by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier
HW35 Luxus
This report covers:
- The HW35
- Barrel lock
- Sights
- Weight and length
- Me and the HW35
I’m going to start this report by eating some crow. Or is it humble pie? I never remember. I want to say at the start of this report that reader Dom was right, and I was wrong about my new HW35 Luxus. Dom told me that his 35 had a Freimark (a capitol F inside a pentagram — the German symbol for airguns developing less than 7.5 joules) and he wondered if mine did, as well. If it did that might be why it shoots so smooth. I told him my gun didn’t have one.
Except it does. A great big one!
You see, I got 2 air rifles at the Malvern show — this HW35 and a BSF S54. When I looked at the gun for Dom I looked at the S54 instead of the 35.
It’s an easy mistake to make. I mean other than the fact that one rifle is a breakbarrel and the other is an underlever with a loading tap — and the 35 is well worn with use while the S54 looks new — and the 35 is both lighter and smaller than the S54 — they look identical!
Yes, kids, old BB was looking at the wrong gun when he answered Dom’s comment about the markings. Given the presence of the Freimark, it is entirely possible that what I have is indeed a German-spec airgun and simply a smooth shooter because it doesn’t generate that much power.
The only HW35 I have had much experience with was one from the Beeman company many years ago. It was a full-power (12 foot-pound) rifle, and it vibrated and thumped badly. I was expecting the same from this rifle; and when it didn’t do it, I assumed it had been tuned.
You might think that a 7.5-joule rifle (about 5.5 foot-pounds) that launches a 7-grain RWS Hobby pellet around 595 f.p.s. would have a much softer mainspring than a 12 foot-pound rifle, but, in fact, they aren’t that different. What the maker does, normally, is shorten the piston stroke so not as much air gets compressed. The springs remain stiff for all models.
We won’t know for sure until I run this rifle through the chronograph. If it shoots Hobbys at or below 595 f.p.s., it’s probably a German-spec airgun that may be in original condition. The automatic safety appears to have been disabled; but until I open up the gun, we won’t know that for sure, either. All I know for certain at this point is that this airgun is very smooth.
The HW35
We talk about certain airguns like the Benjamin 392 being direct descendants of a long line of forbears. Before the 392, there was the 342 and before that was the 312, and so on. And, we marvel that an airgun can last so long. But what about the HW35? It dates back to 1951 and has never been out of production. It predates the famous Rekord trigger, and advanced collectors talk in hushed tones of awe when they discuss their pre-Rekord Weihrauch rifles.
The HW35 is so old that it was reported in Smith’s Standard Encyclopedia of Gas, Air and Spring Guns of the World, published in 1957. The Rekord trigger was available at that time, and Smith said there was no better unit in the world. He also said the 35 was a husky rifle with a powerful mainspring, and so it was at that time.
In the 1970s, the 12 ft-lb. 35 was one of 4 airgun models that were just at or starting to exceed the 800 f.p.s. “barrier” that was thought for so long to be the upper velocity limit. The other 3 were the FWB 124, BSF S55/60/70 (same gun, different stocks) and Diana 45. A few years later, the Beeman R1 came out and pushed a .177 pellet out at 940 f.p.s., and the velocity race was on. The HW35 never had what it took to compete, so it continued to be produced as a (now) medium-velocity breakbarrel springer that had a very nice trigger and a barrel lock.
Barrel lock
Powerful breakbarrels used to have positive spring-loaded manual barrel locks. It was thought to be necessary to keep their breeches sealed when they fired. But what it also did was make those rifles that much easier to break open. No slapping of the muzzle was required. Just thumb the latch, and the barrel almost falls open on its own. The 35’s latch thumbpiece is on the left side of the baseblock, perfectly situated for a right-handed shooter. And, yes, there does seem to have been a left-hand version of the 35 that has the thumbpiece on the right, unless someone is just playing jokes by flipping pictures around.
