HW/Weihrauch Here it is. My last airgun came today.

[Mycapt65]

Yes the R8 is quite a bit heavier than the R7. If your only concern is velocity/ft lbs. the R8 is not the gun for you. As I mentioned a while back, the R8 is a ~700 fps gun. If that is not enough power for you, you should get rid of it and move on.

I should have dug this out a while back which should give you all the information you need. The R6 is the new HW50S and has 3 ft/lbs more power than the R8. Sounds like you need 9ft lbs. Can you get the R8 to this level? Yes. But you need to put in the work.

Now the 1,000,000 dollar question:

Your final airgun purchase was under powered by 1.5 ft/lbs. Is this really going to be your last?


View attachment 532488

View attachment 532489

It's not just the power its the weight as well. I may get rid of it. I shoot my 177 Hw30s more than any of my rifles. Possibly more than all the others combined. They make 8 fpe and have shot them out to 100 yards, so I'm ok with low power. I guess I was thinking the R8 would be a 25mm version of my HW99(50). I knew it would give up a little power with the smaller piston. In turn I'd get a nice mid size plinking rifle with a nice shot cycle and a little more poop than my 30s. I also like the Goudy stocks as well so that was part of the attraction. Plinking isn't much fun with a heavy rifle. For the rifle to be this porky it should have more pop to it. My 177 HW50 shoots nicely at 11-12 fpe. That rifle fits me better than any other. The R8 will be heavier with peep sights than my scoped 50. I'll have to decide whether I want to keep the R8 as a novelty or sell it.

Fwiw this rifle will very likely be my last air rifle purchase. I only bought it thinking it would be a classy way to bridge my favorites (30s and 50). Its too heavy to play with them. In reality a soft tuned 50 would probably be my best bet. Unfortunately the new one are plagued with problems and I need my current 50 at full power for pesting. The size of the 30s don't bother me enough to supplant them with nothing special. That was supposed to be the R8s role. The R8 is a special gun with a great blend of features. This one is particularly nice so I may keep it but I don't see it becoming my favorite shooter that I thought it would.

 

[Silver Ace]

Understood, thanks. I didn’t realize you could get 8 ft/lbs out of a .177 HW30, and shoot out to 100 yards. Now I am jealous.

I kind of look at the new HW50 the way you look at the R8. My thought is my R10 barely weighs more than the new 50,cocks with the same effort and shoots way harder. So why would I bother?

I see you are a highly skilled mechanic and seasoned airgun tuner. So you could probably rebuild the R8 in your sleep. Hopefully you will give it try. In fact I am struggling to understand why you haven’t. But as I am sure you knew when you bought it, being 30 plus years old, it’s likely going to need a new spring and seals.

 

[Mycapt65]

Understood, thanks. I didn’t realize you could get 8 ft/lbs out of a .177 HW30, and shoot out to 100 yards. Now I am jealous.

Shooting the 30s out to a hundred it's a blast. Lots of fun. I'm not talking precision group shooting here. I'm talking empty beer cans stuck upside down on a steel rod. It's a hoot to make them move. It's a whopping 2fpe by time it gets there. With the wind down I can hit one pretty consistently. @seangabrell seen me go 15 straight on a 4" junction box cover at 102 yards at his place with one of my 30s. I stopped at 15 because I didn't want to press my luck further. Since moving to Arkansas I have target boards at 25 and 50 yards off my front porch with a 4" round AR 500 plate at 93 yards. I can ding that plate with relative ease. I only shoot groups at 25 yards with my 30s but have lots of fun with random targets hung from a tree at 50 yards and the occasional hapless pest at impromptu distances. With shooting like this the flatter the better. I had a 22 Hw50 that shot like a dream but at 600 fps it had to go.

I kind of look at the new HW50 the way you look at the R8. My thought is my R10 barely weighs more than the new 50,cocks with the same effort and shoots way harder. So why would I bother?

I kind of look at my R1 invertly similar. It only makes a pound and half energy more than my Hw95. Yet it's over a pound heavier and noticeably harder to cock. Frankly this juice isn't worth the squeeze for me. I only keep it because it's a novelty that has little resale value and works well as a test bed for other R1s and barrels. The 95 family guns that are based on your R10 are a fantastic platform. My 177 95 is a 900fps Lazer at 50 yards.

I see you are a highly skilled mechanic and seasoned airgun tuner. So you could probably rebuild the R8 in your sleep. Hopefully you will give it try. In fact I am struggling to understand why you haven’t. But as I am sure you knew when you bought it, being 30 plus years old, it’s likely going to need a new spring and seals.

