Beeman R7.
This report covers:
- Same as an HW 30S?
- History of this rifle
- Velocity
- RWS Hobby
- JSB Exact Express
- H&N Baracuda
- Discussion
- Cocking effort
- Trigger pull
- Summary
Remember the Beeman R7 I showed you back in August? Today we test the velocity and find out what she’ll do.
Same as an HW 30S?
Is the R7 the same as an HW 30S? Yes and no. Yes the barreled actions are the same and no, the stocks are different. In fact when the custom stock Steve Corcoran made for my HW 30S arrived, I considered putting it on this rifle instead of the 30S. But this rifle has a history that I thought was worth preserving.
I have read comments where some people think the R7 is a more powerful version of the HW 30. I strongly doubt that. There just isn’t any reason to make it more powerful and then not make that claim in advertising. And, to my knowledge, that was never done.
History of this rifle
This R7 was made in 2002, so it’s not one that Doc Beeman sold. In fact, it was sold about midway through the Marksman ownership of the Beeman company. The story I was told is that it was owned by Brad Troyer who had it tuned by Paul Watts. I got it from reader Frank Ballestreri who got it from Troyer.
I can tell you that it feels like a tuned rifle. Cocking is smooth and the firing cycle is quick and free from vibration. If I didn’t own my tuned HW 30S this would be the smoothest springer I own.
Velocity
Today I’ll test velocity only. I will report muzzle energy so we can compare to other R7s and HW 30s but since this one’s been tuned we can never make a direct comparison..
RWS Hobby
This R7 launched RWS Hobby wadcutters out the spout at an average 642 f.p.s. The low was 634 and the high was 647 f.p.s. That’s a 13 f.p.s. difference. At the average velocity the 7-grain Hobby produces 6.41 foot pounds of energy at the muzzle.
JSB Exact Express
Next to be tested was the 7.87-grain JSB Exact Express pellet. Ten of them averaged 626 f.p.s. with a low of 622 and a high of 630 — a difference of 8 f.p.s. At the average velocity this pellet develops 6.85 foot pounds of muzzle energy.
H&N Baracuda
The last pellet I tested was the 10.65-grain H&N Baracuda. Ten of them averaged 487 f.p.s. The low was 482 and the high was 508 f.p.s. That’s a spread of 26 f.p.s. At the average velocity this pellet generates 5.61 foot pounds of energy.
Discussion
The power of this tuned Beeman R7 ranges between 5.6 and 6.9 foot-pounds. The power of the factory HW 30S ranged between 5.9 and 6.4 foot-pounds. The same rifle tuned with the PG3 SHO Vortek kit produced from 7.2 to 7.8 foot-pounds of energy. So it’s just a bit more powerful than the factory rifle and also than this tuned R7. If we tried to compare these air rifles at any stage of tune we would be comparing apples to cottage cheese. Both rifles have now been modified, and you can see they are both in the same ballpark, power-wise, which is good to know.
Is a factory Beeman R7 a little more powerful than a factory HW 30 as I have heard some say? I don’t think it is. I think the barreled actions are identical which makes the performance identical.
Cocking effort
This R7 cocks with 20 pounds of effort, as measured by my bathroom scale. That compares to the HW 30S that cocks at 23 pounds with the Vortek PG3 SHO tune kit that I installed.
Trigger pull
The R7’s two-stage Rekord trigger is set to 6.6 ounces on stage one and 12.8 ounces on stage two. That compares to 6 ounces for stage one and 12 ounces for stage two on the HW 30S Rekord trigger. The triggers are the same, only the adjustments make them different.
Summary
This R7 is another great breakbarrel springer, like the HW 30S, with which we’ve spent so much time. It’s a blast from the past that came with a conventional stock rather than the stock that comes on the current HW 30S. I think it’s an iconic air rifle. What do you think?
Of course it’s iconic, it’s a Weirauch!
BB,
It’s iconic for sure!
My old Beeman R7 air rifle (circa 1982) had a slightly different stock, with a longer non-checkered forearm.
Minus the scope, it looked just like this one I found for sale on Guns International.
These beauties are meant to be cherished! 🙂
Blessings to you,
dave
P.S. I didn’t realize that Frank knew Brad; not surprising, as they are both cool guys. 🙂
I only aspire to be half as awesome as most of the air gun community. Forget all your air guns…. It’s the community that has such value.
