The Weihrauch Diopter

[Bear-of-Grayling]

This is a picture of the Weihrauch diopter sight. Discontinued decades ago. Still can be found occasionally on sights like eBay. I just got another from Australia. Weihrauch made this sight originally to fit their 13mm dovetail. They changed the dovetail to 11mm sometime in the 70’s I believe. All Weihrauch airguns for the past 5 decades have been the 11mm. Make certain you are getting the 11mm. Anschutz diopters are also 11mm. They have there advantages/disadvantages to to Weihrauch diopter. They don’t drop down over the thumb like the Weihrauch but don’t have a integrated stop pin like the Weihrauch. The Anschutz doesn’t seem to slide in the lower power sporters like the HW30,35,50. Even held on my 22 caliber HW95. I would be concerned on a 177 95 though. They are pricey and getting more so like everything else everyday. I think they add a good look to the gun, keep it light and small but most importantly make it fun to shoot.

 

[Mycapt65]

Beautiful set up there Bear

 

[MDriskill]

Well I'm gonna 100% agree of course! I have a full-blown fetish for iron sights.

Weihrauch sights made before the early 60's are quite different, but the style in your pictures is by far the most common. Definitely always check whether it's the 11mm or older 13mm version when buying! Weihrauch made this change in the late 1970s. I'm not aware of any other diopter sight that can be made to fit the 13mm rifles, by the way.

And note, those two or three holes on top of your brand new HW rifle work great for scope stops of course - but, they were really made for the positioning screw on Weihrauch's classic sight!

Anschutz sights were made in both alloy and more expensive steel models. I have found their long, flexible base and twin clamp screws to have tremendous gripping power, and have never had them move on any rifle. This type of mount does have the advantage of enabling you to fine-tune the sights's fore-aft location compared to an HW diopter. (Left to right: alloy 6705; steel 6700; early and late versions of the steel 6702. All work fine on any 11mm rails.)

 

[Bear-of-Grayling]

Well I'm gonna 100% agree of course! I have a full-blown fetish for iron sights.

Weihrauch sights made before the early 60's are quite different, but the style in your pictures is by far the most common. You are right to always check whether it's the 11mm or older 13mm version when buying. Weihrauch made this change in the late 1970s. I'm not aware of any other diopter sight that can be made to fit the 13mm rifles, by the way.

And note, those two or three holes on top of your brand new HW rifle work great for scope stops of course - but, they are really made for the positioning screw on these classic sights!

Anschutz sights were made in both alloy and more expensive steel models. I have found their long, flexible base and twin clamp screws to have tremendous gripping power, and have never had them move on any rifle. This type of mount does have the advantage of enabling you to fine-tune the sights's location compared to an HW diopter. (Left to right: alloy 6705; steel 6700; two versions of the steel 6702. All work fine on any 11mm rails.)

View attachment 291659

Do you know if the Anschutz diopter will raise higher than the Weihrauch diopter?

 

[ctshooter]

This is pretty cool. I'd like to try a diopter on my HW77k. Is it possible to use a rear diopter with the stock front blade?

 

[Bear-of-Grayling]

This is pretty cool. I'd like to try a diopter on my HW77k. Is it possible to use a rear diopter with the stock front blade?

The 77 with factory front and rear sights will accommodate a diopter.

 

[MDriskill]

This is pretty cool. I'd like to try a diopter on my HW77k. Is it possible to use a rear diopter with the stock front blade?

Sure. There is nothing about an aperture rear sight that alters the gun's line-of-sight, or requires a particular type of front sight. Open post front with peep rear is in fact a classic combo giving not only enhanced precision, but a great open view of the area around the target - ideal for hunting, or just general shooting.

When you mount the peep, align it with your open rear sight before removing the latter. That gets you roughly sighted in; only a little more fine tuning should be needed.

 

[ctshooter]

Thank you both - I'll start checking fleabay for some options.

 

[MDriskill]

Do you know if the Anschutz diopter will raise higher than the Weihrauch diopter?

A very interesting question - which I confess I've never studied! But based on some quick eyeball work - I think the answer is probably "yes."

For what it's worth, pic is an HW 55 CM, running about 600 FPS and sighted in at 15 yards with the OEM front sight. Diopter is an Anschutz 6702, with gobs of vertical range left as you can see. I have a very similar set-up on another 55 with an HW diopter, which sits about the middle of the elevation scale (on both sights the engraved marking scale is about 10mm high).

Anschutz used these same sights on all types of rimfire and long-range centerfire match rifles, another hint that vertical adjustment is ample (and you could always add a riser rail, etc. if not). I've never had an issue getting an Anschutz dialed in on an air rifle anyhow.

 

[Chuck-in-Ohio]

Do you know if the Anschutz diopter will raise higher than the Weihrauch diopter?

I measured the total travel on my Weihrauch sight, which is the same as the one pictured on your tyro and an Anschutz 6705 sight.
The Anschutz has .060 more vertical travel travel than the HW sight.
Measurements were taken from sight fully bottomed out to the upper limit of vertical travel.
.470 for HW
.530 for Anschutz

 

[Chuck-in-Ohio]

Now I have to go re zero my HW55 Champ..........
I needed an excuse to go shoot anyhow!