The barrel lock thumbpiece is on the left of the gun. And there’s the German Freimark stamp on the baseblock. See that round cutout in the forearm? Watch what it does:
The barrel lock thumbpiece fits into the cutout when the barrel is cocked.
There are many models of the 35. The Standard is the most common, followed by the E model and the Luxus, which I have. I saw a 35 at Malvern that had a stock shaped like a Luxus stock (Bavarian comb and rounded pistol grip) but without the checkering on the pistol grip or the raised cheekpiece. I didn’t check closely, but I think the stock was beech rather than walnut. I don’t know what model that one is, but it seems to be fairly common as well.
I have the Luxus model. The stock is walnut with a hand-checkered pistol grip that’s rounded on the bottom. The forearm has a finger groove down either side, which is very European. The butt has a Bavarian shape, which means the comb slopes down toward the butt. The raised cheekpiece is also in the Bavarian style.
The Bavarian butt shape is distinctive. The comb slopes down at the rear, and the raised cheekpiece is angular.
The forearm feels thick when I hold the rifle to shoot; but looking at it objectively, it’s really thinner than it feels. I guess it’s so tall through the forearm that it adds to the mass of the wood, and the rifle just feels bigger than it is.
Speaking of that forearm, the cocking link is a 2-piece articulated lever, which allows the cocking slot to be very short. That, along with the thickness (tallness, not width) of the wood is where a lot of the vibration goes.
The cocking slot is short, which leaves more wood to deaden any vibrations. Notice the crack.
My rifle has a split that follows the grain of the wood. It runs from the cocking slot to the single stock screw hole located on the underside of the butt. That’s something I need to attend to. Thank goodness I am so skilled at woodworking! Can you imagine what a hack might do when making such a repair? [Editor’s note to new readers: BB is not a good woodworker. He’s known as a wood butcher!]
According to the serial number (in the 700,000s), my rifle was produced in 1979. It has 2 scope stop holes in the end cap rather than the more familiar 3 that are seen on later Weihrauch airguns. The safety is strange. Well, I’m not convinced it is a safety. It’s located where a Weihrauch safety would be, but there’s no corresponding hole on the other side of the end cap. Could it be that this 35 is like an older Beeman R7 and has no safety? I’ve seen R7s without safeties, but they did not have this pin stocking out.
Older Weihrauchs had 2 scope stop holes in the end cap. What appears to be the safety may not be.
The button at the rear of the end cap that looks like a safety may not be one.
Sights
The sights are vintage Weihrauch. A globe front has interchangeable inserts. None came with the rifle, but I’ve accumulated a few inserts over many years of owning different Weihrauchs.
These older Weihrauchs came with replaceable inserts for the front sight. This one didn’t have them, but I’ve saved a few over the years.
The rear sight is adjustable in both directions. Adjustable in 1979 means crisp click detents with numbers on the elevation wheel to tell you where the sights are set. There’s no corresponding marker for the windage, which seems strange given the overall quality of the gun.
Weight and length
According to a 1973 catalog from Air Rifle Headquarters, the 35 L weighs 8 lbs. and cocks with 33 lbs. of effort. I’ll measure the cocking effort in part 2, but I think it’s lower than 33 lbs. My rifle weighs 8 lbs. on the nose and is 44-1/2 inches long. The 20-inch barrel contributes a lot to that length. The pull measures 14-1/4 inches.
Me and the HW35
When I returned from Germany in 1977, I went up to the Beeman store in Santa Rosa California to buy a nice air rifle. It would be several years before I realized that I’d lived for 4 years in the same German city where the BSF airguns were made (Erlangen). I thought of the Beeman store in California as the world’s Mecca for airguns.
When I got to the store, I wanted an FWB 124 because of all the good things I’d read about it. But there was an HW 35E that also caught my eye. I had to consult the Beeman catalog on the spot before deciding, and it was velocity that tipped the decision. Those were the days before the velocity wars, and 800 f.p.s. seemed to be the absolute pinnacle that airguns would ever achieve. The HW 35 struggled to make 800, and not all of them could, while the 124 was going out the door at nearly 800 and rising up to 820 f.p.s. or so after a break-in. With tuning, they went even faster.
