A VERY Happy 12th Birthday for my Weihrauch HW80 .22

[pianoman 3,587]

Gentlemen. Hi.

 

It is the week of my HW80's 12th Birthday! And what better than to take her out to the fields of my permission where I first got to grips with her back in 2000.

 

Everything about this venerable old girl is a thing of beauty to my eyes. A full-length Weihrauch HW80 .22 rifle with a Webley Venomtech long, slimline silencer. That makes her long. Very long; as those who saw her at the Nottingham meet will attest!

 

She has not been professionally tuned, polished and honed and serviced by Tony Wall at Sandwell Field Sports but, skilfully serviced by AndyFR1968 here,, and this particular rifle shoots like a dream on steroids! Thanks Andy my bonnie!

 

The stock (as original) is still showing a pleasing swirl of darkly red-browned Beech grain, if a little worn around her edges. This has the sweetest rake of wrist at the chequered pistol grip and a shallow, less-deep forestock than the currently-produced HW80 now has; and I really do prefer this stock's dimensions hands down. Gives the rifle a feeling of slim, pointable handling, much akin to that of a full-bore Deer rifle. But the original blueing is as deep and pristine as the day I brought her home.

 

In other words, she is as fine a much-beloved and well-looked-after vintage example of an air rifle legend that can be found.

 

Never to be sold again..Sorry.

 

I still have the lovely "Olde Schoole" Simmons 4.5-14x40mm Whitetail Classic scope and its 30-30 Duplex reticle that I bought with this rifle and a tin of washed and lubed H&N FTT. As I was rifling through the assorted ammo tins for my various rifles out, there was a tin of RWS SUPERFIELDS that this rifle had never been tried with so, into the kitbag they went. Rifle into gunslip and beany bag, pack of hide cammo and my old lie-on coat into the car..

 

Out to Field No1 and set up MDF target boards with simple aim marks drawn with a sharpie pen, out to my usual 30-metre zeroing range for this rifle. And 20, 25 on to 35, 40, 45 and 50 metres to see where my holdunder/over is going to be should the Superfields prove themselves well.

 

At 20ft/lbs of muzzle muscle this rifle shoots like only a tuned HW80 can. A powerful crack off the trigger let-off. creating a near-flat trajectory with a volcanic, hard hitting shot so there's not much adjustment needed between ranges falling outside of the thicker points of the reticle that circle the finer crosshair.

 

The H&Ns proved as reliably faithful as ever; with sub qtr-inch groups down to single holes at 30 and 35 metres. All from a rifle that kicks out a hefty recoil positively at the shoulder. There's no point at all in standing a pellet on top of the scope turret to show how light the rifle's recoil is. This gun would just simply throw it into the bushes! So it's a well-practiced hold with a light yet positive pressure of the controlling hand on the grip and a non-gripping, supportive fore-hold.

 

Time to see what these RWS Superfields were going to be like.

 

These were absolutely delightful! A light, loose-almost fit in the breech but, my God! Tight single-hole groups on the crosshair. Well-on for all range hunting. Try them if you have an HW80 too!

 

Out to the warren-strewn slopes of a beautiful river valley I'm lucky to have to shoot over and the rifle was just spot on the beat. I don't have a digital camera and less know-how at pic-posting but 9 rabbits, all of them clean head shot from 20 to 55 metres shooting up-slope, was a fine night's bag for me. I don't normally even see this many out so much, nowadays on my shoot alas. God knows why?!.

 

So that was my beautiful old Weihrauch HW80's birthday night out. Just as magnificent, as sweet and as formidably accurate and powerful as ever she was.

 

Get one and see what you're missing!

 

Regards to everyone here.

 

Pianoman.

Edited September 4, 2012 by pianoman

[falcongit 242]

happy 12th birthday hw80

 

atb symon

[Skot Ruthless Teale 1,701]

Nice shooting mate. Hope you wiped the sperm off your gun lmfao

[Malt 379]

I don't regret a lot, but I do regret missing the opportunity to buy a near mint condition HW80 off a neighbour back in '94 or '95 for £.. I was in my first place with a newborn baby at the time and couldn't justify the outlay.. If I had of bought it, I reckon it would still to this day be held in the esteem that yours obviously is.

 

Here's to the next 12 years!

[pianoman 3,587]

Thank you Malt.

 

That's a sorry thing for you mate, but, your baby is your most precious priority and at least you did the right thing as a man and, a doubtless proud father and for that, I admire you immensely.

 

But, there's other HW80s from their vintage days for sale out there and there's bound to be a mint condition example. I can assure you, you wouldn't regret the purchase. I bought mine when everyone was going mad for Pre-charged. It's still shooting as beautifully as the day it was bought.

 

£230.00 from Guns International at Barnsley. Best bargain ever!

 

Best wishes.

 

Simon

[pianoman 3,587]

Nice shooting mate. Hope you wiped the sperm off your gun lmfao

 

Oh I do now Skot,.. .

 

 

Since it gave birth to your HW95....!

[gurtwurz 792]

excellent behavior simon, and congrats to your for such stirling service.

 

mind you, next year it'll be a teenager so it wont wanna come out with its dad cos you wont be cool anymore and instead of it singing to you, you'll be lucky to get a grunt or some kind of sarky comeback...

 

all the best my friend, wurz

[pianoman 3,587]

I know wurz my dear friend

 

I'm already bracing myself for when she starts bringing Hatsans and SMKs back after a night out. Teenagers huh?!

 

Warmest regards John.

 

Simon

[gurtwurz 792]

judging by some of the bleeding reprobates my stepdaughters tried to bring home, prepare yourself for the worse my friend!!!

[woodcote1 88]

I enjoyed that very much. I really fancy getting a nice singer to compliment my pcp and I've always fancied getting her tuned and dressed in a nice custom stock.

[ghillies 209]

aww shuks my babey would have been 37....lol

[secretagentmole 1,701]

Well I have a mark 4 Meteor in intensive care (needs a heart transplant and revalving on the arteries), a Webley Falcon with a dodgy finger, an Original 27 in working condition and the terrible Turk your HW will want to bring home (he is rather an elegant gentleman though, being more softly spoken with his gas ram)....

[Webby1 34]

I know wurz my dear friend

 

I'm already bracing myself for when she starts bringing Hatsans and SMKs back after a night out. Teenagers huh?!

 

Warmest regards John.

 

Simon

 

I bring one back most weekends Chinese meal that is

[angela winder 2]

sounds a nice example my first proper gun was a hw80k in .177 back in the late 1980s i loved that rifle had some good times with it