Ordered a 2nd HW...

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Slingworks

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Feb 20, 2023
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Ok I ordered my 2nd air rifle yesterday, the HW90 in 22 cal from Krale in Holland.

I have an Hw35E 22 I've owned for a grand total of a month and shoot it fairly regularly. I mainly shoot it out of my work building (at paper) when I take lunch breaks during the day :)

It's a pretty potent airgun for what it is, but I wanted something "more' powerful to scope up for some experimental fall hunting. I had bid on a Kodiak in 25 cal but lost out, so in the end I decided to try the Hw90.

I have read here on AN some claims of 30+FP with a 90 that's tuned with a "vac seal." Is there any realistic possibility in that?
I'm guessing it's hard on scopes, I have some Japanese Classic Weavers and a Leupold 12x to spare as well as a vomz 4x w druganov reticle that I kind of like...Anyone have experience with life expectancy here?

Yes, I know, it's the classic rookie mistake to buy a hot magnum air gun up front, and complain about accuracy later. I'm game to try it though.

I haven't chrony'd my 35e but It does have enough oomph to put a Crossman pellet through 1x pine. I do notice the skirts on the pellets are blown out/expanded fairly heavily. Anyone have any suggestions on what might be a better pellet for both of these rifles?
 
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There are a number of issues you will likely encounter when pushing an HW90 beyond about 20FPE. It looks like you have already identified at least a few of them.

Poor accuracy
Hold sensitivity
Scope damage
Burning of piston seal
Exponentially increased cocking effort. there is a diminishing return.

I am sure there are others as well. The truth is they are a very fine rifle and are excellent tools when used within their parameters. One of the best things is that they are easily adjustable.
I usually try a bunch of pellets and see which one(s) shoots best. Once that is done adjust power for best accuracy. In my limited experience this usually falls between 13-17FPE in .22 with an HW90.
If more power is still wanted or needed to accomplish a specific goal you will likely be much better off with a PCP.

There are a lot of PCP's that can deliver 50FPE easily, which is more than you can get from any springer.
 
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Lewis said:
There are a number of issues you will likely encounter when pushing an HW90 beyond about 20FPE. It looks like you have already identified at least a few of them.

Poor accuracy
Hold sensitivity
Scope damage
Burning of piston seal
Exponentially increased cocking effort. there is a diminishing return.

I am sure there are others as well. The truth is they are a very fine rifle and are excellent tools when used within their parameters. One of the best things is that they are easily adjustable.
I usually try a bunch of pellets and see which one(s) shoots best. Once that is done adjust power for best accuracy. In my limited experience this usually falls between 13-17FPE in .22 with an HW90.
If more power is still wanted or needed to accomplish a specific goal you will likely be much better off with a PCP.

There are a lot of PCP's that can deliver 50FPE easily, which is more than you can get from any springer.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the input Lewis.

I actually thought about ordering a 22 cal Hw100 carbine before ordering the 90. I decided against it mainly due to wanting something simpler in design for now. I might revisit that thought later on.

Cocking effort, I wouldn't see it as a problem for myself unless it crosses the threshold of cocking a 150lb crossbow :)
I don't know what the cocking weight is on my 35, but it feels pretty light. I'd probably only be cocking the 90 in the field or initial sighting in.

I don't have a gauge or pump to go with the 90, I will probably just try it out as it comes initially.
 
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Slingworks said:
Thanks for the input Lewis.

I actually thought about ordering a 22 cal Hw100 carbine before ordering the 90. I decided against it mainly due to wanting something simpler in design for now. I might revisit that thought later on.

Cocking effort, I wouldn't see it as a problem for myself unless it crosses the threshold of cocking a 150lb crossbow :)
I don't know what the cocking weight is on my 35, but it feels pretty light. I'd probably only be cocking the 90 in the field or initial sighting in.

I don't have a gauge or pump to go with the 90, I will probably just try it out as it comes initially.
Click to expand...
Agree mostly...

When I shoot my airguns I'll OFTEN put hundreds of pellets down range. ......not so much with my 150lb crossbow...
 
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UncleB said:
I decided to pump it on up and see what it would do. First of all, I went overboard and pumped it up to 28 bar, decided to go ahead and shoot it and test.
14.66 = 28.5fpe 15,9 = 27.9 fpe @ 28bar
14.66 = 25 fpe 15.9 = 24.6 fpe @ 26 bar
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I'd call that pretty impressive. I wonder how the accuracy held up? Do you know what velocity you reached?
 
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I had a 20 cal RX1. It had very few shots on it when I got it. It was dieseling badly so it was shooting 26-28 fpe and quickly burned through the piston seal. They were often overcharged from the factory.

I replaced the piston seal with a Vortek seal, freshened up the ram o-rings, unstuck the inertia plug and lubed the rifle with Krytox. IIRC it shot best about 19.5 maybe 20 fpe which according to the Guage was about 21/22 bar. It'd regularly shoot 50 yard groups you could cover entirely with a quarter.

I believe Beeman and Weihrauch advertised limits were 24 and 26 bar. I don't remember who's was what. I don't understand it's the same gun. I wasn't a fan of the guns size and weight but I liked the shot cycle. I wish they'd shrink one down to HW50 size and power levels.
 
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I thought about a 20 cal 90. Someone had them as a backorder (AOA or PA). I only decided against it because I have 22 cal pellets on hand and they're easier to load. I still would like to try one out someday.

