Beeman R7 (Wow! What a fun little rifle)

[Ballistik_.20]

Having finally saved up enough money, and deals i simply could not pass up i ordered a couple of rifles from Beeman. Since i already own a .22 magnum i wanted to get different calibres to compliment my existing rifle. The choices were pretty clear to me knowing what type of varmints i plan on hunting and needing calibres to achieve these tasks. The debate goes on about which cal. works best but speaking from personal experience, any cal. can kill small to medium sized prey (which i hunt specifically) up to the size as racoons, ground hogs, and opossums if the correct shot is taken. Having grown up hunting with a Crosman 760 Pumpmaster .177 i know that even this rifle with 350fps is capable of taking squirrels, rabbits, birds, ground squirrels sized animals with little to no problem as long as you are able to connect the pellet with a kill zone on the animal.
The first model i have rec'd is the R7 in .177 and i am quite impressed with this Mighty Mouse of a rifle! I know often times that i like to state the obvious and so many people love this rifle and it has all been said before but i have been so pleased that i had to share my experience too.
My first set of targets were placed at 30 feet expecting that this was approx. the distance this cal. would be lethal and i quickly realized this is not true at all. Hitting 20 bullseyes in a row i decided to try some Coke cans filled with water and wrapped in 1 layer of Duct Tape to simulate an animals density, these were placed at 25 yds. and this rifle will place a pellet thru a dot the size of chick pea and has enough muzzle velocity that it hit the wooden fence 10 yards BEHIND the can. Wow! The ammos weight and design seems to not affect the accuracy in any way. Using H&N Barracuda Hunters, CHPH, Beeman Devastators are all equally accurate.
Knowing how well this model shoots/performs i simply cannot wait to get the R1 .20 Carbine.









Cool story, Bro!

[daveshoot]

Yup, the R7 is one of those airguns that knew what it wanted to be when it grew up, and no more. A very refined little gun that turns its well-finished little nose up at magnumitis and the constant race to make AGs act like powder burners. Ours is an absolute joy to shoot and deadly accurate.

I also notice fewer posts about "hold sensitivity" with the R7 (and HW30 series). I think many of us have to go through the mega-magnum craze first, before we can appreciate the refinement of the "little" rifles. I did!

[lizzie]

Yep- that is a gun that is definitely on my wish list.

[Motorhead]

Been there .. had one for @25 years now.
YES indeed a VERY sweet little rifle !!

[Larry T]

I have an HW30, same as the R7, just not as pretty.  I have thought about selling it on several occassions, but I haven't been able to talk myself into it yet. My daughter really wanted it when she was here at Thanksgiving, she outshot all of us guys, including her husband, the Army Sergeant. I bought her a B12 from Mike for Christmas, another sweet shooter. I'm keepin' the HW30.

I have an HW80 in .22, same as the R1, another sweet shooter. I haven't shot anything that has the smooth firing behavior of this rifle at anywhere near the power level. I bought it in the mid 80's, all original seals and spring, and it still shoots Premiers at 780 fps.

Congrats on your new rifles, they should provide enjoyment for a long time to come.

Larry

[Ballistik_.20]

Thanks guys! very happy with my decisions and she took her first squirrel this a.m.!!!! I am so proud of her! Ground scavenging at 17 yds. with a Beeman Devastator straight to the dome. Lights out instantly. Pics soon!

[Mark 611]

It sounds like you got a good one! congrats

[JimL911]

Love my 30S. People are correct in suggesting it as a first springer. Just a joy to shoot. Be careful when switching guns in a session. When I drop to the 30S I sometimes forget how little effort is required to cock it. I would suggest getting the cocking arm insert from JM to prevent galling of the compression tube. http://www.airrifleheadquarters.com/catalog/item/251488/3216416.htm

[Calmark]

Congrats on the new R7, Jpogue!  

I think you summed up well just how nice the R7/HW30 rifles really are with your post.  The hype for this gun real, but I think it would hold true for most mild-mannered, low power, light-weight springers like the R7.

Like you, I just got an R7 .177 myself just 3 days ago from a guy on craigslist.  I started out with the high-power springers, but I've mellowed out the last year and and am not chasing the high fps guns as much now that I've tried out a few and seen the power comes with the price of increased cocking effort and tend to require more technique to shoot accurately.  

I've been sneaking in short shooting sessions with my R7 while the wife and kids are out shopping or whatever and just got mine perfectly dialed in at 20 yards after getting my scope mounted just right for me.  Yesterday I took a starling out of my walnut tree at just about the same distance.  The starling didn't know it was hit by just a 6-7 fpe rifle, but immediately dropped.  Power definitely isn't everything and I think this gun has a lot of potential for use on small pests, despite the "low" power.  The pellet hit right where I wanted it, and taking that informal shot with less than perfect hold technique didn't bother the R7's accuracy.  I think what's left for me is to search for its preferred pellet and get a cocking lever insert like JimL911 linked.  With around 200 shots, the underside of the compression tube already has two lines scored in it.  With how much I'll be shooting I think I definitely should get that protected!  