So, I walked away from the HW35 that day, but not without some regrets. Honestly, it looked like more airgun than the 124. The walnut stock made the 124’s beech stock look cheap. And the barrel latch was a unique touch that suggested quality. The sights and trigger were obviously both superior as well. I’ve sometimes wondered what direction my life would have taken if I’d made a different decision that day.
There’s no need to wonder any longer because in 2015, just a short 37 years later, I have my 35. And this one seems to be the right one. We shall see.
This is how far the barrel breaks open.
That stock looks nice and comfy but I don’t really care for all those sharp Angles, I guess I’ prefer something more traditional but then again it’s not my gun. The sights look great and the size and weight would work well and the bbl lock adds to its sophisticated presence.
Nice gun!
The single sided safety is entirely in keeping with it’s vintage, as is, unfortunately it’s lack of function, they phased it out shortly after in favour of the more reliable design they have now.
As mentioned, that’s almost definitely a GI purchase, someone with a few more Deutschmarks going spare than you at the time 🙂
That’s the first time I’ve ever seen a crack in a HW35 fore end, it’s quite a club that piece of wood.
There’s two ways forwards with this rifle, fit a period diopter and use it in the manner the home market did, or fit a post 1994 piston with parachute seal for around 10fpe
Pushing 177’s past that power is fraught with snappiness….strong springs are not a friend of the 35
Thanks Dom,
More little tidbits of information to file away. That is what is so great about this blog. There is such a wealth of airgunning experience brought together here, just waiting to be tapped.
Dom,
Thanks for the info on the safety. This is one I am not familiar with.
I’m inclined to leave the rifle as is, simply because it shoots so calm. It would be a shame to change something so nice.
B.B.
Because it’s only a matter of stroke rather than spring they stay pretty calm, even with the latest piston, in fact the parachute piston is marginally lighter than all prior pistons, so arguably it should be calmer still, the troubles come with replacement, aftermarket springs, allied with the heavy piston can make it shoot very poorly, even inadvertently, so OE all the way.
Hello BB and Fellow Airgunners
“All good thing come to those who wait”. I believe that is the biblical version of an oft used saying. My Mother preferred a slightly different version that went “all good things come to those who stay true”. In either case BB, your wait was well worth it. You have a fine looking Luxus version of the venerable HW35. I have the more modern (3yrs old) HW35E (Export) version in .177cal. My HW35E has a white pin stripe separating a finely figured walnut stock and rubber butt plate, with another stripe separating the pistol grip cap. The pistol grip cap is a nice touch, and is the only plastic piece on the gun. Mine also has a round cheek piece, and laser cut checkering on the pistol grip. Weihrauch also added sling swivels for a shoulder strap. So aside from a 3rd scope stop hole, all the differences between our 35’s seem to be cosmetic. What impressed me most about the HW35, was the sheer number of years the gun has been in production in .177, and .22 cal virtually unchanged. It made its debut in 1951, and was the first Weihrauch to introduce the now epic Rekord trigger. Weihrauch have produced a number “special” models for the collectors among us at various times as well. In 1977, the HW35LS thumb hole made a brief showing followed in 1986 by a green tinged stocked HW Safari model. The most collectable model was a run of 1000 HW35-KLS Jubilee Edition rifles in 2006 to celebrate 55 years of continuous production. They boasted a beautiful blue laminate stock, and I believe were available in .22 cal only. In 2004, they began producing the HWSTL that has a stainless steel barrel lock, with nickel plated barrel and air tube.
Please forgive me if I have left out any significant models, or have some dates mixed up. It is almost 1am as I write this, and I therefor must plead temporary exhaustion. I am eagerly looking forward to finding out what BB has in store for his HW35 Luxus. I am mainly interested to having a peek “under the hood” to borrow a hot rodder’s expression, to see what if any differences there are between our HW35’s.
