hw97kt wood .177

[Caiman11]

Finally got to shoot it. To sum up:

-Beautiful.

-Handles like a dream. With the adjustable butt pad and thumbhole stock everything feels great and lines up perfectly. Stippling is grippy and nice.

-Not heavy if you're an uninjured adult male human. My girlfriend had a little trouble with it. I disagree with the guys who say it's too heavy.

-Awesome trigger.

-Accurate. Like very accurate. I am not a great shot by any means, and I have very little experience with springers, yet I've been able to make sub dime groups at 30 yards consistently. I set up a bunch of little green army guys between 15 and 35 yards away and blasted them all afternoon. The farthest ones were pretty hard to hit, but I eventually got them all. Not bad considering they're only about a centimeter across and I was only using a 7x scope.

-It kinda makes a buzzy sorta sound when you shoot it, but its honestly not an issue at all. Complaints of twang are overblown. Maybe when (if?) the spring breaks I'll install a vortek, but given how well it shoots I don't see any pressing reason to take the thing apart.

-Recoil is very manageable. I don't really lose sight picture or anything when I pull the trigger.

-I made something of an effort to keep a consistent hold, but I doubt I really did. I sorta did an approximation of the artilery hold, but I probably didn't do it every time. Regardless of my probable lack of consistency, it held solid groups. There were two flyers in my shooting session: 1 when I pulled the trigger by accident before I had the bullseye in the crosshairs (still getting used to how light it is) and another when I loaded a CP lite that fit really really tight for some reason and ended up about a centimeter outside the rest of the group.

-I've only shot jsb exacts and cp lites. They both shot very well, but the jsbs seemed more consistent. I had a few cps that seemed to be of different sizes.

You should probably buy one. I'm going to try to get into field target with it.

[Booger]

No pics=didn't happen. 

[grauhanen]

Congratulations.  The HW97KT is an excellent rifle.  For consistent accuracy, avoid Crosman pellets sold in tins.  They are often inconsistent in head size and weight.  The Crosman Premiers sold in cardboard boxes in counts of 1250 are more consistent.  The JSB pellets, as you've noted, are consistent, as are H&N Field Target Trophy pellets.  Both the JSB's and H&N's are available in a variety of head sizes.  Try a variety and you'll see which your particular rifle favors.

[palonej]

Awesome rifle Rob!! We gotta have pics bro!!
I would stay away from Crossman pellets in that rifle.
I tried CPLs in the box and they fit very tight and weren't accurate or consistent at all.
Mine loves JSB 8.4 and 7.87 in 4.52 head size. And H&N FTT in 4.51 head size.
All 3 of those are stupid accurate out to 75 yards!
Are you gonna keep the 7x scope on her??
If your rifle is buzzing a bit, but accuracy is fine....leave it alone and shoot the snot out of it!! She will get smoother and more consistent!!
I had a Vortek HO kit installed and had her tuned.....I got over 50,000 trouble free and extremely accurate rounds before the main spring broke. The Vortek kits are nothing short of amazing in a 97!!
I have used mine in HFT matches and she did great!!
Mine shoots best when rested directly on a front bag with the trigger guard up against the bag. Nice light hold and she is a laser!!
Shot many dime sized 50 yard 10 shot groups with her!!
Enjoy!!
Joe

Here's a pic of mine.....I will NEVER sell this one!!

[Dockey 454]

    Congrats fine choice. You will be very happy with that one. You need to post some pics, these guys won't cut you any slack.
                      Tom

[Caiman11]

Pics!

[Dockey 454]

         Nice looking wood on that one.
             Tom

[palonej]

She's a beauty Rob!!!
She can shoot too!!

[ptpalpha]

That's a beauty!
For all you 97 guys, here's some really interesting reading on 97 mods:
http://www.kermitairgunclub.com/hw97/jkraner.htm

[palonej]

Hey!!! Wait a sec!!! You shot Eli?
Not cool bro!!!