Tag Archives: Weihrauch

Beeman R9 with Vortek center-latching air piston: Part 4

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

This report covers:

  • Important discovery!
  • Analysis
  • Setup
  • JSB Exact
  • Evaluation
  • Test restructure
  • Predator Polymag
  • H&N Field Target Trophy
  • H&N Baracuda
  • Crosman Premier
  • Benjamin Cylindrical
  • Velocity comparison
  • Retest of JSB Exacts
  • Cocking effort
  • Discussion
  • Going forward
  • Testing new designs

Today I will test the Vortek Center-Latching Air Piston in the Beeman R9, with the pressure set at 50 bar, which is 725.19 psi. This is the highest pressure to which I have set the unit, so today’s velocities should be the fastest we will see.

Important discovery!

Before we begin today’s test, a remark made by reader GunFun1 to the last report triggered some unplanned testing that revealed some surprising results. He was concerned by my remark that some spring-piston guns (and that is EXACTLY what this center latching unit is) need a “wake up” shot when they are first fired. I have seen this with perhaps half of the springers I have tested over the years. Here is what he asked me. read more

The Beeman R10/HW 85: Part 6

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

HW 85
Weihrauch HW 85.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • The test
  • Lead Sled
  • Rifle rested on sandbag
  • The artillery hold
  • Discussion
  • Summary

Today I will shoot my vintage HW85 at 50 yards for you. One thing I’m testing is whether resting the rifle on a Caldwell Lead Sled will improve accurate. Reader Bob from Oz says it will. We’ll see.

The test

The day was perfect for a test like this. It was 34 degrees with just a hint of a breeze. I shot in three different positions that I’ll describe as we go. The rifle is still sighted in for 25 yards, so the pellets dropped about 3 inches at 50 yards. And I used the Crosman Premier pellet that has worked so well for this rifle in the past. read more

Weihrauch’s HW55SF: Part 6

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

HW 55SF
HW 55SF.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • Rob velocity?
  • H&N Finale Match Light
  • Sig Match Ballistic Alloy
  • Qiang Yuan Olympic
  • RWS R10 Match Pistol
  • Discussion
  • So, what?
  • Cocking effort
  • Firing cycle
  • Summary

Today we look at the velocity of the HW 55SF target rifle I tuned back in November. If you read Part 4 you’ll see that I just applied Tune in a Tube grease (TIAT) to the mainspring and got great results. Some readers ask me to use TIAT over and over again on different airguns, apparently not convinced that it works as well as it does. But when they break down and try it, they see for themselves. This stuff really works!

Rob velocity?

But what does it do to the velocity? This is a low-powered spring rifle and we know that thick grease can rob velocity. We have the baseline velocity data I gathered in Part 2 to compare to, so today I will re-test the rifle with the same pellets. Let’s get right to it. read more

The Beeman P1 air pistol: Part 6

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Beeman P1
Beeman P1 air pistol.

This report covers:

  • The test
  • RWS Hobby
  • Sig Match Ballistic Alloy
  • Smoothing makes a difference
  • RWS Superdome
  • Experience so far
  • Crosman Premier 7.9-grain pellets
  • RWS Meisterkugeln Rifle
  • Summary

Today we are back with the Beeman P1 air pistol I disassembled and lubricated in Parts 4 and 5. I said at the end of that job that I felt the gun was behaving like it had just been tuned, so instead of doing the velocity test next I would shoot it for accuracy. That would give it a chance to break in a little before velocity testing. Today is the accuracy test.

The test

I shot the pistol off a rest at 10 meters, using a 2-hand hold. My hands rested on the bag and the pistol did not touch it. I intentionally did not read the first accuracy test before shooting because I wanted to test this pistol without any bias. I also did something that I thought was very clever. Then I discovered that I had done it in the first accuracy test, as well. Oh, well, when you are old like me, everything is new each day! read more

Weihrauch’s HW55SF: Part 4

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

HW 55SF
HW 55SF.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • Barreled action
  • Trigger out
  • The trigger
  • Remove the end cap
  • Remove the piston
  • Extra parts?
  • Piston seal
  • Inspect the parts
  • Put everything back
  • Tighten the pivot bolt
  • Installing the trigger
  • The test
  • Summary

Many readers wanted to look inside the HW55 SF, and today is the day! This is a Weihrauch spring rifle, and it comes apart like most of them. There are a few differences that I will mention as we go. Let’s get started!

Barreled action

The first step after checking to make sure the rifle is not cocked and loaded is to remove the stock. On this rifle that means loosening three screws — one on the underside of the forearm and the two triggerguard screws. The screws can remain in the stock and triggerguard for safekeeping, but the triggerguard is removed from the stock. I’ll have something more to say about this during assembly. read more

The Beeman P1 air pistol: Part 3

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2

Beeman P1
Beeman P1 air pistol.

This report covers:

  • The test
  • Sight-in
  • RWS Hobby
  • Sig Match Ballistic Alloy
  • RWS R10 Match Pistol
  • RWS Superdome
  • Getting tired
  • Air Arms Falcon
  • RWS Meisterkugeln
  • Something different
  • Summary

Today I will test the accuracy of my new/old Beeman P1 pistol.

The test

I shot from 10 meters and rested my hands on a sandbag, but the gun was hand-held. I held it with two hands for the greatest stability. My days of shooting perfect scores one-handed are about over. Instead of 10-shot groups I shot 5-shot groups, but I tried a lot more pellets than usual. I also did something neat at the end of the test.

Sight-in

When sighting in, I started out shooting on high power. The first pellet hit the target very low. I played with the sight adjustments until I got the pellets up into the bull, but a thought occurred to me. What if the pistol did better on low power? That might explain why there is a hesitation going past low power when cocking. read more

Weihrauch’s HW55SF: Part 3

Posted on by ↓ 60 Comments

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

HW 55SF
HW 55SF.

Part 1
Part 2

A history of airguns

This report covers:

  • Readers impact
  • The test
  • H&N Finale Match Light
  • Now, I zeroed the rifle
  • Sig Match Ballistic Alloy
  • Qiang Yuan Olympic match pellets
  • RWS R10 Match Pistol
  • But wait —
  • Summary

Today we look at accuracy. Because several readers have asked for it, I will re-test the rifle after I have tuned it. I have not decided yet whether I will do a full parts replacement tune, so there may be nothing to compare a Tune in a Tube tune to (say that quickly three times), but I will at least return and re-test the accuracy with the same pellets after I have quieted the action.

Readers impact

Several readers believe that making a spring gun’s action smoother will improve accuracy. It certainly won’t hurt it, but I have never found it to improve. However, I did an extra test today to see if I am doing all the things I can to get all the accuracy this rifle has to offer. We will get to that after the main test. read more