I read here and there on this forum that the shot cycle was quick. Guessing probably similar to my 35e or a little faster? When I first got the 35e I convinced myself something was wrong with it. Only a fast twang on firing and I couldn't feel any recoil or shake. I actually had to shoot some pine boards and examine the results before I was convinced it was actually working properly! :D Of course that was the first time I ever fired a pellet from an air rifle.....
 
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Ok I received my Hw90 today. 2 days from Holland. $55. How is that possible? :)

Anyway, so far I like it. Metalwork is great. Feels pretty good. I thought I wouldn't like the laser etching but it's not as bad as it looks in photos.

Shot it a little. I'd have to say it's pretty close to what I wanted. It is overall, larger than I had envisioned, about the size of the Kodiak I had looked at. (At least in my mind it is). Funny, the box felt pretty light, but in hand it's a big heavy rifle.

Cocking effort is pretty stiff, but manageable. I shot it a little with my Crossman premier pellets. Didn't really appear to be dieseling any smells that would make me think it, but it certainly has a crack rather than a twang. I only shot it at 10-20 yards this afternoon trying it out. The rear sights are about 4" off, I guess they don't come sighted in. Pretty powerful! I tested it for penetration in 2x4's and it penetrates to around the 2/3 mark. Easily double the penetration of my 35e. I can kinda see why I read they're hard on scopes as well.

Maybe tomorrow afternoon I'll try for groups?
 
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Congrats on the new HW. The checkering i've seen in pics looks great.

I don't doubt the sights are off some. I know it's early but how did the group size look? I put a new 22 barrel on my HW95 and it really did not like the Crosman Premier HP. Then I tried the Crosman Domed and they were worse for me. I don't remember exactly but I was getting regular shots on target and regular "flyers". HaHa "regular" flyers. I tried the H&N Field Target Trophy for the instant one-hole win. BTW I did run a wire brush one pass and a few wet patches after the 20 rounds of Crosmans.
 
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TXRMike said:
Congrats on the new HW. The checkering i've seen in pics looks great.

I don't doubt the sights are off some. I know it's early but how did the group size look? I put a new 22 barrel on my HW95 and it really did not like the Crosman Premier HP. Then I tried the Crosman Domed and they were worse for me. I don't remember exactly but I was getting regular shots on target and regular "flyers". HaHa "regular" flyers. I tried the H&N Field Target Trophy for the instant one-hole win. BTW I did run a wire brush one pass and a few wet patches after the 20 rounds of Crosmans.
Click to expand...

A bronze brush is really the best way I know to remove Crosman hard lead fouling. It can take more than one pass depending on how much hard lead was used.

There's nothing wrong with running a bronze brush through a Weihrauch barrel. As long as you don't change directions in the barrel.

The downside is you'll remove all the lead and you'll be starting with a stripped to bare steel barrel. It can sometimes take a couple hundred rounds to reseason the barrel and print well.

There were many times I brushed out a barrel trying to solve accuracy issues and the gun printed worse afterwards and for good while. I've since stopped using hard lead and no longer clean my barrels.
 
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TXRMike said:
Congrats on the new HW. The checkering i've seen in pics looks great.

I don't doubt the sights are off some. I know it's early but how did the group size look? I put a new 22 barrel on my HW95 and it really did not like the Crosman Premier HP. Then I tried the Crosman Domed and they were worse for me. I don't remember exactly but I was getting regular shots on target and regular "flyers". HaHa "regular" flyers. I tried the H&N Field Target Trophy for the instant one-hole win. BTW I did run a wire brush one pass and a few wet patches after the 20 rounds of Crosmans.
Click to expand...
I shot it a little today when the rain stopped. Using the slightly tapered heavy post that came in it, I'd say about 3/4" at 20yds with the irons. I think that's a decent start. Now to be honest I only shot around 25 pellets and felt like it was breaktime! I am unable to get the rear sight low enough to use that slightly tapered heavy post. It's still shooting high by about 4." Perhaps if I were shooting at 60 it wouldn't be an issue :) I'll probably look in the little hang tag and see if there is a taller front post in there?

I'd like to try some slugs in this gun. Maybe the H&N's you mentioned if I find them.

I did notice that the pellet fit in the chamber is much tighter a fit than in my 35e. The 35e i can lightly press them in, the 90 I press firmly with my thumb to seat them.

The recoil surprised me a little. Has a kick somewhat similar to a mild caliber firearm. Maybe like a 38 special in a carbine?
I'm a bit of an old fashioned guy when it comes to looks and I really didn't like how the checkering looked on the gun, but after shooting it I can say it's a function over form concept. I believe the checkering adds to the functionality of the gun. It feels great and really improves the handling of that massive stock.

Did HW hire a couple Pixies from Disney Animation to design all of the new stocks and checkering styles? At least HW isn't using fish scales on them....:)
 
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Stars must have aligned for the HW90 this month because HAM published a tuning guide for it yesterday…

hardairmagazine.com

Weihrauch HW90 Tuning Guide - How To Do It, Results To Expect

For this Weihrauch HW90 tuning guide, Eric shot targets first at the highest - 20 Bar - pressure in the gas ram, then down to 10 Bar.
hardairmagazine.com hardairmagazine.com

-Marty
 
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