R9 old vs new??

[UK_CATS_FAN]

I'm new to the hobby and searched the best I could, to no avail.  I have a line on an older R9, pre muzzle brake, at a price about $100 less than a new one from PA or AD. Looks to be in great condition and owner says is was not shot much.  So are the older ones better or should I go with the muzzle brake no sights new version?  Also, what year did they convert. Thanks in advance.

CV

[Roadworthy]

Obviously I don't know anything about the R9 you found.  Generally I prefer older guns to new.  I think they're a better value - depreciation and all that.  You could do far worse than an R9 but probably not much better with any other springer.

My rule of thumb is a used gun seems to be worth 2/3 to 3/4 the price of new.  Of course that's assuming the gun is in good shape.

Depending on age, worst case it would possibly require a new spring, piston seal, or breech seal.  There is really not much to go wrong with them and these are considered expendable items anyhow.

If you can shoot it and you like it, go for it!!

[robertr]

 Something to consider is your preference for sights on your rifle. I like to have the option of using open sights in case of a scope problem.

[nced]

I'm new to the hobby and searched the best I could, to no avail.  I have a line on an older R9, pre muzzle brake, at a price about $100 less than a new one from PA or AD. Looks to be in great condition and owner says is was not shot much.  So are the older ones better or should I go with the muzzle brake no sights new version?  Also, what year did they convert. Thanks in advance.

CV

Having owned R9s and a couple HW95s for a couple decades I personally prefer the new designs which do address a couple earlier model issues.

The older HW95/R9 used a cocking shoe that was supported by a piston liner whereas the newer (now a few years old) design uses a cocking shoe that rides the cocking shoe slot in the receiver.
Newer cocking shoe pics........



I also prefer the newer design "bolt on bracket" that contains both the fixed barrel latching detent and the stock mounting screws like this.......


The older HW95/R9 used welded on stock screw mounting tabs and pressed in (or brazed?) fixed barrel latching detent and I've needed to repair stripped out threads in the old style tabs due to their relative "thinness"..........


I found that th enewer R9/HW95s I've owned had better piston to receiver fit than the older ones. Also, my latest HW95 had a perfectly finished receiver ID without the excessively honed receives of the older R9/HW95s. When fitting my R9s with the oring sealed piston caps I prefer I usually had to do a LOT of receiver prep work, however my new HW95 needed no prep work at all! Here is a pic........


Over the years HW has improved their piston seal configuration and their latest "thick parachute edge" seal with reduced base diameter actually work as well as my oring sealed piston cap whereas the old thin edged HW piston seals would lag behind my oring piston seal by 30-50fps...........



Another nice thing about my HW95 was the lack of excess lube that were slathered inside the R9s of the past! One of the first things I used to do, even when using molly paste and tar, was to strip out the excess lube and redo the internal lubrication. I still strip factory "dinosaur lubes" to replace with Krytox, however my HW95 didn't diesel even with the first shot straight from the box and it had a rather consistent velocity too! Here is a pic of the lubing of the HW95 straight from the box..........

Just about perfect IMHO if "petro lubes" are used!
   

[wimpanzee]

The cocking shoe is a big improvement, but you can do a lot worse than any version of R9!

[Sig-Man]

nced, thank you again for a wonderful lesson in air rifle design options!  As Yogi Berra would say, you can observe a lot by watching! 

[nced]

The cocking shoe is a big improvement, but you can do a lot worse than any version of R9!

Agreed! I owned some R9s which had 10s of thousands of shots on them before I sold 'em. While I prefer the improvements of the later HW95/R9 I do have to admit that the earlier versions were stellar and I didn't have a single one of the dozen or so that I've owned, tuned & sold (sold two to my brother) that wouldn't put a CPL on a 1/2" diameter circle at 30 yards straight from the box after a few "clearing shots" and a bore clean! Using the most recent .177 R9 that I tuned and sold (a couple years ago) I was able to put 15 out of 20 CPLs through a 3/4" killzone at 50 yards while sitting on a bucket and resting the gun on cross sticks......
 
LOL....I believe that the "horizontal spread" is the result of the nut behind the trigger swaying on the bucket.....not the R9!

[UK_CATS_FAN]

Thanks for all the info, especially from nced. Looks like a new model will be on order soon. Thanks again.

CV