HW 95 or HW 85.-Y
Ok, so after a lot of thought and going back and forth with my decision I’ve decided I want to buy a new .22 springer. I have narrowed it down to an HW and have found after scouring the internet that Krale has the best prices by far, even with shipping. Now I can’t make up my mind which HW I want.I’ll be mostly target shooting in my backyard but want the ability to possibly hunt so I want a .22. It would probably just be squirrels but I live in a country setting and would like to ability to kill a raccoon if needed. I’ve posted a few times about my other springer, I have a ‘93 Diana 34 that I’m still working on finding the right pellet for. I also have a .177 Rws 34.I think I’d like an underlever, mainly because it’s something different from what I own. I’ve never owned a “high quality” springer, I had a BAM 34 clone and have the 2 Rws/diana’s. The ones I’m considering are the 97, the 77, or maybe the 50s. I’ve also considered the 95. It looks like I could get a 97 or 77 for about $400, unless I went with the extremely fancy blue stock. So with those parameters what would you get? Are the 77 and 97 basically the same? Are any of them that much better than the 34 that I would notice?
When living in West Virginia I used a .177 cal R9 for a couple years and liked it, however I drank the "big pellet mo better" KoolAid and bought a .20 cal R9 to go along with the .177 cal. I was immediately disappointed with the .20 R9 effectiveness on tree squirrels vs the .177 R9 because the loopy trajectory at HW95 power levels made guessing the distance and holdover past my 30 yard zero distance too critical for my skills. I did use the .20 cal for one season and replaced it with a .22 cal R1 barrel that I sent off for a pro "chop and choke". I had the same issues with the .22 cal (there was a better selection of .22 pellets however). I learned that a .22 pellet didn't anchor a squirrel better than a properly placed .177 pellet and the .22 cal was less effective than the .177 if the vitals were missed. Missed vitals was problematic for me with the .20/.22 pellets due to the loopy trajectories so I ended up with a roughly 30 yard .20/.22 "high percentage range". In contrast I had a .177 cal "high percentage range" of around 40 yards under field conditions. Anywhoo.......I ended up selling both the .20 & .22 cal barrels reverting back to .177 cal never to look back for my HW95 power level springers.I owned a .177 HW77k for a couple decades for shooting hunter class field target matches and took that under lever on a couple squirrel hunts. I found that the extra weight of the HW77k and the extra "arm waving" when cocking and loading a pellet into the leade wasn't agreeable with my squirrel hunting so the HW77k was left home while I used the R9 break barrels. Matter of fact, I even used the .177 R9 for field target matches instead of the HW77k simply because it was more convienent to load than putting "loading fingers" into the "bear trap" while fishing a pellet into the leade. After owning the HW77k for a couple decades I sold the gun a few years ago leaving me with only a .177 Beeman R9 and a .177 HW95, R9 on the left and HW95 on the right.............Here is a pic of my HW77k used for field target matches...........
Hi, Kingston. HWs are my favorite! They tend to be very accurate with a superb build quality, a well-balanced feel, and efficient shot cycle.My recommendation depends on the kind of shooting you expect to do with it:For mostly plinking, with some hunting and precision target shooting, I'd recommend the 50S. It is the most compact of the bunch and runs around 12fpe. I own one in .177 and .22, and I just love how they feel and shoot. The .22 is my goto gun for pleasure shooting and the .177 for precision plinking. The main drawback is that they require nearly as much cocking effort as an HW95, but a muzzle break helps lighten the feel. You'd probably want more power for raccoons, but I've taken starlings cleanly past 50 yards with my .177 HW50S, as well as red and grey squirrels at closer ranges. As far as target shooting, my 50Ss are superbly accurate off the bench, and shoot excellent off-hand, but the light weight makes them hard to hold steady from the FT position. For mostly hunting with some plinking and target shooting, I'd recommend the HW95. A chopped R9 in .177 is my goto hunting gun, and I've also shot FT with it with reasonable success. I've taken many dozens of squirrels and starlings, and a woodchuck with that gun. If I needed one gun to do everything well, it would be a 95. It is in the same power class as the 34, but the feel is completely different. To me the 95 feels better balanced, more compact, stable, and pointable where the 34s feel a bit over-long and skinny.I consider the 97s to be pure target guns, and the 77s to be target guns in a hunter motif. I have shot my tightest groups with a .177 97K and a .22 77K SE, but I don't prefer the extra weight when plinking and hunting. Other shooters don't mind it, though. The cocking stroke is a little stiff on the full power K models. due to the short cocking lever.Be prepared for spring twang out of the box with HWs, but they are easy to work on if you like to tinker, and there ain't many guns that shoot as nice as an HW with a vibration free home-tune.Have fun!