Tell me your thoughts on the HW95L vs R9?

[airgunner69]

You asked if the epoxy was a bedding material or for attachment, and I don't know.  I removed mine 2 weeks ago.  Loosened the set screw and tried a heat gun, didn't work so I switched to a torch.  Still had to use channel locks to get it off, screwing up the finish on the last 2" or so on barrel.    But if you remove it, it is aluminum, I had put the channel locks on it before I realized that, it's a bit mangled now. 

Good to know. Thank you

The .177 are a hassle to try to manipulate.  ...  But a pellet pen can make a world of difference when loading.

I agree about the .177 being a hassle but I didn't know about the pellet pen. Thanks for the tip!

Wow! You got good taste.

Thank you sir, sounds like we have similar tastes! 

Warning it won't end there you'll be getting more 😊

Yeah I'm going to try and keep it under control but I've already talked myself into 2 rifles when it was supposed to be just one and already have my eye on a few other things... 

Btw, a 95s range and power is worthy of a scope and I wouldn't even consider switching the rifle your considering to open sights. If you ever do just buy a new new barrel, they're cheap enough and I'll give you the open sights from mine. I will say my Hw30 with Williams peep sights is my favorite rifle to shoot. Bar none, including powder burners.

I thought about keeping the 30 with irons but I'm getting old man eyes and just can't see well enough to shoot irons well. Then again, I admit I've never tried the Williams peep sight and I've always read good things about it. Assuming I do get the urban pro model with the 4x scope, I will probably replace the scope with a 2-7x but I'll try the 4x out first before making any final decisions.

[Bayman]

I scoped my 30 laminate with a 2-7x32 Hawke Airmax. Its a perfect little scope for that gun. The Vantage 2-7x32 AO (mildot) is nice too for almost half the price. I need 2.0 reading glasses and it kills me not to be able to use regular iron sights anymore but the Williams peep sights work like magic. I would switch my first Hw30 back and forth between peeps and scope and when they dropped the price on the laminate, I jumped on it. The laminate is much prettier but my original 30 with the peeps is much more fun. At my local FT range I whack 2" spinners with it out to 50 yards, no problem. It's also taken more pests inside of 30 yards. Anyway try the peeps on one of your rifles, I guarantee you'll be amazed.

[airgunner69]

I scoped my 30 laminate with a 2-7x32 Hawke Airmax. Its a perfect little scope for that gun. The Vantage 2-7x32 AO (mildot) is nice too for almost half the price.

Thanks for the suggestion. Been looking around at scopes but hadn't decided on anything. I'm a big Leupold fan and was thinking about the VX-Freedom 2-7x33mm Rimfire. It's around the same price as the Hawke Airmax, the Leupold is lighter but the Hawke has the AO. I might have to give the Hawke a try?

I need 2.0 reading glasses and it kills me not to be able to use regular iron sights anymore but the Williams peep sights work like magic. I would switch my first Hw30 back and forth between peeps and scope and when they dropped the price on the laminate, I jumped on it. The laminate is much prettier but my original 30 with the peeps is much more fun. At my local FT range I whack 2" spinners with it out to 50 yards, no problem. It's also taken more pests inside of 30 yards. Anyway try the peeps on one of your rifles, I guarantee you'll be amazed.

Yup, I'm the same boat with the readers and irons (getting old is not fun) but it sounds like I need to give the Williams sight a try sometime. Thanks again

[nced]

"I'm a big Leupold fan and was thinking about the VX-Freedom 2-7x33mm Rimfire."

https://www.leupold.com/scopes/rifle-scopes/vx-freedom-rimfire-2-7x33

From the above.............
"Our VX-Freedom 2-7x33 Rimfire Scope gives you a closer 60 yard focus distance and a rimfire specific Rimfire MOA reticle"
Can you live with a "60 yard focus distance" on a fixed focus scope for airgun distances?

The closest Leupold to the 2-7x33 that will parallax down to 10 METERS (about 33 feet) is this scope which Leupold lists for about $390 but can be bought from Optics Planet for about $300..........
https://www.leupold.com/scopes/rifle-scopes/vx-freedom-efr-3-9x33

[prosportfan]

HW95 has open sight option and a fixed 4, 6 or 8x scope is plenty fir the rifle.

[fwbsport]

I put a scope on my HW30S .22 to find it's a tack driver to 25 yards.
The HW95Ls are also tack drivers.

