Got my new HW75 today!

[Technical Ted]

Got my new HW75 today and am VERY happy with it! I did dodge a big bullet (or maybe a pellet) though... At one point, I thought I would have to send it back for a replacement, but all ended well.

When I first got the gun (delivered this morning) I was looking it over and tried to open the cocking lever. Nothing. I couldn’t budge the lever open after releasing the catch. I read the owner’s manual that I downloaded a few days ago earlier and was pretty sure all I had to do was release the catch and it should open, but nothing. So, I played with the safety and cocked the hammer a few times and dry fired it. Then, when releasing the catch again, it opened right up! I figured that the hinge must have been frozen so I didn’t give it much thought since it seemed to be opening and closing fine now.

After cleaning the barrel, putting Ballistol on all the pivot/hinge points and wiping the gun all down, I shot my first pellet. Released the catch to load another and NOTHING! The cocking arm wasn’t budging! I pulled and pulled. Played with the safety and dry fired a few more times. Still frozen shut. I looked at the schematic which I also downloaded and could see absolutely NO REASON why it shouldn’t open with the catch depressed. I was about to call PA and see if I needed to exchange it for another. But, I was convinced that it must be just stuck, so I looked the end of the cocking arm all over (end under the rear sight where the catch is) and saw that the very end was just barely longer than the body of the gun. I took the corner of a small block of wood and placed it against this spot (it just barely caught the edge) and gave the block of wood a tiny tap. That’s all it took! I popped right open! The gun is made with such tight tolerances that it was simply binding up when closed. So, I put some Ballistol on the binding spot and manually worked it in by closing it more and more until it was worked in nicely. It just needed a little working in. Now, it opens perfectly!

So far, I’m very happy with the gun and I’m only sharing this experience with you to possibly help someone else down the line and keep them from sending back a gun for a replacement. Believe me, I was very reluctant to do ANY tapping on a gun of this quality and it’s a good thing it didn’t take much of a tap to free it up since I wasn’t about to hit it beyond a very light tap. I just couldn’t get a good enough grip with my finger tips to pull it open when it was frozen shut.....

All’s well that ends well and I’ll take the nice tight fit over a sloppy fit any day! Other than that, the gun seems perfect. Excellent quality and workmanship. Beautiful walnut grip. I was limited in my shooting today since it was raining most of the day and I don’t have my pellet trap built for indoors yet, but I did get to sight it in shooting at 10 meters off a bench and I was VERY HAPPY with the results!

Only got a 6 shot string before I got rained out using the chrony, but the JSB Exact RS averaged 398 fps.

When the weather clears, I will most likely sight it in for 20-30 yards and do some shooting at a little longer distance since this winter, indoors, I’ll be limited.

Thanks to all those who help me decide between this and the P1!

Ted

[BenjiHunter]

Congrats!
That's a nice gun!

[robertr]

Very nice pistol, glad you got it figured out , bet it is a nice gun to shoot.

[Yogi]

When you get used to it, post some groups
-Y

[pneuby]

Gorgeous piece, and what I would've chosen over the P1, also.

[north country gal]

That's great, Ted. Thanks for sharing the info.

With our long winter approaching, we've been in a rush to get all our outdoor range shooting done, but it's very comforting to me knowing our HW75 is there, waiting to be shot when we have to move indoors to shoot, again. What a fine air pistol. Enjoy.

[triggerfest]

Nice ! And the wood of the grips is gorgeous ! Enjoy !