Anybody who hasn't yet tried a light springer, you definitely want to try to get your hands on an R7/HW30, Diana 24 (or other models), BAM-12, Bronco, etc. for some fun fun target shooting or plinking, yet still with the accuracy to dispact small pests to boot!

[Motorhead]

My go to rifle for sub 30 yard birds and rat size quarry is my Scoped Diana 75.
Just a whole lot of fun being able to pick your impact point and hit that spot within 1/4" CTC accuracy !!
Darn kid (25 now) won't give back the R7 ... so while claiming to have one, somewhat grey if that is actually still a fact  

[Escondido1]

Congrats on the R7....wonderful........I think a lot of us are heading towards detuning....I've done my 34 and now working with John in PA on my 48. Slow and easy is just all around better!!

[Smackey54]

Congrats....and good for you!

[Ballistik_.20]

Thanks guys! very happy with my decisions and she took her first squirrel this a.m.!!!! I am so proud of her! Ground scavenging at 17 yds. with a Beeman Devastator straight to the dome. Lights out instantly. Pics soon!

NSFW GRAPHIC PIC:

[lizzie]

Congrats on the R7....wonderful........I think a lot of us are heading towards detuning....I've done my 34 and now working with John in PA on my 48. Slow and easy is just all around better!!

Is there a kit available for detuning the 34?

[JimL911]

Lizzie, this kit will lower the power of the 34. It put mine at about 12.5 fpe.
http://www.airrifleheadquarters.com/catalog/item/251488/7512885.htm

[Escondido1]

Hi Lizzie

John in PA worked with Tom Gore (Vortek) and 'redesigned' a PG2 with coil removal and preload adjustments to detune the new kit..there was also a barrel shortening to assist in the shot cycle...now I have a 34 177 that's my favorite gun of the bunch......very short cycle, very quiet, no torque....easy to cock...he also took the t05 down to 1.5 lbs.....it became lot's more fun to repetitively fire......took my CPHP from 910 to 840 fps.

Now he's working on my t06 48 22 to a similar end...

http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb340/escondido12/IMG00273-20111203-0839.jpg

We also added a new 'discontinued' steel Vortek Accuracy Tamer (harmonic stabilizer) to reduce flip as an MB.

[lizzie]

Hi Lizzie

John in PA worked with Tom Gore (Vortek) and 'redesigned' a PG2 with coil removal and preload adjustments to detune the new kit..there was also a barrel shortening to assist in the shot cycle...now I have a 34 177 that's my favorite gun of the bunch......very short cycle, very quiet, no torque....easy to cock...he also took the t05 down to 1.5 lbs.....it became lot's more fun to repetitively fire......took my CPHP from 910 to 840 fps.

Sounds very similar to my old 35, except for the trigger,and it's my favorite shooter.  THanks much for the info. 

[EMrider]

Congrats on the new R7.

I'm a fan too and just received my second R7 in .177 last week.  This is pretty close to the perfect airgun for my shooting needs and I'll probably have just the two R7s in by stable in the near future.

More powerful springers are louder and more of a challenge to shoot accurately.  99% of my shooting is inside of 40 yards and for that the R7 has me covered.

FWIW, vortek has a new kit designed for the hw30/R7.  I just installed the kit in my new R7 a few days ago.  Very simple package and from what I can tell, a nice improvement in the gun's performance.  The shot cycle is smooth, it is quieter than stock and the power is reportedly somewhere between 7-9fpe.  I'll reserve further judgment until I put another 1,000 pellets down the barrel.

R

[bart the fart]

Congrat's to both new R7 owners. As Calmark says, most of us start out with the monster springers. Folks should start out with the little R7. Calmark you remeber that little R7 i SHOULD have bought at the Pacific Airgun Show? Still kicking myself over not buying it  DUUUUUH!

[Calmark]

Yes bart, I remember that HW30 at the Pacific Airgun Show.  You should have gotten it for SURE looking back.     We missed out on TONS of good deals at that show, it was an airgunner's heaven!    I should have gotten it too for the price the guy was asking.  Instead I walked out with that HW80.  Its definitely not as easy to shoot compared to any of the other Beeman/Weihrauch guns I've tried, but that comes with the territory for a gun of that power.  I will take out the R7 a lot more than the HW80 in the future.  I definitely like the mellow shooters a lot more now. 

Its never too late to get one though.  You'll appreciate an R7/HW30's mild-mannered shooting even if its your first or last gun you buy!  You can't go wrong whenever it is you decide to buy one. 

And EMrider, please keep us updated on that new Vortek kit you put into your R7.  I'd like to know more details on how it improves things after you've had a chance to test it out some more!