Ciao
Titus
Titus, you forgot that the Jubilee model came cased with a knife with a matching handle and certificate
They come up now and then, and the knife is always missing
There’s a matt black stocked (still wood), nickel HW35k in my local dealer with a fitted matt black silencer and silver Weihrauch branded scope and mounts.
Rather a nice thing
Dom
Thanks for adding that tidbit of information about the knife with matching handle included with the HW35 Jubilee Edition. Do you know if the gun, and knife had matching serial numbers? I had also heard of a black synthetic stocked model of the HW35 STL being available as well. I have never laid eyes on this model in person, so I take your word that the stock is synthetic covered wood, as you state.
My first impression of the HW35E was negative due mainly to the rather short front stock exposing all the barrel locking mechanism, etc. The 500mm long barrel ( 20in) also made the stock seem even shorter making the gun look piece meal to me. However, about a year later I had the good fortune to spend an hour shooting a .22cal HW35E equipped with a full power (12ftb) V-Mack do-it-yourself spring kit. The owner also explained he felt the gun shot better with the original parachute piston seal rather then the green rubber seal supplied by V-Mack. Comparing the two seals sounds like an interesting test , if only to discover any truth to his assertions. One other major plus is noticed when you are dismantling, and/or assembling an HW35. There is no need for a spring compressor because there is zero tension on the main spring when the gun is un-cocked. I believe BB has attributed the same feature to both the Air Arms TX200 MK111, and Pro Sport airguns. I for one would welcome an explanation from BB on why some powerful airguns ( HW80/Beeman R1 ) have massive amounts of pre-load on an un cocked main spring, and another just as powerful, (AA TX200 MK 111, etc) have little or no amount of pre-load on an un cocked maim spring.
I’m not meaning to be so long winded in this reply. I find commenting on a subject concerning the Weihrauch HW35 seems to bring up 1 or 2 new questions. Judging from the number of comments to this first blog, there is no doubt BB’s HW35 Luxus has shown the HW35’s popularity is as strong as ever. I also see a few folks, i.e RidgeRunner? finding this might be the very springer/sproinger they have been wanting/needing all along. For those who say it isn’t powerful enough, I offer a conversation between James Bond, M, and a Major Boothroyd in the 007 film, Dr. No. Bond is ordered to retire his beloved Beretta Modelo 418 in .25/6.35cal., for the bigger, more powerful Walther PPK in 7.65cal. M tells 007 to place his Beretta on his desk, and asks Major Boothroyd for his considered opinion. ” Nice and light…in a ladies handbag…no stopping power”. Bond tersely replies ” I disagree sir, I’ve used the Beretta for 10 years, and have never missed with it yet”. Of coarse M, and Boothroyd win out by pulling rank and threatening to take away his 007 privileges, and forcing a desk job on him. Bond grudgingly picks up the Walther, and starts to leave, only to be told to put the Beretta back. Bond tried to palm it from M’s desk as a last resort.
Is there a moral to be learned from this exchange? Not really, however it is one of my favorite scenes in Dr. No, as it reveals much about James Bonds character. Not being one to go with convention and stopping power, Bond prefers finesse and the unconventional Beretta as backup for when his wits, instinct, and magnetic personality fail him. I think 007 would have never given an HW35 either.
Ciao
Titus
BB,
What is really so awesome about this air rifle is the obvious quality and craftsmanship exhibited in this fine old air rifle and the new ones have not really changed. I would wager that you could drop this old girl into a brand new stock with no problem.
The HW35E belongs in my collection. This air rifle is a classic. With quality sights, barrel lock, walnut stock and for under $500! I think PA needs to ad this to their HW lineup.
RR,
I think PA should carry it, as well. But given the medium power I’m sure they wouldn’t be a great seller. It takes an explanation before someone is willing to shoot this large a gun with so little power.
B.B.
