Getting a HW97K
After listening to recommendations, reading reviews, talking to smarter folks etc., I ordered a .22 HW97K with a Vortek kit. This setup is for pest hunting, so the 3-9 x 40 Weihrauch, with lock and rings seemed a good fit. As always, I’ll punch paper and practice like crazy before aiming at varmints.
Pellet selection will take awhile. Rob mentioned the RWS HP, but any suggestions for the above rifle are welcome.
I have good accuracy and short range knock-down with Meisterkugeln in the RWS 48, but have no idea what the effective hunting range is. FTS are good, but don’t have the same knock-down. Oddly, the Silver Bear are not too bad for accuracy, but great knock-down. It’s always a balance of accuracy, range and hunting characteristics. I dropped a full-sized groundhog at 65-70 yds. last week with the 48, .22, using FTS. I was lucky, it stood up on two feet and presented a perfect chest shot.
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I would imagine that you dont have the RS pellets handy as they are not as popular. If you find that you arent getting acceptable groups with the other you have on hand, let me know before you shell out for the RS pellets and I can just send you some to give a go.
Thank you for the offer, rob. You’re right, no RS in-house.
As for pointed pellets: no matter what pointed pellet or gun, they always grouped terribly, the worst being Beeman Silver Arrow. A lot of folks like ‘cudas, but I’ve not had luck with them.
I’m curious to try Silver Bears in the HW; several guns performed reasonably well with those as hunting pellets (hollow-point, semi-wadcutter). Being lightweight, they still resulted in quicker kills. Over, say, 38-40 yds, the accuracy failed. Since I’m often hunting amidst peach trees or crops, 40 yds or less is the norm. A requirement is to learn how much holdover is needed for those ridiculously close shots, say 10 yds or less, looking at a very fuzzy image.
Sorry Bogman… we are talking .22.
for .177
cpl… Crosman Premier Light
cph…Crosman Premier Heavy
cphp..Crosman Premier Hollow Point
in .22, Crosman makes the Premier, Hollow point, and they at least used to make a sort of pointed looking pellet (and in .177 as well) but I’ve never found them to shoot well in any gun. Then of course, you have a few ‘gimmick’ pellets by Crosman.
In this instance I was referring to regular Crosman Premiers in .22
you know… Springers tend to give better fpe (and flatter trajectory) with lighter pellets (to a degree) opposed to PCP which generally give higher fpe with heavier pellets… so that said, another to try may be JSB RS, which come in at 13.42gr instead of the 15.89 or the heavier 18.1gr.
I would imagine that you dont have the RS pellets handy as they are not as popular. If you find that you arent getting acceptable groups with the other you have on hand, let me know before you shell out for the RS pellets and I can just send you some to give a go.
Thanks, Rob!
I have all of those on hand except the CPLs; in fact… what are those?
A Swedish Guy got 7:th place in Field Target world Championship last year with one of those. No Idea what the others used but it was a big deal on a Swedish AG forum. I myself don’t Care much for FT
Congrats! Note that guns of the same make and caliber may require different pellets to group. If I recall correctly, pre tune, my 97 did well with both JSB’s and FTT… but post tune, preferred the RWS HP, which is an odd pellet for a springer, but as you can see from the prior group, it did well.
I think a good starting point would be some FTT, FTS, JSB, CPL’s… and then if you arent finding anything that groups move on to some of the more lesser used pellets.
Will do.
Apparently, for the serious BR shooters, there’s a better tuning kit, but it’s very expen$ive.
The guy I spoke with at AOA was very familiar with the gun and immediately recommended H&N FTT pellets. I’ll run a sampling to see what happens.
If the 9x scope isn’t enough, I may swap a Leapers off the RWS.
Please update us when you get the gun in ..I have looked repeatedly at those guns . They are beautiful and I think I would enjoy it at least as much as I did my TX200
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Of course, the rifle arrives at my work right after I leave for the beach. Then, when I return and get it, it’s raining!
In the few minutes between showers, I take a few shots at leaves. Standing, resting my hand on a clothesline, the groups were all under an inch at about 35 yds. Mind you, this is quick-n-dirty, but in less than five minutes, “squirrel-ready”.
First impressions: Much less shake than my RWS 48, fairly easy to stay on target. Craftsmanship is outstanding. The under-lever design is easy to work with. The safety is not near the trigger, but just below the rail. Once the safety is released, you see a red pin. One cannot re-engage the safety by pushing it in the opposite direction; you must re-cock the gun.
It’s heavy, but not too much, about 10.5 lbs, scoped. 40 inches long. A bit lighter and a few inches shorter than the 48. The fore end of the stock is wider, flatter and more stable than the 48. Plus, it’s better balanced.
It’s still raining, so a more detailed review will have to wait. After 2-3 hundred shots, things should settle-in and I’ll try to post groups/chrony numbers. For now, this model shows great promise. H&N Field Target Trophy, 14.66 gr. were used and seem to suit the .22 well. FTS, also H&N, are nearly identical in shape and weight. The FTS have a thinner skirt-probably worth a try, along with a few other .22 I have kicking around.
Update: Took 10 shots at a board @ 31 yds, using a fence as a brace: one flier, two 1/2 inch outliers from a 7 pellet stack of 1/2 inch. Impressive for another crude shooting trial.