables a much shorter slot in the stock for the linkage to clear. So more fore end wood. More fore end wood enables the stock to better absorb vibration. Bedding your stock helps too. I know some people like a slim fore end, but a fatter one will be more accurate! Yes the cocking effort is higher, we all need more exercise anyway.
I would love to do a guest blog on the different ways my HW 50’s are set up, but Tom changed his e-mail address so I can not contact him directly….
-Yogi
Yogi,
It would be great to see a guest blog on the HW50 from you! You can get a hold of Tom at this email: blogger@pyramydair.com
This might help if it’s your first guest blog…
/blog/2015/07/how-to-write-a-guest-blog/
Thanks for your comments, Weihrauch does make some fine airguns! I have the R7/HW30 (.177), HW44 (.22), HW50 (.22), and a pair of HW100 (.177 & .22) – enjoy the all!
Hank
Hank,
The rear trigger nut is supposed to be free floating(I assume it is by design or they would have have done something similar to the front trigger nut). When I try and fasten the back screw I am never sure when it “catches”.
Thus I think a slightly longer back trigger bolt might help. No more than 5mm longer. So I would not recommend fixing the rear nut. Or do it and tell how it works out?
-Y
Yogi,
I’ll take a look at the the nut/screw on the HW50 when I catch up on things.
Usually a captured nut is used where tolerances are loose and there is an advantage to having the nut float around to align itself to the screw.
Weihrauch originally just threaded the sheet metal trigger housing so I think that the threaded nut/spacer/piece can be fixed in place. The captured nut is a good way to put threads in an area that awkward or to thin to tap. Cutting a piece of steel to fit in the trigger housing and taping that would be better, it’s just not practical/economical for the manufacturer to do. From my perspective, it’s an easy fix. 🙂
Cheers!
B.B.,
JUST CRIMINAL!
”I don’t own an inch-pounds torque wrench so I have to use a light touch to cinch it down.”
But that was some nice shooting…would it have been better still…
IF…
The Godfather Of Airguns® owned an Inch-pound torque wrench and could apply the Yogi recommended value of 12-15 In/lbs of torque…i guess we will never know!
shootski
shootski,
don’t you know that this is a German gun that uses the metric system?
You can’t just feed it inch-pounds. It needs Centinewtons! Feeding it the wrong type of torque would be like putting volts in the tank of a gasoline car.
Stephan
Stephan,
Thank you! I knew shootski was jerking me around but I couldn’t think of a snappy comeback. You saved my day! 🙂
BB
Tom Gaylord (B.B. Pelletier,)
Zicke Zacke Zicke Zacke HOI HOI HOI!
shootski
This report and these comments are why I read this blog. 🙂
CB
Stephan,
Ich auch
shootski
CptKlotz,
Es ist mir Wurst ob es inch-pounds, Centinewtons oder cN = 0.01 N. · 1 Gram-Force, aber er sollte ein Messgerät haben.
Das Luftgewehr is auch überhaupt ein Flüchtling und muß English lernen.
Prost
shootski
That’s funny banter. Thanks to Google Translate, I enjoyed that.
Roamin, I used Google Translate as well…funny stuff…love it! 🙂
Tom,
So the replacement of the stripped rear trigger guard screw made this rifle into an air rifle that is non-choosy regarding pellets? Now that this is settled what was the use case of this rifle again? A scoped pesting rifle for 25 yards and closer if I remember right.
Siraniko
Siraniko,
Yes. That is how I intend to use the rifle.
BB
BB,
Wait a second! This sproinger is not shooting at over 1500 FPS! So what if your groups are less than 1/4 inch at a little over 10 yards! With open sights, no less! How can you hope to injure, more or less kill, a pest at even point blank range with an air rifle of such low power?! 😉
RidgeRunner,
[Grunt] Less power! [Grunt] We need less power! [Grunt, Grunt] ;^)
Michael
While ol’ FM was “treadmilling” yesterday and finding fun stuff on the phone, came across a new Gamo hyper powered springer which seems to be their version of the HW90 except it is spring – not gas – powered; 41 lbs cocking effort and a claimed 36+ FPE. Caliber is .25, speed with alloy pellets alleged to be 1000 FPS. There is your 10-meter pest destroyer, RR.
By the way, when the trigger guard screws, which kept loosening, on FM’s HW95 received the blue Loctite treatment, accuracy improved.
FM,
As springers usually go, the lighter the projectile and faster the speed, the greater the muzzle energy. Gamo sells an alloy .25 PBA Gold pellet that weighs 14.4 grains. That’s probably the lightest .25 pellet on the market. At 1000 fps that pellet from that rifle would generate about 32 fps of muzzle energy, a far cry from 36 fps. So Gamo’s math is off it that was the pellet they used for testing. To generate 36 fpe that pellet would have to get up to 1060 fps. If it does, well then, hats off to Gamo. That would probably be the greatest muzzle energy for a springer in .25 available today.
Michael
Michael, in the author’s words –
“Now, the lightest .25 caliber alloy pellets I can find are the 16.54 Grain Predator GTO lead-free pellets. If we assume that these are the ones used for that “1,000 FPS” claim, that would make the Muzzle Energy a huge 36.74 Ft/Lbs. WOW”
The numbers do seem very optimistic, even to a non-expert.