Tom, I also picked up a 35 at the Malvern show….mine is a .22 that has a JM kit in it, shoots around 600 fps with 14 gr. pellets. Feels like a dream to cock and shoot, will be “looking into it” as soon as I find some time….wish I could find one that hasn’t been worked on to compare…
Mike,
Did you get the rifle that was at the table to your left? I saw that one and it looked very nice. I wasn’t aware that it was a tuned gun.
Larry Hannusch had one, too, I think. And I saw at least one more somewhere.
Malvern was the little show that could — and did!
B.B.
B.B.
I thought in 1977 German was located in San Anselmo or San Rafael and relocated to Santa Rosa in the 80’s? Maybe my memory is is fading. But I sure do remember the catalogs, drooling over an FWB 124 or later the R1.
Fishmonger,
San Anselmo was Robert’s house. When he opened the store it was in Santa Rosa. You are right, though. The move happened in the 1970s.
B.B.
Nice rifle. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Mike
Handsome rifle! Anxious to see if it’s been tuned or not. It looks promising to be accurate and a pleasant shooter. I’ve been looking for vintage air rifles for 20 years in my area, looks like I need to get serious about a pilgrimage to malvern. Springtime is difficult for me to go anywhere because of landscape and cropland requirements.
Rob,
Then come to the Texas airgun show on Saturday, August 29. The information is linked on the banner at the top of this page.
B.B.
BB
What a beautiful gun, I can’t wait for the rest of the reports. Off topic I just picked up a Lucznik 87 made in Poland and I can’t find much info on it (just what’s in the Blue Book) do you or any of the other readers have any info like a parts diagram for this rifle.
Frostbitten James
Frostbitten James,
I don’t have any information beyond the one report I wrote about them.
/blog/2007/05/predom-target-pistol-by-lucznik/
They are well-made and very similar to the Walther LP53, so a parts diagram for that gun might help.
B.B.
BB
The Model 87 is a rifle not a pistol, and it has a barrel lock on the left side of breech block
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Frostbitten James
Frostbitten James,
The Lucznik 87 is pretty easy to work on. I have one and have had it apart – just basic tools needed and a spring compressor will make the job easier. On mine the spring was pretty tired and there was not too much preload. One surprise was the weight of the trigger block / end plug of the receiver. It is machined out of a solid piece of bar stock. The seals are leather.
Paul in Liberty County
BB
The model 87 is a rifle not a pistol and it has a breech lock on the right side of the breech block.
Frostbitten James
Frostbitten James,
Sorry. I’m not familiar with Lucznik airguns.
B.B.
The spring diameter on the home market ones is the same as export markets, but you’ll be able to tell as it has a few turns less and less than half inch of preload, the export has approx an inch more
The holy grail of HW35 tuning is to get a 22 to touch 11fpe…..with the home market spring, rotation washers for preload at the trigger end and a top hat inside a plastic sleeved piston, buttons optional, it’s a heavy piston running a short stroke, arguable if needed.
B.B.,
I recall reading that “early” HW35’s have a slightly wider spacing than normal for the dovetail grooves. Do you know if this true, and if so when did Weihrauch transition to the now standard spacing for the grooves?
David H
David,
I haven’t heard that.
B.B.
BB
I have found a few older European guns have 13mm-14mm dovetail grooves
FJ,
It’s true that older BSA airguns have dovetails that are close to 14mm wide,and I know the Czech breakbarrels are also large, but I’ve not seen that on other European airguns.
B.B.
BB
The Rellum Raven I had was 13mm and the Lucznik 87 is also
Frostbitten James
B.B.,
The dovetails on my one remaining HW35 are 13mm.
For this reason Weihrauch rear diopters can be found in 11mm and 13mm. You have to pay attention to this if you’re buying a HW Rear match sight.
kevin
My HW collection actually has three different sight groove spacings.
The oldest, pre-Rekord guns have a spacing of about 12 mm. The diopter sight used on those guns was a completely different design than later sights, lovely slender all-steel things.
Beginning by the late 50’s, HW changed to 13 mm grooves. Most of the HW 35’s, HW 55’s etc. from that era with diopter sights, will have the classic heavy cast sight that was used for many years.
