I've never had any issues here . 15ish pellet rifles here now, give or take! 10m stuff up to 20fpe on my old Webley & Scott. I have possessed a state FOID card since the time I was old enough to apply(30 some years?). Have the powder burners, but they sit idle as my passion is these low power spring rifles! I'm awaiting a call from AoA. Need more information. Certainly underpowered from what I was expecting.
Thanks for the information. Same power as mine. Sounds likely that you are correct on the tuning. Good to confirm that it's at least intentional and not a bad rifle. I'm getting used to the stock. May also look into the mod swap.
This is getting in same power range as my FWB 124D and HW 35E and maybe others. Wondering if worth getting. I was thinking about the HW 98 for longer range than the guns I got. If tuned down, the HW 97 looks better to me. Hope somebody can verify if the HW 98 has been tuned down.
That is right where my 97K is shooting with a Vortek PG4 HO kit and Vortek seal. 15 fpe, give or take.
Well... You get what you pay for .... ( And sometimes less). I've said that as you a few times and falls on deaths ears with hw guys . I guess its so common place and considered as normal practice.. i guess you just look it over.
Well i was being a little unfair above , but your best served by snatching it apart and clean up any factory mess.. mostly the seal.. 2 things i noticed is the tube cutouts with sharp " razor blades " left and the seal being a bit undersized ( opinion). So they can smash it in the tube easy overluned without causing lots of of too bad of nicks or gets too scared up during install. ..lol.
. All my HW95/HW98/R9's shot about 880 fps with CPL, which is about 13.6 FPE. I almost said just do a rma for a refund and try a hatsan, crosman, gamo or somthing. They give you the 2 options of rma or use lifetime and let them make it right or at least to there listed advertised specs.. i done figured i best throw a new seal in the order . Heck even my hatsan 95 seal was pretty nicked new with bare min of grease ..lol
. It's most likely the Spring ....
. I've made a couple of calls and have an unanswered email. AoA doesn't seem to think it's a problem. Said I was the first one reporting the lower than expected power. "Shoot it and see how it settles in" is what was suggested. Hy-Score verified he was getting the same numbers. Maybe some others will run across this thread and chime in. I can deal with springs and seals, but the out of round compression chamber is my concern. I'll shoot it a bit more and then exercise the warranty should I need to. And thanks for the very good information.It's most likely the Spring ....
But if your really worried about the lack of power, I'd call AoA or whomever you bought it from and mention the issue. If it's the compression chamber, they shouldn't ding you for the shipping/restocking fee (it's defective). Have them install the Vortek spring at your cost (no labor fee) and see if this doesn't solve the power issue. Maybe they'll let you install the new spring to save $$$ w/o voiding the warranty - I DK their polices.
If it fails to give you at least 13/14 FPE .... it's a defective compression chamber. This assumes it's not the breech seal or piston seal too ........
I mention this as I bought a AA Pro-Sport in 2017 from PA, when I dissembled it to tune (1 week after purchase), I found all the compression chamber buttons were shaved down and non-existent. I sent them pics and they sent me a new $80 part at no charge or shipping to make it right.
They could have said, you voided the warranty by taking it apart - but they didn't because this was an obvious defect.
By the same token, a HW98 getting lower than 13 FPE with a very good spring would be a sign of the same type of defect -> even worse as this is relatively un-fixable unless the compression chamber is re-honed or parted out.
Anyway, a good non-emotional dialog with the vendor will go along way in negotiating a resolution
