HW98

[Frenchcaster]

Hi all. Just wanted to share my excitement. Ordered a HW98 in .177 from Krale and it shipped this morning. I just hope I’ll evade some of the QC issues seen of late, I’ve been lured by the reputation of excellent accuracy the 98 comes with.
I have been struggling a bit with the 77k (.177) and the R9 (.22) lately.
I don’t think it’s the guns, but it’ll be nice to chase accuracy with another mistress.

Cheers

A.

[jccams]

Hi all. Just wanted to share my excitement. Ordered a HW98 in .177 from Krale and it shipped this morning. I just hope I’ll evade some of the QC issues seen of late, I’ve been lured by the reputation of excellent accuracy the 98 comes with.
I have been struggling a bit with the 77k (.177) and the R9 (.22) lately.
I don’t think it’s the guns, but it’ll be nice to chase accuracy with another mistress.

Cheers

A.

I received my HW98 from Krale in October.  The cocking arm was interfering with the breech block and needed to be bent slightly.  This seems to be a very common problem lately with the HW95 family.  Make sure the cocking arm can be wiggled with the barrel closed.  If not you will experience barrel droop.  Enjoy your new gun and let us know how it goes.

[Toxylon]

The lure of "Maybe...just maybe this next gal...errr... gun is The Magic Gun" is powerful indeed, even when tempered with reason and comparative analysis.

I hope your 98 gives you very special hours of enjoyment!

[cjtamu]

Looking forward to seeing and hearing how it shoots. Beautiful guns.

[Crowman]

Your going to love your 98. One of my favourite Weihrauch’s. That barrel looks so good. Enjoy. Crow

[Frenchcaster]

I received my HW98 from Krale in October.  The cocking arm was interfering with the breech block and needed to be bent slightly.  This seems to be a very common problem lately with the HW95 family.  Make sure the cocking arm can be wiggled with the barrel closed.  If not you will experience barrel droop.  Enjoy your new gun and let us know how it goes.

That’s a good reminder. As I mentioned I am a bit leery of all the issues with finishing that have been pointed out on this forum. But… the siren song of a better springer group is very strong. I am very thankful for the experienced members sharing their knowledge on this forum.

Thank you all, I will share. I had a long time to think about this purchase. I have a .22 R9 and a .177 HW77K, both tuned by John in PA. Initially I thought I would complete the German lineup with HW30 and HW50 in .177, but I realized I wanted a gun that can be really stretched in distance for anything above what the HW30 can do. And for any hunting/pesting I would want to do the R9 is great. So the 50 would be a bit redundant. Hence the HW98. I shoot mostly benched and paper is my usual quarry.

Now, I saved the HW 30 for a future purchase - one pleasure at a time.

Cheers.

A.

[Hoosier Daddy]

There are two springers in my arsenal I never want to sell.
#1:My Beeman R-10 in .20
#2: My Weihrauch HW-98 on .177

Both are jewels to be had. 

[Frenchcaster]

There are two springers in my arsenal I never want to sell.
#1:My Beeman R-10 in .20
#2: My Weihrauch HW-98 on .177

Both are jewels to be had. 

That is good to hear!

PS what does Krale do to get UPS to work for them so fast??
Krale submitted information to UPS on Wednesday 1/11 at 7:13 AM ish PST. The gun was on the delivery vehicle at 5:00 AM PST this morning. Unreal.

[Frenchcaster]

Alright, it got here! I have family coming over in a few minutes so I will write up more tomorrow but I am very optimistic. I like the model more than I thought I would, and I think she is going to be a shooter.

Initially I got worried as the box had obviously got wet and soft, and it wasn't particularly well packed. Weihrauch box floating a bit in the outside shipping box, with a bubble wrapped pack of pellet tins moving around and hitting the box.
But the gun was fine, and it is a fine gun.

I had doubts about the stock, as I tend to like very traditional wood grain, but it grows on me and the stippling gives a great grip that I am liking. The bluing and detail are excellent.

I like her looks and the weight does not bother me.

I cleaned the barrel and started shooting her (I am about 100 rounds in), but I will write that including my impressions and results tomorrow.

Cheers

A.

[jccams]

Congratulations, she's a beauty!  Do you know what scope is going on it yet?  I put an Hawke Airmax 4-12x40 on mine.  I predict you will have many many hours of enjoyment from her.

[Hoosier Daddy]

CONGRATS!
The adjustability of the cheek riser and the butt plate is a great feature.
 Once you get it set to your body structure it is an amazing difference.

[uglymike]

How's the spring buzzzz out of the box? Wonderful rifle, heirloom quality. What are you plans for it? Bench, FT, hunt, backyard plinker? 

[desmobob]

Congratulations!  I hope it's as good as its reputation!

As soon as I hit the lottery, I'm ordering an HW98 and HW35E.   

[Frenchcaster]

Good morning all!

So, I wanted to record a bit my first day with the HW98.

First impressions and prep:
 - I already wrote briefly about liking the gun. The aesthetics and execution are great. I would prefer a more traditional stock, but I love the practical aspect of the stippled grip, and the foreshock slits make it easy to get repeatable grip and position, which is a must for springers. The bluing is excellent if just a bit thin in a couple areas.

 - the threaded barrel weight came off very easily, crown looks good. The inside of the muzzle weight is not finished smoothly and has tooling marks (see pictures). I wonder what that could do to turbulence as the pellet exits the crown off the barrel.

 - Cocking is actually smooth, solid and satisfying right out of the box. No gritty feeling, no clangs or rings.