 

[Bear-of-Grayling]

I measured the total travel on my Weihrauch sight, which is the same as the one pictured on your tyro and an Anschutz 6705 sight.
The Anschutz has .060 more vertical travel travel than the HW sight.
Measurements were taken from sight fully bottomed out to the upper limit of vertical travel.
.470 for HW
.530 for Anschutz

Thank you. Good information to know.

 

[cjtamu]

BoG and Mike those are awesome. I'm going to look for an adapter to set my peep back a little farther.

 

[Chuck-in-Ohio]

So
As mentioned above, I needed to re sight my HW55 as I was twiddling on the elevation knob a bit, and by a bit, I mean full travel stop to stop.
I did not remove the sight from the rifle and when I got my measurement I returned the elevation to its previous registration mark on the elevation scale.
The result you ask.....

I think that we can safely assume the HW sights are precisely manufactured, accurate and repeatable!
Before anyone asks, NO it was not an offhand shot. Rifle was solidly bagged for precise sight registration at 10 meters, but still.......

I am now off to buy a PowerBall and MegaMillions ticket, I am feeling lucky.

 

[Bear-of-Grayling]

So
As mentioned above, I needed to re sight my HW55 as I was twiddling on the elevation knob a bit, and by a bit, I mean full travel stop to stop.
I did not remove the sight from the rifle and when I got my measurement I returned the elevation to its previous registration mark on the elevation scale.
The result you ask.....

View attachment 291754

I think that we can safely assume the HW sights are precisely manufactured, accurate and repeatable!
Before anyone asks, NO it was not an offhand shot. Rifle was solidly bagged for precise sight registration at 10 meters, but still.......

I am now off to buy a PowerBall and MegaMillions ticket, I am feeling lucky.

Doesn’t get any better than that! No luck to it.

 

[Chuck-in-Ohio]

I was expecting a few clicks to get back to center bull, but WOW was I surprised.
You can probably see that the shot shaded a bit left, but it is very breezy here and with biological error factored in, I hollered Yahtzee and left well enough alone.

If you get a chance to score one of these Champ models, jump on it.
You can extend the length of pull to make it more adult sized if needed, and it is such a little sweet heart of a precision air rifle.

 

[Bear-of-Grayling]

I was expecting a few clicks to get back to center bull, but WOW was I surprised.
You can probably see that the shot shaded a bit left, but it is very breezy here and with biological error factored in, I hollered Yahtzee and left well enough alone.

If you get a chance to score one of these Champ models, jump on it.
You can extend the length of pull to make it more adult sized if needed, and it is such a little sweet heart of a precision air rifle.

The only one better shot I personally witnessed was a bet I made to a dear friend some 30 years ago. Whipped him all morning until we made a “one offhand shot” bet on a “burger for lunch”. Cotten picker made the PERFECT one shot. Sandbagger. Cheapskate.

 

[EquivalentDelta]

Well I'm gonna 100% agree of course! I have a full-blown fetish for iron sights.

Weihrauch sights made before the early 60's are quite different, but the style in your pictures is by far the most common. Definitely always check whether it's the 11mm or older 13mm version when buying! Weihrauch made this change in the late 1970s. I'm not aware of any other diopter sight that can be made to fit the 13mm rifles, by the way.

And note, those two or three holes on top of your brand new HW rifle work great for scope stops of course - but, they were really made for the positioning screw on Weihrauch's classic sight!

Anschutz sights were made in both alloy and more expensive steel models. I have found their long, flexible base and twin clamp screws to have tremendous gripping power, and have never had them move on any rifle. This type of mount does have the advantage of enabling you to fine-tune the sights's fore-aft location compared to an HW diopter. (Left to right: alloy 6705; steel 6700; early and late versions of the steel 6702. All work fine on any 11mm rails.)

Hey MDriskill,

I’ve got a steel body 6702 on my HW77. I bought it used direct from Germany. The sight functions great. But I cannot for the life of me, get it to stay still on my HW. It keeps migrating rearward shot by shot.

I have tried cleaning the rails and sight pretty thoroughly to de-oil the mating surfaces and cranked the thumbscrews as hard as I can.

I custom fit a roll pin to fit the HW base perfectly, but it’s too small for the hole in the Anschutz base. The pin ends up tilting and letting the sight migrate backwards anyways.

Any thoughts on how to proceed here?

I was thinking about trying to tap a couple threads into the HW base to get a grub screw in there.

 

[Bear-of-Grayling]

The actual Weihrauch Diopter has a stop bolt built into the sight. The HW77 has just enough more forward snap to move a sight without that stop bolt. The Anschutz Diopters work perfectly on the 30, 35, 50 and 55.

 

[wsjones]

Question for you knowledgeable folks:

What's the diameter of the stop pin holes on current vintage Weihrauch's?