Finally had to say goodbye to my old HW100 .22 that I purchased a few years ago after reading about it and watching too many U.K. YouTube videos depicting excellent reviews of sub 12fpe versions. Things I loved:
- Nice craftsmanship, high build quality, reliable, never failed after 10s of thousands of rounds. Only one o ring at cylinder connection needed replaced over several years
- The wonderful smooth cocking lever and magazine system holding 14 rounds
- The thumbhole walnut stock was handsome, nicely shaped, ergonomic, and decent grain dark walnut
- Iconic status and weirauch flagship
- Chrony at 28-30 FPE for 18-21gr
- Its 3rd favorite pellet was the Crosman Premier Domes 14.3 gr - which @ $9.99 and buy 3 get 1 free supported a LOT of cheap plinking out to 90 yards
- 200 Bar fill
- .22 OEM barrel was not accurate - consistent (to my standards) with any pellet head size or weight. Always an occasional flier and never stable beyond 90 yards with any combo of MV, head size, or weight. Best pellets were 5.53 Barracuda match, JSB 18gr and CPD 14.3gr in that order. It would shoot 1.75 inch groups at 90 yards.
- The OEM air cylinder was very heavy steel and small capacity with low shot count, max 30 rounds on 200bar fill. Alternatives were available with Alu and Ti cylinders but very difficult to source dropping nearly a pound from gun. I could live with the 30 shot count but the extra weight was unnecessary.
- The shroud was skinny and long as well as ineffective. Had a significant high frequency crack easily resolved by LDC at the expense of additional length on an already long gun. Used a NC LDC on it for a while that was effective. Purchased a full Huggett shroud and LDC that I never installed permanently that added 3 inches overall compared to OEM and with a nicer thicker shroud that included a new cylinder band to free float the barrel. I tried it out and it looked and functioned and sounded great. But did not adddress the marginal accuracy of the barrel.
Research reveals the .177 version when tuned to 18-20 FPE is wickedly accurate.
Note: That is not my favorite runt squirrel that hangs out on my fence daily while I'm shooting over its head.