HW-30S Arrived

[Bill_in_TR]

My 30S arrived this afternoon via UPS at 4:23 PM. It was ordered from Krales Tuesday morning. Three days delivery is great but it was actually supposed to be here yesterday but a mistake in the address caused a day's delay. It was packed very well and arrived without even a wrinkle in the outer packaging. Opened it up and as expected everything inside was fine.

Initial impressions of the rifle are that it seems to be very well made especially for its price point. I haven't found the least bit of an imperfection in the wood or metal work. The wood to metal fit is excellent

I won't shoot for groups until I get a couple hundred pellets through it. But I did shoot it some to get some first impressions. The trigger is nice right out of the box. A little takeup before the second stage. A tiny bit of creep and a nice light, clean break. The cocking is smooth and significantly easier than my D34. But the difference is not quite as dramatic as I expected because the shorter barrel gives a little less cocking leverage. Nice and quiet at the shot with MAYBE a tiny bit of twang but it is really almost undetectable.

The iron sights are pretty nice but they aren't going to work for these old eyes. It will get a scope soon. It comes with two alternate inserts for the front globe.

One thing I don't like is the safety. It sets automatically on cocking as expected. But if you disengage the safety you cannot reengage it other than by cocking the barrel again. It also pushes through from left side of receiver. Not a huge problem but seemed a little awkward to me to push it while gripping the rifle. I would prefer the push forward tang safety on my D34.

My impression is that the rifle has more of a solid feel and substance than I was led to believe. Many people on here refer to this as a tiny ultra light rifle. I personally am happy with the heft and balance. It doesn't just flit around when I hold it offhand. Yes the barrel is a good bit shorter than my D34 but I find the D34 to be a good bit muzzle heavy.

So far I am very satisfied. I will post more when I get it broken in and a scope mounted and try shooting for some pellet and accuracy testing.
 

[Chouchin66]

Be ready to head to Wallgreens for jar of smile eraser cream...

[Yarddog]

Bill, when I get a new rifle, I start shooting for groups right away, while it's breaking in. Thataway, I get accustomed to its foibles...helps me know it better all the way around!

[subscriber]

Don't have to shoot groups off a rest all the time, but at least shoot at deliberate targets.   Use decent pellets.   If  accuracy seems off, or gets worse after 100 shots, check the stock screws...

[Bill_in_TR]

Don't worry I don't intend to just sling pellets just for the sake of pulling the trigger. I do have some reasonable quality pellets on hand that I use in my D34. I have some Meisterkugeln and some H&N and some RWS Superdomes. And I will be ordering some tins from Pyramid to try some other stuff.

Right now I have to get a scope mounted and sighted in. Maybe carefully tinker a little bit with the trigger adjustment. I'll go through that first hundred or two pellets fairly quick before I get down to a serious effort at testing pellets.

[xtred1]

Congrats!  I cant wait to hear more of your thoughts. I thought a while back I read something that there was a trick to reset the safety. No it was de-cocking. Cant these be de-cocked?

I would also love to see some photos

[wolverine]

good luck finding that magic pellet bill. 
i've been looking since i purchased my 30s in january.  the trouble is, they all shoot good, and most shoot great!  you'll find yourself testing the same pellets over and over telling yourself "they all can't group likes this all the time".  well, they can and they will.  the difference is minuscule.  i just ordered up 10,000 Daisy Precision Max w/c because they're cheap and they shoot great out of my 30s.

[Oldgringo]

FWIW, my 2 HW30S' from Krale and my Beeman R7 prefer the 7.33 gr AA Falcons.  YMMV?

[subscriber]

i just ordered up 10,000 Daisy Precision Max w/c because they're cheap and they shoot great out of my 30s.

How about these?  https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=163154.msg155819208#msg155819208

[triggerfest]

Everyone can appreciate HW30s-kind of airguns.

For a springer they are lightweight, easy to cock, almost recoiless, still have some punch and are deadly accurate up to 30 yards. Actually, what do you need more for an airgun ?

In terms of pellets... My first try would be JSB Express, JSB RS and RWS Basics.

Secondly, I would buy a 2-7x32ao Vantage or Airmax scope.

And then... Enjoy and have fun !

[Bayman]

Everyone can appreciate HW30s-kind of airguns.

For a springer they are lightweight, easy to cock, almost recoiless, still have some punch and are deadly accurate up to 30 yards. Actually, what do you need more for an airgun ?

In terms of pellets... My first try would be JSB Express, JSB RS and RWS Basics.

Secondly, I would buy a 2-7x32ao Vantage or Airmax scope.

And then... Enjoy and have fun !

All of it spot on!
One of my 30s prefers the RSs and the other prefers the Express'. The Air Ams versions are more consistent performers. But honestly both of my Hw30s shoot just about any half decent quality pellet well. Like the other poster said it's not easy finding the rifles favorite when they shoot so many well. It's splitting hairs.

I have a Hawke 2-7x32 Airmax on mine. Love it. The Vantage version is nice too for a lot less money.

These are definitely my favorite rifles, powder burners included. They make me giggle. How precious is that?

[Bill_in_TR]

Secondly, I would buy a 2-7x32ao Vantage or Airmax scope.

Thanks for the suggestions folks. I will be looking at scopes before too long but for now, just to get started, I will be mounting a fixed 4 power that I took off my D34. It is a nice clear scope and served me well on the D34 until I got a variable power AO scope for it.

And I will be ordering some additional selections to my pellet inventory today from PA. I will definitely include some JSB's in the order.

[Bill_in_TR]

Well I got a four power scope mounted and shot about a hundred or so pellets getting it zeroed in at 25 yards. Started at 10 getting it on paper then moved out to 25. I will have to check the ballistics out. When zeroed at 10 yards I moved out to 25. No change rquired in elevation whatsoever. I was shooting 8.2 grain RWS Meisterkugeln. Groups were respectable but I wasn't really trying hard for keeping them as tight as I should be capable of.

I lightened up the trigger a little. I am very happy with the letoff of this Rekord trigger. Nice clean break. Wish I had a trigger pull guage but this seems to be sub two pounds and maybe close to one and a half.

I have four pellet options on hand and I ordered four others from PA. Everything in the 7 to 8.5 grain range. Not sure if I care to go any heavier with this rifle. Not sure if I want to try going very light with it either although I do have a small sampling of the Raptors that were given to me a number of years ago that I could give a try.

So far I am thrilled with the rifle's behavior. It is really quiet and smooth cycling. At this point I can find no reason to feel a tune up will be necessary. Cocking is light and smooth and what tiny bit of twang I originally thought I heard seems to be gone. It has about 100 to 125 pellets through it now.

I am very happy with the balance and handling of the rifle. I don't get the least bit fatigued with the cocking effort either.

I may go for a little higher powered scope with AO capability after a while. A 2-7 would probably be nice on this rifle as others have suggested.

[xtred1]

I only have RWS Meisterkugeln in .22, but I have two rifles and a pistol in .22 everyone of them love that pellet.

[sfcnewy]

Congratulations Bill, on the new gun.