FM,
I don’t believe that rifle can shoot 16.54 pellets at 1000 fps. I think any velocity testing Gamo did on the air rifle was with their own pellets, the lightest I have seen in .25, and much lighter than the Predator, the 14.4 grain Gamo .25 PBA Gold pellet. That probably could produce close to 36 fpe. with that air rifle.
Keep in mind, however, that muzzle energy matters little to hunters. The Hatsan QE 135 has a muzzle energy of 32 or so fpe. with a velocity of 550 fps. with 55 grain .30 pellets. I’d bet the house that the terminal energy of that rifle is greater than the terminal energy of the Gamo shooting a 14.4 gr pellet at 1100 or so fps. Gamo is concerned with statistics that don’t matter in the real world.
I have somewhere in my basement a Gamo Socom Extreme Hunter in .177. I got it in a trade of multiple air guns. (It wasn’t the gun I was really interested in.) It is supposed to shoot Gamo 5.1 Grain Platinum PBA pellets at 1650 feet per second. It takes roughly 50 pounds to cock and weighs 10 pounds without a scope. I shot it once, and only once with a 16 grain Eun Jin pellet of a few the previous owner tossed into the rifle bag it came in. I am sure that pellet would have gone completely through two big steel coffee cans full of water. But other than bragging rights (as I just used it for, bragging that I have one) what purpose does it serve?
And frankly, it is bad for a springer that powerful to be shot with pellets that light. A minimum of 11 grains, maybe. Otherwise one will damage the innards. For the health of the rifle, there is little difference between 5.1 grains and zero grains.
Michael
Michael, B.B. theorized that Gamo gets its velocity figures from firing the guns after they’re lubed for shipping. This causes dieseling, so the velocity is boosted. It makes sense.
OhioPlinker,
You are absolutely correct. I remember that now that you’ve mentioned it. B.B. has taught us so much, it is impossible to remember even half of it.
Michael
RidgeRunner,
Hit them with the nice wooden stock;
head hits only!
shootski
Regarding the rear trigger screw nut (and apologies if this was discussed in an earlier report): is there any reason you can’t or shouldn’t use a nyloc nut? Too tall? Inappropriate torque specs? Metric nyloc nuts in this size are pretty smal.
Thanks. Scott J
Scott J,
The size of the nut is pretty critical. And would a Nyloc nut prevent the screw from stripping?
BB
It wouldn’t prevent it from stripping but should eliminate the need for loctite or vibra-tite, right?
A nyloc nut is a good suggestion since you can source all sizes, BUT it’s too tall to fit Weihrauchs trigger group. Won’t fit. Vibratite, nail polish or blue loctite (or equivelant is the fix).
Thanks for explaining. I have a 50 but not removed that screw or actually looked at the nut clearance.
I really like the way this gun turned out… Nice, accurate, medium powered break barrel.
I would now love to see a test of a new super magnum powered Springer, just to make sure they are as bad as we think.
J. Miller,
SIG SSG ASP20 Magnum enough for you.
Tom has one testing on that one and I own two (.177 wood furniture and .22 synthetic stock) and both are well behaved!
shootski
I have it in the back of my head that heavy pellets would tame down some of the magnums behavior?
Bob M,
shootski knows they do on Magnum Gas Spring powerplants; up to a point.
Koily sproingers however, are beyond my ken.
shootski
Received my second Crosman 362 100YR and am somewhat disappointed. There are a few blemishes on the stock finish, some to shinny and some too dull and they do not blend. There is a dent with a cut extending out of the forearm checkering and the fitment between the pump forearm and stock is horrible.
Thinking of returning it and replacing it with a Beeman R9.
And then there is someone in shipping who thinks the sales receipt makes good packing material when it is crunched up into a ball.
Wow, that is sad; for all the hype about it, you’d have hoped they’d have done a better job on Quality Control.
Dave,
My words exactly in an email I sent off to Crosman with pictures.
Sad thing is I have another I got directly from Crosman and that one is close to perfect. The dark wood grain is a bit unusual looking but striking in its contrast of vertical and horizontal grain. It’s a keeper.
This one is from P/A but I’m sure they had no Idea what was inside the box. It just looks nasty.
The stock
The stock II
Bob M
The message learned is always buy the 10 for $10 when ordering a Chinese gun from PA.
Thanks,
Deck
Deck,
Good point, but I doubt something like this would be taken into consideration unless it was on a list of things to check for?
I’m sure PA had no idea, and I’m sure they’d take it back.
Pyramyd AIR has earned its good reputation for accepting returns.
The lesson learned applies to me. Examining and repackaging adds cost. This is why spending an extra $10 is a good deal for me.
Deck
Bob,
Mine is a dark (maybe just slightly darker than I’d prefer) walnut of some kind. The grain is nice, but nothing spectacular. The one you show here lacks the pronounced grain of walnut. It is also lighter than walnut, but many walnut examples of anything are stainded to be darker. I’m sure mine has a bit of dark chocolate brown stain.
The mismatched elements make this one definitely not a keeper; you ought to send it back.
Michael