Montse Jaime has a rifle for regular practice
Shooting is no different to any other hobby as practice makes perfect or, at the very least, helps maintain your skills. If you live close to one of the many SSAA shooting ranges, it’s easy enough to drop by on a regular basis to hone and maintain those skills but, if like us, you live on a remote property, the nearest range could be hours away. And it’s not just the time required as depending on the calibre of your rifle, factory ammunition can be expensive if you shoot regularly. Add targets, cleaning materials, maintenance supplies and fuel for the round trip and you may be tempted to forego regular visits.
Fortunately, modern airguns offer a practical and far cheaper way to do some regular shooting practice. I’m aware there are fancy and powerful PCP models available, but in my quest to find a simple and affordable rifle that allows me to shoot on our property without the need for anything more than a tin of pellets and some targets, I settled on a ‘springer’. After comparing various models and doing my research, I chose an underlever model by German manufacturer Weihrauch in their HW77K Special Edition.
This article will provide some basic specifications for the rifle, as well as my motivation for choosing this particular model for general shooting practice and target training. One important thing to note is air rifles are not toys like some people think, and should be handled like any other firearm with a licence (Cat A) required to buy and own one. Specific requirements with regard to maximum power, permitted use and so on vary across states, so make sure to check them.
The Weihrauch HW77 air rifle has been on the market for decades and comes in a large variety of models with different stocks, barrel lengths, calibres and other details. Then there’s the field target oriented HW97, which drops the iron sights of the standard HW77 models yet is otherwise almost identical. In other words you have a wide array of options and mine is the HW77K Special Edition.
There are two things which differentiate this model from the basic HW77. First-off it’s a ‘K’ for ‘Karbine’ (carbine) model, this one being identical to the regular HW77 in most aspects except for the lack of iron sights and a shorter barrel. The one on the HW77K SE is 370mm against the 470mm barrel on the regular HW77. It’s factory-fitted with a muzzle brake, overall length of the rifle is 1020mm and the gun weighs 4.2kg. It’s a fixed-barrel model with underlever cocking.
The mechanism opens the breech so you can insert a pellet and activates the automatic safety when the rifle is cocked, the breech closing when the cocking lever’s returned to its original position. Like all HW77 models, mine is fitted with an adjustable ‘Rekord’ match trigger and the rifle incorporates an 11mm dovetail rail to mount a scope. The stock on the SE model is a beautiful laminated green-brown and is not too long, which makes it suitable for smaller shooters like myself. I measured length of pull around 350mm and the overall stock at about 660mm. It’s just over 40mm wide at the front but is well-rounded, which means it’s still comfortable for those with smaller hands. The rifle’s generally sold in .177 (4.5mm) and .22 (5.5mm), while Weihrauch also list a .20 (5mm) and .25 (6.3mm) version on their website, though I haven’t seen either for sale in Australia.
My primary reason for buying an air rifle was to get in some shooting practice on the property. I don’t use the gun for pest control and, as such, went with the 4.5mm version. The underlever construction gives me added confidence the barrel won’t move, thus improving accuracy. My rifle shoots JBS pellets at around 275m/s, slightly below the 285m/s Weihrauch specifies, which may be due to the spring having been worn in or the seal not being perfect. Either way, it hasn’t changed for the past few years so I’m happy with it and at 275m/s I’m also well within the permitted power limit for my location.
After some experimentation I adjusted the trigger to break at 2.4lbs. The Rekord trigger on my rifle also offers travel adjustment, though I’ve been happy with how it came out the box and haven’t changed it. For my purposes, no fancy scope was needed so I installed a simple Hawke airgun-compatible one. After testing various pellets I’m pleased to say the rifle isn’t fussy at all, my best results being with the JBS diabolo ones, which are widely available.
The underlever cocking mechanism was a little unrefined when I bought the rifle but, after some break-in time, became super-smooth. Pellets are easy to insert into the open breech when the underlever is cocked and I like the fact the security automatically engages. The HW77K SE is easy to cock for smaller shooters, though you’ll feel it in your muscles if you work in an office then decide to spend an entire morning shooting. A big plus is I can cock the rifle while seated, so no need to get up after every shot.
The fact the HW77K SE is so quiet is a bonus and I shoot on a property where we set up airgun targets at 25m and 50m. I shoot from a bench while seated, as I would with my regular rifle at the range. The fact I have to pick it up and put it back to load after every shot may not be optimal for best accuracy and consistency, though my aim is to practice shooting, not achieve best possible results. Regardless, I easily shoot groups around 1-2cm at 25m while on quiet, wind-free days, I can manage 2cm groups at 50m too. However with the light pellets, wind and environmental factors impact results at longer distances.
The laminated SE stock is comfortable and has stood the test of time and humid weather admirably. With 500 pellets to a tin, I never worry about the cost of ammo and it has me shooting at least once a week when I’ve time. When the weather’s bad I move into one of our stable buildings, which I could never do with a centrefire rifle.
In summary
There’s really only one question I ask myself when I sit down with the Weihrauch HW77K SE. “Why didn’t I buy an air rifle sooner?” I love the green laminated stock of the SE, yet can see how the slightly lighter synthetic ones make sense if you want to use the gun for pest control, just like a .22 version would make sense if that’s what you intend to do.
For me the HW77K SE will remain strictly a training rifle. It has a superb trigger, low recoil, is quiet to shoot and while slightly heavy, it’s well made and suitable for smaller shooters like myself at 1.62m. The shorter barrel of the Karbine version is another big plus, as it makes the rifle far more nimble and manageable. Though not strictly rifle specific, the most important thing it has done for me is made regular practice attainable. I no longer have to fret about the day I’ll lose if I have to drive to the range, nor does shooting every week break the bank as I can just grab the rifle when I have some time and practice as much as I like.
The HW77K SE has proven to be very reliable and hasn’t failed once after thousands of shots. I clean the barrel every so often but the gun’s not ‘picky’ and still shoots well when overdue for a clean. Overall I can highly recommend the Weihrauch HW77K SE or any of the HW77/97 underlever models.