I've got five R7's and HW30's, and am relatively new to them, buying my first one only a couple of years ago. My first HW30 was an Ebay item I stole for about $250. It was an early San Rafael Beeman made in 1977 with the European style stock(finger grooves, smaller dimension, no safety and no butt plate). I put a Beeman aperture sight with the optional Merit sight disc with the prescription lens holder on it, and am very happy about the whole situation. I fell in love right away and quickly realized what I had been missing out on by not having any "intermediate" springers. I've been into springers since the late 1980's but only had "magnums" - an R1 in .22, a Kodiak in .25, an HW77 Tyrolean(custom) and HW77K(both Mark I) in .177, all of which I hunted small game. I also bought a new HW50 for Iguana hunting in South Florida. I really enjoyed the easy cocking on my older HW30, and especially the "NO SAFETY" which multiplied the pleasure of shooting it. I started buying intermediates with another no safety HW30, two Beeman R7's in .20 cal, and a new R7 in .177, just to see what changes were made in the new R7's. I do like the older ones much better because of the no safety feature. I went on to get a FWB 150 Tyrolean, FWB 300 Tyrolean, FWB 124 Beeman San Anselmo made in 1973, two Beeman P-1 San Rafael pistols - one with with the optional fancy walnut rifle stock, and last but not least, and probably my favorite air rifle, a Walther LG55 Tyrolean with double set triggers made in 1962. I occasionally shoot my magnums, but usually grab an R7 to plink around the property. For coons I'll grab a magnum, usually the HW77 or the Kodiak. The best pellet I use on all my guns for plinking or hunting is the H&N Field Target Trophy, and for formal target shooting the H&N Finale Match Light or the H&N Match Rifle. Sorry for the terrible pictures.
There are so many beautiful R7's above my post, mostly with Walnut stocks. I think the R7/HW30 is one of the finest air rifles ever made and I'm always thinking of ways to dress one of mine up. Has anyone ever seen a Tyrolean R7/HW30? How about a flame blued R7, or Color Case Hardened R7, or polished and left in the white? These are things people do to firearms, and I'm wondering why these different metal adornments haven't made it to air rifle collections. I've got plenty of firearms of all makes and types, but there's no doubt I love the beauty and function of my air rifles more. I did see an engraved air rifle on an air gun forum and it was really nice. I can just imagine an older R7 with a fancy Tyrolean stock, polished, then entirely color case hardened, with all the pins and screws flame blued. A friend of mine polished a "brushed" stainless steel Smith & Wesson semi, and it looked real good. He said it took him a looooong time to do it. Several months later, I looked at my old brushed stainless Colt 1911, that I had used for two decades competing in combat matches. I committed to polishing it on a polishing system I bought years ago. It DID take a long time, but the results were beautiful. I only did about half the gun, mainly the slide and front of the frame, then finished it off with genuine AAA Grade African Elephant Ivory. The attached pic shows the finished 1911 next to what it USED to look like. Born identical twin Colt 1911 pistols now look a lot different. What would an early R7 look like finely polished and left in the white - maybe with a custom lighter colored stock???? If it didn't suit your fancy, just send it off for a high polish deep blueing - THAT would improve it's beauty tremendously. Just food for thought, I mean there's plenty of variety with the different style stocks and the wood used on air rifles, but I've seen little that has been done to advance the beauty of the fine German metal.....