“It’s the community that has such value.”
Amen! 🙂
Frank B,
You are as good as the Air Gun community gets. You are a legend.
Tom,
If you didn’t have the HW30s with the Steve Corcoran stock on hand, would this have been a good pesting rifle for you? Does the stock allow use of iron sights or is the stock more for scope use? Being an older rifle I would expect this stock more suited for iron sights and off hand use.
Siraniko
Siraniko,
Yes, this one would be my pesting rifle and I can see the sights with no problem.
BB
Well B.B. this begs the question is a Paul Watts tuned rifle smoother than a Vortek kited rifle?
I wonder if Troyer ever used this rifle to shoot 55 yard targets with 1/2 inch kill zone?
-Y
Sooooo long it took me to buy one. To be honest – it is just at that “point of work”. It is iconic. It does not change – except the stock design. Talking about it – it was this little drop which make me decide to buy one – the new stock. I like it.
It is nice out of the box but you know me already – I would say almost nothing is “right” out of the box (may be except Feinwerkbau). I did tune it and it is the most sweet airrifle you can imagine now. Without big power, just fun and damn accuracy.
In this case I think they understood it correctly – do not touch the running system! 🙂
I think finally I can follow the logic of the “out of the box” shape. They made it right but not perfect – for a “normal” guy it would be lots of fun out of the box, just enough. For the “guy” it will never be OK out of the box and there it goes – every “guy” will tune it a bit different. So that is the reason to not tune it at all as a baseline – out of the box always the same made system, not perfect, not expensive. Good enough for normals, the “others” would be not happy about any kind of tuning because it has to be THIS tuning 🙂 Do you agree?
tomek,
Would you consider writing a guest blog on what you do to a new airgun to “fix” it?
I have my routine that I follow (with everything mechanical) and am curious about yours.
I’m sure that a many “others” that would be interested and the “normals” would benefit as well.
Hank
tomek, I second what Hank just said. 🙂
Hank, Dave,
It would be a pleasure – one thing only, I would need to dismantle it to make pictures. Outsch!… how to explain my wife I need to dismantle something at least two times a week 🙂
Shortly said: now I have the original “F” mainspring installed (both sides polished), the spring guide is tight with grease transport cavity (custom made), there is also mainspring hat (inside piston mini-guide) and the seal is also custom made like this “ZEPTO”:
https://superwiatrowki.pl/uszczelka-tloka-hw30-p-85.html
It is made of a special (rather hard) material which has lower friction and high durability. It is better than the original one (which is already OK I have to say). Especially at the very end of the air compressing process it does not suddenly brake due to higher friction (caused by load when the compressed air seals it stronger). All together it gives a very stable velocity (which is around only 530FPS now). I tested also strong Oteva mainspring which was just too strong at the end, also original export Weihrauch spring I tested (between the F and Oteva)… finally the “F” version was the best. It has absolutely no system noise during shot cycle, no vibration at all.
The grease I use is the special bearings grease and for the seal I use silicone oil (just few drops each 2k shots).
This is not the powerplant to squize all out of it. To be honest, up to 25 yards it does not matter if you have 530FPS or 650FPS (with Oteva it was that high) for the pellet drop. The difference is I can hit it all with those 530FPS and miss it with 650FPS 🙂 It is now so sweet that I actually avoid it to not start to shot and shot all over again… 😉
Thanks for the quick summary tomek!
I’m in the habit of taking pictures of my projects as I do them. It gives me a trail of bread crumbs to follow home if I need them and also provides the images for a guest blog should that be needed.
Doing a guest blog could be a good reason/excuse (for your wife – don’t think you need much reason) to disassemble something. Me, I usually need the convince myself NOT to disassemble something that’s not broken. 😉
I guess that I’m one of the “others”. My usually after break-in process is to disassemble; clean out factory grease; deburr sharp edges; polish moving parts; shim to tighten tolerances; upgrade hardware; lubricate with appropriate good quality grease; reassemble with Loktite; tune the power plant; adjust and (possibly) refinishing the stock and then shoot over a chronograph to get the new baseline for the airgun.
Find that I get as much fun and satisfaction out of “fixing” a new airgun as I do shooting it.
As usual, I have multiple projects on the go at the moment. Today, (for airguns) I’m plotting the “knee of the power curve” for a range of regulator pressures on my Panthera PCP.
