Cocking Effort for HW95 and HW80....What Is It?

[Nalajr]

Hey all,

Was talking to a buddy who was asking me some questions about these air rifles and we were looking at some of them that he liked.  We made our way to the HW rifles and a couple of them I told him about, which are the most popular, are the HW95 and the HW80.  I have a couple questions for info that I didn't see.

Can you tell me what the cocking effort is for each of these rifles?  From your experience, what have you found it to be?  I know sometimes they put figures on them and I wonder how accurate they are.  I want to say that somewhere I think I read that the effort on the HW95 was 40 pounds.  Does that sound right?  Just guessing from all the info I've been going over the last couple weeks.

I like these 2 rifles, but I think they would be too much for me right now at starting out.  I see why they are very popular though.

One last thing, are both of these rifles though of and referred to as MAGNUM air rifles?  The RWS 34 I am wanting is NOT in that category and I'm just curious how the compare size wise.  Would the HW95 or HW80 dwarf the RWS 34 if they were next to each other and would it be very easy to tell which one was which?

Just curious.  Fill in what you can, if you don't mind helping.  I like learning about this stuff as it might come in handy at some point in the future.

Thanks everyone for your time.

Nalajr

[bowzette]

Hi Nnlajr.  I just up the road from you in Huntsville.  I bought a HW80 from Mark 611 which he had highly tuned so mine may not be typical of cocking effort. I find the effort to be about the same or maybe easier than my HW97 which has been tuned to I think around 12 FPE.  A large muzzle break and barrel length, but it has been shorten by 4", gives me more leverage than the 97K with a thin short cocking lever.  I'm 68, 142 lbs, 5'5" and it isn't difficult for me to cock the 80 if seated.  Harder to do sometimes if standing but I haven't perfected my technique yet. I was concerned if it would be too hard for me and it isn't. But I suspect 50-100 pellets at a time my be enough for me but I have a 300S and a R7 I can shoot if I'm getting tired.  My concern is getting it more "neighborhood friendly".  Not a problem now but will be when I move in a year to a subdivision in the Austin area.  PA will give cocking effort.  Straight Shooters might. Use the "compare" feature on PA.
Mike

[Nalajr]

Hey Bowzette,

AWESOME!!  I always like hearing from my fellow TEXANS!!  I've been wanting to get out and see more of the state than Houston.  I've also been looking for places to hunt hogs, that effort has been a total BUST, no help at all on that, but that's another story.

I've seen the figures you talk about on some of the sellers pages and I wonder how accurate they really are.  As you said, I have read that when these rifles are tuned they smooth up quite a bit and that might make the effort less or it might make it SEEM less.

When I first started asking about what would be a good rifle for me, I had several tell me to get the HW30/R7.  It's a beautiful rifle and the effort is listed at something like 18 pounds.  I had people tell me that they could sit outside and shoot it literally ALL DAY and so could their 12 year old daughter.  I thought I'd like something with a little more to it and the RWS 34 is what I have my eye on.  The cocking weight is listed as 33 pounds on that.  Then I see the MAGNUM air rifles like the R1/HW80 have efforts listed at 43 pounds, 40 pounds and similar.  Now that seems to me to be getting up to the point where I wouldn't want to venture.  I mean 43 pounds is 43 pounds.  I don't know how many times I could sit and shoot a rifle with that kind of cocking effort.  Maybe 10, 20, I have no idea.  I think of it like this, how many times could I pick up a sack of sand that weighs 40 pounds about 1 foot off the ground and drop it.  I don't think I could do that for a very long time with the way my back is.
When I see how you describe it, it makes me wonder how well I could do with it.  Isn't the 97 listed as having a 39 pound effort?  I seem to recall reading such info somewhere.  I'm 45 and have a really bad back and neck that hampers me.
I talked to one of the salesmen at PA and asked him to give me some picks that are in the same class as the RWS 34 Compact and he did.  When I looked at them, they had cocking efforts listed at 40 and 42 pounds and I dropped the thought of both of them right there out of concern on what I can handle for a shooting session.  That's the reason I am asking this, and the reason I mentioned above.  I'm pretty sure that you guys aren't sitting out in the yard with your rifle and a spring scale to get the cocking efforts on your rifles.  I thought I'd ask and get an idea anyway.  It's difficult being in my position of having never handled, cocked or shot an ADULT airgun and I have to IMAGINE what all this information will be like when I get them in my hands.