In about 1978, HW switched to 11 mm grooves. These guns still used the cast HW diopter sight identical in overall appearance to pre-’78 ones, but with the dovetail spacing correspondingly changed of course.
These later guns can also take Anschutz and some other 11 mm sights which IMHO is a great feature. With the older guns you are pretty much stuck with the OEM diopters.
HW rifles used 13 mm scope grooves up until about 1978, and have used 11 mm ones since.
If you like using match diopter sights, note that the newer guns can also take Anschutz sights and some other 11 mm units, but the older ones are more or less stuck with the OEM Weihrauch sights.
The oldest, pre-Rekord HW’s actually have yet another standard, the grooves on those are about 12 mm. That seemed to have changed by the late ’50’s.
Yikes…sorry for the strange overlapping posts! My wi-fi server hiccupped and I didn’t realize the first one had registered.
BB, one other odd detail of older HW’s is that there is an noticeable flare in the breech end of the bore. This was actually a separate operation done with a tapered mandrel, which HW advertised as producing smoother-shooting. These guns almost always perform best with RWS pellets, which have significantly larger-diameter skirts than most other brands, and seal better.
All that being said, the detail was altered in the late 70’s so your lovely new 35 may or may not have it.
Mike,
Thank you for the information on the older HW35s. I never paid much attention to them, so this is my first real encounter. And my 35 is really a later one, though not a modern rifle at all.
B.B.
B.B.,
That’s one gorgeous rifle! So, if it does turn out to be a German-spec airgun, who cares? I would just keep it that way and use it as a parlor gun, like shoot it in the living room…if your better half is OK with that, that is. 🙂
take care,
dave
I think you are in for a few surprises if you are going to “soup up” the old “F in pentagon” HW35..
The brits are doing all sorts of things to get the to perform well at 12fpe- transfer port reductions, filling the brazing voids in the breech etc. I have not bee anble to get any of my HW35’s up to high velocities, but one of them is really nice. I dont think they did short strokes on the HW35.
Will be interesting to see what size your transfer port is, and what kind of seal it has.
My gues is theres a leather seal in that gun.
Dag,
Leather is my guess, too.
And Dom mentioned the one-sided safety. This is my first encounter with one.
B.B.
The button is a safety. the first safetys did not go through on the other side like the modern ones.
Frostbitten, I attended a gun show in Oklahoma City a few years ago where a dealer had several air guns with his powder guns! Dealer had a (Lucznik) with some history! Having no knowledge (at the time) of this pistol! Not sure about about a purchase? I passed on Saturday, came back on Sunday witnessed a buyer finally purchasing for $200.00! I visited with buyer to find out he heard about it and drove some distance to purchase the pistol! After visiting a few minutes learned he was collector of over 500 vintages airguns! He didn’t have this one and wanted it! He ended up purchasing a good portion of the air guns the dealer had! I have had to eat some crow before myself! Semper fi!
Beautiful HW35.
Dag is correct. I owned a very similar HW35 from the same era. The safety on these mid model HW35’s only protrude on one side.
My HW35 from that era was an fac model and liked JSB RS pellets best. The one HW35 I kept is an even earlier model and it also prefers JSB RS pellets. The falcons work ok but do not shoot as well in my HW35 as the RS pellets.
kevin
Kevin,
Okay, I will try RS pellets. In fact, I will put them in the Pelletgage test this week, just so I am ready.
B.B.
Kevin,
I have also found this with mine. The new qiang yuan pellets are outstanding and mine develops 11 ft lbs.
Not to be nit-picky about the article, but you accidentally spelled “German” “Gertman” in the second pictures caption. Great article though, I look forward to reading this blog every day.
Auronotcs,
Thanks for pointing that out. I fixed it.