Time is short, winter is coming too soon!
Cheers!
Hank, oh yeah! You are one of the “others” 🙂 Very similar approach I would say! 🙂 And of course the need to dissasemble unbroken things… to improve. There is this engineering tendency to improve things. Hope it won’t get worse 🙂
The regulator pressures! This is a very thin ice! And you have to walk it many times 🙂
FM subscribes to the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” school because…well, he’s chicken. Sometimes he actually manages to fix something. Thankfully, most of his airguns are doing well.
FM, he is not “normal.”
Iconic. I am officially envious.
Its iconic because it came to you by way of Frank B. He’s like the Steve McQueen of airguns.
Derrick,you have a way of making a guy feel 10 ft tall.
Brad Troyer lives in the city of Madison. That is right next door to Huntsville Alabama.
I just got back to my hospital room
From the place they’re going to do my radiation treatment. Today we made a very neat jig that will isolate my head neck and shoulders and locate them exactly through repeat radiation treatments.
I want to thank you everybody for your prayers. I can assure you they will give me the strength I need
To beat this.
This morning, I was trying to figure out which iconic actor some of the regulars remind me of. BB is a badass like Lee Marvin. I’m likely Don Knotts…
Derrick,
You got it wrong. I’m more like Marvin the Martian.
BB
Wonder if Marvin has ever tuned his ray-gun for smoothness and accuracy? But if he messed up, it would make him very, very angry.
FM,
Thanks for the flash-back!
I had a girlfriend who used to do an excellent Marvin the Martian imitation… at the most inappropriate times! LOL!
As it happens, this is FM’s favorite coffee cup, gifted by Mrs. FM since she knows her Worser Half is certifiably looney.
🙂
I am like Fabio after he got hit in the face with a goose. That wasn’t foi gras….
Frank,
You are in my daily prayers. May you be strengthened daily with them. And yes I don’t just admire the air guns but also the community that is made around them.
Siraniko
I want to thank you especially.
To think that someone that far away actually cares about me is quite touching.
This whole thing is overwhelming and you have somehow helped. Frank
“I can assure you they will give me the strength I need To beat this.”
Amen! That’s what we’re praying for!
Here’s the verse that I got as I prayed for you, Frank. Isaiah 26:3
“ You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts on You.”
Brent,
That’s a great one, brother!
BB
I am more appreciative than you could ever know.
Right now I’m sitting in a parking garage two and a half hours early for my radiation treatments.
My car battery is giving me all kinds of trouble. Before anyone tries to advise me please know that I know a whole lot about this.
It took a lawn tractor battery and a 500 amp jump start box to get the car going this morning. Just have to make it to the weekend. A friend at the flea market has a battery for me.
I am this early because I didn’t dare shut the car off.
So your prayers and that verse are sorely needed…… And that is a wonderful verse thank you my friend
Frank
Kinda reminds me of chain mail that the Knights used to where during battles. Since that is what you are doing,, fighting a battle,,I think it is very fitting.
I expect you to be victorious.
Ed
Thank you both for the smiles you caused. They are much needed right now.
That blue apparatus is absolutely coming home with me. I have like 50 different ideas of things I can do with it. I’ve made it through two rounds of radiation so far.
Next time I’m going to bring a spider with me. Frank
FM adds you to his list of people he prays for and will crank the prayer wheel as hard as possible on your behalf.
Frank
The spider might be a good idea,, or maybe not. You might end up with a poisonous bite and shooting webbing out of your ass.
Mutations are funny like that.
Just keep rolling!
Ed
LMAO…..edlee, thank you for reminding me to laugh.
Of course you are both practical and right.
Manage to repair my car thanks to my friends donating a used battery.
I had to reconfigure the cables because it’s larger than the stock battery but has 810 cranking amps at 32°.
My voltage inverter should even approve!
I managed to set up at the flea market this weekend and be amongst my people.
Frank
I have trouble getting cranked up when it gets below 32 degrees. Sounds to me like you are making the effort and that is all anyone can do.,,, tho I find myself not doing that very often.
“Do what you can when you can.” Advice I was given shortly after I found myself in a wheelchair. I find that is is all about inertia. Once I get my fat ass moving it is easier to keep going. It’s getting that first “push” that I have trouble with.
I used to go to flea markets but ended up just bringing other people’s junk home with me,, to pile on top of my own. Always liked talking to the people, tho.