Boy you have some really great rifles.  Do you have any pics of them?  I'd like to see that group.  The 300 was the rifle that first got me hooked on these adult airguns MANY years ago when I saw it in a Beeman catalog that came to my house.  Really awesome.  That 97 that you have is also one that I told myself that I would love to have someday.  You've got 2 of my favorites there.  You sure do know how to collect nice airguns....CONGRATS.  Looking to adopt anytime soon?

I also wanted to ask you about your handle, bowzette.  Are you also into archery?  I am too, longbows and recurves and that is what I have been wanting to hunt hogs with here in Texas.

By the way, I am down here north of Houston in Spring.

Thanks for your help and information.

Nalajr

[bowzette]

I'm new to ARs and learning. I think the term "seems like" regarding perceived effort may be correct.  I'm not sure all 40 lbs are equal-LOL.  The 97 is suppose to be 36lbs of cocking effort. Mine may be less due to the spring used to reduce FPE and smoothness of cocking. I've seen a video of Paul C. measuring a BB springer by putting a book on a scale and pressing the muzzle until it almost  cocks and reads the lbs produced. It was about as advertised.  Whether the 80 is also 36 due to tuning or they both are less than 36lbs or the 97 is -36 and the 80 is 40lbs I have no idea.  But the perceived effort is a bit less with the 80. I think I can shoot the 80 as long as I can shoot the 97.  Eventually I'll find out   You may want to consider the AA TX200.  Everyone raves about it.  It comes somewhat already tuned-more so than the 97-great wood and bluing, and only 29lbs of cocking effort-cocking lever is longer than the 97 which is carbine length.  I really think you should consider the TX200. "Bowzette" is my faithful 15+ old dog.  When young she looked like Benji but with bottom teeth that stick out over the top like a bulldog. I was gong to call her "Bowzer" but that was too masculine so she's "Bowzette".  I used this name as my handle in most forums and Ebay. I want to continue to remember her after she's gone.

[Nalajr]

Hey Bowzette,

Great that you remember your faithful companion.  What would we do without our pets??

I really like those underlever rifles and the sidelevers too.  They look so much better and cleaner than the break barrel rifles.  Before I decided to get into this I thought I would really like to have one of the HW97K rifles.  I really like the BLUE stock version.  Then I started looking at all the rifles that were out there and I found that so many of them are really nice.  That AA200 that you mention is also one that I like.
Right now if I had my pick of any break barrel rifle, I think I would take the HW98.  That is such a great looking rifle.

The problem I run into when I start looking at these higher priced springers, I see that I could get a nice PCP for the price of them.  I like that Marauder, as an example of one.  But then you have to add in the cost of the tank and stuff to fill it up with air when you run out.  That puts you over $800 or so which is a LOT of money for an air rifle.

I'll get one someday.

Thanks

Nalajr

[bowzette]

The quote I got for a top quality air tank, hoses and gauges new with all the bells and whistles is around $900 shipped.  You may find a good deal used but do your homework and know what you are buying or you may waste money or get hurt.  My next AR will probably be a PCP and air supply-big investment. And my main motivation is to cause no suspicion in the neighborhood after I move to Austin.  I like shooting springers-the simplicity and the challenge.

[JimL911]

I don't have an 80 to give you any information on.
I sent this to someone who wanted to know about cocking effort.

I used an old bathroom scale to try and measure the required amount of effort to cock. Not accurate but it will give you an idea.
57 30-35 pounds to latch the piston
95 and 50S 35-40 pounds to latch the piston
77 40-50 pounds to latch the piston
Ranked by feel from easiest to hardest I would go 57,77,50S and then 95.
These are with JM tune kits installed.

I haven't tried my 34's but the one with an OS kit is as easy to cock as the 57, the one with a Vortek kit is on par with the 95.
My 34K also has a Vortek kit and has a 15 inch barrel. With sights on it is significantly more difficult to cock than the 95, but with a brake on it allows for better leverage and only feels slightly harder to cock.
With the brake on the 34K I have no problem shooting it, my other 34's, the 95 or 77 for 100 plus sessions.