I automatically presume I'm going to be replacing the guts in any Weihrauch I get. What keeps me from messing with the R8 is the gun is more valuable unmessed with. Any parts and time I put into it will only be additional losses. The gun is in too nice of shape to mess with out of curiosity. Especially since no amount of tuning is going to make the thing any lighter. I will shoot it to see how it handles. If it grows on me enough to keep it, then I'll play with it.

The reality is I should have done more homework on this rifle before buying it. I got caught up in the excitement of a thread here and decided I wanted one before looking at the specs logically. Like the enthusiastic threads here on the Hw35s had me intrigued by them until someone sent me one to tune. Once in hand I was less interested. After shooting one a while, I now have zero interest in them. Yet some people gush over them. Different strokes for different folks. That's all. I shoot for pleasure and after accuracy, weight and manners are respectively my next biggest priorities.

Be well
Ron

 

[cavedweller]

It's not just the power its the weight as well. I may get rid of it. I shoot my 177 Hw30s more than any of my rifles. Possibly more than all the others combined. They make 8 fpe and have shot them out to 100 yards, so I'm ok with low power. I guess I was thinking the R8 would be a 25mm version of my HW99(50). I knew it would give up a little power with the smaller piston. In turn I'd get a nice mid size plinking rifle with a nice shot cycle and a little more poop than my 30s. I also like the Goudy stocks as well so that was part of the attraction. Plinking isn't much fun with a heavy rifle. For the rifle to be this porky it should have more pop to it. My 177 HW50 shoots nicely at 11-12 fpe. That rifle fits me better than any other. The R8 will be heavier with peep sights than my scoped 50. I'll have to decide whether I want to keep the R8 as a novelty or sell it.

Fwiw this rifle will very likely be my last air rifle purchase. I only bought it thinking it would be a classy way to bridge my favorites (30s and 50). Its too heavy to play with them. In reality a soft tuned 50 would probably be my best bet. Unfortunately the new one are plagued with problems and I need my current 50 at full power for pesting. The size of the 30s don't bother me enough to supplant them with nothing special. That was supposed to be the R8s role. The R8 is a special gun with a great blend of features. This one is particularly nice so I may keep it but I don't see it becoming my favorite shooter that I thought it would.

My story is: the heaviest guns see the least daylight 12 lbs or less please

 

[Mycapt65]

My story is: the heaviest guns see the least daylight 12 lbs or less please

12 lbs? You're a better man than I. I don't think my heaviest is even 11. Anything over 8 sees little use around here. Even my beloved 95 family guns that run around 9 lbs see comparatively little use around here. My R1 and 97 are over 10lbs and not fun to cock for long periods of time so they see the least use. I can't even imagine shooting a 12lb gun without a rest of bipod. My 6.5 Creedmore with 24" bull barrel and 5-25 viper doesn't weigh 12 Lbs. Woof!

 

[MDriskill]

Just for the record Olympic-style "10 meter stuff" is not for wimps. The rifles typically weigh about 12 pounds ("legal" limit is 5.5 kg).

The qualifying round at a high-level match is 60 shots, with the top 8 finishers doing up to 24 more in a sudden-death shoot-off; all with iron sights and a 10 "ring" that is half a millimeter in diameter.

 

[Mycapt65]

Just for the record Olympic-style "10 meter stuff" is not for wimps. The rifles typically weigh about 12 pounds ("legal" limit is 5.5 kg).

The qualifying round at a high-level match is 60 shots, with the top 8 finishers doing up to 24 more in a sudden-death shoot-off; all with iron sights and a 10 "ring" that is half a millimeter in diameter.

Mike I never said "10 meter stuff" was for wimps. So I don't know where this comes from. I did say on another thread something about not being interested in 10 meter stuff. Not being interested in something doesn't imply anything good or bad. Just indifference. I'm still not interested in 10m stuff.

Most of the people here that shoot 10m don't do it in regulation fashion. Myself included. When I had a 10 yard (9m) range in my basement, I shot from a table. It becomes terribly boring as its too easy to shoot one hole groups or pinwheels.

Now shooting 10M offhand as in regulation 10m style is MUCH tougher. I don't shoot offhand well enough to enjoy that. Hence I'm not interested in short range shooting. This is just me. I never made any judgement against true 10M shooting. It's just not my thing. I simply prefer the different challenge of outdoor shooting groups, objects and critters over varied longer distances.

 

[jkingrph]

I like both. Longer distances up to about 30-40 yards at a small swinging target about a 1 1/2" square. About the smallest my old eyes can see at that distance with aperture sights.

 

[Silver Ace]

Mike,

I enjoyed reading about “the 10m stuff”. Different types of guns with various performance levels are what keeps things interesting around here. If we all agreed on what the best gun is, it would get pretty boring here.

Thanks for all your contributions!