Edith
So, what direction would your life have taken given that you’ve ended up owning just about every airgun in existence? I don’t think the HW-35 would have turned you off from airguns. I wouldn’t feel too bad either about mixing up guns given that you must own a ton and because the various HW models are hard to keep track of anyway. All I know is that the HW30 is a very nice rifle. Why would people speak in hushed tones of guns before the invention of the Rekord trigger which was a great step forward? As for the metaphors, “humble pie” is easy enough to understand. “Eating crow” I’m sure means the same thing but the origins are more obscure. I’m supposing that crows must taste bad. Given the numbers of crows that people shoot with airguns, someone must have found out. Newer blog readers may not remember a vivid post from long ago–I think it was by Volvo–who described a startling scene which unfolded in a neighbor’s backyard. A “murder” of crows had uncovered some den of baby rabbits and was in the process of killing them. And it wasn’t any quick and painless process but something driven by the malevolent intelligence of crows and filled with a lot of screaming. I believe that our blogger went to the closet for his airgun…
Big news about my latest range visit on Saturday. If only Slinging Lead was here to read this. I didn’t screw up once unless you count running a small wooden splinter under one of my fingernails by accident. Is there any place where it’s harder to remove? I can’t help remembering a scene from the mini-series Lonesome Dove where a cowboy hefts a bowie knife and says, “That thorn has to come out Mr. Jake.” Anyway, the tiny bit in there didn’t throw off my shooting.
The M1 mystery appears to be solved. There were very few jams. Moreover, the nature of the jams showed that the round was rising higher before getting caught by the bolt. Rather than getting rammed into the front wall of the magazine well, it was getting stuck halfway into the chamber. This seems to confirm my theory that the bolt was getting too much gas and closing too fast. This must be the realm of timing semiauto guns! So, the tedious process of creeping my loads down by a tenth of a grain paid off. That was the only way to diagnose this along with the strict standards of Matt61 handloads (Good to 1/20th of a grain!) I can’t believe it! I feel like my rifle has come back to me. B.B. mentioned a long time ago how it felt like a violation to have your guns stolen. There was something of that when my M1 was not working as it was supposed to, but now it’s back. With the improved functioning, there was improved accuracy too. I put 48 rounds into a little over three inches at 100 yards. I wonder if it is possible to backwards calculate an MOA from a five shot equivalent. 🙂 As long as I could discern individual five shot groups, they were not particularly impressive, but they didn’t spread out as the shots accumulated.
Another milestone. got full functioning of my Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk. 1 for the first time! There were no more feeding problems. As a result, for the first time I got a full appreciation of the fabled Lee-Enfield action, and it lives up the billing with that bolt flicking like a snake’s tongue. Accuracy was slightly worse than my M1 which surprised me a bit. In part, I found the recoil was kind of snappy with the 174 gr. service load. Otherwise, I’m reminded of just how hard it is to shoot good groups. You’re not going to get MOA out a surplus military rifle, and with iron sights, even good ones, you’re going to lose a lot compared to a scope, so my groups are probably about what I would expect. Anyway I would strongly recommend both of these guns to everyone. The shooting experience is completely unique.
At the pistol range, my run of luck continued with a great showing by the SW 686. I’ve heard it called the greatest handgun ever and that could well be. For the first time in a while, I shot a long string of .357 magnums, and it was on target even at 25 yards. I had numbers of encounters with the Jaws of the Subconscious locking in perfectly on the shot. Chomp. The effects of the flat-shooting cartridge were evident, and I can see how people could hit gongs repeatably at 100 yards. With my six inch barrel and Doc Holliday style black leather gloves, the cartridge was comfortable to shoot, but I cannot imagine people using 3 inch barrels with the caliber. Mysteriously, my luck did not transfer to my 1911, and I heeled the gun downward as much as any neophyte. But somehow in the midst of all this, I was still able to appreciate what a fabulous design the gun is. Something about the moving slide distracted me on this particular day. Anyway, now that I have my firearms fix, I can go back to refining my technique with airguns.