The 80 has a larger tube and would easily stand apart from the 95 and 34. The 34 and 95 are in the same power category.

[hangmancreek]

made using a bathroom scale also.  Here are the numbers I got;

HW30s   -   18 lbs
Hw50s   -    40 lbs
HW95    -    35 lbs

Even though the HW95 is only slightly fewer pounds of effort than the HW50, in reality it is much easier to cock.  The last little part of the HW50's cocking stroke is quite stiff.

[Nalajr]

I am glad to see that the 95 isn't that bad at all, at least not much more than the 34 I am going to be getting at some point soon.  I thought it would be much harder to cock.  I always figured that they would publish numbers that would make them look more favorable to those that are getting into it for the first time like me.  If I look at the RWS 34 and see a 33 pound cocking effort, but in reality it is 39, that's going to likely make me find something else that I can manage easier for my first rifle.

Thanks

Nalajr

[bowzette]

How do you plan to use the rifle-target, plinking, hunting and at what distances?  If you are just punching paper and killing paintballs at 10-25 yards get the R7/HW30S.

[s10gto]

A muzzle brake helps too. Makes a nice handle. Alot easier then your hand over a iron site. 

[Erhard]

Hello

I have a HW80k, 2 HW95k's (all three of them have 40cm / 15,7 inch barrels), a HW97k and a HW30. All of them produce 16 J / 12 fpe or more (25 J for the HW80k).

If you have a bad back and neck, I would recommend the HW95 or the HW30. The HW80k is really heavy overall and a beast to cock in comparison to the others. The HW97k is not very difficult to cock, but it is very front heavy - which is not a good thing for your back if you want to shoot in a standing position.

The HW95 is very svelte - easy to cock, easy to hold and very, very beautiful. You can always put a British 16J or a German 7,5J spring in it if the standard full power spring makes it to hard to cock. I have two 95's - that says enough!
The HW30 is its little brother. Very pleasant to shoot, but its power is limited.   

Best regards

Erhard

[Nalajr]

I am going to be shooting in the back yard at paper and other small targets to get in the swing when I get my first rifle.  I've been invited to a club a couple hours drive away to come and participate in one of their field shoots and I might do that too.  As for hunting, I probably wouldn't do that for a while until I could find a place to go.  I would much rather hunt with a .22 than a .177.

I'd love to have an R9/HW95.  I think they are great looking rifles when configured the way I prefer them.  I dislike the iron sight setup that all these break barrel rifles have and prefer the scope and muzzle weight look.  This morning while nosing around on some airgun sites I came across some pictures of an R9 that had the scope and a suppressor on it.  Man that thing looked awesome.  Immediately I wanted one just like it.  If I get one, I'd have to find someone that could make me a barrel weight that would LOOK just like that rifle I saw this morning did.  I wonder if that's a complicated and expensive project to have done?

Anyway, I'm glad to hear that the R9 isn't the BEAST I thought it would be.  It sounds as if it would be about like the RWS 34.

Did you say that the R9 doesn't perform great in .22 and that if you want a break barrel in .22 you should get an R1?  Would that be essentially what you were alluding to?

Thanks all

Nalajr

[PrunedaleMike]

Hey Nalajr,

I have two highly tuned R1's . A .22 cal. with a full blown V-Mach kit with custom piston and a .20 cal. with a Vortek kit.

 The V-Mach kit is the best kit available (IMO) as it has the famous Venom heritage. Steve Pope, V-Mach, knows his stuff as it was past down from his dad , Dave and Steve has only made it better. The gun shoots 14 g. Defiant lead pellets at 845 clean , no lube boast. Very smooth, to the point that the scope stays on target. Heavy hitter. To cock the gun, I put the stock under my left arm and grab the barrel with two hands pulling down to an audible click, then control the barrel with my left hand and load with my right. Works great. I am 62 and can shoot all day with little trouble. The tune V-Mach kits are available at Specialty Shooting Sports or AoA. 

My .20 cal is a soft tune Vortek kit. 17 ftlbs and very accurate, lots of fun to shoot.

Try my cocking technique and I believe you will surprise yourself.

Have fun,
Mike