The weight and cocking effort of the HW95L is ideal for my who doesn't like to wear himself out recocking for another shot.  It never wears me out to keep firing .25 or .22 pellets with the scopes attached and wonder at the slam and accuracy.  The HW30 .22 does NOT have enough slam to dispatch a squirrel properly compared to the HW95L, yet the latter actually is not unwieldy in any way; especially if you have been shooting something bigger like an HW80.

I'd steer you to the HW95L in .22 since I did the same and even found out a nice Swar scope works perfectly for it.

The HW30 really is too light to stock all bets in.

[Bayman]

Save yourself some money. Just get the Hawke Vantage 2-7x32 AO with a mildot reticle its a great little scope for a hundred bucks. The glass quality and size fit the Hw30 perfectly. You don't need luepold glass for a gun that lives mostly inside 30 yards. I stretch my 30s out to 50 yards but it's for "makes me laugh silly fun". Past 30 yards use your Hw95. The Hw30 as much as I love them have no real power past 30 yards and thus perfectly suited for more economic glass. A straight 4 power is all you really need on one. YOU WILL WANT an A/O scope on it though.

[airgunner69]

Can you live with a "60 yard focus distance" on a fixed focus scope for airgun distances?

The closest Leupold to the 2-7x33 that will parallax down to 10 METERS (about 33 feet) is this scope which Leupold lists for about $390

Its not that hard to manually change the parallax setting on Leupold non/AO scopes but yes, an A/O scope would be better.

I actually had a Leupold 3-9x33 EFR on my last R7 and loved it. I love that scope and have a few of them and IMO, they are worth every dime. Every time I've tried a lower cost alternative I've been disappointed.

I know a lot of people would never spend as much on a scope as they did the rifle they are mounting it on but I have no problem with that. Glass is just as important as the rest of the rig IMO.

That said, I am open to other options and the Hawke seems like a strong alternative but I'll worry about that after I actually get the rifle and see how I do with the scope it comes with? I will probably be getting the R9 first and from what I've read, the scope that comes with that one is pretty good?

[Bayman]

If your taste in scopes is as such, no included scope will be satisfactory. You're far better off buying the unscoped version for less money and putting quality glass on it from the start. That is as long as of course if there's unscoped versions available. Unfortunately included scopes seldom match a $39 Centerpoint or UTG.

[Mrblonde40]

My powder burners all wear Leupold's, never been disappointed.  But my 95 fieldpro came bundled with a weihrauch 3-9x40 scope and its quite good.  Point of impact doesn't shift when magnification changes, and the glass is very clear.  It's not a Leupold, but I'd say it is comparable to the Leupold VX-2 from about 20 years ago.  Leupold has made many upgrades since then, but the old VX-2s were a great scope.   Weihrauch scope has target turrets and 1/8 minute clicks.  I have no plans on upgrading.

[Chouchin66]

There is a long held belief among many...myself included, spend as much on glass as on weapon... No one ever regretted good glass!

[serdac]

Grab a Beeman R9 in .20, or the HW95 in .22, they are very versatile. I prefer a super clean look and since I don’t really shoot past 20 yards I have a 3 moa red dot mounted on my R9 and ordered a sweet factory looking muzzle brake from spiralgroove here.

[airgunner69]

If your taste in scopes is as such, no included scope will be satisfactory. You're far better off buying the unscoped version for less money and putting quality glass on it from the start. That is as long as of course if there's unscoped versions available. Unfortunately included scopes seldom match a $39 Centerpoint or UTG.

Buying them unscoped would be my preference but there is not identical unscoped versions of the 2 I'm looking at. I may look at other 30s models but I'm pretty set on the 95L Pro Field model. The good news is the Weihrauch 3x9 that comes on the 95L Pro is supposed to be pretty good (confirmed by Mrblonde40). The 4x on the 30s is probably pretty decent too but I'm just not a fan of fixed power scopes.

Supposedly Weihrauch doesn't put cheap scopes in their combos? We'll see when I get them but if I decide to replace them, I can always sell them to recoup some of the cost.

There is a long held belief among many...myself included, spend as much on glass as on weapon... No one ever regretted good glass!

Yeah, I think some people think spending big bucks on quality glass is a waste. I think some may even think its snobby but all I can tell you is once you spend some time behind good glass, it's really hard to go back.

