Best caliber for the HW95?

[Mark 611]

Jeff, they made them like that for a while!

[nced]

Disclaimer - I'm stuck at home, miserable with some kind of eyes/ears/throat deal.  And I think of weird stuff between fever spikes, etc. 
So please, humor me...

I love the 95/R9, and it seems to be just as good in .22 as .177, favoring neither.  IMO, this isn't really all that common.  Most of the rifles I own would be "better" in one or the other, for example.

So I'm curious, seeing as how the 95 has been available in .177, .20, .22 and .25, how people feel about the performance of this rifle in each of them.

If you have experience or insights into any of them, please speak up.

Thanks all!

As a long time Beeman R9 & HW95 shooter I've used .177, .20 and .22 cals. My first springer was a new .177 cal HW50, then I sold that gun to help finance a new .177 HW35, while still owning the HW35 I bought a new .177 cal Beeman R10 which I thought was as good for squirrel hunting as the HW35 was bad.

Before the .177 HW95 I "swallered" the "bigger pellet more gooder" CoolAid and bought a .20 cal Beeman R9 from Straight Shooters (are they still around?) and used it for one season of squirrel hunting. I was disappointed by the .20 cal pellet (I tried several brands) because I couldn't see that there was a difference in effectiveness when a squirrel was "properly hit" with either cal from the R9. The issue was that the loopy trajectory of the .20 cal created a lot more "off the mark" hits once the distance got past my 30 yard zero due to my poor range "guessitimation" and improper holdover.

Then I bought a used .22 cal R1 barrel, sent it to be professionally "chopped" to the R9 length and "choked". I used this barrel for about half of a West Virginia squirrel season and found the same range "guessitimation" issues I had with the .20 cal and there was no real difference on properly hit squirrels. I then reverted back to .177 cal selling both the factory .20 and used/shortened .22 barrels never to look back.

I suppose that the larger pellets would be better for the larger piston guns but the ones I shot were much too large and heavy for me to lug around in the WV woods.

Bottom line, a hit through both lungs or the brain from a .177 dome pellet is better than an "off the mark" hit with a .20 or .22 pellet and it was easier to place the pellet accurately with the .177 cal. I do have to mention that out to my 30 yard zero range there wasn't a nickels difference between the three cals from my R9/HW95 class springers!
   

[Struckat]

I have been working on the answer to this for a couple years now.

My 95 was purchased as a 177 and I added a 22 barrel a few months later.

I have run both the 177 and the 22 at 3 different power levels with equal success.

I have mostly settled on 177 just shy of full power. Two main reasons, my 22 needs have been filled by other guns and none of the 22 wadcutters shoot well enough.

Curiously I am finding that RWS Super Mags are accurate at speeds well above 700fps. If the do well out to 25 yards I will be very happy.

[Bayman]

Super Mags are accurate at speeds well above 700fps. If the do well out to 25 yards I will be very happy.

That'll be good information. If the wind ever dies I'll try them in my 95 at 25 and let you know. I have a couple of tins from my short range hw50 squirrel days. Iirc they weren't over 700fps back then and not going more than 20 yards.

[Kragman1]

Kurt & Ron - I have had good luck with those 9.3 grain Supermags out of my Parrus.  Figured I'd "kinda" shoot groups while doing velocity testing.
Had lockup problems (chisel engagement was hit or miss) but whenever the lockup seemed good the pellets shot well at about 22 yards.
By no means a serious test, but I found that it liked those, FTT's and one other that I forget.

I predict good results for you as well.  Really nice pellets considering they don't sort/sell by head size. 

[Bayman]

Kurt & Ron - I have had good luck with those 9.3 grain Supermags out of my Parrus.  Figured I'd "kinda" shoot groups while doing velocity testing.
Had lockup problems (chisel engagement was hit or miss) but whenever the lockup seemed good the pellets shot well at about 22 yards.
By no means a serious test, but I found that it liked those, FTT's and one other that I forget.

I predict good results for you as well.  Really nice pellets considering they don't sort/sell by head size.

Thanks Brian. I've found that RWS pellets are probably the most consistent sized and good fitting pellet brand. My 22 Hw50 was killer with cheapo Hobbies. Shot my best 25 yard group from that gun with them. In general the Meisterkugeln were more consistent and in 177 the R10 wadcutters were amazing in my Hw30s. They're too darn expensive for me to shoot on a regular basis. The MKs do just fine. I don't usually push wadcutters past 25 yards so now with my new larger property I shoot a lot more domed pellets.

It's really a shame RWS doesn't have a modern domed pellet style. The superdomes are nothing special in my guns. I've had good short range energy and accuracy with the 22 SHPs but the BC is terrible on them.

[Kragman1]

Ron, I'm with you on RWS introducing a high BC domed pellet line!