 - I cleaned the barrel with Hoppe's 9. some gunk in there, but not as bad as I expected

 - I pushed a couple pellets through the barrel to get a feel for rifling and tightness. Rifling marks look good to me (see picture). The leade and first third of the barrel are quite tight, then there's a loose feeling 3/6 of the barrel (quite loose but the pellet didn't fall either) and the last 6th is a very pronounced choke. The choke seems to be quite precisely located under the threaded end of the barrel, I wonder if the threading process is in part responsible for creating the choke.

 - I checked for cocking arm impingement. It is definitely snug against the breech block but I am able to move it a tiny bit side to side and I don't see marks on the breech block, nor do I see obvious barrel droop so I think I am just ok avoiding barrel droop. The future will tell.

 - I checked screws OH MY!!!! As a background let's remember that Weihrauch has some guidelines for screws (they're in various threads on this site: 22.5 inch/lb for fore grip screws and back trigger guard screw, 44 inch/lb for the front trigger guard screw. The gun as delivered had fore grip screws/rear trigger guard screw under 12 inch/lb and the front trigger guard screw was under 20 inch/lb. So, HW rifles in my mind should be expected to be loose upon delivery. I adjusted screws to 22, 40 and 15 inch/lb (that has worked well for me in other rifles).

 - Next step was to mount a scope.

Congratulations, she's a beauty!  Do you know what scope is going on it yet?  I put an Hawke Airmax 4-12x40 on mine.  I predict you will have many many hours of enjoyment from her.

I have a Vortex Diamondback Tactical 6-24X50 on a ZR mount ready for this gun, so I installed it right away.

 - Finally, moved to the yard to start shooting!

More to come.

Cheers
A.

[Frenchcaster]

First shots:

I decided to start this gun with HN Barracuda Hunter Extreme, 9.57gr. Why? because I have an ample supply of those to break it in and they're quality pellets. My HW77k used to really like them so I ordered 10 or 12 tins from Himla last year at a really good price, but for some reason the 77 now is unhappy with them. so be it. I am planning on using 2 tins of the BHE before I start testing other pellets.

First shot impressions:
 - the cycle is pretty short and snappy, no obvious dieseling at all. Recoil is reasonable. As expected right out of the box the sight picture jumps just a bit more than I'd like.
 - the gun is fairly loud, which isn't a problem in my situation.
 - the stock is very comfortable, the grip feels good.
 - the trigger is BAAAAAD out of the box (compared to what a Rekord can and should be). it is heavy, and there's significant creep. I tried adjusting the main screw a bit but it barely moved, I imagine HW next the screw tab enough that I would ruin the threads if I keep going. At least it is consistent and predictable LOL.
 - TWAAAAAAAANNNNNNNGGGGGGG. That thing is buzzy as all get!

It all reminded me how lucky I am to shoot tuned guns, and what a difference tuning makes to shooting comfort and pleasure. This is not a well polished aristocrat, this is a teenager  - full of potential, wet and vinegar!

I set up the chronograph out of curiosity, to see how a new gun behaves. I know we are a few tins away from the chronology being useful.

The first 5 shots were taken at a standard 10m target at 10m (11 yards) to start zeroing the scope enough for the next step. WOW! I did not expect that. It is a short distance but one hole right out of the box!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then I walked 10 more shots up to zero.

Finally I set up my target box at 25 yards and zeroed again.

Then the "work" started: I had enough decreasing light to shoot a target sheet
 - 5 shot groups except the last one, 10 shots at bottom right
 - 25yards
 - 1/2" bulls.

It is fun to see the groups tighten a little bit. The twang is still very present but is slightly reduced after just 120-130 shots. The gun at this stage does not seem very hold fussy, but it will take a lot more to decide.

I was blown away by the chronograph readings.I started the chronograph when I started on the sheet, so about 25-30 shots in.
The first 30 shots measured as follows:

Shot count: 30
Low: 812
Hi: 840
Avg: 829
Spread: 28
STD Dev: 6.8

830
819
826
823
833
830
814
812
833
840
840
833
830
826
837
828
830
826
840
821
833
833
833
828
833
830
835
823
828
828

First, speed is right where I would want it for decent future accuracy. Second, look at how the velocities slowly stabilize. if you just take the last 10 shots of this string, numbers are as follows:

Shot count: 10
Low: 823
Hi: 835
Avg: 830
Spread: 12
STD Dev: 3.7

50 shots in, I'd say that is promising and hopefully, a sign of solid repeatable mechanics.

Now, I just need to keep shooting for a while.... I will report again in a few days hopefully, if I keep getting semi decent weather.

Cheers

A.

[Frenchcaster]

How's the spring buzzzz out of the box? Wonderful rifle, heirloom quality. What are you plans for it? Bench, FT, hunt, backyard plinker?

Spring buzz is quite bad - but I have been shooting tuned guns for a while so I had just forgotten what it is like 

My plan is mostly bench (the quest for small accurate groups is endless), and I would like to move to FT style shooting.

Cheers
A.

[Frenchcaster]

CONGRATS!
The adjustability of the cheek riser and the butt plate is a great feature.
 Once you get it set to your body structure it is an amazing difference.

I have just started messing with the stock to adjust it - it's already helping my neck not crank, and I think it will help my canting issues a lot!
A.

[Yogi]

My plan is mostly bench (the quest for small accurate groups is endless), and I would like to move to FT style shooting.

Cheers
A.

Well you already have the right gun carrier for FT!

Since you gun seems very accurate, why not leave it alone?  Tune it after the OEM spring breaks.

-Y

[Yogi]

deleted....

[Frenchcaster]

Yogi, the top summary is for the whole 30 shots and includes High of 840, the second summary only includes the last 10 shots and is accurate I think 

Well you already have the right gun carrier for FT!

Since you gun seems very accurate, why not leave it alone?  Tune it after the OEM spring breaks.

-Y

My current plan is to only improve the trigger adjustment and leave it as is for a while. At least a couple thousand shots in
Cheers
A.