The funny things is, its all a matter of perspective. Some here may think that Leupolds are high dollar fancy stuff but go to a long range precision center-fire forum and they will tell you how crappy Leupolds are and how they won't buy anything cheaper then a Nightforce but prefer brands such as Schmidt and Bender.

[Chouchin66]

Long range... March optics; tho not applicable to springers

[Bayman]

If your taste in scopes is as such, no included scope will be satisfactory. You're far better off buying the unscoped version for less money and putting quality glass on it from the start. That is as long as of course if there's unscoped versions available. Unfortunately included scopes seldom match a $39 Centerpoint or UTG.

Buying them unscoped would be my preference but there is not identical unscoped versions of the 2 I'm looking at. I may look at other 30s models but I'm pretty set on the 95L Pro Field model. The good news is the Weihrauch 3x9 that comes on the 95L Pro is supposed to be pretty good (confirmed by Mrblonde40). The 4x on the 30s is probably pretty decent too but I'm just not a fan of fixed power scopes.

Supposedly Weihrauch doesn't put cheap scopes in their combos? We'll see when I get them but if I decide to replace them, I can always sell them to recoup some of the cost.

There is a long held belief among many...myself included, spend as much on glass as on weapon... No one ever regretted good glass!

Yeah, I think some people think spending big bucks on quality glass is a waste. I think some may even think its snobby but all I can tell you is once you spend some time behind good glass, it's really hard to go back.

The funny things is, its all a matter of perspective. Some here may think that Leupolds are high dollar fancy stuff but go to a long range precision center-fire forum and they will tell you how crappy Leupolds are and how they won't buy anything cheaper then a Nightforce but prefer brands such as Schmidt and Bender.

Just in case you didn't notice this. I'm sure this scope would handle the light recoil of the Hw30 but the 60yd parallax is problematic. I heard that Leupold will re-parralex it close to 35 yrds for a nominal fee. This scope may have issues with the Hw95 based on this q&a on the luepold website. You can always put a sportsmatch dampa mount under it and that should protect it. I understand the attraction to good glass I just forgot there's people that can afford it. I have to watch my spending carefully and made the most common human failing, thinking everyone is like them. My bad. You picked a couple of fine rifles and I know you will enjoy them.

[airgunner69]

I know back in the day, all Leupold scopes where airgun rated/warrentied but I figured I'd check with the latest gen and this is the response I got (asked them about the 2-7x rimfire and 3-9x EFR)....

Thank you for writing us. All of our scopes would be able to withstand the unique recoil from an air rifle. With that said, the two scopes you listed would be great choices.

For the 2-7x33mm Rimfire model, the parallax would be set to 60 yards.

[Mrblonde40]

I used to work in a gun store about 20 years ago.  A lot of the people would say that you were just paying for the name when you bought a Leupold.  They would then buy a Tasco or Simmons, a lot of them were back the next week returning the scope when it broke on their first trip to the range.  Almost never saw returns on Leupold (or Burris, Nikon, or the higher end Bushnell or Weaver).  The Zeiss and Schmidt and Benders were beautiful scopes, but out of my price range.  When it comes to scopes I usually don't spend as much on the scope as the rifle, but pretty close.  Like my varmint rifle was $550 (at the time I bought it) and the scope was around 480 if I remember correctly.  And that scope is still on that gun thousands of rounds later still working just like the day I bought it.  Is it cheaper in the long run to keep buying 50 dollar scopes every other year or spend the money on a good scope the first time?  The Weihrauch scope that comes bundled on the 95 fieldpro retails for $235 btw.

[prosportfan]

I remember my 1st experience with a Leupold. I swear that when looking through it that its clarity was better than my 20/20 vision. I mowed Mr Irwin's lawn for 2 months weekly to get it.

[fwbsport]

I'm now saying a good piece of glass is necessary for me shooting beyond 25 yards.  My R9 and two HW95Ls all have glass:

R9 .177 has 2-7X UCC Nikon Monarch
HW95L .22 has 3-9X Z3 Swarovsky
HW95L .25 has 1.5-4.5X UCC Nikon Monarch

HW80 .177 has Burris Compact 4-12X
HW80 .20 has Vortex Viper 2.5-10X

The .177 R9 is hold sensitive!  Once I realized this I found out why the .177s don't appeal to me as much as a .20--when the pellet gets heavier the hold sensitivity goes down.