Keep rolling, my friend.
Ed
In a perfect world you would wheel up to my booth at the flea market!
Few things in this world I am certain of and one is that we would be fast friends. I consider everyone a friend until they prove otherwise.
The only real wealth anyone has is their relationships with others.
25 years of flea marketing I have other people’s nice junk piled on top of other people’s nice junk piled on top of my nice junk. Throw in some bricks on a roof and you got a home.lol
Life is for living not for looking at.
What’s fun is I have a near eidetic memory at least pertaining to where I got it how much it was and how much it’s worth in the real world.
After losing everything in Katrina I have much of everything and don’t need to lock the doors for that reason. It would take a month to effectively rob me LMAO
Frank
Even without flea markets I have an abundance of “maybe I’ll need that sometime” stuff. And while that might be true, at 76 I think I better start “needing it” soon.
Friendships are much like a garden. If you don’t get out there and cultivate them, they soon wither. I have allowed all too many to do just that.
Ed
Please God look after my friend Frank B.
Some kind of water substance keeps leaking from my eye sockets. You guys are the best.
I would live love it if we all lived in one neighborhood
Weihrauch’s HW30S and Beeman R7 enjoy a long run and continue in production. They are the cat’s meow for folks who appreciate accuracy, easy cocking and pleasant shooting. My HW30S was the first high quality air rifle I bought. That money was well spent.
Deck
Between the R7 and the HW30 I think of them as being the same airgun.
You know… if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck then it must be a duck.
The stock design does make a difference though and what works best depends on the shape of the shooter and what type/style of shooting will be done.
Lots of things influence the “ideal” stock design. Scope vs iron sights vs aperture (peep) sights affects the comb, then there’s the vertical grip for target shooting vs an inclined “shotgun style” grip for fast shooting. The cast, cant, drop at the heel and the overall balance are other considerations.
There’s a very good reason that competition pistol and rifle grips/stocks are so adjustable.
Wikipedia has an article on stocks that’s worth reading. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_(firearms)
Think that Weihrauch has been tweaking the stock design to accommodate the trend away from iron sights over to scopes. Since you can’t cover all the requirements without an adjustable stock, decisions have to be made.
Happy Monday all!
Hank
Hi everybody,
this variant of the HW30S looks really good as well. Very sleek, classic design.
BTW, I looked at the Diana Twenty-One FBB again. The breech seal wasn’t sealing 100% and there was a little blowby. I shimmed it a bit, but it made no difference to the accuracy. So my verdict on that one stands – it’s ok for what it is but it’s not for me.
Meanwhile, my HW30S has improved. That little twang it had in the beginning seems to have vanished entirely. Maybe the moly grease I put on the spring has worked itself into all the places it needed to be.
This is quickly becoming my favourite breakbarrel or even my favourite air rifle period. I was thinking about installing tuning parts but as nice as it is right now, I’m just going to leave it alone until it really needs maintenance.
Stephan
B.B.,
For me, a gun tuned by Paul Watts is worth a premium today. Especially a gun with his Advance Tune. Did you get Paul Watt’s tune card with the gun?
How long do you think that “premium” exists?
Kevin,
No tune card.
BB
I hope That you are not disappointed
With it not being a Paul Watts advanced tune.
I would have definitely included
Paul’s handwritten tune card if
It had been.
BB
I was steered by Kevin to an R7 that was not only tuned by Paul Watts, but was his personal rifle. It came with the list of his tunes on his card and with his signature on it. Everything Kevin owns is likely tuned by Mr. Watts, but this is my only and it is very special to me. Many thanks to Kevin.
Tom I want to straighten out the record
On this R7. The rifle was clearly masterfully tuned by someone….. And I think it’s every bit as good as my Paul watts tuned rifles.
But it did belong personally to Brad Troyer and I bought it from him in person. He’s a very nice gentleman.
Frank,
Okay. Gotcha.
In the future I will leave Paul Watts name off any report.
BB
Sorry for the confusion.!
Frank,
No sweat. This R7 is fine no matter who tuned it.
BB
Frank,
Don’t sweat the small stuff. I am thankful you are able to get out of there for a bit. We will continue to pray the treatments go well.
You guys are awesome and really have helped me while I’m down.
This whole process is very draining and nerve-wracking.
It could be tuned by Dave Slade since they shoot field target together in the same club.