Matt61
It sounds like a great time at the range. Later this week, I will be getting a Bulgarian Milled Receiver AK in 7.62X39. It is an Arsenal brand and NIB. I have been after one of these for a long time and finally found one at a fair price. So, I will see if it’s as good as it is reported to be. BTW, was just shooting off the back deck with my Diana 52 in .177. It’s really nice to see that spring has finally made it to the UP of Michigan!
Mike
B.B.,
So glad to see this review. I am a huge fan of the 35. I have a Paul Watts tuned 35E in .22 cal that is my favorite shooter. It just oozes quality. I also have a .177 that I have been tuning myself. And I have another on order just for good measure LOL!
Looking forward to the rest on this review. I would love to own a version like yours. I probably will someday. I recently passed on a nickeled version that was tempting me. I just can’t get into nickel guns.
One interesting thing about my 35’s is that a sharp slap of the barrel will break them both open. I found this out quite by accident. I am so used to “normal” break barrels that one time when I picked up my .177 cal. 35E to shoot I slapped the end of the barrel and it opened. Took me a moment to realize that I forgot about the lever. I tried the same thing on my .22 cal. and sure enough it opened up too. I don’t do it on purpose of course but I find it interesting.
Also looking forward to the Terrus review. Thanks,
Mark N
Haven’t read the rest of the responses yet, so the subject might be covered.
The good part — the “bushing” hole acted to stop the split propagating.
I see applying pressure will be the tricky part, as it needs to be squeezing the belly where the split is, and not the relief for the spring tube and cocking arm.
I’d probably remove the action; attempt to open the split enough to squeeze some glue into the gap (in increasing order of desirability: Elmer’s [white], Elmer’s carpenters [yellow], and two steps — wet the exposed surfaces and squeeze in Gorilla Glue). In all three variants, clamp the belly, then wipe off the glue that oozes out (Gorilla Glue sort of foams and expands on exposure to moisture, so it really needs wiping off in the first few minutes if you don’t want to take sandpaper to it). Let sit, clamped, over night or longer.
The more complex work will likely leave visible evidence… Do the above and also drill two small holes clean through, into which you fit very thin glue coated dowels, which you cut off flush with the stock.
Hello BB,
I have a nice HW30S since Feb 2014 that I have added an aluminum/black rubber butt plate/pad and an aluminum butt hook. Also I installed an adj. rear target peep sight (the Daisy/Gamo sight from my Daisy 753). Also now I am using the round target aperture installed into the globe front sight instead of the post front sight. The air rifle shoots even smoother now because it’s just a tad heavier. I am very happy with it’s accuracy and shooting characteristics. I am experimenting with using the artillery hold and only pulling back the trigger while not actually holding the rifle with my trigger hand. In the offhand position the butt hook allows me to shoot that way. I am learning to pull the trigger straight back without pulling the bore off target and I’m getting smaller groups now.
But like a lot of people I am interested in a new HW35. I would want a lower power German version because I will only shoot 10M targets with it. Or perhaps I could modify the HW35E for less power. So then I would set it up the same way as my HW30S. Target sights and a butt hook.
I have a question, how much easier to cock and shoot is my existing HW30S than a German lower power HW35 and also the Export version HW35E.
Perhaps in the end of the day my HW35S set up for 10M target shooting will be all that I really could need in a Target spring air rifle. I am able to shoot for hours at a time because it is easy to cock and also because it is not a heavy air rifle. I am only shooting offhand because of injuries. I am very week and it would hurt to shoot in the kneeling position. I probably could manage the prone position with a lighter air rifle. But I would have to install an Anschutz accessory rail in order to make use of a sling while shooting prone (and kneeling). Thank you in advance for any consideration you may give me in regard to my questions. – Peter
Peter,
These HW35s are not that easy to cock. Add close to 10 pounds to the cocking effort of your 30S.
Also add several pounds of weight, which you might like.
You are reading Part 1 of a 5-part report.
/blog/2015/07/hw-35-luxus-part-5/
To go to the end and see them all, enter the name of the report in the search box at the upper right of the page and click Go.
B.B.