[tjk]

I have a .20 HW95 and it is nice gun. While not particularly my favorite Weihrauch spring piston gun.  I don’t have any issues with its overall performance, and it is on par with my other HW’s both in velocity and accuracy. Honestly, I feel the best caliber of any model is best left to what the end user deems it to be for their own taste. I would like to see RWS come out with a domed .20 pellet. The SuperMag pellets were deadly in an old B28A 350 clone I had several years ago.

[nced]

I have been working on the answer to this for a couple years now.

My 95 was purchased as a 177 and I added a 22 barrel a few months later.

I have run both the 177 and the 22 at 3 different power levels with equal success.

I have mostly settled on 177 just shy of full power. Two main reasons, my 22 needs have been filled by other guns and none of the 22 wadcutters shoot well enough.

Curiously I am finding that RWS Super Mags are accurate at speeds well above 700fps. If the do well out to 25 yards I will be very happy.

"RWS Super Mags are accurate at speeds well above 700fps"
I have to admit that I found the same thing when I tried the .177 SuperMag wadcutter and they did smack a squirrel. For me the issue with the 9.3 grain SuperMag wadcutter was that even though they were more accurate than other wadcutters I triedout to 30 yards they still "steered their own course" past 30 yards. For ME a good dome was more accurate than a wadcutter "stayed the course" past my 30 yard zero distance.

[Struckat]

Good info as most of my shooting is less than 30. I have 10 tins of them and every 177 I have seems to like them.

I really want a good 22wc that is 17–18gr. The ones that I have found nd are not liked by any of my 22 barrels.

Back on topic, I have switched between 177 and 22 so many times l, that I would say I cannot chose. Both work very well in a 95.

[tjk]

Good info as most of my shooting is less than 30. I have 10 tins of them and every 177 I have seems to like them.

I really want a good 22wc that is 17–18gr. The ones that I have found nd are not liked by any of my 22 barrels.

Back on topic, I have switched between 177 and 22 so many times l, that I would say I cannot chose. Both work very well in a 95.

Get a .20!!!! You’ve gone this deep in the ag rabbit hole, may as well dive a little deeper!!! 😎

[Struckat]

.20, I won’t say never, just no. Don’t need a third cal that ain’t much different than the other two I already have. Not knocking .20, but I see no need.

[Hoosier Daddy]

I totally get that Kurt...
 But if a guy already has a Sheridan or 4....the ammo is there for an HW.
I he doesn't.... he should. 

[Yogi]

.20, I won’t say never, just no. Don’t need a third cal that ain’t much different than the other two I already have. Not knocking .20, but I see no need.

Kurt,

I used to be the biggest .20 cal naysayer around.  Two few pellet choices, could deside if it wants to be a flatter shooting ,22 or a harder hitting .177.

After shoot one i began to realize that they are both flatter and harder....
There are 3 or 4 great pellets to choose from, so this has become a strength.
As the add says, Try it, you will like it.

-Yogi

[Mark 611]

Shooting a .20cal in the right gun and you'll be hook on it!

[IanC]

Jeff
My brother does a lot of airgun trading and always gave me a heads up when he gets something interesting for a good deal.  I bought it from him several years ago initially as an HW85 in .177 put together with an R9 stock. I then picked up a .22 barrel for it and shot it for years. Then I found a deal on an HW95 with a Vortex kit so instead of taking it apart I ended up swapping the chamber and barrel onto the stock. I used it as is for years and then found a .177 HW95 barrel on pyramid air a couple years ago and it has been as is since then. So I guess the only original part I have for it is the R9 Stock.

[Horatio]

Ron, I'm with you on RWS introducing a high BC domed pellet line!

Yes.
And RWS releasing a dome in .25 that was actually a real .25.
And I’d love to have wadcutters in .25.

[Yogi]

Who is RWS?  They used to import Dianas, no longer.
Is it now part of a private equity company empire?  Other than pellets, lock-down scope mounts, perhaps a scope or two...What else is still branded RWS?

-Y

[Robert 5mm]

Who is RWS?  They used to import Dianas, no longer.
Is it now part of a private equity company empire?  Other than pellets, lock-down scope mounts, perhaps a scope or two...What else is still branded RWS?

-Y

Rheinisch Westfälische Sprengstoff

https://rws-ammunition.com/en/brand/rws-brand

[Yogi]

Who is RWS?  They used to import Dianas, no longer.
Is it now part of a private equity company empire?  Other than pellets, lock-down scope mounts, perhaps a scope or two...What else is still branded RWS?

-Y

Rheinisch Westfälische Sprengstoff

https://rws-ammunition.com/en/brand/rws-brand

Thanks.  Seems they only make ammunition now.  Hope they are kranking up for Ukraine?

-Y